FINALLY!!!!!!! The Taiwanese Tearsheets!!!

I should be ashamed of myself, I know...for making everyone wait so long to see these beauts. I am also beyond ashamed that I cannot find the catalogs tears of me posing in various, divine polyester blend outfits on inflatable furniture....the stuff Versace could have only dreamed of, may he rest in peace.

To make up for some of this (and I will be self flagellating a la old school religion, if that helps any) here are some of the tearsheets I scrounged up from my last season in Taipei....lots of work but I dug it. Workaholic that I am. ;)

Yes, this was a wig, and YES I LOVED IT!



Taiwan was great for my magazine cover repertoire....I was the Teen Cheese Smile Champ on the Isle of Formosa:



(I may have posted this one before...I can't remember which season I got this cover in...but it fits in with the afore mentioned title...)



And from the teen queen look I would go directly to the Ladies Fashion genre....







And throw in some ad campaigns with the super HOT bowl cut:



As well as some more ad campainage in which I stare adoringly at a pair of miniscule mules....



I have to say that one thing I adored about working in Taipei is that I never knew what I was going to end up looking like at the end of a job. Sometimes I looked 15 and sometimes 35, sometimes I would look like Anime, and other times I would look like an starstruck Liz Hurley....but it was all good. I played dress up a lot as a little girl...so I guess I had a lot of practice when it came time to start W O R K I N!

WTF????

Oh, my good lord....I just realized that I have all but abandoned this blog. TWO MONTHS since my last post? Now that is just scandalous. I must admit that life has been insane, busy, immune system impairing....but I was just digging through box of old modeling pics for a career day presentation at my son's preschool and then remembered that I left you all hanging with a promise of pics from my last stint in Taipei. Well....wait no longer. Tomorrow will deliver those hot as hell shots to ya!

Muah!

The Perfect Cup of Tea

Ok, I just had to post about this great cup of tea I just made myself. I am a little bit in awe because ever since the last time I was in Asia which was several years ago, I have been trying to emulate the kind of milky tea that I would always binge on in Asian bakeries from Tokyo to Taipei. The first time I had this kind of tea was with my Brazilian roommate in Osaka in a bakery where I got asked if I wanted tea with lemon or "hotto milku tea". I love my tea with cream and sugar so I went for the latter and loved every drop of it.....And after years of trying to get that mix right and failing every time....this morning I did it. I swear that first mouthful took me straight back to the bakery in Shinsaibashi.....sigh......

I Know I Promised....

I know I'm supposed to have some terribly embarrassing shots of me on here from my season in Taipei....and some pretty good ones too! LOL! I've been caught red handed in busy-ville as well as have started a new blog to ride alongside this one called
"Model Mom Diaries" which you can check out at:

http://modelmomdiaries.blogspot.com

Give me till the end of the week to scan in the pictures I promised....They really will show up on here! ;)

Hello and Welcome!

LOL! Seriously though....I have had some new readers come through and I want to make sure you all know to go to the very beginning of this blog...archives are on the right hand side.....so that this all makes more sense! Peacocks on Leashes is a memoir of my experiences so nothing is current, yet....someday I hope to get up to what is happening LIVE! ;)

Channeling Jack Kerouac

This has to be one of the best journal entries to describe how I felt every time I left a market and moved on to another for season....judging from the date on this entry it was written probably in the limo ride to the airport as I was leaving Taipei:


Maybe it's a curse of my Gemini nature, my Cuban blood, my impetuosity that makes me fall so easily in love with the places that temporarily become my home and the people that for a brief instance in time become my world. And maybe it is a blessing....making my life a mad existance...but I wouldn't have it any other way.

(It's pretty apropo that I would have then gone on to quote Jack Kerouac...)

"What is that feeling when you're driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing?--it's the too huge world vaulting us, and it's good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies."
-J. Kerouac "On the Road"

No better quote had ever been written to describe my life at the time. Reading it now still gives me the chills and makes me ache for the road....

On Leaving Taipei

Another peek into my travel journal at the end of season in Taipei.....

4/30

...so here I am again...on the verge of moving on once more. I leave Taipei, Taiwan tomorrow. I served my time here and survived. 8 weeks of madness and I've lived to tell the tale. Although I came here searching for what I always like to call my proverbial pot of gold, I can say that the memories I Take from this place & the people I have met are absolutely priceless.

Taipei...so often dubbed the infernal metropolis by many a model that has suffered through its endless castings, 200 cut days, and the infamous, pose, pose, pose routines....is actually a city I quite love. I have spent, in accumulation of my trips, 5 months in this city with its mad, confused, labyrinthine streets, its neverending din of traffic and human voices, its aliveness in extreme. I have found the people here to be genuine, the food (which is everywhere) good enough to merit my abandoning all ambitions towards waifdom, the culture so rich, so haunting...and all of this has become completely familiar to me now.

I have learned to speak & understand more Mandarin than I ever would have dreamt possible, have rubbed elbows with Taiwanese, celebs and mafiosos...all colorful characters, all enriching my life in one way or antoher, and have made friends that I hope to keep...such as my boys from the Westside that I came to meet in Taipei and my 5 new girls. Together my girls and I bonded in our estrogen enhanced mood swings...never have so many boxes of Kleenex been gone through or more McDonald's meals been consumed in such a short period of time. And now it's all over. Just like that.

The good times I have had here definitely outweigh the bad. So...now it's time to move on and start all over somewhere else. In my case, Milan.

No more fearing for my life every time I get in a taxi & commence the wild ride to castings or bookings dodging stray dogs, children and entire families on mopeds at speedracer velocity. No more enduring the incessant bombardment of N'Sync and Backstreet Boys at every internet cafe, convenience store and fast food joint. No more late night runs to 7-11 for hot dogs and tuna triangles. No more bubble milk tea. The things I am going to be missed, soon to be replaced but not forgotten by, wild nights at Hollywood, Gasoline and Old Fashion Cafe, lazy days in the sun at Parco Sempione, late night runs to the 24 hour panini stands, and endless miles to be tread on dirt encrusted feet to castings. La vita e veramente bella!

And it's good-bye to Taipei....and I thank this city and all I've met here for adding to my lessons learned in the school of life.

Being Fierce With Blow-Up Accesories

I've gotten my scanner reconfigured so I can scan some new and ever delicious tearsheets from my second season in Taipei. I have some truly classic ones too....everything from more cheesy teen couture to getting fierce in polyester ladies' fashion while posing on blow-up furniture to downright scary goth punk. You name it, I did it that season.....all in the name of modeling, fashion and the good ol' dinero. Stay tuned....

Find the Cuban Girl...

I never realized how much tanner I was than the rest of my fellow models in Taipei until I developed this picture....



I guess this is why clients and my bookers were so concerned with my skin tone being too dark for the Chinese market....fortunately, I booked a few jobs specifically because of my tan because at the time the Brazilians were storming the market, and I mean, who didn't find Giselle's toasty skin totally hot?!

We Make Party, Yes?

There's nothing like looking back at old party pics of my girls and I in various global locations to put an enormous smile on my face and a little blush on my cheeks.

Prefunking in Taipei with Smirnoff and OJ that we bought at the 7-11 across the street from our hotel always made for some interesting pictures.....and some very good times....

Charlie's Angels?



Apparently I was going through a J. Lo phase with the white bandanna.....



The Taiwanese know how to pimp out disco balls....and I know how to make myself invisible....camoflauge is hot!



Getting a VIP spanking at Room 18...

Laura Leaves and a Roach Moves In

About a month into season in Taipei, things started to slow down workwise for all of us. The agency cryptically kept mentioning the economy with a shrug of their shoulders and we just kept hoping to get busy again. At this point, Laura decided she would rather be home than wasting her time abroad, and who could blame her?

We had been rooming in a tiny room, sharing a double bed and a fridge the size of a milk carton for 4 weeks. We were being promised a proper room by the hotel every other day....castings were dropping off, she had a boyfriend waiting for her at home...it was time to head back to the great white North. So, there I was saying good-bye to my friend once again. The day after she left, I found myself hanging out with Taya and Jennifer and we decided that in order to save money, I could move into their room and we'd split the rent three ways and I wouldn't be all by myself on the opposite end of the hotel. The hotel arranged to have a roll-in bed moved into a corner of their room for me to sleep in and I dragged all my crap two floors to become the third roomie.

Quarters were tight, but I was used to that, even though Taya had to climb over my bed to get out of her bed and into the bathroom. We got along famously and would laugh ourselves to sleep at night talking about castings we'd had that day or the outrageous jobs we'd just gotten done with. Everything was great until one afternoon when Taya and Jen were both working andI was home early. I was hanging out on my bed watching Chinese music videos when I noticed something move above my head out of the corner of my eye. When I looked up there was a gargantuan cockroach dangling from the AC grate, legs wiggling and trying to get back up and into the opening. Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a severe roach phobia, so this was enough to put me in a panic. I called the front desk to get someone to help and no one answered so I ran down to get aide with sweat poring down my face and my heart beating at a frenetic pace. Thank God someone was there.

The desk clerk had a cleaning lady run up with me (who spoke no English) so with a bunch of arm and hand motions and eyes filled with dread I was able to tell her that there was a roach on the ceiling above my bed. She looked at me and the roach bemusedly. Laughed a little (she must've thought I was one hell of a wimpy American) and shrugged her shoulders while miming that it would go away. She started to leave and I grabbed her and basically pleaded that she removed the offender. With not a little hint of annoyance, she slowly ambled into the bathroom, grabbed some toilet paper, climbed up on my bed and nonchalantly grabbed the roach, showed it to me with its legs and feelers flailing, laughed and walked out with it. What happened to that roach after she left with it, I'll never know, nor do I care. What I am glad about is that I never again saw one of those buggers in our room again....although from that point on I had to do a full room and bed check every night before going to sleep. Paranoia.....

I Can Spell M-O-D-E-L.

Ok, ok.....so I am going to up and apologize now for any and all type-o's I have made or may make. I am normally posting with one hand while creating detailed Play-Doh sculptures with the other hand for my preschooler, and while bouncing my toddler up and down on my knees. So, I truly can spell....and really well at that. My problem here is the multitasking aspect of things.

I remember when multitasking entailed pouring a glass of vodka and cran in the VIP of some club or another while smiling brilliantly......sigh.....

Model Tourists

When you model abroad you are usually too busy doing castings and working to actually get to be a tourist. Although I always did a lot of on location bookings, I never really got to enjoy my surroundings in an exploratory way. Just kind of got to look out van windows or peer around doorways into courtyards and alleyways in between hair and make-up changes, but that was it. Meeting Jeffrey and his friends in Taipei made it so that we got to enjoy the perks of being tourists which really opened our eyes to the beauty of Taiwan beyond the bustling Taipei city limits.

On a Sunday during season that we all had booking-free, Jeffrey and Marcus talked us into taking a train out to the coastal town of Tamshui. It was a beautiful, peaceful hamlet where we got to eat the freshest seafood I had ever had to date, and where every female had to rush up and stop us to take pictures with Jeffrey. I have a shot somewhere of all of us posing with a group of about 8 or 9 teens as giddy as all get out. It was rad.

So....here we are in Tamshui....eating and blowing bubbles. The only things worth doing in life, eh? ;)

Peacock Virgins

Helllloooooo dahlings! Just wanted to throw out a note to all the newbies checking out my blog that this is a collection of my memoirs.....I am not actually in the places I am writing about currently. I am living in Portland, Oregon, bored off of my ass and reliving my life as a traveling fashion model by way of my writing.

So if you want this all to make much more sense just go waaaaaaaay back to the first entries on this blog (you can find my archives somewhere on the right hand side......) It'll be worth the hours you'll spend reading it.....really. :)

Hanging With Taiwanese Rockstars

I have to say that this particular trip to Taipei was the best one yet....but for some reason I didn't keep much written record about it. I have tons of pictures but only 2 journal entries so I really am going to have to rely on the old gray matter to remember what exactly went on. I think I was so busy with work and play that I just had no time to pull out pen and paper and journalize everything...now I wish I had! Let me preface real quick by naming names. Laura and I ended up meeting the rest of the FMI girls who all became fast friends....Taya, Jennifer, and Olivia...there were others that we hung out with from another agency, but these three were our main girls.....partners in living la vida...

One of the things that made this trip so amazing was that one night my friends and I were partying at Room 18 which was a hot new club at Warner Village in Taipei. We had just gotten done working at a fashion show and arrived at the club only to find out that it was full to capacity because DJ Scratch was there and everyone in town wanted to be there. This was a veritable quandry, since I had been so used to VIP treatment and never having to wait for entry to any club....so we sulked as models can do ever so well, until we were approached by a guy named Jeff who introduced himself in perfect English although he was Taiwanese (but born and raised in LA I later found out!) and made the velvet ropes part so that we could get in.

Jeff ended up becoming one of best friends in Taiwan that season. He was California cool but also knew all the ins and outs of being a local in Taipei since his family also lived there part time. Thanks to him, my girls and I got to dine at some of the best restaurants, hang out at the hottest clubs du jour and just have a great time hanging out in general. It also turned out that Jeff was something of a celebrity in Asia. He had been part of a boy band called LA Boyz who were to Asia what the Backstreet Boys were to the States. Pretty much everywhere we went with Jeff, we would get mobbed by young girls with cameras and giggles. It was a trip. We also got to meet his brother Stanley who was also a recording artist and their friends, Jae a music producer and Vanness who is now a megastar in Asia....actually, they all are. They're part of a crew that goes by MACHI.

Crazy thing about meeting Vanness in Taipei is that later we found out that we had both been raised in Santa Monica and went to the same grade school there.....we had played in the playground at the same time but ended up meeting decades later in Taiwan.

So, yeah....this season in Taipei we got to hang out with official rockstars. They treated us like queens, were nothing but gentlemen, sweet, generous, and respectful. One of the best group of guys I've had the pleasure to meet in my life. Along with one of Jeff's friends, Marcus whom we later met because he was crushin' on Jen, they were our entourage and we were theirs. Thanks to them we got to see the city in a whole new light and it was GREAT.

The Ol' Roomie Reunite

So, the day after I got to Taipei, I walked into the agency and there was Laura! My roommate from my last season there. It was like no time had passed. We had kept in touch via phone calls while we were gone, and it was just so nice to see another familiar face in a strange land.

Now, I'm sure I've already touched on my past with Laura, but I always think it is so cool when it comes to mind, so I am gonna tell you again. I first laid eyes on Laura in a tram in Milan my first season there. She had an Elite book and headphones on and I remembered thinking how she was the quintessential model. Tall, perfect bone structure and elegant. Then a few weeks later I ran into her again at a casting for a hair magazine. We exchanged greetings but that was it. It wasn't until several months later that we would run into each other again halfway around the world in Taiwan where we became roommates and fast friends. This proved the point that although there are millions of would be models out there who say they are actually "models" the ones that are truly working their craft travel in a small circle. I can't tell you how many times I would run into other models I knew or at least recognized from castings in the most random markets. One day in Milan, the next in Miami and then again in Hong Kong. Crazy!

Laura and I were so happy to be back in a country and city we loved and ready to take it by storm. We packed into a taxi with another model and our manager and set off that first day on a bevy of castings and ladyposed our butts off. Later that evening we decided we had to be roommates again and combined all of our crap into a tiny shoebox of a room since we were told that all the doubles were occupied and the fun began! Two days into this trip and I knew it was going to kick ass!

Coppertoning It In Taipei

So, once again, I found myself packing my bags, bidding tearful farewells to my friends, pulling out my passport and boarding pass and deplaning thousands of miles away in Taipei.

I had been to Taiwan before, so now I could consider myself a veteran. I knew where to go and what to do at the airport. I walked from my gate pulling my obscenely heavy carry-on bags past miles of hallways through the terminal that were covered in advertisements and I kept count of which ones I thought I could probably book while there. I went through customs, found my driver holding up my name in Chinese and English on a card. He put my bags in the trunk of his shiny, black Lincoln Towncar and we were off....back to the First Hotel.

I stared out the car window at the mystery and tumult that is Taipei and even though I had been in Miami just hours before, I felt myself start to get ready and excited for this new season in Asia. When I got to the hotel, I checked in and the people at the front desk actually remembered me from the last time I had been there. They were kind, courteous and all smiles as they told me where my room was, handed me my key and about 6 faxes from my booker asking if I had arrived yet and I was off to my little pad. The bellhop trudged up with all my accoutrements....poor guy, my suitcase was bigger than him...and as he left he told me I looked just like Britney Spears. Even though I should have been tremendously offended, I knew by the super happy grin on his face that he meant it to be the utmost accolade, so I tipped him well, closed the door and passed out on my rock hard mattress.

The next morning I made it to the agency, group hugs and reintroductions ensued and not a second too soon I was told that I needed to maybe try to make my skin less tanned. After almost 4 months in Miami there was no way I was about to look Geisha chic.....so I smiled, said "no problem" and hit the casting circuit with my manager and a couple of new girls that would become really great friends in no time. Taya, Olivia and Jen. Things were good already....and only to get better since my roommate from my first trip to Taipei, Laura, was to arrive the next day!

More Cheese & Sex from Miami

And here is a sampling of just a few of the tearsheets I got from that season in Miami. Once again, the Dutch, German and French clients cast me as a teen queen and the Italian and Spanish clients interpreted me as something of a Lolita....

For your viewing pleasure....ha!

Modeling Too Much!

Wow, I am super slacker when it comes to posting on here lately! I've just all of a sudden started booking photoshoots locally and am starting to put together a completely new book....I've been wanting to get back out there for direct bookings since I can't actually travel long term anymore (becoming a mom put a halt to that!) and this new work I'm doing is hopefully going to help with that! So coupled with my writing assignments, Peacocks on Leashes has suffered a bit....but I am anxious to get back on here. Don't give up on the Peacocks just yet.....they'll be back fully plumed by next week. I have heaps of stuff I need to scan and post on here, because I know everyone is just dying to see my German magazine tearsheets. Fabulosity.....

And Yet Another Journal Entry from Miami...

Here are my musings at the thought of leaving Miami and heading back over to Taipei for season....

2/26

So I just found out that I'll be heading back to Taipei in a few weeks. Although the prospect of going back to Asia and making money is exciting, I'm starting to feel a heaviness in my heart knowing that before I know it, these past 4 months that I have spent in South Beach will soon be nothing more than a series of memories and pictures in an album.

The apartment that I have come to call home, the streets and faces that have once again become all too familiar, the sea and sand I look at daily from my window and that I have come to take for granted, the friends, my adoptive family members, that I have known since last season, brought with me from Milan, or just newly met...these are the ties that bind me, that cause that all too familiar feeling of infinite sadness when I allow myself to realize how soon they and it all will be taken away from me. That torturous process of being a traveling model. Bittersweet life.

South Beach once again will remain a most vivid and beautiful place in my memories.


********

I have to say, that when people ask me what the hardest part of being a model is, I really can't tell them stories about awful perverted photographers trying to coke me up, or rape me. I dont have stories like that, thank God....but the worst and hardest part for me was being uprooted from "homes" and missing my friends. Friends that I miss to this very day. I have yet to make friends that were as close to me as those friends I made while I was traveling.