Lana Nieves - Burlesque

I became friendly with Amy because of insomnia. We were both Goddard students during a time when there were less than 40 people living on campus. I usually had a difficult time sleeping, and would find myself walking around campus late at night - often with my good friend, Peter. We'd walk around (usually one of us carrying a bottle of booze that we'd take turns swigging from) looking for anyone else who was awake. If your lights were on, you were fair game. Amy's lights were often on into the wee hours of the morning. At some point, late night visits to Amy's room became a semi-regular thing. We'd usually find her working on some creative endeavor. I don't remember a hell of a lot of what was discussed during those visits, except that Amy had a pug back home, who she liked to talk about. She kept a copy of a book called This Is Your Pug on her desk. For some reason, this always tickled me. It still does. I remember really liking Amy, pretty much right away, and thinking she was like no one else. Funny, Smart. Warm. Adorable. Daring. Her artwork seemed to revolve around female sexuality. I won't pretend I understood most of it, or even that I tried to. I was at least a little bit drunk most of that time. I knew she was on to something, though. And I knew Amy was sort of...audacious? fierce? Both. Audacious and fierce. And cute. You don't see that mixture very often.

I haven't seen Amy in a long time. Decades. She's still out there, though. Still audacious and fierce. And cute. She's embraced the world of burlesque since I last saw her. Again, she's dabbling in something I'm not sure I completely grasp, but I think Amy is pretty damned great so it follows suit that whatever she's immersed herself in is lucky to have her on board. Amy turned 50 this year and her friends threw her a burlesque-themed birthday party. My understanding is that the party took the form of a performance, with Amy seated front row, center for her very own command performance of Plainfield's amateur burlesque theater. I couldn't be there but, when I heard it was going to be Amy's birthday, and I was invited to the themed-event, I knew burlesque would play a part in whatever I chose to send Amy as a birthday greeting.

The burlesque lunchbox celebrates this art form, it's true, but that's not the real, Superhero Lunchbox intention. I made this for Amy, who's an Artist. With a capital A. Amy is cool on so many levels, but let me say this: she is a born Artist, and she's living the life of an Artist. I have mad respect for the way she's created a life for herself that always includes - and probably revolves around - her artistic endeavors.  Artists are Superheroes.