This Is The Moment....

The time has come, dear GingerSnaps, to share the thoughts that have been consuming Miss Ginger for the last few months.  This has been a very painful time for Miss G, with a lot of emotional writhing, and even a few tears.  But, today is the day that she puts it all behind her and moves forward with her life.


Miss Ginger, after much consideration, has withdrawn her membership from her beloved Krewe of Olympus.  She can write about it now because it is done. The email went out today. She pushed the button, pulled the trigger, fired the shot... whatever you want to call it. It's done.


She didn't want to do it. She LOVED the Krewe, and what it stood for, and tried very hard to make her time there mean something. She worked hard for the organization, and supported it's missions and endeavors, and still does. But she just can't be there anymore. It's just no fun!


Like any family, there were always disagreements, and Miss Ginger often found herself trying to be the voice of reason, the peacemaker of the family, if you will. It never worked.  The 2 sides of that "family" were more like the Hatfields and the McCoys, and the more Miss Ginger tried to pull them together, the more they pushed apart. She just couldn't take it any more.  She's like a child whose parents have divorced: so sad that the family is breaking up, but so happy that the yelling and fighting will stop.  And as for her feelings about the Krewe, I think that's like a lot of those divorced parents:  "I love them. I will ALWAYS love them. I just can't LIVE with them!"  How often have we heard that?!


There are those that may not be happy that Miss Ginger has chosen to share this with you, dear GingerSnaps, but you deserve to know. Most of you are distanced from all of this drama anyway, and those of you who are close to it will just have to understand Miss Ginger's need to share. Or not. It is a risk that she's willing to take. But regardless of where anyone sits, all of you who know me and love me know that I did everything I could do to improve my relationship this group, but ultimately, I had to leave. It just wasn't for me any longer.  The members that remain will be able to move forward with their plans, whatever they may be, unfettered by Miss Ginger's attempts to keep the group current, and connected, and going the direction she wanted to see it go.


Miss Ginger thought she would be happy today, but she is not. Nor is she sad. She's just calm. Calm and strangely rested. Man, that's a feeling she hasn't felt in a long time. It feels good!  Because, regardless of what's to come, it's done.  This is the moment Miss G takes her life back!

I Can See Clearly Now....

... the Reign is gone! 


But, let me make one thing PERFECTLY clear!  I am still, and ALWAYS will be, Queen Olympus XLI !!!  But, after as spectacular ball last night, Queen G is totally ready to pass the reign on to QOXLII !

As called for by protocol, after the Ball Captain is presented and seated, the show begins as the audience rises to welcome the reigning King and Queen- moi!  


The ball theme this year was "Mythology", chosen by this year's captain, and the reigning King and Queen were presented as the Ice King and Queen from Norse Mythology,  as chosen by last year's captain, the captain who crowned us!  Queen G was thrilled with the choice and had a blast with the concept! Framed by wreaths of glittering snowflakes in a frosty-cool palette, we entered to greet our adoring guests and be toasted by this year's captain!


The presentation came off without a hitch, which is pretty miraculous, since, the week before the ball, Queen Ginger's MRI revealed that she has not 1, but 5 herniated disks in her spine!!  Certainly, carrying all that snow on her back would not have been prudent, so a team of attendants was assembled to handle the issue.  It's good to be a Queen!  And, in a show of gallantry, as not to make his Queen feel singled out, King Tony chose to have his back piece carried as well, to keep the presentation balanced.  Chivalry is not dead in the royal world of make believe!

Queen Ginger looked resplendent, if she does say so herself, in a gown of her own design and creation, made of sequined lace, faux ermine, and enough silver and blue satin to cover a quarter of a football field- seriously!  There are 27 yards of fabric in that outfit, and it turned out EXACTLY like she wanted!  Just goes to show- if you want something done right, sometimes  you just gotta do it yourself!! Her makeup continued the icy theme, with blue lips and a blush of blue on the cheeks.  BTW, they don't make blue blush, so the Queen had to make that herself, as well!

There was a face in the crowd that many of you will recognize!  That's right, biotches- Chloe Dao, or Project Runway fame, was one of the many well-heeled Houstonians who came out that night to share the Mardi Gras madness with Queen Ginger and the Krewe!  

What a time King Tony and I had watching the ball from our seats on the proscenium, as costume after costume parade down the floor solely for our entertainment!  Of course, we shared the fun with a ballroom full of almost 1,000 of our closest, most personal friends!  By the time the show was ending, we realized we could have partied all night, but soon enough if was time to reveal our successors,  King and Queen Olympus XLI, who were presented at the Royalty of the Myans.

It is, of course, bittersweet, to hand over the realm to the new regime, but Queen Ginger was very pleased to bow to her new Queen and one of her dearest friends, who shall jokingly be referred to on these pages as QEXBF!  


So, the new King and Queen will have their hands full running the day to day activities of the realm, and preparing their return to preside over Ball XLIII, while Queen Ginger will bask in her retired glory!!




Good news is, she'll have much more time to keep all of her loyal GingerSnaps posted on what's going on in her FABULOUS world!

Incredibly Busy!!

WTF?!  Queen Ginger is just not important enough to be THIS busy!!!
So much has been going on that Lady G just doesn't know where to begin!

First of all, it had been HEINOUSLY hot here in Texas this summer!  And DRY!!  In this soggy, humidity-ridden part of the state, we have actually been asked to ration water and reduce our dependence on electrical energy! The City of Houston has given us specific watering days (Sunday and Thursday for you detail queens!) and  ERCOT  has warned of record weekend usage, possibly requiring rolling blackouts over the weekend!  How will Miss G dry her luxurious red hair?


Additionally, social obligations have been off the charts!  It started with the HRC Gala at the beginning of the summer, and it hasn't let up yet! Last weekend was the Krewe's Trash Disco Party, and Queen G is STILL soaking her feet from all of that "boogying" and such!


 On top of the social obligations, Boy G has been INSANELY busy at work, all in a good way, but there's never any rest for the winners!  Southern Decadence will be a "no go" for the G's this year... WAY too much going on, and too insanely hot to even consider attending! It's been a while since she's missed it, but this year, it's not in the cards!


And on top of all else,  the Queen decided her carriage did not befit a sovereign of her stature, so she has spent much of her online time as of late considering the options for new royal conveyance.

She's landed upon a model named after Amurca's 16th President,  and Queen G is proud to "Ride Amurcan", even though she knows it was assembled in Canada, from parts made in Malaysia!  But the engine and transmission were made in Amurca, dammit, hand assembled with loving care by migrant workers from Mexico!  It's as Amurcan as apple pie! 




Lest my dear sister DD think she is going to get a ride to Gristedes after my trip through the tunnel (above), that is NOT the CDQG (Carriage de Queen Ginger)!  Her's is a more royal bronze tone, with a limited interior only found on a a select few vehicles!  And ALL Royal Carriages MUST be named, so look forward to a photo tomorrow so you can share your opinion of a title befitting such a luxurious machine!

Speaking of luxurious, Miss Ginger finally got a tour of the FABULOUS new Legacy Montrose Clinic she has been working so hard to help fund! Actually, "luxurious" is probably not an appropriate word to describe the practical, efficient facility that has been built to LEED compliance, but for the Legacy staff that has been scattered across the far-flung, under-spaced facilities, I'm sure it will feel like a dream come true!  Not to mention the clients, who will now have comfortable, spacious, private waiting rooms reserved for their specific needs!  There are separate facilities for primary care, eye care, dental care, pediatric care, behavioral care... 3 floors of care, plus administrative offices all in one place!  Both Queen Ginger and Boy Ginger could not be prouder of the "baby" they have worked so hard to produce, along with countless others in the Houston community who understand the need for this crucial care!


If you're so inclined,  plan on attending the Grand Opening ceremony on October 16th!  Miss G is pretty sure she can score you a VIP tour!!


So, our busy gurl gets to put on her scrubs tomorrow and help Boy G clean out the garage!  We can't expect that beautiful machine to bake in the hot Texas sun now, can we?!

Happy Pride from Queen Ginger Grant!

I trust all the GingerSnaps across the globe had a festive weekend as we celebrated Pride around the world!  


New York City gets the "Pride Prize" this year for giving us the greatest reason to celebrate!  Best wishes to all my 'Snaps in the Empire State, especially to David Dust and Franky G!  Auntie Ginger can't wait to come up and babysit the ADORABLE children you will have!


Here in H-town we had our typical, if not enlarged, Gay Pride Celebration!  A few die-hard members of the Krewe pulled together a float for King Tony and Queen G to ride, even if enthusiasm from the general membership seemed lacking!  Queen Ginger can always count on her lesbians to make sure she is duly honored!  We had a great time waving to the crowd and throwing glorious pearl necklaces to all the handsome hotties we saw in the crowd!   I've heard a crowd estimate of about 250,000,  which is a lot when you consider the prevailing political views in Texas!  I think it just goes to show what a farce our political system can be, when the direction taken by our leadership so clearly does not reflect public opinion!!  

After a long day of prepping and parading, Queen Ginger gave her new breathing machine QUITE a workout today!  3- count them- three (!) naps today borders on ridiculous!!  

But, my Dr. will know about all three of them TOMORROW thanks to the built-in wireless telstar uplink on Queen G's new machine! 














So, GingerSnaps. how did YOU celebrate Pride? And more importantly, how many naps did YOU take the next day?

Miss Ginger's First Prom!

That's right, dear 'Snaps, Miss Ginger never went to prom in high school.  You will all be shocked to learn, I'm sure, that Miss G was "the class fag", the one who was picked on in the hallways, mocked in gym class, and otherwise ostracized by all but a select few friends in high school.  Miss Ginger couldn't WAIT until 3pm each day so she could escape those terrorist boors, so there certainly is no reason why she would want to get all dolled up on a Friday night and watch them drink themselves silly on hootch they stole from their parent's liquor cabinet. Just not Miss G's scene.


So how ironic is it that on the exact same night that Miss G's    
old gang meets for their 30 year high school reunion, Miss G gets to go to her first prom! And with one of her favorite people, no less, Ms. MB, of OCD landscaping fame!   


At one point Miss G actually contemplated going to the reunion, but her discovery that 2 of the people she would have actually enjoyed seeing wouldn't be there reduced the number of people she might want to see to 3, and one of them she sees all the time in NOLA.  That, coupled with an unfortunate facebook interaction she had with some unfortunate coonass girl who's name was probably Tammy, made her decide she'd rather spend her time volunteering.


So what a fortunate coincidence that the kids from HATCH were having their prom on the same night, and Queen Ginger was invited to represent the Krewe!  HATCH is a wonderful organization here in Houston, hosted by the Montrose Counseling Center, that allows young people to explore their sexual orientation and gender identity in a respectful, safe, and protected environment.  While other kids are at career fairs deciding what the want to be when they grow up, the HATCH kids are busy determining WHO they want to be when they grow up! It's a crucial decision for GLBTQ teens, and unfortunately, a decision some don't survive long enough to make.  

So the Queen, along with the Float Lieutenant, Vice President, and Secretary of the Krewe had a great time watching the kids have a great time!  It was certainly one of the most "colorful" things Miss G has ever seen, with girls, boys, gurls, boiz, queens, kings, and one young person designated as "Rainbow" on his or her shirt that Miss G could only label as "fabulous"!  There were kids from all walks of life, all colors of skin, and all different angles of the diversity rainbow when it comes to orientation and gender identity.  Once group of biological girls, who called themselves "The Gendermen", did a little lipsync performance dressed as bees, and they were just adorable!  2 different Lady Gagettes, one almost 7 feet tall with her shoes on, came together for an impromptu GaGa duet of "Bad Romance" that had the whole crowd on their feet!  Seeing kids with somewhere to go where they could be themselves, dress as they want, and act however they want to was pretty amazing.  Queen Ginger looks forward to doing more work with the HATCH kids, and looks forward to the next time she's asked to interview the students for the Youth Scholarship Fund.  It's great to be able to help kids find their way to becoming happy, stable, successful adults!

The Year has Started!

The new year starts today for the Krewe of Olympus- Texas, Inc, with the election of new officers!  We are truly Mardi Gras TEXAS-style this year, with 3 of our officers living in other cities! In addition to Houston, we now have Dallas, Fort Worth, and Austin on the board!  With Skype, email, and Southwest Airlines, who says we all have to be in the same city?!!


Last night, King Tony and Queen Ginger had a whirlwind night, beginning with the Krewe's Campaign party, at Chez Ginger.  The campaign part is where we all get together to booze and schmooze, and the members who have announced their candidacy bring "groceries" to bribe the members for their votes!  It's all in fun, and a great chance for the candidates to share their vision for the upcoming year!




King T and Queen G snuck out early to head over to "Bringin' in the Green", a St. Patrick's day fund raiser for the Montrose Counseling Center.  Once the social hour was over, our royals headed over to the Brazos River Bottom to check out the Mr, Ms, and Miss BRB contest, and wish our dear friend Aurora Briar the best on her step-down.  


Tomorrow, the Krewe hosts it's Appreciation Party to show our love to all in the community who support hour endeavor!  It's always a lot of fun, and our first chance to watch the video recording of the event with our guests!


After that, a day in the office and then in the air again to Baton Rouge!  It's been since December that Boy G hasn't had a business trip, but now the twice-monthly travels begin again!  


With the election of Ball Captain, next year's theme is secured! Now, you KNOW Queen Ginger is not going to spill the beans, especially during her return year!  This year, Queen G and King T will have the entire year to plan and execute the costume and presentation, to create the most extravagant, over-the-top return for the ball over which they will reign!  It also gives you far-flung GingerSnaps a full year to save your pennies and plan your travel- if you ever thought someday you'd want to see one of Miss G's balls  Mardi Gras shindigs, this would be the year to come!  There's room at Chez Ginger- first come, first served!! Ball XLII will be February 11th, 2012, at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Hope to see you all there!

What a Week!

Miss Queen Ginger has not had a week this busy in forever- thank goodness!  It has left her exhausted an ready for the weekend!


It started with a huge meeting and store walk Tuesday morning..... at butt-crack:30 in the morning....  in Outer Mongolia!  Queen G hates the 'burbs, and she is NOT a morning person, so she was pretty weary before it even started!


The meeting went well, and the day ended early, so our girl was able to make it to the "topping off" ceremony (insert sophomoric comment here!) for the new Legacy Community Health Services building in Montrose. In a years' old steelworkers tradition, a tree is cut and placed at the top of the steel support structure of a construction site when the framework reaches its pinnacle with no injuries to the workers. 

Being the lifegivers that the folks at Legacy are, all living things were spared in their ceremony, so instead of having a chopped down pine tree stuck into the roofline, these clever healthcare professionals acquired a living oak, which they hoisted to the rooftop to celebrate the occasion. Eventually, the tree will join a bank of others that were spared in the planning of the building to create a beautiful, shaded landscape in the community!

It really is a beautiful, large tree, and sure enough, they hoisted that mother up there and placed it at the top of the building!  

Boy G got to mingle with the gliterati of the day, including Chree Boydstun, Legacy's Chief Development Officer and one of Ginger's biggest fans here in Houston!  After several many glasses of vino, poured by an incredibly cute flock of cater waiters, Queen G and the brood headed over to Cavatore's to drool over Federico and enjoy some delish, low-carb delights! It was a low-key, belated birthday celebration and a fabu time on a Tuesday night.














The next day, Boy G spent the day in the "Learning and Development Center" basement downtown, drinking koolaid developing and practicing corporate BS useful  skills for 11 long hours!  After that, the Krewe had a board meeting scheduled, and that came forth with more drama than a "Real Housewives of Rupaul's Drag Race" episode! 


Finally, today came, with another early start, but also an early finish!  Boy G is washing and packing and prepping for the venture to NOLA tomorrow to celebrate Mardi Gras in high-gay French Quarter style!  It looks like it's going to be a warm, sunny weekend in NOLA, so watch this spot for pics of dicks and lots of hot shirtless guys whoring for beads earning scholarship money!

It's Good to Be the Queen!!!

One of the best things about being Queen of the Krewe is "call-ups"!!  Yasee, at the end of the Ball, after the King and Queen are revealed, the Krewe has "call-ups", where the newly named King and Queen "call up" representatives from various community organizations to be "recognized" by the new royalty.  The best part of all? They almost always bring PRESENTS!! 

Queen Ginger LOVES presents, so she was SO excited that today finally arrived and she and King Tony got to open the presents that have been piled on her dining room table since the ball!!

The first present revealed was the present Queen Ginger presented to King Tony,  which was a custom-made sash to wear at "state obligations".  Queen G made them by hand, and as you can see in this photo, Prince Jackson found them quite cozy!

As the gifts were presented, Queen Kaylynn, QOXXXVIII assumed the role of Royal Scribe and recorded the gifts and their generous donors so appropriate thank yous can be penned and posted!

There were many, many, lovely and thoughtful gifts from Krewe members and community organizations,  and the Royalty were overwhelmed by the generosity and good wishes from the Krewe and community at large!

Prince Jackson and Princess Shelby were particularly appreciative of the gifts bestowed upon their Daddy and Tante Tonya, and had a great time playing in the discarded wrappings and ribbons!












Once the gifting was complete, we retired to the back garden to enjoy a few more cocktails and discuss our ambitions for the Krewe's upcoming year!!

For those of you out of town Ginger Snaps, mark Feb 11th, 2012 on your Calendars for the presentation of Ball XLII, our 42nd tableau!!  This is the ball presented in honor of Queen G and King T,  so you KNOW the return Royalty presentation will knock you socks off!!  Start saving your pennies NOW so you can make it southward for this momentous occasion!

Congratulations to the Krewe of Bacchus!

What a FABULOUS weekend Queen Ginger and King Tony have had this weekend with the Krewe of Bacchus!!

Friday night, Queen G checked into the fabulous Palm Suite at the Tremont House hotel on Galveston Island, napped a bit, and then met up with King Tony and Captain Bill upon their arrival.  After a quick bite at the hotel,  we headed out to explore the bars in Glaveston, most notably, Robert's Lafitte,  where we knew there was certain to be a drag show of dubious quality!  Never to disapoint, we were treated to the "Miss Lafitte's Sweetheart" pagaent, and, as expected, discovered that, among the 4 contestants, there were probably about only 3 healthy teeth to share!  We're not sure what it is about Galveston Island, but if you are a drag queen of questionable dental health and you don't live here, you might as well start packing... you will end up her eventually!

After an "interesting" night of drag entertainment,  our royal threesome awoke to enjoy breakfast at the hotel,  where they reviewed the latest edit of the ball video with Captain Bill.  After a bit of liesurely shopping on the Strand, we had a yummy lunch,  and then retired to our respective chambers for a pre-ball nap!

The evening began with a cocktail party here in the lobby of the Tremont,  where Our Royal Majesties had their first audience with the new Bacchus Royalty, Queen Bacchus I.  We also got to meet King Bacchus I, as well as Bacchus I, the official representation of Bacchus, in effect, the Krewe's "mascot", for lack of a better term.  All were lovely and cordial, and appreciative of our rather large envoy from the big city to the beachy island!

After a couple of drinks at the bar,  our entourage paraded about 2 blocks down the Strand to the Galveston Railroad Museum,  as stunning preservation project to save an incredibly beautiful Art Deco station, as well as a collection of actual locomotives, cars, and equipment chronicling the golden age of rail travel.  The ball was a beuatiful affair, with a live band, plentiful cocktails, and a delicious buffet catered by Chopin of Galveston!

After supper,  visiting dignitaries were invited to the floor for a rather undignified dance contest,  where Queen G and King Tony won the prize for their respectable minuette!  No bump and grind for this royalty!  If Miss G is gonna represent,  she's gonna REPRESENT!! 

Once the ball was over,  our Royal Entourage headed to Stars Beach Club,  were they were treated to yet another drag show, and more face time with many of the beautiful people who had attended the ball!  It was  FABULOUS evening, and Queen G is suitably exhasuted and ready for a good night's rest!

Queen Ginger's First "Diplomatic" Function

Miss Ginger is so excited that she and King Tony, along with Captain Bill, are headed off on our first tour of duty as ambassadors for the Krewe of Olympus!  We are going to Galveston this weekend to mask with the Krewe of Bacchus!  The Bacchus ball is a more traditional bal masque, so we will be wearing our coronation vestments once again. Queen G hopes to get some better pictures for you this time, and because she will have a bit more time to get ready,  she's hoping to have a better face painted  this time,  too!


Bacchus is a new Krewe, and their very first King and Queen will be reigning over the ball!  Queen Ginger and King Tony are VERY excited to be welcoming a "sister" Krewe to the Texas Mardi Gras landscape- hopefully, there will be more to come!!

The weekend begins at Galveston's historic Tremont House Hotel, where Queen G will take residence beginning Friday night.  This FABULOUS hotel,  built in 1879, is also the starting point for Saturday evening's events, with a cocktail party in the hotel bar.  Then, at 6:30 pm,  a saxophone band will parade to the Railroad Museum, with the ball guests falling in second line behind! A "second line" is an impromptu group that follows behind a parade,  with the original, permitted group referred to as the "main line".  "Second lining", as it has now been verbed,  is quite common in New Orleans,  where parades often disrupt one's route on a regular basis during Lent.  Often, the only way for one to get to their destination is to fall in "second line" and tag behind the parade until it leads to where you are going! 


Anyho, Queen G and King Tony will join the second line and parade down the streets of Galveston to the historic Galveston Railroad Museum, where the ball will take place.  Miss G has never been to this museum, but as you know, she loves her some choo choo's, so she's really looking forward to it! 


Other than Saturday night, it should be a relaxing weekend, which this old Queen really needs!!  Maybe a mani and pedi on Saturday, and perhaps a massage, but that's about the extent of her planning!  


What are you GingerSnaps doing this weekend? 

So the Reign Begins!

Queen Ginger is rested up from a VERY busy and exciting weekend,  and has taken the time to snag a few pics from various facebook albums to let some of you far flung Ginger Snaps see what Mardi Gras is all about!  So, here's a recap of the night:


Unlike a Bal Masque, where guests participate in the costuming- much like a British "Fancy Dress Party- the Krewe of Olympus stages a Bal Tableau for the pleasure of the reigning King and Queen. The "official" purpose of the party is to entertain the royalty, but it pleases them to share this with their subjects, so guests at a Tableau Ball, in formal attire, are seated at the extravagantly decorated tables of their Krewe Member hosts. 


The Olympus Ball, by tradition, begins with the blowing of the Captain's Whistle, signalling the start of the Ball. The Captain's Whistle, by the way, has been passed down from Captain to Captain since 1970, and is a special treasure of the Krewe.  Having survived so many drunken parties, it is as temperamental as some of our members, so now we always keep a spare handy in case it chooses not to blow! After the signing and signing of the National Anthem, the opening chorus takes to the stage to set the theme for the ball.  


This year,  "museum guards", with their obligatory flashlights, were so busy scanning the audience looking for trouble, that they failed to notice a band of notorious "art thieves" trying to abscond with their collection.  Upon trying to take the biggest prize, an enormous pink jewel, they are foiled by it's protective systems, the alarm sounds, and mayhem ensues as the guards try to thwart the theft. Ultimately, however, the guards are tied up by the thieves, just in  time for their leader, the Pink Panther (Captain Bill) to take to the stage to assess the progress of his minions.  

The jewel is freed from it's protections so the Pink Panther can easily grab what his minions were unable to obtain! Once he has the jewel, he quickly leaves the stage as the guards return from their capture, discover the loss, and begin the search for the missing treasure.  Captain Bill returns to the stage as Inspector Clouseau, jewel in hand, and returns it to it's vitrine so the ball can continue!

Once the  Ball Captain is seated in his place of command,  the Reigning Royalty returns to enjoy the show. King Dwane and Queen Randy, as Nicholas and Alexandra, greet the masses, and then take their thrones onstage to enjoy the show.

During the Ball, the reigning Royalty and the Captain are the only Krewe members seated to see the show.  Everyone else is backstage, either preparing their costume for presentation, helping others get in costume, or managing curtain calls, sound cues, and all of the other details it takes to create such a production. Per the Krewe's bylaws, each member is allowed to present one "major costume" in the ball, although they may play "bit parts" to support other presentations, and most participate in the chorus numbers,  as well. Some member choose not to present a major costume, but participate as stage hands, set builders, and seamstresses.  Every person contributes something to make the show a success!

The only Krewe members that present 2 major costumes are yours truly and her consort, the new royalty.  Because our identity is a closely guarded secret that is only revealed to the Krewe members the morning of the ball, the new royalty are required to create "decoy" costumes keep Krewe members from surmising our identity because there is nothing being built in our garages!

King Tony's decoy costume was the Chasing Rainbows Museum at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.  

As you know by now, Miss Ginger appeared as Elvis- the fat postage stamp Elvis that appeared in Vegas, not the young movie star Elvis that Miss G could never pull off.


I'm sure the irony is not lost the the Queen went as "the King", and the King appeared as 'The Queen of Country Music"!














After the Elvis presentation,  Miss G had about one hour to transform from "the King" into the Queen of pre-revolutionary France! 


Meanwhile, what visit to a museum would be complete with the requisite field trip children, being corralled by a group of frazzled teachers? 

Being the coastal South, and Mardi Gras, of course our school is Catholic,  and our rainbow nuns had their hands full as they tried to prevent their screaming schoolkids from giggling at the appendages on the various statues!

After the museum visit,  the school children grab their lunchboxes and take to the audience to collect donations for our designated charities!

Meanwhile, it's almost time to reveal King and Queen Olympus XLI to the world!  Just a few more costumes are being presented as we are getting suited up for our reveal to the world!

We first appear in a cloud of fog, with Swarovzki-crystalled masks concealing our faces.

Representing le Chateau de Versailles, we are wearing costumes inspired by the artworks featured on our backpieces.

This painting of Marie in her coronation robes was created by Jacques-Fabien Gautier d'Agoty, who, interestingly enough, was most famous for his morbid paintings of human anatomy!  A glittered representation adorns the backpiece, and the dress was custom made by an Easter European seamtress with hand-stitched details!

By another Krewe tradition, the Royalty select attendants to serve them on stage, as well as to ensure we don't become entangled in those 16 foot trains!!  It is considered to be an honor to attend the new royalty, and I was thrilled to have 2 of my dearest friends in the Krewe onstage with me!

After the reveal,  we proceed down the ball floor to greet the Captain who crowned us, and receive toasts from him in the beautiful jeweled crystal goblets that are his gift to us.

Once the toast is complete,  we return to our positions to receive King and Queen Olympus XL as they step down from the throne and greet the audience for the last time as King and Queen.

When they leave the stage, our reign begins as we receive members of various community organizations, many of whom bring gifts to show their esteem.  They are each presented with a gift from us, as well.  Then entire Krewe then comes to be received in the Grand March, and then in open court we receive members of the community at large.  


Because we get to do whatever we want, and because we had not had an opportunity to rehearse court positioning anyway,  the "ceremony" just sort of deteriorated into a big l party on the ball floor at that point, with lots of hugs, a few tears,  and many well-wishes from the crowd!  It may have seemed like bedlam to Marie, but to Queen Ginger it was exactly the way she wants to receive her subjects-  at a high-sprited party with a cocktail in hand!!


There was a bit of confusion about the scheduling of the after party, but it all turned out fine as King Tony and Queen Ginger arrived at the Hilton Hotel to discover many of their well wishers right there in the lobby bar.  So Queen Ginger,  in hoop-skirt drag with whiteface makeup and a pompadour on her head,  continued to hold court until midnight, at which point a very tired queen retired to her chambers!!


There's lot's more to tell, and lots more to show,  but Queen G suspects you GingerSnaps need a rest from all this Royal talk for a bit!


PS:  How do you like the new blog header?!


Love to all!!!    QOXLI  !

Elvis Has Left the Building!

The ball is over and the cat's out of the bag. The theme this year was museums, and Miss Ginger was inspired by Nutwood Beth's post about the Googie Signage museum in Las Vegas, and this was the result! The sign lit and the star flashed, and everything was controlled by switches in the microphone.  It was a fun costume and the crowd really seemed to like it.  Miss G brought it home intact, so she's going to wire it to a 12 volt transformer and use it as garden art! 




As always, King and Queen Olympus are revealed at the end of the ball.  So here is QOXLI:

That's right, dear Ginger Snaps!  Your own Miss Ginger Grant has been named Queen of the Mardi Gras for the Krewe of Olympus, Texas, Inc!  This is her reveal photo as Marie Antionette!!  More later- the Queen's presence is required at her first state event- brunch in her honor!  More later!!