slumber party

when i reluctantly started this blog a little ways back, i thought it would be a good forum to share some stories and photos that didn't make it into the book. i imagined lots of hub-bub and audience interaction. sadly, it's been more "me" and less "you," but with so many billions of blogs out there to peruse, i can't say that i am surprised. that said, i have had my fair share of private interactions with folks i have met thru the book, and i figured i should make more of an effort to make some of those private conversations more public. for example, this missive recently popped up in my box:

"Great book! I was wondering what the story was behind Gretchen (Slumber Party) black eye. Is it a black eye? Also, do you have any other SP photos?
Thanks!
Kim"

many polaroids from the book were purposefully left without stories as it seemed the reader's imagination would do a far better job than the truth ever could. i met slumber party on halloween2000, when our bands ended up on a bill together in houston (there is mention of this show in the book). we hit it off and a couple of years later we recreated the scene with our own halloween show in los angeles. it was the last show i would ever play with earlimart and man, was it fun (somewhere out there, someone has a picture of me with bunny ears on humping a pumpkin-splattered guitar and i want to see it). the photo you are asking about was taken the next day when slumber party played at this sad venue in orange county called koo's cafe. to kill time and combat boredom before the show, the girls pulled out their recently-purchased halloween make-up. that photo was from the resulting "photoshoot," as is the one of leigh, getting her face kicked in below. i've also included a photo of aliccia, who, to this day, remains one of my favorite friends (and sharpest dressers!) in the world.





thanks for taking the time kim, and if anyone else out there wants to hear some stories, just ask. who knows what weird memories you may unearth...