* originally printed in NIGHT magazine, summer 1999, no.43

fringe (frinj)n. 1.A decorative border or edging of hanging threads, cords, or strips, often attached to a separate band. 2. Anything placed or growing along an edge. 3.A marginal or peripheral part; an edge: the fringes of the crowd. 4.Those members of a group or political party holding extreme views. 5.Optics. Any of the light or dark bands produced by the diffraction or interference of light.--tr.v. fringed, fringing, fringes. 1.To decorate with a fringe. 2.To grow or occur along the edge of; to border: "deep and sullen pools fringed with tall rushes"(H. Rider Haggard). [Middle English frenge, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin frimbia (unattested), from Late Latin fimbria.

I didn’t come to New York City to be a Fringe Girl. I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a Fringe Girl. Fringe was lacey adornment (definition 1). In those days I was hanging onto life by a string. Yet in those few threads were the beginnings of what pattern would emerge. I was, and in many ways still am, simply a decorative border attached to a separate band.

But the city is not the place for a single meaning existence. It is a community that supports, permits, almost demands growth, which you do (definition 2) or you leave to have a simpler life in an easier town. This is where the story of my becoming a Fringe Girl begins. One isn’t woven overnight into a fabric of intricate holes. It is through interconnecting experiences that the lattice forms.

I got my first edge (definition 3) through an independent film company called Troma. More intricately the founders, Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz, who are always on the brim blending celluloid and technology into a mesh of seamless entertainment. Troma is the only true independent Film Company in a crowd of so-called many. Watching these masters of life loop their way into the center of fun, creative, intelligent, daring movie making and marketing without selling out is a life lesson in how to design ones own tapestry. Where else could you play movie star, with all the up side, getting invited to the "it" events, freebies, etc., without taking along the down side, loss of privacy and a narrowing of ones world & mind, etc. It is through my journeys as a Troma star, traveling the world and meeting interesting people thus getting crocheted into other fascinating global projects, that shaped my network. The bright neon of nuclear slime and the green tones of the Toxic Avenger have shaded me richly.

Being a member of the Troma Team doesn’t mean a loss of individuality. Au contraire, it is a commitment to freethinking. These views may seem extreme (definition 4) but they, in reality, aren’t knotted up in a tangled yarnball, as most of the world seems to be raveling. The sanity in their insanity has permitted me to fabricate the most delicate, sweet and forever embellishing life. Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz’s influence in the direction of the stitches in my seams are what made the twist and turns of my fiber strong.

It is Lloyd and Michael’s lead that has caused the spinning of my biggest web yet, www.lisagaye.com. By the very suggestion I write an article for www.troma.com has catapulted me into being one of the biggest geeks in New York City albeit a sexy one. The magically woven bytes of 0 and 1’s that embroider this technological wonder are the latest ornament to beautify my existence. It is where the Girl comes out in full glory over the last decade of the manufacturing of my Fringe personality.

In becoming a Fringe Girl one should be careful not to tie the string too tight. Allowing the light to come through (definition 5) permits the spectrum of color to be tinged in all possibilities.

So you see how the beginning of a Fringe Girl can be achieved by simply tying together a few strings. Add a little creativity & a little heart and weave yourself a life worth wearing.