cirque

old school circus photos are pretty much the coolest pictures ever. i spent some time yesterday looking through what the magical interwebz has to offer in terms of photographic evidence of this period of times circus folk. fortune tellers, cooch dancers, acrobats, clowns, lion tamers, contortionists, "freaks" and roustabouts. colorful folk under a colorful tent putting on quite a show. as i mentioned a few days ago, while i am completely entranced and fascinated by the romanticized image of a circus, especially a circus set in the early 1900's, i boycott any circus with animals in my real life. i prefer the fantasy of these pictures to the reality of the animal cruelty that many circus animals suffer. so while you won't catch me at a circus any time soon, i still find so much inspiration in these faded old pictures and the characters that live, frozen in time, within them. i hope you enjoy them, too!

i actually am an honorary member of the Humboldt State University Circus Club. back in 2004 or so, i danced in an adult circus show called The Last Temptation of Dr. Sugarshaker. Lady Kali, i believe, was the name i was given. after the final nights performance,all of us gathered in the changing room to celebrate a good run, and the circus kids put me through their "hazing" ritual, which consisted of telling a deep dark secret or giving a lap dance. i chose the secret. anyway, after that i was told i was a "Circus Freak Fo' Life". man, those were fun times.