Danielle Colby Striptease Historian | The Queen of Rust

Tropical Tuesday: Accidentally on Porpoise

We woke up today and decided to take to the water. It’s been so nice having the time to do so. We were in for such a wonderful surprise! We saw these beauties swimming together and I knew I had to catch it on video. I still catch my breath every time I see them. I know I am talked about this before, but  there are things that we can do at home every day to ensure the health and safety of dolphins. One of the easiest ways to ensure the safety of dolphins is to buy fresh, local fish if y...

Underwater Adventures: Beauty Under the Surface

We went out this morning for about an hour. Visibility was still low from the hurricanes turning up the water and the tropical storms we’ve had. I have had New Orleans on my mind so heavy this week. I have so many beloved friends there and am hoping beyond hope for their safety. We decided to go ahead and shoot anyway even with low visibility and we still got some beautiful photos. The sargassum always looks so unappealing from the shore, but from this view it's breathtaking. It's funny how...

Sargassum and Ocean Warming Pt. 2

Here are the rest of the photos from my morning at the beach, experiencing the unusually warm waters. Here's that article again on ocean warming.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/critical-issues-sea-temperature-rise

Sargassum and Ocean Warming

Do you remember the other day when I was talking about all of the Sargassum that is accumulating in the ocean and on the beaches since our last big storm? We decided to go take a look today and see if there was more visibility and if the Sargassum had died down yet. Upon driving up to the beach, the water looked clear enough. As we emptied our snorkel gear from the car, trekked through the sand past the cows and the beautiful palm trees towards where the hot sand meets the cool water. Interes...

Josephine Baker

Ever since I first learned about her, I've been in love. Josephine Baker is a shining beacon of standing in your power and is the very best of humanity. 

Years back I found what I believe is one of her original banana skirts, found in the Follies Berger by Bridget’s Cabinet Antiques. Josephine Baker performed there regularly when in Paris. I constructed a recreation of the iconic skirt to wear on stage for Stripping History Nashville and my beautiful friend Brysonn Legs modeled ...

Wet Wednesday: Reach Out, Touch Faith

Sometimes the world gets loud. Two of the best ways to drown it out are through music and through actually drowning it out with water. Going under the surface, everything gets quiet. Sometimes that's scary! But most of the time it's super relaxing. Being able to only hear my heartbeat and the sound of the moving water is all I need to clear my mind. When I can't get into my studio to dance it out, I take to the ocean. It's been hard to find the time and space to dance as much as I would like ...

Road Dog Diaries: Meet Tish!

Hey everybody, meet my friend Tish, our occasional road dog, new to our travel pack. She’s been accompanying Mike on the road every now and again and am I ever grateful! Rolling around from town to town, making everybody smile, offering interesting and refreshing new perspectives. It’s a beautiful thing to be able to roll around this big blue marble with people who are caring and supportive. I’ve loved my time getting to know you Tish. I’m excited for what the future holds and hope yo...

Bathing

"There must be quite a few things a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know many of them. Whenever I'm sad I'm going to die, or so nervous I can't sleep, or in love with somebody I won't be seeing for a week, I slump down so far and then I say: 'I'll go take a hot bath.'" - Sylvia Plath

Bathing has a long and fascinating history. It has been used as a method of hygiene and relaxation for thousands of years. Long before bathing as we know it came into existence people used hot springs for ...

Stripping History: Lorraine Gail Smith

Lorraine Gail Smith was a creative, cute, petite, brunette off stage, but as a featured performer and costume designer, she could create another world on stage. One where she could melt away her troubles and let the spirit of Jean Harlow wash over her under the hot stage lights at the Combat Zone's Two O'Clock Lounge in Boston. She started dancing young, in the early 1970s and took the stage by storm. She was respected as a strict, burlesque loving creator, actor, and dancer. Striptease was n...

Throwback Thursday

This photo is from 2010-11ish. This is a little cancan mannequin that I had forever. I swear she was haunted. It was either her or the house, but she was very…animated let’s call it.

Fast Fashion

Fashion has been at the heart of humanity for thousands of years, since the inception of clothing as a construct. It is the silent expression of self. It allows the wearer to say everything while never uttering a word. From animal hide, beads, and bone to elaborate silks and powdered wigs to shutter shades and parachute pants, fashion is a reflection of the wearer and the society in which they live. Historically, pre-industrial revolution fashion was made slowly. Bespoke items, painstakingly ...

Wednesday beach walk

It feels so damn good to be home! Woke up this morning and cuddled with Jeremy and the dogs although now the dogs are kicked off of the bed and couch due to muddy paws and pee pee accidents.

We hopped out of bed and went straight to the beach this morning. Just a little tiny beach where nobody is usually hanging out. We let Azrael run around and looked at the beach up close. Since the tropical storms have moved through, they have changed some of the beaches dramatically.

We notice...

Minnie The Moocher

We found this sweet girl on our steps back in June. I was cooking dinner when all of a sudden the dogs started going crazy Jeremy bolted out the front door. I was so confused! I went to go check on him and saw him swaying around in the middle of the road, all helter skelter. I thought maybe he was drunk and caught a bad case of the baby legs. What was actually happening was that this little kitten was in need of some help and he was trying to catch her. He managed finally to get her and bring...

Today’s happy to be home song

https://youtu.be/n2MtEsrcTTs

Why Do We Love Skinny Dipping?

Is it the feeling of freedom or the waves of comfort that wash over our naked skin as we drink in the sun and are continually refreshed by the never ending surf of saltwater?

Maybe it’s the idea of being naked in public. That naughty feeling that someone might be looking even though they’re not really supposed to. There is certainly a deeply rooted taboo about public nudity in the United States.

Then again, folks have been bathing nude in rivers and streams as a means of sim...

Growing Your Own Food

A friend of mine owns the wellness center Centro La Paz here in Rincon. They do yoga, pilates, colon hydrotherapy, massage therapy, and facials at the center. It's an incredible place. She also has a little farm. Every once in a while we get to go out and help her on the farm. The other day her family came over and brought us a bunch of vegetables from the farm, including this big beautiful pumpkin! Puerto Rican pumpkins are green but it is a pumpkin. Tonight for dinner I made the pumpkin and...

Road Dog Diaries, Momma Susie and the Fam Bam

Yep, that’s Momma Susie outside the Hotel with her “feel better belly kit”. She heard I was feeling a bit constipated so she brought me a little gift for my B hole 🕳 butt... as we looked on the box, we saw that it was years out of date😂 so we threw it out together.

The second photo was at my sisters wedding a lifetime ago. Not a sober day for me but a day nonetheless. I love my Momma in green. She hardly wears the color but looks beautiful in it.

Mom... what a wild t...

Rest is Best

Super volcano Tier had first access to this post and photo set, now I’m sharing with my entire crew of paid Patreon subscribers.

The endless grind is so idealized in America. If you don't have a hustle mentality, or portray enough hustle you're viewed as lazy. Sometimes that means working two or three jobs to live a moderately comfortable life. Having raised two children on my own, often on minimum wage, the hustle mentality seated deep in my psyche. I've been a go, go, go person for...

When Did We Start Wearing Purple?

Where do red and blue meet? In the color Purple of course!

But when exactly did folks start wearing purple?

Would you believe that it was a cute little snail that was first noticed leaving a trail of this unusual purple color that is so difficult for the human eye to distinguish? In fact, Hercules's famous pup was charged with eating one of these snails and developing a wild purple drool.

In reality, so rare in nature is the color purple that not many humans had the opportun...

Throwback Thursday

Time for another ride in the way back machine. Here's a photo circa 2011, about a year after Pickers started. 

Road Dog Diaries, Perfection and the Loneliness

“Perfectionism is a self destructive and addictive belief system that fuels this primary thought: If I look perfect, and do everything perfectly, I can avoid or minimize the painful feelings of shame, judgment, and blame.”

Brené Brown,

This photo is an oldie but a goodie.

Since the time I started traveling for American pickers, antique archaeology, 10 years ago, I have struggled with 2 things, loneliness and the fear of imperfection. 2021-08-12 13:53:11 +0000 UTC View Post

Road Dog Diaries: Homegrown History

You know how much I need my morning yoga! And if you didn't, now you do. I don't always do a full yoga flow, especially if I have a busy day ahead of me, but I try to at least get a few poses and stretches in. I find that headstands help to put things into perspective sometimes, too. Getting a different view on a problem or situation can make it easier to navigate. 

Haley and I went for a jog and grabbed a coffee from Redband Coffee Co. We saw this beautiful mural outside of the Ri...

The Blue Tang

These little fish are called blue tang. They’re bright blue with yellow spots and live in coral reefs. The blue tang is probably best known for being the lovable and forgetful Dory (sounds like someone I know!). In fact, any time I took the kids to the Shedd aquarium all the kids would scream, “DORY” any time they saw one of these fish swims by. What’s so crazy about the blue tang is that even though they look cute and harmless, if they feel attacked they will raise their razo...