A hat, a salad, and a scandal

I've always looked up to my older women friends for clues as to what to expect later in life. And here I have it: I am discovering that women seem to have this uncanny ability to have more fun, as they get older. I am all for it, especially considering how late the word "fun" entered my vocabulary, since there's no analogue in either the Latvian or the Russian languages. There are of course words for joy, and for happiness, but nothing quite with such surprising - and healthy - dose of lightness and frivolity that the English "fun" would imply.

The French say that a woman can make three things out of nothing: a hat, a salad, and a scandal. Let me add something to this list of miracle products: a party! A woman can make a party any-where, any-time, from any-thing. And she only gets better at it.

Here are a few pictures* I took recently at a friend's house where old friends gather once in a while for a night of girls-only party, to kick back, let their hair down (or wear someone else's), and to teach all those who are new to the concept of "fun" just what it means, to have it. And they've surely got it!

*I entered this series of pictures in the inaugural CURRENTS exhibit on Women, Age and Sex, called "At Her Age", curated by Martha Wilson. The exhibit will take place in A.I.R.'s Gallery I space from December 1, 2010 through January 2, 2011. I should know sometime in the summer whether my submission has made the cut.