After a Fashion

Linda Wetherby, your Style Avatar, Amos Ewing, and Charlotte Herzele camp it up. (Courtesy of Charlotte Herzele)

DINNER It was all the fault of that dangerous blonde Jessica McMillen. The woman simply cannot be trusted to provide a safe, staid evening. She had invited me to attend Charlotte Herzele's dinner party as part of Project Transitions annual Guess Who's Coming to Dinner series. Imagine carnivorous little me at a vegan dinner party: It boggles the mind, I know. I was totally intimidated by the thought of it and prepared early by having a heaping plate of bacon and eggs for breakfast and then swinging by Taco Bell on the way there. Convinced that I'd be served some limp greens with a side of gravel and sticks, I knew I'd need a Taco Supreme to fortify myself. Charlotte chose the title of the party – A Flight of Fantasy and Faith: Nothing Is as It Seems (aka Nothing With a Face, Nothing With a Mother). And indeed, nothing was as it seemed. Herzele's house has been under renovation for some time, and knowing it would not be completed before the party, she incorporated the under construction theme as well by providing hard hats for her guests – hats designed, made, and signed especially by the fabulous Kim Dallesandro and her husband, the legendary Warhol superstar Joe Dallesandro. An additional contribution to Project Transitions (www.projecttransitions.org) insured that we got to take the hats home with us. So, now I have my own Warhol original – after a fashion. The food was sumptuous and scrumptious, which completely surprised me. I didn't even have to reach for the package of lunch meat I had hidden in the pocket of my dinner jacket. Prepared by Herzele's daughter Juniper Tedhams of Manhattan, the food was definitely not what it seemed, nor was the decor, also done by Tedhams (www.junipertedhams.com). Everything was silly and fun, with former Esther's Follies entertainers Linda Wetherby, Amos Ewing, and Lyova Rosanoff cracking jokes, playing music, and singing. It was a spectacular evening, one of many going on across the city that night to help a great charity.

NETWORK I've joined so many social networking sites that I could easily spend the entire day keeping up with minutia of all my friends ... and their friends. I'd never have time left for important things like networking in person. I graduated from MySpace to Facebook some time ago, stumbling into LinkedIn along the way. Spending as much time on the Internet as I do, it was easy for me to help my friend Mark Erwin fine-tune his new social networking site, Standard Answer (www.standardanswer.com). The site is made fun by being able to share as much information as you want about yourself in a series of provocative, entertaining, and informative questions. You can either choose a standard answer or post your own. Users can also select categories from which to pose questions themselves and can also build communities around the data available – say, a community of men over 30 who drive '57 Thunderbirds or whatever criteria they want to establish. Being based here in Austin, the site offers a particular slant for local users and eventually there will be a great deal of information available about Austin and Austinites. Should be fascinating to see where this goes; it already has members across the globe.

AGENDA Sunday, March 1, 6pm at the Dell Jewish Community Center, the Animal Trustees of Austin present their annual fundraiser, Petcasso. I was at the first one of these events a couple of years ago, and it has really blossomed into something cool, with art done by the pets of interesting people. Sheryl Crow, Sara Hickman, and Ray Benson are all names who have contributed art from their pets in the past, and this year should be a bounty year with a painting done by Gay Gaddis' two horses.

SOUND OF THE WEEK The sound dogs' tags make when they are drinking out of a bowl. I can replicate that sound with my jewelry.

NOTES Need something for your sweetie on Valentine's Day? Try W3LL People for great ideas, Wildflower Organics is having a fabulous little Valentine's event, Urban Animal offers amazing training classes, Giacomo Forbes offers hair and beauty packages at his women-only hair studio, Vickmay Skin and Body Spa has fabulous packages of relaxation and primping, and Amelia's RetroVogue & Relics has terrific little vintage pieces for your loved one.