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Happy Birthday, Lilith! <3

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lilith2018-euterpes-ukulele.jpg

 

I kinda like this kid!

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++ LILITH 2018

Lilith, I have always loved you. I loved you before I knew you, I loved you before I saw you, I loved you before time began. I have loved you in every lifetime, and I will love you beyond the end of time. You are the spark in my soul that gives my life radiance; you are the warmth of the sun and the mysteries of the moon within my heart.

 

ABSURD ORIGIN STORY

I can’t say X-23 and I can’t say snickt and I can’t say Wolverine, so my ability to tell stupid jokes here is limited. Let’s say this is L-10’s origin story wherein she is accidentally plopped into a barrel of room temperature French fries, and emerges with superhuman mutations that grant her immortality, regeneration, and lethal deep-fried potato claws.

 

When I told Lilith I was going to make her a French fries scent, she yelled EWWWWWWWW, so here’s a perfume that smells like a carbonated caramel-flavored soda (that shall remain nameless) with a hint of marshmallow.

 

BLUE BLANKIE

Lilith has several blankies that mean the world to her, and this is one of them. She’s had it since she was a baby, and she still sleeps with it every night. This blankie has been all over the US, has been to innumerable conventions, and has visited Paris, London, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Salzburg, and Berlin. This blankie has been a comfort in sorrow and a companion in joy. It has been clutched in laughter and has been succor in illness. This blanket has seen thousands upon thousands of dreams.

 

May it always keep you warm, safe, and happy, Lilith.

 

French lavender, skin musk, and a drop of rose water.

 

BUBBLES AND UNICORNS

My baby, please never stop singing whatever goddamn song you want to sing, and never stop singing it at the top of your lungs. Never stop doing silly dances, never stop making jokes. Never stop talking about unicorns, never stop howling like a werewolf, never stop making wishes on dandelions.

 

Never stop playing, never stop laughing.

 

Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you’re too old to be joyful, or that the things you love are foolish or childish. Lilith, never stop blowing bubbles.

 

Dandelion sap and blackcurrant bud with opalescent, shimmering white musk.

 

THE CREATION OF LILITH

I took this photo of Lilith a few days ago. I told her that it looks like her and Pickle are reenacting Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam, and I show her a pic. She asks what’s going on in it, so I explain the image, and she says... “Well, that’s friggin sexist. It’s stupid to say that boys were created first and to make a whole painting about it. Plus there’s no girls in the photo, and not everyone has boy or girl parts. It’s sexist, and I hate it.”

 

That was a much, much stronger reaction than I expected, but good on you, kid. Burn the patriarchy down.

 

And Elohim created Adam in His Image, in the Image of God He created him; male and female He created them. The first woman, created with Adam, in all her darkness and all her light: sweet black pomegranate, French lavender, oakmoss, ti leaf, bakhoor oudh incense, and black fig.

 

DIGNIFIED. ELEGANT. SOPHISTICATED.

We were made for each other.

 

Snake Oil and bubblegum.

 

DON’T TELL ME HEAVEN IS UNDER THE EARTH

Listening to music, blowing bubbles.

 

A handful of honey sticks, yesterday’s patchouli, and a dusting of cinnamon sugar.

 

THE DREAM IS BIG ENOUGH FOR EVERYONE

We believe that the American dream is big enough for everyone, for people of all races and religions, for men and women, for immigrants, for LGBT people and for people with disabilities. For everyone.

 

Lilith at the Women’s March DTLA, 2018.

 

Nasty Woman? Nah, Nasty Tween: honeyed fig and sugar-dusted patchouli, sweet amber oud, a drop of red currant, and vanilla cream.

 

EUTERPE’S UKULELE

Lilith has always loved music – especially singing – but this year, she started to get serious about it. This photo was taken this past April, while she rehearsed her slow, haunting cover of Riptide.

 

A scent that smells to me the way Lilith’s voice sounds when she sings that song in her deep, thoughtful, sweet voice: wild plum, shadow oudh, osmanthus, and patchouli.

 

HOOLIGAN WITCHES

Lilith and Mo casting spells together last winter! They solemnly swear that they’re up to no good: pumpkin cream soda, fried ice cream, and popcorn.

 

IMPROV ZOMBIE SCENE

Every New Year’s Eve for the past several years, Lilith and her soul sister Novi have rung out the old year at a kids’ dance party. This year, they spent a little time doing Zombie Improv before the party started.

 

Pink grapefruit brains, honeyed cerebral fluid, and a splash of sparkling apple cider.

 

LET YOUR INDULGENCE SET ME FREE

There are several scents this year that are inspired by Lilith’s performance in the Tempest, and this one was born from the triumphant smile on her face as she held the flowers her family brought for her.

 

A cluster of peonies, carnations, roses, lilies and sweet pea cascading over a bright vanilla smile.

 

LILITH NIGHTINGALE

Whenever I’m sick, tired, or just run down, Lilith always tries to help out. She’s always helpful, but when someone is feeling poorly, she’s an absolute angel.

 

This year, now that she’s a little bit older, she’s taken to cooking a bit here and there. Here, she’s stealing my Evil Dead shirt and making kitchari for me. I was feeling under the weather, and she wanted to take care of me. Oh my GOD, I love this kid.

 

(She’s taken to wearing protective goggles that Brian gave her every time she cooks.)

 

A bundle of Ayurvedic spices warmed in cream, with a little bit of dried fig and sweet dates.

 

MEDITATION BUDDY

Ever since Lilith was five or so, she and I have meditated together. We do Headspace, we do breathing exercises, we just sit and share space together in silence. Sometimes we do it in the morning to start our day, sometimes we meditate at night to unwind.

 

Our meditation space smells like vanilla-laced frankincense, Florida Water, sandalwood incense, salt crystals, candle wax, and white rose petals.

 

THE MISTY MARSHMALLOW SUGARBUNNIES OF NIFLHEL

Of the runes of the gods

and the giants' race

The truth indeed can I tell,

(For to every world have I won;)

To nine worlds came I,

to Niflhel beneath,

The home where

pink bunny Peeps dwell.

 

THE QUEEN OF HEL

“I am Hel,” she said simply. “The dead come to me, and they do not return to the lands above. Why should I let Balder go?”

- Norse Mythology, Neil Gaiman

 

Lilith loves cosplaying, and while she has done many characters, none has suited her quite as well as Hela has. She debuted this look at C2E2 this year, complete with tiny plush Fenris.

 

Tiny mistress of the underworld: gleaming black leather, luminescent green amber, and gargantuan hellhound musk.

 

ROOF GOBLINS

This cabin has roof goblins, and they’re going to steal your apples and milk.

 

Honeycrisp apples and sugared milk.

 

SCORCHED MARSHMALLOWS

Lilith loves to camp, but she’s not a huge fan of roughing it. This year, we opted for some cabin glamping with some of Lilith’s best friends.

 

This is the scent of Kyle and Lilith deliberately setting marshmallows on fire, with chocolate and graham crackers as an afterthought.

 

SENATOR BARRIAL

Senator Barrial in debate class, advocating for the mandatory conversion to electric cars by 2040.

 

When she’s Senator, she’ll make sure everyone has red velvet sprinkle cupcakes with extra buttercream frosting.

 

THE SHE-GOAT

Wild juniper, dry grasses, California sagebrush, Monterey cypress, and California lilacs.

 

SPONTANEOUS ARGUMENTATION

This past February, Lilith competed in her first debate tournament. She was asked to come in “business casual”, and this is the best we could do.

 

A scent for child orators: pleather and chalk dust with a handful of chewy fruit candies.

 

(We can’t say “Skittles”, even though that’s all she ate throughout the entire tournament! Don’t sue us, Skittles! Lilith just loves Skittles!)

 

THE STORM

On a ship at sea: a tempestuous noise.

 

An electric blackberry violet tossed with seaspray.

 

SUFFRAGIUM

When Lilith was three months old, she came with me to the voting booth for the first time. She wore a Little Democrat onesie and a Babies For Obama button, and it was one of the most emotional nights of my life. I know I’ve told this story before, but as the election results rolled in, I wept with relief because Lilith was going to grow up safe. Decency won the day, and my heart was alight with the belief that we were on an upwards trajectory as a nation, and that compassion and hope were leading us to a renewal.

 

November 8, 2016 was another emotional night for very, very different reasons.

 

Since that day, the world has gotten darker, but the darkness creates strength and fosters empathy. Lilith is now learning what social justice truly means. She has participated in protests, demonstrations, volunteer campaigns, and walk-outs. She has made protest signs with her own two hands, and has marched against the cruelty, oppression, and tyranny of this current administration. She’s beginning to grasp both civic responsibility and civil disobedience, and she’s learning how much power her voice really has.

 

This is a scent of renewing hope, determination, fortitude, and compassion: palo santo, white sandalwood, sweet labdanum, and cedar.

 

THEÁOMAI

I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.

- Oscar Wilde

 

Lilith has loved the theater since we first took her to see Matilda when she was five. She loves musicals, she loves plays, she loves Shakespeare and Sondheim. She loves huge productions and local improv, she loves Hamlet and drag revues. She loves the pageantry and the intimacy, and loves performing in shows and attending shows equally.

 

This is the scent of the pile of junk food that accompanies us to almost every performance: chocolate chip cookies, pretzels, caramel corn, and a little slurp of soda.

 

TRUE LOVE

Lilith’s lavender smushed with Pickle’s coconut cream.

 

WHOLE UNTO HERSELF

Life imposes so many restrictions on us as we climb through the years: responsibilities, challenges, hardship. Lilith, my baby, may you soar through it with exuberance and grace. Never lose your joy and your sense of self, the triumph of daily pleasures, and the freedom of your soul. May the sorrows of the world never calcify around you; may the sorrows of the world never dim your light or silence your song.

 

A prayer for my daughter: frankincense, rose, and white lilies.


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