A coupla years ago I had a whole bunch of extra cash (Dot-Com Boom days, strictly legal, I assure you) so I bought two Hefty bags full of stuffed animals and hand puppets and went to Portsmouth Square playground in San Francisco's Chinatown. I just started tossing the toys out at random and sure enough within minutes the li'l' darlings descended on me like piranhas. After they cleared me out some people asked me who I was.

It was a misty day and threatening to rain so I was wearing my customary long leather raincoat and fedora (I despise umbrellas). Overcome by geekdom and good cheer I declaimed, "I am the Leather Lohan* and I bid you all a Merry Christmas!", then dashed off into the mist to get drunk.

Sure, utterly silly, but on that day I truly felt like a Hero.

I really wish I could do stuff like that all the time. Maybe I don't need a wacky costume, but goofballs like Peter Pixie remind me that maybe it doesn't take much to do a little good in this World.

*"Lohan" is a kinda like a Buddhist saint, not a whacked-out teenage pop star.

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While there are those who are the 'odd-balls' of what has come to be coined as 'RLSH' there are those of us who only look to bring notice to real issues in our commnity. Check out www.therlsh.com, [rlshnews.blogspot.com] and www.answerthecall.ning.com and see that what most of us do is Costumed Activitism. Making a difference and through our costumes bringing to light community issues that need addressed. This January, myself and others here in Wichita are working on making Care Kits for the homeless and Women's shelter. We then plan on distributing them IN COSTUME and press releases to make others in our community more aware of the need.

While Rolling Stone went out of its way to show the more sad stories of the 'RLSH' community, know that its not what you think, and rarely ever is.

(Let the verbal Beatings begin!)

Happy New Year,
Peter Pixie

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