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horizontal with lila

26. for people who aren’t looking to fall in love: horizontal with a bisexual slut

in episodes on 16/03/18

This is Fiona at Burning Man.

26. for people who aren’t looking to fall in love: horizontal with a bisexual slut

Welcome to the second episode of the second season of horizontal with lila, the podcast about intimacy recorded while lying down.  In this episode, I lie down with my sweet friend Fiona. Fiona is an architecture student, a first generation Nuyorican, a bisexual woman, and one of the most deliciously sensual humans I’ve ever known.


Fiona:  I lost my virginity at 13 …

Lila:  Whoa…

Fiona:  And … that was, an attempt to get my … boyfriend to fall in love with me.

Lila:  Ohhh, I understand that.                                                             Fiona:  And—

Fiona:  It didn’t work. And then my attitude toward sex changed. I— when that recipe didn’t work, I realized, “Well, it’s not the ingredient for love, then… but it’s fun!” So, until I find out what the ingredient for love is … this certainly works at getting boys to like me.

Lila:  Yeah.

Fiona:  So, I used that … for many years. And …

Lila:  Did you have a lot of physical pleasure during that time, like, was your first time pleasurable?

Fiona:  I don’t— remember it being very pleasurable, nope. I remember— foreplay always being fun.

Lila:  Yes

Fiona:  Foreplay is always fun.

Lila:  Yes.

*

Fiona:  I, I came out as … poly … to my father.

Lila:  Really?

Fiona:  But it was before I could really explain what it was, it wasn’t— it wasn’t very good timing. My timing wasn’t— good. I was just so excited (Lila mm’s) and I felt so free … and I was happy for myself … and … before finding the community, I was in a monogamous relationship with my girlfriend, and … that didn’t end very well. She fell very sick, (Lila mm’s) and it was generally dysfunctional from the start, and then—

Lila:  In what way?

Fiona:  Because she was sick from the very beginning but I didn’t know the extent of it.

Lila:  Was it omitted? Was it kept from you?

Fiona:  It was omitted. The, the gravity of it was omitted. And it was … told to me by our mutual friends but … I think I was … blinded by my love for her. That I didn’t see it or I chose not to see it.

Lila:  And do you think she was afraid that you wouldn’t enter into a relationship with her if you knew the extent of how sick she was?

Fiona:  Absolutely. That had to ha— I don’t know any other reason why she wouldn’t really explain …

Lila:  Did you feel blindsided?

Fiona:  I did; I was very resentful, and I’m still recovering from that relationship.

Lila:  Yeah…

Fiona:  But when I— fell out of that, I had a— about six months of celibacy … and … a lot … there was a lot of trauma from, from that relationship. I, I wanted to be poly … and I asked for permission from her … towards the end when our relationship was getting very rocky and (Lila mm’s) I wasn’t having my needs met and she felt really hurt by that request and, and then I cheated (Lila mm’s) annnd … and then I got pregnant.

*

Lila:  In a conversation that Alex and I had recently, he said that … (sigh) His family seems to have a pretty dim view of me, and the word that I would use is that they think that I am selfish. (Fiona mm’s) And he said, “I suspect that— that’s why you don’t like children, because then, it’s not about what you want. You have to— sacrifice, and give up you— what you want in favor of what … the child want,” but that’s the view of his family. His family has this … this supreme value on self-sacrifice— (Fiona mm’s) —for others in the family. I hold an extremely— an extreme reverence for: balance. Being able to take care of yourself so you can sustainably help others and … (Fiona hm’s, Lila sighs) I think he’s right about children, because I find them so annoying and I just want to speak with the adults (Fiona laughs) I just want to (Lila laughs), I just find them so annoying.

Fiona:  Yes!

Lila:  And then, and then I feel a little bit— embarrassed for finding them so annoying. (Fiona nn’s) And not wanting to be around them. (Fiona hm’s) Not— not because I’m a woman but — is it because I’m a woman? —

Fiona:  That might have something to do with it.

Lila:  (overlapping) It might, it might be some, some cultural pressure.

Fiona:  (overlapping) I— would be surprised if it didn’t have a little bit to do with it.

Lila:  At least some. A woman who doesn’t care for children.



Welcome to the second episode of the second season of horizontal with lila, the podcast about intimacy recorded while lying down. 

In this episode, I lie down with my sweet friend Fiona. Fiona is an architecture student, a first generation Nuyorican, a bisexual woman, and one of the most deliciously sensual humans I’ve ever known. At the time of this recording, she had recently trained as a tantrika and was giving erotic massage at a Tantric Temple, which is where she headed right after we finished recording … she was late!

Since then, has retired that persona, feeling that, while she fully supports the rights of women to do tantric sex work, it wasn’t for her. However, she’s dabbled in educational sex work as well, and really enjoys being a demonstration model in an intimate environment — for instance, showcasing hands-on sexual techniques during workshops given by the sex educator Kenneth Play.

This episode was recorded on a marathon day of podcasting in my friend Owen’s basement — which is far less creepy than it sounds, as his basement is a combined recording studio and mother-in-law suite with a queen-sized bed, making it perfect for horizontal.

Fiona holds the record at the Villa for having sex with the most housemates. It seems that everyone is attracted to her! And, lucky for them, she enjoys many flavors of human. Also … some of my housemates are— very good at sharing.

In the first half of our episode together, we talk about being child-free, various forms of birth control, swallowing come, tumblebugging, and coming out as poly.


If you enjoy lying down with us, become a patron of the horizontal arts. Patreon, the website that gives artists a platform to crowdsource income, can make it possible for a modern day broadcaster-golightly, such as myself, to make independent, uncensored, and, to this day, ad-free work. And there are rewards! For instance: for five dollars a month I’ll add you to my secret FB group, where I post behind-the-scenes photos and curate the most fascinating articles about love, sex, and relationships. There are lots of other perks as well, like horizontal pillowcases and free tickets to live horizontal storytelling shows, where you can lie down with us in person.

Right now, you’ll just have to pretend.

You know how to pretend, right? You just put your mind to it … and come lie down with us.


Links to things:

horizontal’s Patreon, so that you can, in the words of my newest patron, “support what you love”

There seems to be an anatomically-correct doll on the market, but the one that’s gotten all the attention is the one with a penis. HUMPH.

It’s possible to become pregnant while using an IUD for birth control.


Show Notes (feel free to share quotes/resources on social media, and please link to iTunes, this website, or my Patreon!):

iTunes link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/horizontal-with-lila/id1238031115&ls=1

website link: https://horizontalwithlila.com/

Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/horizontalwithlila

[3:42]  On nervousness.

[5:03]  The prettiest robe combination so far. [visual aid]

horizontal just prior to recording this episode [visual aid]

[5:24]  When did Fiona start sneaking out of her strict home?

[6:10]  Fiona on having her her mother as her middle school guidance counselor.

[7:08]

Fiona:  I’m first generation Nuyorican, so— both of my —         

Lila:  — which is New York Puerto Rican?

Fiona:  Yesss. Yes. And both of my parents are from Puerto Rico, and … my father was raised in a more urban environment, whereas my— in Ponce, Puerto Rico and my mother was— raised in a more, in a more country environment in the rura— rural area of Puerto Rico, Barranquitas, in the mountains … and … I … Puerto Rico’s still very very Catholic, very homophobic.

Lila:  Hm.

Fiona:  So, some of those ideals, she, she came here at a young age, at around 24, and— being in New York will challenge some of those perspectives … so she— and being an educator, has also forced her to challenge some of those ideas err— that she learned growing up.

[8:28]  What was the relationship like between Fiona’s mother and her father (who was an alcoholic)?

[9:00]  How is Fiona similar to her musician father?

[9:57]  Why did Fiona’s parents have children?

[11:22]

Fiona:  He did his best to … teach us that … having kids is a huge life decision, um, and kind of he, he pushed us in the direction of not wanting to have kids. So he … wouldn’t let us play with baby dolls — he didn’t like us playing with baby dolls. He would buy us Business Barbies instead.

Lila:  Really?!

Fiona:  (chuckling)  Yeah.

Lila:  Business Barbie!

Fiona:  Mmhm.

Lila:  Did you like business Barbie?  (both laugh)

Fiona:  She wasn’t as sexy—

Lila:  I’ll bet!                                                                                      Fiona:  As the other Barbie.

Lila:  (laughs) I’ll bet she wasn’t. I mean, she’s the same when you take her clothes off.

Fiona:  Right, exactly.

Lila:  Which is, isn’t that instantly what every child does with a doll, is like, take all the clothes off?

Fiona:  Yes!

Lila:  And see what’s underneath! (Fiona laughs) And it’s just the, the— there’s no vagina, it’s just this smooth, flat—

Fiona:  I know, or— Lila:  — pubic surface.

Fiona:  They’ll have like this … strange version of a panty—

Lila:  OHH!

Fiona:  That is just a design on the skin—

Lila:  And slightly raised. Fiona:  — of the —

Fiona:  Yes!

Lila:  Ugh, okay. (both laugh) It’s ridiculous. Oh my God, what would it take for them to make anatomically-correct Barbie and Ken?

Fiona:  Whoa.

Lila:  To actually teach children what human bodies are, and that it’s nothing to be ashamed of, everybody has the bodies, and that there’s a variety of— shapes.

[There seems to be an anatomically-correct doll on the market, but the one that’s gotten all the attention is the one with a penis. HUMPH.]

Business Barbie is real, but she is called “Executive Barbie” [see below: Eddie Izzard, executive transvestite]


EDDIE IZZARD-weirdo or executive transvestite??

EDDIE IZZARD- DRESS TO KILL..XD HA HA

[13:13]  On wanting to be child-free.

[13:44]  A late-night experience Fiona had over gelato at the Hacienda Maison in NOLA.

[14:39]  Why Alex thinks Lila doesn’t want children.

[16:20]  Fiona and the permanent birth control.

[17:09]  The IUD, the pill.

[20:53]  On swallowing come.

[23:23]

Lila:  Do you do it because it’s pleasurable for you, or as a sort of gift to them, because that’s how I did it.

Fiona:  Hmmm.

Lila:  It was like, “I will offer you this … by not …. spitting you out, by not—

Fiona:  Right.

Lila:  I will accept you into my body.

Fiona:  I … take— great pleasure in it. I s— I, I see it as a gift, in both ways? It’s their gift to me and— and because of that potency that I know it carries … and— and even the ceremonious— giving of it to me, the, the orgasm, the ejaculation, the, the climax itself, is, is, it just feels … appropriate. To. Make it a part of myself.

[25:02]  Lila’s elementary school memory of the note down the pants.

[26:16]  The blind spots in Lila’s memory.

[27:06]  The dirty magazine that Lila’s childhood friend found in the gutter, and where she hid it.

[27:49]  Where Lila’s fantasy about brothers stems from.

[28:05]  Tumblebugging.

[28:10]

Lila:  So, to the best of my ability, I discerned that it was to— have, like, be in a, a little clinch—

Fiona:  Yeah.

Lila:  Facing each other.

Fiona:  Uhhuh.

Lila:  And be wrapped around each other — limbs wrapped around each other — and then have a few thrusts and then roll over, and then have a few pumps and roll over, and have a few thrusts and then roll over. (Fiona cracks up) And have a few pumps, and, so tumblebugging— and that’s, that’s what I remember so vividly, and I remember being so aroused by the idea of being with brothers. They weren’t with each other, that wasn’t what— that didn’t arouse me—

Fiona:  Mmhm.

Lila:  The idea of having two brothers focused on me, which then, later on, I wound up fantasizing about with Alex, which caused some problems not with him but (laughing) the brother, who now really does not think so well of me. (both laugh)

Fiona:  It’s an innocent fantasy! It’s just a fantasy!

Lila:  I know. I shouldn’t have shared it with him.

[29:58]  A possible origin of Lila’s interest in older men.

[30:28]  The first man Lila gave oral sex to.

[31:34]  Where did Lila hide the dirty magazine?

[32:13]

Lila:  I do remember my mother saying … “Lila, sex is not dirty. Sex is something that happens between people that love each other, and it’s a wonderful thing, but this is dirty.” […] And so, she made a very clear distinction.

No caption necessary, methinks.

[33:11]  The attitudes towards sex in Fiona’s household.

[33:56]

Fiona:  I remember one time, crossing the street — my mom was the guidance counselor at the middle school that I went to so that made it a little, like, a lot more difficult.

Lila:  Yes, of course! (laughs)

Fiona:  — to get away with things, so, I have many … fetishes that relate to the things I was shamed for growing up.

Lila:  Like…

Fiona:  This one, in particular, about getting away with things—

Lila:  Yeah.

Fiona:  And— is one of them … so it was always hard for me to get away with things, and, with my mother being there all the time, I remember— crossing the street, I thought I was in the clear. I was about two blocks away from my school, and I was hanging out with my friends, and I thought she was working late, and my— boyfriend, as boyfriend-y as middle school relationships can get, had his arms around me, and that was … implicit enough, that was suggestive enough of our relationship, and … (lowering her voice) she honked the horn!

[35:43]  Fiona on her virginity and foreplay.

[36:38]  What was Fiona’s first experience of penetration by a cock?

[39:09]  Why does Fiona think her parents are still together?

[38:36]

Fiona:  For many years I felt responsible for the health of my parent’s relationship. (Lila mm’s) And … through … a lot of work— and one powerful family session— I mentioned this out loud and … it was stated that that’s not necessary, it’s not true, I’m not responsible for their relationship. And—

Lila:  The— therapist said that, or they did?

Fiona:  They did.

Lila:  They did.

Fiona:  Somehow — and I thought it was shocking that they were shocked, that I felt that way —  (Lila mm’s) — but when they heard me say that … they promised, they assured me that it wasn’t necessary for me to feel that way.

Lila:  Whooo … my mom only told me much later on that she had stayed with my father … many years longer … because of me. Also partially it had to have been that she got sick. (Fiona mm’s) My father was caring for her. (Fiona mmhm’s) She had cancer — colon cancer — when I was 7, 8, and 9. As far as I know, right. My, my memory, also very— incomplete from that time … but ….. that thought felt very oppressive to me. Because they really didn’t seem very happy. And my mom revealed to me, much later on, that she had had an affair at the end, but that … they had had an understanding. (Fiona mm’s faintly) That they’d said that their marriage— it’s so interesting, my mom’s so shocked about things like that, she was shocked when I told her about Andrew’s relationships (Fiona mmhm’s) and how he lives with his wife on the first floor and his girlfriend lives on the second floor and—

Fiona:  (quietly) Right.

Lila:  — she was so astonished, but my, my parents said that they had an open relationship, they were like…

Fiona:  Oh.

Lila:  … but they didn’t exercise it.

[42:17]  Fiona on coming out as poly, and her last (fraught) monogamous relationship.

[44:24]  Fiona tells the story of getting pregnant while on the IUD. And her prophetic dream.

[46:05]  On her abortion.

Fiona:  And it wasn’t until I had that dream — I took the test, and it couldn’t have been more positive, and I had a procedure done. And within three days — and this is, also, this validates, it confirms my desire not to have children — I just, I didn’t even give it a second thought. (Lila mm’s) Within three days, I wasn’t pregnant anymore and I knew something had to change from there on. I knew the way I did relationships had to change.

[46:44]  How did Fiona know that polyamory was an option?

[47:06]

Fiona:  I knew that for me, I wanted to share. I knew I had enough love for multiple partners. (Lila hm’s) I knew I could love more than one person. And I just needed a, a s— a system or a a, some— a construct, to practice that.

[47:36]  What moved Fiona the most about entering the polyamorous community?

[48:00]

Fiona:  It was the first time I had heard consent being … talked about. It, it blew my mind! That I didn’t know what consent meant (Lila mm’s) or looked like, really.

consent (noun) = freely-given permission, verbal or otherwise, to interact sexually in a particular form with another human

[48:20]  On bisexuality and childhood crushes.

[49:00]

Fiona:  I would have to say that my first kiss was a woman, and this was a memory that I— forgot about, until— I really had to look back and think about when my re— my real first kiss was. Her name was Antonella. She was older than me… she was eight. And I was six. (Lila mm’s) And … so … there’s, I, there’s a lot of different reasons why I, I became sexually active when I did: the hyper-sexualization of Latinas, I was— I had boobs when I was in third grade (Lila mmhm’s) and … we had access to porn, as well, as kids.

Lila:  What kind?

Fiona:  Heterosexual porn.

Lila:  Videos?

Fiona:  Yes, videos. And so, Antonella had somehow discovered porn and … would want to play “the game” with me sometimes. Which was when— where we would lock ourselves in my father’s room and (Lila giggles) she would lie on top of me and dry hump me and make out with me, and, I loved it.

Lila:  Yeah!

Fiona:  I loved the game! (Lila giggles) I’d always ask to play it.

Lila:  Of course!


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26. for people who aren’t looking to fall in love: horizontal with a bisexual slut

Welcome to the second episode of the second season of horizontal with lila, the podcast about intimacy recorded while lying down.  In this episode, I lie down with my sweet friend Fiona. Fiona is an architecture student, a first generation Nuyorican, a bisexual woman, and one of the most deliciously sensual humans I’ve ever known.

Become a patron of the horizontal arts, by supporting me on Patreon, a website for crowdsourcing patronage! Patronage allows artists like me to make independent, uncensored work, schedule recording tours, and devote my time to creating more horizontal goodness, for you! Becoming my patron has delicious benefits, ranging from exclusive photos and behind-the-scenes video content, to handwritten postcards, spring cleaning phone calls, and creative input on future episodes! You can become a patron for $1 a month on up, and the rewards just get more sumptuous.

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Lila
Dear One, I hope this makes you laugh as much as Dear One,

I hope this makes you laugh as much as it made me laugh. 

Laughter in the midst of grief is so good. As good as tears. Different sides of the same emotional release.

My dear friend & brilliant psychiatrist-writer, writer-psychiatrist Dr. Owen Muir, called to check in on me. We joked about my plan to write a scathing critique of this looks-so-nice-from-the-outside, for-profit Assisted Living facility my mom had been living in for a year. (This is not a joke.) 

Owen suggested I write a scathing critique of everything, and then used the phrase “the terrible consumer experience that is death.” 

He said I should write it. I said he should write it. 

So he called me and we recorded it. Together.
Because this is what we do. 

Big Love,
Lila

To listen to the 7 minute recording, tap the Substack link in my bio, or type this link into your browser: horizontalwithlila.substack.com
My new friend @latonya.sunshine78 , a visual artis My new friend @latonya.sunshine78 , a visual artist and educator whose work I *deeply* admire, gave an Artist’s Talk on Friday at the conclusion of her @floridarama.art exhibition, and I got the chance to see it, and hear her speak passionately, eloquently, humorously, lovingly, about her art and the process of making these large-scale mixed media collage works that, for lack of a better art-world term, I personally think of as Very Mixed Media.

If you swipe through to the last slide, you will see the very first time I caught glimpse of her work, long before I know who the artist was, weeks before the exhibition opening, when it had likely just been hung up, and I brought @mrghyseye to experience the immersive exhibit at FloridaRAMA and we both fell in love with the respective pieces behind us. We thought we matched the pieces so well, in both vibe & style, that we had best selfie with them!

And since I follow FloridaRAMA so closely here on IG, when I saw that the official exhibition opening was happening, I made it my business to get there, on my @radpowerbikes @stpeteradpowerbikes ebike, in my ball gown skirt. I brought two Toastmasters friends, Lena & Steve, along.

You can see from the second photo that I was so moved by Latonya’s work and beautiful energy, that I spontaneously Kissed Her Hands (!!!) Later I was a tid bit embarrassed, like ‘really Lila? She does not know you!’

But she does now. And I can tell you that Latonya is a source of unending inspiration, just by being who she is, and working the way she works.

I was deeply moved by the way she weaves objects, and memory, into a visual tapestry, and the way she listens to the objects until they Tell her how they want to be incorporated, so moved, in fact, that I brought her something back from my father’s funeral, and from his dilapidated house. I will be honored if those memories make their way into a tapestry of hers.

Recently I heard this quote. (Do you know who said it?) 

“Use your suffering. Don’t waste it.

I promise I will use it. I promise not to waste it. It will make its way into all of my art, of every medium. And maybe, it will make its way into the art of others, as well.

❤️‍🩹
I’m recovering from a speech heartbreak. I gave I’m recovering from a speech heartbreak. I gave the most beautiful speech of my life last week. It was about my parents, my father’s sudden death, my love, the love of my life. And it is gone because I forgot to turn on my microphone! 

It’s not completely gone. I did find an app transcription service that can read lips. So I have the transcript, but I am devastated to not have the video as I thought it was going to be something I would send to the @ted curators to follow up on my finalist win in 2021. I was going to send it to X, Y, Z… ( And @imranamed )

And the ephemerality of this is really with me. Sometimes creativity, even visionary creativity is a mandala. 

If you’ve ever seen the monks with the sand, pouring a mandala, they put such meticulous precision, such effort, such focus into it. And when they are finished, they gaze upon it… and they sweep it away. Somebody said that my speech last week was a mandala, and I was like, “Yes! I know!” 

Many people have said, “If you can do it once, you can do it again. And I know that this is true. 

As a person who has been creative my entire life, I know that this is true.

{To WATCH the whole speech or READ the full transcript, go to: 

horizontalwithlila dot substack dot com

Or click the link in my bio, bb}

And then go out and make some art.
“Fashion” I think I’m gonna need to add a B “Fashion”

I think I’m gonna need to add a Bowie album or two to my burgeoning collection… 

Which ones are your favorite? Let a girl know in the comments.

Art by @mollymcclureart 
Leggings by @l.o.m_design 
Vampira lipstick by @thekatvond 
Sneaks by @adidas 
Photo by @samia.mounts
Here’s how it starts: Dear Young Man I Dated in Here’s how it starts:

Dear Young Man I Dated in 2016,

I have something very important to say to you, and it isn’t ‘I told you so.’

It is this:

Politics are about people and the planet.

Every single political issue is about people, or the planet. 

Politics do not equal some ideological, intangible thing. “Politics” are real things with real consequences to real people. Probably people that you know. Probably people that you love.

When you say, “I’m not political,” what I hear is, “I do not actually care about people other than (a handful of) the ones I know personally.”

To read the whole letter, tap my Substack link in bio.
Brought my mom to @floridarama.art for the first t Brought my mom to @floridarama.art for the first time so she could experience something different than the view from her couch, and she “didn’t like it”? It was “esquisito”?

#okboomer 

BeforeI went up to NY for the funeral, I did wind up telling her that my father died. I was worried she would be devastated and she would develop what they call “increased mental state,” but that wasn’t the case. Mostly she was just sad for me. 

I’m not sure if she now remembers that it happened.

To be honest, sometimes I don’t exactly remember that it happened. I have his wedding ring and his glasses and the prayer card on my nightstand but still it’s sometimes unreal.

I don’t want to bring it up all the time, but I do like having physical reminders. 

And though I don’t want to wear all black all the time for months on end to show that I’m in mourning, it feels good to put on my morning armband… even, and maybe especially, because it’s just a little bit too tight. So I really know it’s there.

Because the grief is always there even when I’ve forgotten about it.

So is joy.

Hold your people close and tell them, 
if you love them, 
tell them.

#mourning #arttherapy #floridarama
A poem of grief and wonder-ing that I wrote years A poem of grief and wonder-ing that I wrote years ago, and could have written yesterday.

You can read the whole piece on my Substack (with proper syntax). 

Substack is where I put my tenderest thoughts and deepest writing. If you want to, you can become my patron there. This would move me very much.

Link in my bio.

#grief #griefislove
Went to my father’s funeral, but couldn’t wear Went to my father’s funeral, but couldn’t wear black *all* weekend.

Dreamy roses are red @selkie tournure skirt giving me life. Fascinator by @babeyond_official
Are you a member of the Dead Dads Club? Only two Are you a member of the Dead Dads Club?

Only two criteria for membership!

Any Dad will do. Stepdads, Granddads, Poor Dads, Rich Dads, Fun Dads, Un-Dads.

But for real.

I thought for sure my Mom would go first. I mean, I moved to Florida because she has dementia and she is dying.

“Plot twist,” somebody said.

That’s funny.

I actually mean that. I’m just too tired to laugh today. It takes too many muscles.

My mom is in an assisted living facility, on Hospice Care, can no longer stand up from a seated position on her own, and is worried about the stuffed cats we gave her possibly being dead because they ‘have a soul and they used to meow and now they stopped.’

The staff has been putting down food and water for them and every time I drop by the stuffed cats — and the food — are in a different place in the apartment. So that’s good. They’re still alive, you know. And the facility is still keeping her. Alive, you know. And putting down real food for her stuffed cats.

“What’s the harm?” they said. 

No harm, I say. She wasn’t going to eat that, anyway.

To read the entire essay, to subscribe, or to become s paid subscriber and be part of my art, follow the Substack link in my bio 

horizontalwithlila dot substack dot com

#deaddadsclub #deaddad #grieving #sickmom
Try not to forget, okay? Belt @l.o.m_design Bow Try not to forget, okay?

Belt @l.o.m_design 
Bow @riskgalleryboutique 
Earrings @artpoolgallery 
Top @forloveandlemons 
Photo @samia.mounts 
Art @verticalventures
I never wanted a child. So the universe gave me I never wanted a child. 

So the universe gave me an 84 year-old one. 

We are the playthings of the gods.

I have cleaned up her urine. I have cleaned up her shit. I have changed her soiled diaper. I have used a q-tip to put medicine in tender places that I never wished to see, because there was no one else to do it.

What’s that they call it in the Bible? Smiting? God smote him? Smited him? Smit him? In my bitterer moments, it does feel as though I’ve been smote. In my better moments, it’s simply the part of my story where Timon & Pumbaa sing the “CIRRRRCLE of LIIIIIIFE.”

{You can read the rest of the essay on my Substack. Link in my bio. Thank you for being a witness.}
I’ve just learned that today is International Me I’ve just learned that today is International Mermaid Day!

Thanks @jujubumble 

📸 @wildartistryphotography 
💄 @mrghyseye 
✨ Me
📖 Gift from @kristianndances 

#internationalmermaidday
My Mom is dying. Fasc!sm is on the rise. A small g My Mom is dying. Fasc!sm is on the rise. A small group of evil corporate overlords is trying to Handmaid’s Tale us. My brilliant, funny friend @synchlayer died of bladder cancer at age 49.

I’m out here buying pretty things on the internet. 

I have no regerts.

This will be an essay mostly in photos. I am very, very tired. 

February was: 

setting up temporary-house in FL

gathering 95% of my possessions from 4 places in NY (thanks Kenneth, Deniz, Marghe, Owen!) and two places in Los Angeles (Thanks Adam M. & Samia!) 

driving a 12-foot box truck from NY to Baltimore to Savannah to FL (mostly with Jon! thanks Jon!)

shortly thereafter, flying to L.A. and, while packing up, the remaining 17% of my possessions, managing to see as many people I love as humanly possible (for someone who is slightly manic and rather time-optimistic) — which is, honestly, rather a lot of people, if I do pat myself on the back… myself— and then rushing back to St. Pete (thank you friend for flying me home; you know who you are) because mom went into the hospital again…

FOR THE REST OF THE ESSAY, TAP THE SUBSTACK LINK IN MY BIO, bb. 💋 💋
Proud to Protest today.
Falling more in 🩷🧡💛🩵💙 with St. Pete!

Happy International Women’s Day. 

May each of us born to a woman, 
raised by a woman, 
nurtured by a woman, &
 f*cked by a woman 

CHOOSE to SHOW WOMEN the RESPECT and CARE that we deserve.

#internationalwomensday2025 #stpete #resist
“What a year January has been. 

My dear friend’s sister died by su!c!de. My dear friend lost his home in Altadena and had to evacuate the fire with his family, including his 92 year-old grandmother. My dear friend is dying of cancer in New York. (In his 40s.) The br*ligarchy rears, fasc!sm festers, and every tr@ns person, woman, and human with even mildly uncertain imm!gration status in the United States is, rightly, terrified. 

Here in Florida, my mom fell on her face right in front of me at church last week, on the threshold of the ladies room (busting her upper lip) and had to go to the E.R. where her CAT scan and her hand xrays came back negative but it turns out she has…..”

You can read the whole piece on my Substack- link in my bio!
In March, 2019, my friend @stevenmdean (remember h In March, 2019, my friend @stevenmdean (remember him from horizontal with lila episodes 82. 200 dating profiles, & 83. you do not have voting rights in this startup relationship?) teamed up with an experience designer to create an event they dubbed The Love Immersive, a “10-hour exploratorium-style foray into the 5 love languages.”

In Steve’s words: 

“I teamed up to architect a choose-your-own-adventure interactive journey through the languages of love. 
Spanning every floor of a sprawling 6-story arthouse in the heart of New York City, and co-produced by the creative arts group Moontribe, Love Immersive attracted over 450 attendees who came to explore love through the nuanced dimensions of touch, words, service, quality time, gifts, and more. 

We invited over 50 volunteers and practitioners of different love languages to showcase their creative capabilities in an evening of self-discovery, secret missions, hidden rooms, wandering wizards, art installations, and live music.“

I was one of the 50. 
They gave me a closet. 
A closet.
This is not lost on me.

That was all the space they had left, apparently. And I was determined to make good use of it. I turned it into a cozy nesting pod with blankets and pillows and two sets of listening devices, and I recorded this 11-minute meditation for anyone who stopped in, so that they could take a break from the glorious menagerie for a few minutes. And reset.

In the closet.

#immersiveexperience 

LISTEN ON SUBSTACK! Link in my bio!
Busy? Low on bandwidth? No time to read the whole Busy? Low on bandwidth? No time to read the whole piece?

TL,DR: Don’t ask. OFFER.

Don’t ask. Offer.

Honestly though, the whole piece is worth reading, and, of you’re grieving, sharing with those who ask you if there’s ‘anything’ they can do.

Link to my Substack in my bio.

I love you.
I grieve with you.
I love you.
Think of this as a candy conversation heart that s Think of this as a candy conversation heart that says “READ ME”.

“Annie Lalla, the love coach I would trust with my love life, who explains the unexplainable in ways that break open my head and my heart, once told me of smuggling love. Some people do not demonstrate love in ways that we at first recognize as love. She spoke of becoming a Detective on the Case of Love, noticing where a partner might be smuggling morsels of it. Refilling your water glass while you’re busy writing, perhaps. Going out to the car early to defrost it before you get in. Things like that, and things far less legible.

When I first courted her for a couple of episodes of horizontal with lila, I asked, “How do I smuggle love?” She replied immediately that I don’t seem to smuggle at all; I just come right out with it. Make like confetti. Festoon a person. She said loads of people are more reserved than I am because they believe compliments, effusiveness, and praise, once offered, lower their social status. She said I don’t care much about that, because it’s more important to me to let the person know.

Let the people know.

We are all going to die. And it seems like most of the time, it will be a surprise when. What does status matter, really? Really really.

The fact that I will express my love with a freeness is a thing I love about myself even when I don’t love myself.

So sure, I don’t need a holiday to express my love — which is one of the main annoyances I hear bandied about near February 14th — “I don’t need a holiday to tell me to tell my wife I love her!”

Okay. But setting aside a day for a thing can certainly help, right?

Atonement.

Independence.

Rights.

Holocaust remembrance.

If anything, Valentine’s offers us that cultural pause in the middle of an unfavorite month, a will-we-make-it-through-the-winter, hope-our-stores-last, do-we-have-enough firewood, dear-God-don’t-let-me-freeze-to-death month that says, in candy-colored suspended animation:

Think about love, will you?

What kind do you have?

What kind do you want?

And:

Now what do you want to do about that, sweetheart?”

Read the whole piece on my Substack, darling. Link in my bio.

P.S. I love you.
Read this if you love me: “february, the month Read this if you love me: 

“february, the month you’re supposed to be in love”

https://open.substack.com/pub/horizontalwithlila/p/february-the-month-youre-supposed?r=m6nsi&utm_medium=ios
“This has been a terrible no good very bad super “This has been a terrible no good very bad super sucky year. For moi. (You too?) 

Would not recommend. 
Would not wish on anyone.

Back in Florida. Mother descending into dementia and decrepitude. 

Don’t want to do the things. I am the only person to do the things.

Almost the entirety of 2024 has been an adulting montage. Or rather, for accuracy’s sake, the first three-quarters of the year was a months-long ordeal which Joseph Campbell of The Hero’s Journey might dub the REFUSAL OF THE CALL.

I am firmly in the montage now, though, for sure. How long will it last? Who knows. Montages are interminable for the person living them. That’s why we speed them up in the movies.

So I juuuust entered the montage 2 months ago. Basically when I got out of bed. There was a lot of bed. See: Refusal of the Call.

This is sort of a MVE, a Minimum Viable Essay. I haven’t written in 10 months. A list is the first thing I’ve mustered, and I’m very glad I’ve mustered it because it means I’m back. English is so confusing, isn’t it? Mustered. Mustard. Tomato. Tomato.

Anyhoodle! Without further ado, I present you with an exhaustive yet incomplete list of Things I Learned (in 2024) that I Really Never Wanted to Learn and Didn’t Really Want to Know:

[Go to the Substack link in bio to read about the 24 things!]
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