My friend Mr. K. just sent me this cute magazine cover from a recent pic. I love stuff like this and remember secretly glancing at those old true crime magazines when I was a kid, though I never had the nerve to actually pick one up. Oh, and yes, my captors really did feel no shame as they felt me up – no shame at all!

I’m planning to shoot some new pictures with Cincher very soon so I’ve been doing some shopping to get a few new outfits. I went out to the mall this morning and got a couple things at Burlington Coat Factory (one of my favorites, especially for jewelry) and then worked up the nerve to go check out Forever 21. Stores like that that cater to “Juniors” (that is, teens and early twenties), I find rather intimidating, since I’m, well, solidly middle-aged and, yeah, a guy. So I always fake it and try to pretend I’m relaxed and belong there and usually it goes well enough. Once I find something that’s promising, the nerves tend to drop considerably and I can focus on the task at hand. The girl in the store who asked if I needed help was very cool, so that helped. I only found one tight banded skirt which I think will work pretty well, and also some jewelry, but it’s always good to shop in places I find a bit scary as it makes next time that much easier. Their clothes are so inexpensive too that even if the stuff didn’t fit I probably wouldn’t even bother returning them, but would just give them away to Goodwill or to a friend. I also checked out DressBarn (a little too frumpy) and a few other places; was going to check out BCBGMaxAzria but – whoa! – they are super expensive.

So anyway, just another morning wandering around the mall. I *kind* of like going there although it can be a little lonely too going from store to store, especially if I’m not finding much. Last week I stopped by a local thrift store and actually did much better, finding a nice tight brown dress with shoulder pads – I thought they might be too much but the look actually worked and I’ll probably wear it when I see Cincher. Ross was also a good recent stop – always a mixed bag with that store but sometimes when it clicks I can get that shopper’s high for an hour or two.

I love karaoke because it’s a rare chance to cut loose from my usual inhibitions. The disappointing thing is that I’m not a particularly good singer, and in fact can be rather piercing and nasally when I’m at my worst. But even so, it can be a lot of fun to just go for it. If anyone’s interested I might post some videos at some point but they are rather wince-inducing for me to watch. Here’s some frame grabs, though, taken by my friend AmberKatt, with me in that favorite greenish-blue blouse from last night at my favorite karaoke place, The Santa Fe Tavern in Denver with super-cool Spaceman Mike! as the DJ. The songs were, in the first picture, “Surrender” by Cheap Trick and in the other two pics, “Lust for Life” by Iggy Pop.