Miss Mina Murray

Dear Constant Reader,

It’s Friday! How about a tip?

Follow up.

If you’ve contacted someone about performing or teaching or renting a venue and you don’t get a response, wait little while and then follow up. Unfortunately these days, sometimes people figure that no response is the same as a “no” (you would never do that, Dear Reader, right?), but sometimes people get busy, sometimes things slip through the cracks. 

It can’t hurt to (politely!) remind them of your interest.

These writings and other creative…

Dear Constant Reader,

Twelve years ago today a huge, somewhat scruffy white cat with a rakish scar across his nose walked into our life and changed it forever.

Albert A. Cat touched many people in his time with us, some of whom never even met him.

This is the second Albert Day without our handsome boy. I miss him every day.

If you wish to honor our distinguished gentleman, be kind today. Tell the people and creatures you love that you do. Enjoy your food. Take a nap with a friend. Donate to a cat rescue or…

Dear Constant Reader,

It’s Friday again. Today I have for you wise words from an icon.

“Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet.”
–Mae West

A little critical thinking and independent verification goes a long way.

These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 20 Patrons. Welcome Cmc420! Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page. Or you can just tip me if you liked this.

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday! I’m pretty happy today. Our show in Salem tomorrow, Some Enchanted Evening, is completely sold out! After two shows in new venues, we’re back to our familiar stomping grounds at Deacon Giles Speakeasy Lab.

Also, Monday is my birthday!

Here’s your tip!

When using elastic in your costumes, if possible, make a casing instead of stitching it down.

When the elastic inevitably loses its elasticity, you can easily replace it by opening the casing a little, pulling out the old…

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday! Tomorrow we have the first of our Some Enchanted Evening shows at Naukabout Brewery. It’s sold out! And the 17th at Deacon Giles is sold out too! However, you can still see us at our biggest and fanciest show — Valentine’s Day at Central Wharf Co. Tickets include dinner!

Our theme for the show is magic! The Faerie Queene, my striptease and slight-of-hand act will be making an appearance, and all the BeauTease have learned a few tricks to delight you.

With no further ado…

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday! I can’t believe I haven’t given you this tip before. The subject of false lashes came up today and it made me think of this one:

After applying the adhesive to your eyelashes, give it a little time to set up and get tacky before you apply your lashes.

I usually put on my eye makeup and then apply adhesive to my lashes. I finish the rest of my face and then the lashes are ready.

These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 19 Patrons. Thank you so much…

Dear Constant Reader,

It’s been a very long time since I shared a recipe with you all. I have a bunch of cooking videos at The 365 Kitchen Cabinet project and I’ve been sharing them on Patreon, but not here. Sorry about that…

Anyhow, I made Washington Pie. Despite the name, it’s not pie; it’s cake.

I liked it — it was easy to make, used almost entirely pantry ingredients, and tasted good. What’s not to like?

Enjoy!

These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 19 Patrons. Thank you so…

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday! Here’s a little tip if you are applying to burlesque festivals.

Trim your videos to cut down the introductions.

The selection committee members have to watch a lot of videos and letting them get right to the start of your act will save a bit of time. Even less than a minute per video adds up when they’ve got hundred of videos to go through.

If your video is on YouTube, you can send a link that starts at a specific time so you don’t actually have to edit out the intro. Set…

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday! Sorry for the lack of a tip last week. I was felled by a nasty bug and spent the long weekend swooning in my sick bed, occasionally, but only rarely, accompanied by a cat.

Here’s your tip!

When modifying a paper pattern, trace it first, so you’re not messing with the original.

Tracing paper is very nice for patterning; it’s crisp, and you can see through it, so transferring markings is easy, but it’s a little pricy and the sheets only get so big. For large pattern pieces…

Dear Constant Reader,

We’ve always been a one-cat household. And assumed we would stay that way. However, Bartholomew had other plans. He’s so smart and gets bored so easily. And when he gets bored he gets destructive. In the mornings he would break into the bedroom (and it took over a year and a half to figure out how to install doors that he couldn’t crack) pre-dawn and start knocking things down. Or he would just sit outside the door and howl like the world was coming to an end.

When one of the sleepy…