Happy Anniversary, BPAL!

[kebechet]

I’ve been stuck trying to write an introduction to tomorrow’s update. Tomorrow is Black Phoenix’s birthday, y’see, and at the moment I’m all flubbled up. I don’t have writer’s block, per se; I just don’t know how to articulate the depth of my gratitude. I decided about 34 seconds ago to stop agonizing over how to say things, and just talk. (Grammar be damned!) I’m trying to thank everyone but words are failing me. How do I explain how much Brian and Ted mean to me? How do I put into words how much I love Kathy and Jacquelynn? How do I tell the world how much I appreciate all the hard work that Bill, Will, Piolet, and Norman put in every single day at BPAL? How do I put into words how grateful I am for the friendship and sisterhood I have with the moderators at bpal.org? Or how enriched my life has become because of the friendships that have been formed with our customers? Jesus. You guys make my world a whole lot better every single fucking day. There are no words for how grateful I am for Neil and Amanda, Peter and Connor, the Henson crew, Matt Wagner… I’ve tried before… every year… and the words never seem to be enough.

 

 

 

With genuine love and gratitude…

 

Thank you, Brian, for being the best business partner and best brother anyone could ask for.

 

Thank you, Ted, for being my muse, my light, and my strength.

 

Thank you, Kathy, for pulling me out of that damned fiery house in a past life. I know we ended up a pair of Roman candles, but at least we went out with a bang!

 

Thank you, Jacquelynn, for all of your dedication, for your friendship, and for your insight.

 

Come to think of it…. extra thanks to Brian, Ted, Kathy, and Jax for always putting up with my shit.

 

Thank you, Bill, for your patience, your kindness, and your resolve.

 

Thank you, Will, Piolet, and Norman, for your hard work and dedication.

 

Thank you to Sue and Del at Dark Delicacies for giving housing our schtuff, for always being there for us, and for being the best. damn. grandparents. ever.

 

Thank you, Lisa, for being our knight in shining armor.

 

Thank you, Lori and Sarah, for all the love that you guys put into every will call. We are all very, very grateful.

 

Thank you to the mods and administrators of bpal.org. Fuck, I love you. Thank you for being my sisters, and thank you for being there for me and holding my hand even when I’m too muddled, overwhelmed, and lost to be fully present.

 

Thank you to Neil Gaiman, Amanda Palmer, Peter S Beagle, Terry Pratchett, Terry Moore, Mike and Christine Mignola, George Perez, Peter David, Molly Crabapple, Mark Waid, Storm Constantine, Matt Wagner, Jim Henson Productions, Brian Pulido, Joseph Michael Linsner, Eva Hopkins, Gris Grimly, and Richard Matheson for giving Black Phoenix the opportunity to interpret your work.

 

Thank you to the noble souls at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and the Hero Initiative. You are an inspiration.

 

Much thanks to Peter S. Beagle and Connor Cochran for participating in the Last Unicorn Screening. You bring so much joy to so many people!

 

Love and thanks to the artists that have lent us their talent: Adam Hughes, Alicia Dabney, Julie Dillon, Madame Talbot, Quique Alcatena, Jennifer Rodgers, Manda Lander, and Sarah Coleman!

 

Love and thanks to the Mütter Museum, knows perfume, Whole Foods, Pretty Indulgent, and Healthy Living for giving our products a home in your stores!

 

Love and thanks to the bloggers, journalists, magazines, and other media outlets that taken the time to write about Black Phoenix. Honestly, I cannot thank you enough.

 

Much love and many thanks to Wow Insider for profiling Brian and inviting us down to the WOW Insider Meet-Up at BlizzCon, and to Lance Horne for inviting us to participate in his November show in Los Angeles.

 

Huge thanks to Geek Girl Diva, Theresa Wollenstein, and Lauren Rothman for helping us initiate new projects!

 

Thank you to our clients – you truly are our extended family.

 

I said this last year, and it holds just as true now:

 

~ Thank you for sharing our joy and for standing with us during difficult times. The family that has grown around BPAL is like no other in the world. Every time I wander into the forum, I see people supporting one another in times of need, showing selfless kindness and offering support to one another… to me, you all are models of emotional generosity and true friendship, and it is truly an honor to be a part of your lives. I cannot express my gratitude enough. Thank you for celebrating the beauty of living with us, and for holding our hands during times of stress and sorrow. This year has been turbulent for just about everyone we know. It’s been a hard year filled with challenges and hidden lessons, but none of it is insurmountable because we all have this tremendous, genuinely loving family. Thank you. ~

 

Last year was turbulent, yes, but fuck, this year has been tough as hell, too. Just about everyone I know, IRL and online, has been going through a rough patch. The fucking economy is disemboweling most of us, so many people I know and love are dealing with terrible health issues or tremendous blows of grief and loss. There’s a lot of despair, a lot of fear, and a lot of instability. A lot of the time, it feels to me like we’re all playing a game of Perfection. I fucking hated Perfection when I was a kid. I hate being startled. I really believe that love and friendship are only things that can sustain us through tough times, and I don’t know how to express how thankful I am for the family that I have because of Black Phoenix. I don’t know what I’d do without you.

 

Gratitude is a funny thing. Really, there aren’t words that can express it fully. I just hope that I, and that we as a company, are able to show how grateful we are to everyone that we work with and all of our customers through our actions day to day.

 

Before I get so choked up that I can’t write out scent notes, on with the anniversary update!

 

 

 

++ ODE TO THE DAY: BPAL ANNIVERSARY 2011

THE PHOENIX AT DAWN

Ecstatic bird songs pound

the hollow vastness of the sky

with metallic clinkings–

beating color up into it

at a far edge,–beating it, beating it

with rising, triumphant ardor,–

stirring it into warmth,

quickening in it a spreading change,–

bursting wildly against it as

dividing the horizon, a heavy sun

lifts himself–is lifted–

bit by bit above the edge

of things,–runs free at last

out into the open–!lumbering

glorified in full release upward–

songs cease.

 

The pearly, opalescent flames of the morning: pink rose, apricot, orange blossom, carnation, red sandalwood, lemon blossom, rose musk, Madagascar vanilla, white wine grape, pink grapefruit, and white patchouli. This Phoenix embodies liberty, renewal, vitality, and creativity.

 

 

 

THE PHOENIX AT MIDDAY

Your hands lie open in the long fresh grass, –

The finger-points look through like rosy blooms:

Your eyes smile peace. The pasture gleams and glooms

‘Neath billowing skies that scatter and amass.

All round our nest, far as the eye can pass,

Are golden kingcup-fields with silver edge

Where the cow-parsley skirts the hawthorn-hedge.

‘Tis visible silence, still as the hour-glass.

 

Deep in the sun-searched growths the dragon-fly

Hangs like a blue thread loosened from the sky: –

So this wing’d hour is dropt to us from above.

Oh! clasp we to our hearts, for deathless dower,

This close-companioned inarticulate hour

When twofold silence was the song of love.

 

The blazing fires of nona hora: blood orange, mimosa, gingergrass, golden amber, saffron, tonka absolute, pomegranate, neroli, and bourbon geranium. This Phoenix embodies vitality, ferocity, determination, passion, and strength of will.

 

 

 

THE PHOENIX AT DUSK

Dreams in the dusk,

Only dreams closing the day

And with the day’s close going back

To the gray things, the dark things,

The far, deep things of dreamland.

 

Dreams, only dreams in the dusk,

Only the old remembered pictures

Of lost days when the day’s loss

Wrote in tears the heart’s loss.

 

Tears and loss and broken dreams

May find your heart at dusk.

 

The muted flame of in-between time, the stillness of the gloaming: blue chamomile, green tea, Spanish moss, champaca flower, white sage, jonquil, wisteria, and white honey. This Phoenix embodies the strange beauty of the dreamscape, the force of the imagination, and the power of the spirit.

 

 

 

THE PHOENIX AT MIDNIGHT

THIS is thy hour O Soul, thy free flight into the wordless,

Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done,

Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the themes thou

lovest best.

Night, sleep, death and the stars.

 

The cold fire of distant stars: indigo musk, black iris, orris root, rosewood, night-blooming jasmine, and honeysuckle. This Phoenix embodies introspection, reflection, spiritual freedom, and hope springing eternal.

 

 

 

And, because I’ve been waiting a long time for this…

 

LEATHER PHOENIX

In 2005, I was messing around with some of our rarer oils while creating a blend for personal use. It contained a small bit of wardh taifi, some 22-year old oudh, golden champaca CO2, and narcissus absolute. It was a strange and lovely creation, and jokingly, I called it Leather Phoenix. “Ha ha! Leather Phoenix. BDSM Phoenix. Wouldn’t it be awesome if we actually saw our leather anniversary?” Lord, it seemed so far away.

 

Holy shit, here we are. (ZOMGWTF?!)

 

And here’s Leather Phoenix: matcha tea, wild frankincense, champaca, petitgrain, star anise, aged oudh, rose taifi, narcissus, Himalayan cedar, 11-year aged patchouli, and black leather accord.

 

Only 213 bottles of Leather Phoenix exist, and when they’re gone, they’re gone.

 

 

 

Holy. Shit. Here we are! Thank you so much to every single person that has made this possible. Happy anniversary, BPAL.