Last night I threw caution to the wind. Purple invited me to accompany him to a party in a space above Graceland, a local tavern and music venue sitting on the edge of the freeway. I really didn't know what to expect but since I'd been out earlier with another friend for a bite to eat I felt comfortable inserting myself into a room full of strangers. In fact, I went to the trouble of taking the remaining hair I had left over from my braids and turning them into plugs for two loose ponytails. This didn't work exactly how I expected and I decided to leave it as a single long ponytail down the back. I found I could turn it into a prop by pulling it over my shoulder.

Anyway, I wore my silver pants, courderoy jacket over that and my black leather top hat (thank you, Trent). Purple is in a lime green and purple phase so he was dressed in a green satin shirt, matching lime green jeans, also matching green and purple Adidas (I haven't seen colors like that in sports shoes in some time). He's been wearing his purple velveteen frock coat this season with a furry purple "cossack" hat with a gold "flower" brooch, making him look like a character from the Wizard of Oz books.

Outside of the building we had to get the attention of the inhabitants and indeed there was a young man with a knapsack who joined us by pulling out a large cow horn and blowing on it. I knew this would not be a boring or average party. Eventually someone entered the building and allowed us all the trudge up the steep staircase. Mark introduced me around to his friends Van, Andrew, et al. There was talk of everything happening for the evening in the "Egg" room, but Andrew invited us into a room where he was doing some construction for what he referred to as the "Trojan" room. We were then lead down long narrow and dusty hallways to the end of the building into this very uniquely shaped room. Indeed it was shaped exactly like the inside of an egg, walls covered in lathe and plaster and all painted white. Around the center of the room were several couches and arm chairs, one end of the room being set up with a small platform and what seemed to be storage for sound equipment and instruments. A large heavy coffee table was the centerpiece of the room being covered with black candles and a large floral arrangement of blood orchids and roses.

The party was in honor of Van's birthday. And he was wearing clothing that Purple had apparently given him earlier in the day, a blousy shirt in blue with a delicate floral pattern and velvet pants in velvet. Being quite handsome himself, Van struck a stunning figure in these clothes looking like he'd just stepped off an album cover of the Mamas and the Papas or some other sixties band. The Man with the cow horn opened a bottle of champange and passed around this and other libations. Conversation was lively and yet there was a pleasent air of friendliness and comaradarie.

Guest began arriving and more gifts were offered the birthday boy. One guest,named Roman, brought several prints that he'd created utilizing pen and ink, computers and high end printers. Printed on shiny paper, they were very well executed and I was quite inspired by them. He stated the designs would eventually be embroidered onto t-shirts.

Purple began telling his story about the Queen of the Blackberries and even sang the song she taught him. Soon after that someone with a laptop and some video equipment started projecting visuals behind the stage area. Then Van and company got up on stage and began to jam. A man named Aaron with long dreads sat down next to me and introduced himself. One of the musicians started doing an impromptue ode. Later the musicians got the music going and drowned out the noise from Graceland below. It was a blast.

Purple took my picture...