"Each person needs a room of his or her own. I don't know what people think of me, but I have to have a place, a room of my own where I can go when crisis erupts. That's not necessarily a physical room, but a metaphysical nook, my own little space."

The Piano

One of those nooks for Lauderdale is the grand piano. Lauderdale, more known for his effervescent personality and taste for expensive women's clothing, is a concert pianist.

He practices about three to four hours a day. Lauderdale began lessons at age 6, and has performed with the Oregon Symphony Orchestra on three separate occasions. He has been asked to play in 1992 with their classical concert series, he says.

Lauderdale says that classical and "lounge lizard" music are his favorites, although he said he believes that "Tiffany is the ultimate goddess faith, family, country, and community."

"I've studied classical music all my life; it's the music I know best, but I bump and grind every now and then," Lauderdale grins.

At the Club Cafe in Boston, Lauderdale has the opportunity to perform his "lounge lizard" music. He plays there each Tuesday night, he says.

Right now, Lauderdale's favorite musical works include Chopin's nooturnes, Janacek's "On the Overgrown Path," and Delibes' opera "Lakme."

"Those are just pieces that are favorite right now. They're constantly evolving," he says. "Music can't be formulated or torn apart. Music can't be reduced to formulas or even words--or acronyms."

The Dresses

Lauderdale expresses himself through music and through fashion.

He met a recent visitor wearing a navy blue vintage sailor's suit, shorts, black knee socks and an electric blue fez.

And that's somewhat conservative attire for Lauderdale. He says he likes wearing dresses because they are more comfortable than tuxedos, which "confine and constrict movement." Women's accessories are not always as liberating, Lauderdale says. "Heels kill me."

"Adams House is definitely one big formal. People dress to dinner and I do, too," Lauderdale says. His favorite dresses are his three black Betsey Johnson dresses, and a gold lame dress from Bullock's in Los Angeles. "We got it for $15 marked down from $150, and it fit me," Lauderdale says.

Lauderdale also sports a platinum-blond crewcut. But like his constantly evolving musical tastes, that is changing. "The roots are beginning to show," he says.