Touched by the Divine...
November 10, 2006

Yes, folks...I shook the hand of the Divine Tim Gunn last night. Turns out he is actually a corporeal being with density and mass. Color me astonished.

Of course, in my typical idiom, my IQ dropped 50 points when I stepped forward to meet him. I was rendered inarticulate. This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone (least of all, to myself). More on that momentarily.

But first, I'd like to share the latest accomplishment in my quest for Incredibly Marketable Resume Skills (/sarcasm):

I drew a Dungeness crab outline freehand on the pumpkin prior to the dive and did all the carving underwater. I'm wearing an AGA mask & reg with full COMS, which meant that I spent 45 minutes hamming it up for a crowd of onlookers while dissing the other divers. After all, competitive underwater pumpkin carving is nothing without a little trash-talking lobbed at your buddies.

The final result:


Shortly after the completion of this magnum opus (on par with the Ghent Alterpiece, obviously), my creation was co-opted by a possessive rockfish. Sheesh, everyone's a critic.

On the upside, I suppose that's about as flattering of a review as one could reasonably expect from seafood.

Apropos of nothing, Dory and Marlin said to say hello.

"Just keep swimming swimming swimming...What do we do, we swim, swim, swim..."


On to more important things:
The Divine Tim Gunn [tm] Visits Seattle

Why bother recapping when a photo journal can do all the work?

1. Pre-event (a.k.a., establishing shots):



Superhaji's TG bobblehead pre-warming Tim's chair. Aren't we considerate fans stalkers?

2. Highlights of the Main Attraction:

Not sure what elicited these reactions. Maybe someone mentioned Vincent's aesthetic?


Total studmuffin.

Angela was also there, looking quite pretty. She has an infectious smile and a lovely, warm manner.


3. The Top Designs: After the INC fashion show, refreshments were served and we could view the winning designs for the S3 challenges, as well as the "final four looks."












Seeing the designs up close made me appreciate the impressive craftsmanship of the finer pieces. You don't get a good sense of it when you're just seeing them on TV.

Macy's held a little reception so customers could browse and buy items from the new INC line. With every purchase of $75+, customers received a gift bag containing a PR T-shirt and the latest issue of Elle magazine. My friend Tayla generously offered hers to BPR for their scholarship fund. I plan to package it with the Nick Verreos autograph and send it to Denmother Extraordinaire Laura K. so she can oversee its sale at auction. Look for it if you'd like some PR mementos from the Emerald City!

4. The Lineup: While in line for autographs, we met Mickey and her mother who'd come up from Tacoma. They were stoked to meet Tim and Angela, and bonded with Superhaji over the shared love for Angry Little Peanut's* winning designs. I began plotting a fashion intervention for both of 'em.

However, the chica was really grooving in that fabulous hair color! It looked quite cute on her. I admit to having a little bit o' "Buy Me Blue" hair envy. Let's face it; I couldn't have pulled off that look 20 years ago, even with a team of personal stylists on retainer. So you go, girl--Work it!


Turns out that Mickey and her mother are huge fans of BPR, and of the PR Gayboys. *Tom and Lorenzo, you're the Santa Ana wildfire of the blogosphere. Mazel tov.

5. The Meet-and-Greet:

Tim signing Supah's Bobblehead. She got her own personalized "Make it Work!" on the side and his autograph on the top of the base.

The bobblehead was quite the superstar attraction. I lost count of how many people stopped her to enthusiastically inquire about it. I noticed a few individuals sizing up whether they could mug it from her in the parking lot. Good thing she kept a close eye on it.

The Seattle market has the largest fan base for Project Runway, but apparently most of 'em aren't blog-saavy. How could so many have been oblivious to the TG Bobblehead phenomenon? I'm guessing they're not checking for Jay McCarroll nose-scratch alerts either. Lame.



And so, my personal PR autograph collection gains a foothold:


Next autograph goals: Jay McCarroll, Austin Scarlett, EMc2, Kaynebow and Robert Best. Heads up kids: If your publicists schedule a Seattle venue, be afraid. Be VERY afraid. Because you're in this otter's proverbial crosshairs.