BONSOIR MES AMIS, VOUS ME MANQUEZ

First, a little background.

This tumblr began as a way for me to keep my ailing parents abreast of my comings and goings, and a way to chronicle their lives to our mutual amusement (they LOVED reading about themselves and seeing their photos and videos on the Internet). But then Dad died and Mom forgot who I was (Alzheimer’s), so it became my little place to think out loud. And as I’m sure you’ve already surmised, I’m somewhat of an A) Voyeur and B) Exhibitionist.

But it has come to my attention that not everybody now reading this tumblr knows me from Jack (he is my husband, Rose is my daughter). So allow me to introduce myself. I am Deirdre. Forty-blah-blah years old. Filmmaker (check A Wink and a Smile) and writer. And a really really big fan of burlesque and martinis. Oh, and currently grappling with brain cancer.

For the past two months, I’ve done something that I haven’t done since I was a teen: I stayed home every night; I watched hours of TV each day; and I drank nothing but water and tea. All this while I took a toxic pounding of six weeks of radiation and chemo-“therapy” and a couple more weeks to absorb said attack. So, last night was the first night I actually felt well enough to paint my face, put on a wig, don a dress, and do what I love most: Go to a show. Specifically: Go to a burlesque show.

And I can’t imagine a sexier more beautiful entry back into the world of the living than at Lily Verlaine’s show La Danse! Le Burlesque! Choreographed in three parts by Kitten LaRue, Olivier Wevers and Lily Verlaine, the show was a humoristique exploration of the sweet and sexy side of life through the filter of musique by Brigitte Bardot, Yves Montand, Hugues LeBars, Serge Gainsbourg and other fabulous French composers and musicians.

Thank you Lily – and all the wonderful performers – for allowing me to shed my recent reality, slip into something a little less comfortable, and fall into a fantasy of erotic ecstasy!