I
am Captain Val’s muse, and she’s asked me to fill in for her this week. I’m a
little put out as I thought she needed me while she writes her novel’s last
chapters. But, no. I guess she’s sailing solo on this, and I wish her all the
best.
Hurrumph.
As
she’s given me carte blanche to do as I please, I will, thank you very much. I
do believe she has a bit of burnout at this juncture and needs a little fun. As
Steve Jobs (yes, that one) once said, “It’s more fun to be a pirate than to
join the navy.”
And
as I’m quite good as her muse (not unreliable
as she sometimes says, and not MIA
when desperately needed; I mean, honestly, I do try, and it’s not as if I don’t
have a life too), I’ve chosen fashion as my topic this week.
You
see, I’m quite taken by fashion as art, how we find ways to adorn ourselves
without looking like everyone else, which of course is difficult, I know. But I’ve a fondness for
pirates, as you can tell by my choosing Captain Val (FYI: muses choose their
subjects, not the other way around), and pirates love their dress. Yes, yes,
they love their ship, their treasure, the cute little way they speak. But really, look at what they wear!
Now,
here’s an inside bit you may not know about our Captain Val: she was inspired
by one of her very early crushes: Errol Flynn in “Captain Blood.” Was it his
handsome bad-boy looks and behavior? Or is it true that the clothes (or in this
case costumes) make the man? Well, have a look and judge for yourself. (The
song accompanying the video? Perfect!)
Pirates
have been an inspiration for—well, forever! (or as long as I can remember and I’m not that old of a muse) Pirate garb has even shown up on the
New York runways.
As
for pirate costumes, Halloween will soon wrap us in our alter egos, and I’ll
give a little free advert to this site as they have pirate costumes galore and
this might be my fave …
…
although! I do wish this site, Gypsy Moon,
still offered their “World’s End” collection. Ahhh.
For
the serious pirates out there, you will drool over this site from Europe:
Pirates Cave. They offer custom-made pirate wear. Oh, my, I’m so … so …
gobsmacked! To have a chest of gold to buy any of these!
Ah,
but thanks ToBeaPirate.com. More fitting for my purse. I’m rather fond of the
frilly red Mary Read (ai, a pirate herself) set, but, oh, my Captain wouldn’t
be.
She’d dress like the captain she is, although, I happen to know she loves
the romantic look when she’s ashore, and this happens to be her favorite for
being at court.
Oh,
good heavens and North Star! I must fly. I’m late. I’m never late, well, not
often, but right now, I must be off and let my captain once again take over her
log. She’s promised to give you some juicy stuff in the next two weeks,
including the interview with Jan Eliot, another pirate of the comic sort.
To
you who love the swashbuckling life, I say adieu, and confess that if I had my way, I’d choose this swashbuckler
for an amusing time.
I
hope you’ve enjoyed this fun little escape and as my captain often says, if we
don’t have fun once in awhile, we can’t possibly be good at our jobs, now, can
we. Until I'm called to rescue her again,
Creative
Cravings and Amusing Musings to You!
From the Captain
Thank
you, muse. As always, you either cheer me up or I can’t locate you (yes, honey,
you do go MIA, but not often; I
understand, really I do). But today, I’m back in fine fettle and have a few
questions for my shipmates.
Have
you had fun lately? Have you played with your muse?
And what would you name my muse? She seems quite lovely here,
doesn’t she? I won’t, however, in the future let her take over the ship when
she’s … cough … not so sweet and, let’s say, obliging.
But
what, pray, is a muse without a name? I do have a name for her, but I’d like to
see if you can guess it or top mine. If you do, there’s a surprise in me
treasure chest for you.
A
clue about her name: she’s named after a
pirate who hasn’t been mentioned in this log. If you can’t guess it now, I’m
gobsmacked.
COMING UP!
More News and Confirmed Gossip from the Writing World
What it Takes to be a Writer
And … an unusual
interview with cartoonist Jan Eliot
of “Stone Soup”
