Luck is a Many Splendored Thing

A week ago today, we brought Benni home, to Lewiston, and my world was shaken up. On the way back home, a lady on her way to work, made a left turn and smashed into us. Everyone was ok, with the exception of my having had a meltdown on the side of the road.

Cue a week of stress, dealing with insurance companies, and being told, "Talk to this person," "No, you need to talk to this person." Finally, I got someone to inspect the car. And, it was considered totalled.

So, in the course of a week, I went from having to dragmobile, to more or less, nothing. I have a rental, and I'm working on a new vehicle. But, the point is, luck has not been on my side (and usually isn't).

So, how I managed to win a ticket to see Alyssa Edwards, at Paradym this weekend, is totally beyond me. Maybe,  it was just time for my luck to change? Maybe the Gods (Goddesses?) of drag had a soft spot for me? Anyway, it happened, and I was shocked.  (Partly because I entered, then promptly forgot that I had, because the likelihood of my winning was nil.

Thank you to Paradym, Monique Toosoon, and especially to the person who was unable to make it, who gave back a pair of VIP tickets to be given away. I really needed something like this, this week. So, thank you, thank you, thank you!

Dress Has Always Been My Strongest Suit

The universe has a strange way of making me totally aware that I have little control over other people. And, it tends to like to do so, at the most inconvenient times for me.

Asking for time off, so I can drive to a show is no big deal. Nor is getting the time off. But, getting out, on time, in a field of direct care, is nearly impossible,  when you need it to work for you.

The morning started off quiet. Too quiet. Which means something is brewing.  And sure enough, two hours to go, and all hell broke loose. And, my perfectly planned escape, to start my pick ups went to hell.

After a couple of intense texts, I had to resist the urge to sit out the last show, AND the urge to throw my cell out the window on 295. I picked up Benni, then headed back home to get Dan.

Recovering from stress, I stayed quiet for most of the ride to Portsmouth. And, given that Dan was driving,  and we were behind schedule,  I was a bit white knuckled the whole ride there.

Once we got there, I was sent on a quick shopping trip. Snacks for Shaunna, and something gluten-free for me, since I hadn't eaten anything all day. So, I walked around downtown Portsmouth, and saw a lady who had fallen on the sidewalk, surrounded by at least 7 EMT's. She seemed disoriented,  and I walked by as quickly as possible. I got back to the theater, and the "girls" were putting on faces. So, I did what I do best. I mowed down on Ruffles and Reserve's Pieces, and watched the transformations happen.

Shaunna Rai and Miss E,on base heavy, and work it out from there. Bunny Wonderland starts with the eyes, then works out the rest of her face. 

There are a lot of mixed feelings around this show. Happiness,  because tonight's show is sold out, with a two page waiting list for cancellations.  Sadness, because we haven't really done much with Bunny,  in spite of the fact that Shaunna was there for Bunny's inception. So, there was a lot of we have to do more like this (which I sincerely hope happens,  because not only is Bunny super sweet, but she's hilarious...and only her eyebrows scare me.) I'm excited to see Joslyn Fox again, because she was so kind in May when Shaunna worked with her in Ogunquit. And, because the other two shows went well, Bunny seems a little stressed out that something is going to go wrong.

Kitti Chanel arrives first,  with her entourage of boys, and comes bearing gifts of Mimosas. I gladly accept, and then quickly remembered why I dislike Champagne.

Joslyn arrived,  and I went back to the dressing room.  There was a quick introduction, and then Joslyn turned to me. "We're friends on Facebook, aren't we?" I said we are, because we are. She remembered that I had congratulated her on her marriage, as well. And, I kinda Geeked out, because, here is this tv personality,  and she knows who I am, and remembers me. At that point it was close to the start of the show, and to hide my fangirl-ing, I went up to claim my seat for the show.

Seating arrangements are backward this time. My new friend Wendy was on my left, and one of the Pinnacle vodka event people was on my right, with a couple of friends. The crowd was huge. I was shocked at how many people were there. And, I was reminded that a good reason for so many people was Joslyn herself. 

This show, in particular, seemed to be almost a show specifically for me. With me being photographer, everyone was posing for me anyway.  But this show, queens were seeking me out. During one of Joslyn's numbers,  there was a line about a bald man...so she came at me to rub my bald head...and almost fell in my lap. There was a one or two inch edge on the stage that she didn't realize was there. Later, Kitti Chanel came over, sat in my lap, turned sideways, with her head in the Pinnacle lady's lap and feet in Wendy's lap. Then, during Shaunna's final number, she was going for tips, and crawled up in my lap, chest in my face, to get her tip. 

By the end of the show, I was a bit worn down. I'd been up since 5:30am, and was going to have to be back up at 5:30 the next morning. We get to the Portsmouth Gaslight Co., and I realize that I'm starving and I'm running out of steam. Unlike the last After Party, I don't feel like being social, and taking a hundred and fifty billion pictures.  I just want to hang out and relax, before the long ride home.

Shaunna and E,on do their thing and socialize, and I follow along with my camera, just in case. I get a few pictures with Joslyn and some of her fans. I get a few pictures of My girls and their fans. Somewhere in the midst of this, Shaunna manages to get me hooked up with a couple who is looking to have engagement pictures redone by a new photographer, and would like to have someone do their wedding pictures.

I get my own picture with Joslyn, just before we go. And, on the way home, Dan tells me that Joslyn (Patrick) and Andre would like to come to Portland and hang out with us. And, all I can think about, is how cool this night was. How much I can't wait for this to happen again next year. And, how much I'm going to hate waking up in three hours to get ready for work.

But, I want to give a huge thank you to Bunny Wonderland, Shaunna Rai, Miss E,on, Manila Luzon, Jessica Wild, Joslyn Fox, Kitti Chanel, and Vanila Honey-Bush, for letting me tag along for these three shows, and not making me feel like I'm in the way. You're all amazing!

I'll Be Your Paparazzi

Any day that I am off before a show is a good one off.  Usually.  

It's rare for me to not be stressed out before a show. Usually, these are the days that I'm off all day before the should can have some time to do whatever it is that I need to, to relax.  Picking up Benni (Miss E,on) goes off without a hitch. So, the day is going to be awesome. How can it not be? I'm going to a show. I'm going to meet Jessica Wild. What can possibly go wrong?

We get the car packed up, and go on our way. We're supposed to pick up Vanila Honey-Bush,but nobody has heard from her. So, we swing by her work, and nobody there has heard from her in a couple of days. We now have a mystery on our hands, and I finally get to start stressing out, because now, "do we wait around and try to find her, or do we just go without her?

After a few minutes of speculation, and frustration, we decide to go without her, and hope that everything is okay.

We get there, Dan explains the situation to Bunny Wonderland, and the determination is made that the girls will just rearrange numbers, and/or do extra numbers, to fill time.

Up to this point, I have been writing out handwritten business cards, because, I'm planning to take audience pictures this time, at the suggestion of Dan, because pictures of people having fun, will make people more likely to want to see what they missed at the last show.  Which, frankly, makes a lot of sense.  So, writer's cramp and all, I get my 40 business cards made out, then head upstairs, to buy drinks.

There are two lines, which have thrown everyone off. One is for mixed drinks, the other for wine and beer. And, I spend five minutes explaining this to people. I order my drinks: a Creamsicle for me and a Rum Bucket for Shaunna Rai. Feeling all proud of myself, I scurry back to the changing room through the vomitorium, and get back without an issue...and then, BAM! 

Miss E,on makes a grand gesture at just the right time, and the bucket goes flying. Christine, the stage (hand? manager? I'm not quite sure what her title actually is) person, takes the majority of thr spill...on her pants. It goes all ip my arm, and all over the floor. And, I just stanf there like a deer in the headlights, because I just can't believe that it happened.

Then I'm back in line, in a much longer line than I just left, now that people know where to get their booze. I get another Bucket for Shaunna, and make my way carefully back down, making sure to announce myself this time.

Then, I run back upstairs, and snap a few pictures of random people, some I know, some I don't. I hand out a few of my freshly made business cards, then I check on Shaunna one more time, before I stake out my seat.

Jessica arrives. She does a quick run through of the opening with Bunny. I'm introduced as Shaunna's partner, and photographer for the show. I go grab my seat, and the people I met last time are on either side of me. The lights go down, the spotlight comes up, and the show starts.

Jessica, who on Season 2 of RuPaul's Drag Race, had a language barrier, when it came to English,  seems to have gotten a much better grip of it. She and Bunny chat it up on the microphone, and I'm surprised by how funny she is, and she's kinda dirty, but in a fun way.

Intermission starts, and again, I go up to get some pictures. And, Shaunna and I are bought drinks. Shaunna starts the show when intermission is over, so I get to guard both drinks (hers and mine) and give it to her after her number.

The audience tipped less well this show than with Manila, but, was extremely interactive. This was my kind of audience. They sang along, and really got into it, like I usually do.

Then, the show's over, far too soon, as far as I'm concerned. We head over to the Gas Light Co., for the After Party. Shaunna and E,on are given free Prozac Punch drinks by one of the alcohol sponsors. And, I start getting pictures of the girls with their fans.

When Jessica shows up, I end up snapping pictures like crazy. Before the end of the night,I've actually killed my battery. And, Jessica starts referring to me as her Paparazzi, because I'm getting annoying with asking her for other people if we can get a picture.

When the crowds have more or less disappeared, Jessica takes some time to talk to us about what it was like being on Drag Race.  Long days.  Sometimes, long periods of just standing around waiting on Ru. And, lots and lots of creative editing. Things said on the show may have been said, just not necessarilyin the context that they're portrayed to be in. Thus, how you get villains on a show like Drag Race. And, then she compliments Shaunna, E,on and Bunny on how good they are, and reminds them that just because you're not on Drag Race doesn't mean that you're bad. And, just because people get on the show, it doesn't necessarily mean that they're good...or at least better than anyone else. Because drag is a sisterhood, and "all the girls that I work with, wherther you, or Nina Flowers, are my sisters."

Bring It!

"So, I volunteered you for taking pictures, for three weeks of shows."  Every so often, this happens to me. This time, it's important though. I'm the official photographer for three RuPaul's Drag Race girls, for the Midsummer Night Queens shows at Seacoast Rep Theater in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

As such, I get into the shows for free, and get to meet the girls.  And to put the icing on the cake, some of my pictures are going to be published in the newspaper.

The day of the show, I'm in a rush to get out of work, on time, which given that I do social work, is nearly impossible. I manage to get out only 10 minutes late. But, I'm still behind schedule.

I have to get Shaunna Rai packed into the trunk, pick up E,on and pick up Vanila. In the meantime, there's a bank trip, and I manage to get us onto the highway...headed the wrong direction. So, the night is off to a great start.

We get everyone, and start the trek to Portsmouth. Everything is good. I'm stressed out, because I have this ginormous responsibility for A) taking good pictures, B) making sure I don't kill my camera battery before the end of the show, and C) finding a spot to take the best possible pictures from.

I'm pretty sure (at this point) I have an inflated sense of my responsibility. Let's face it, at the end of the day, I'm really just a chauffeur with a camera, who occasionally takes an amazing picture or two.

I always enjoy the pre-show process, and even more, when the queens involved aren't queens I see on a regular basis, if only for the fact that the makeup is so much different. So, I watch the makeup go on, and then it becomes a waiting game for Manila Luzon to arrive. She's been at the hotel, waiting for her luggage to get there.

Suddenly, she's there. Apparently, this is one of the first times that she has had an airline lose her bags. And, unfortunately, it's not like a queen can just go to Wal-Mart, to get her makeup. I get to meet Manila before the show. I'm intoduced as both the show photographer and Shaunna's partner. And, I'm struck by how kind Manila is.

After a quick run through of the opening of the show, I'm in the audience, waiting for it to start. (And for the rest of the audience to arrive.)

A couple to my right, one row back is trying to recall who Manila is, and having gone over all the info about the girls who will be performing for the next three weeks, I get to pretend like I know what I'm talking about. I let them know that Manila was runner up in Season 3 of RuPaul's Drag Race.

The lights go down, the theater quiets, and the introduction starts. I start snapping pictures, for low light, no flash, and pretty much, pray that they're going to come out. Unfortunately, all the intro pictures came out unusable.

As I'm snapping away, the girls all start mugging for me. Which is perfect. With the no flash thing, the less they move, the better the pictures come out.

When the audience begins to really tip, Shaunna does a number, then finds me and throws her tips in my lap.

Suddenly, it's intermission. The lady sitting on my immediate right, (who I am now Facebook friends with) starts chatting with me about the show.  She at one point, says that I must be something special, because a) everyone was posing for me, and b) Shaunna threw her money at me...So I had to either be "her boyfriend, or her pimp." We had a little laugh about that. Then I was off to grab Shaunna a drink before the intermission was over.

The show starts back up. Bunny introduced Shaunna Rai as her "fairy drag mother." I didn't know Bunny when she and Shaunna used to hang out, because I wasn't in the Portland area then.  (And, this is the best part of everything,  as far as I'm concerned. I love hearing about the old days...even if those days are only a few years ago. )

Then, the show is over. And, it's time to head to the Gas Light Co. for the After Party.  This of course, is the part that I was dreading.  After parties mean socializing.  And socializing means people.

We get shown outside to the patio, where we get put in a back corner, where Manila was supposed to be signing things. Instead, she opted for mingling with the fans and taking pictures.

I'm struck again by how nice she is. I think a lot of this comes from the disbelief that I have with reality tv that says that nobody on a t.v. show can possibly be nice on purpose. (Although, Joslyn Fox, Raven and Jujubee had all already proven otherwise.)

While waiting around for it to be over, Shaunna and I started talking to a couple, who ended up buying us drinks.  The wife is a fan of drag, and the husband came because she wanted to. The wife is also the head of a support group for people who do cross dressing and/or drag. They were super sweet, and seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say, and not just what the drag side of things is like.

I fell behind with taking pictures at the party, so didn't get much...although, I did get my picture with Manila...which was my ultimate goal for the night.

Manila left, because she had an early flight to Florida the next morning. And the remaining girls, Shaunna, Vanila and E,on had a drink, then started talking to a table full of nurses...I did my usual stay in the background thing, and then it was time to head back home.

Graphic Art is Hard

My first Drag Show Poster

Over the past few weeks, I haven't really had much to say about drag, because, well, there hasn't been anything going on.  I mean, for real, we live in Maine.  Unfortunately, it's not like there's a drag show every night everywhere here, like there is in Boston.

So, instead of doing my usual escort/chauffeur/bag boy thing, I've been doing the other side of what a good drag husband would do.  I've been making posters, and helping get out the word about shows that are coming up. (Quick plug for Seacoast Rep theater in Portsmouth, NH, tomorrow night, August 6th, with RuPaul's Drag Race past contestant, Manilla Luzon.)

Sept 13, 2014

Originally, my posters started off as a "Hey, can you just throw something together for me for this show?" from Shaunna Rai.  A couple of them, have come off because I had time, and I was excited for the show, like my old Jujubee poster, and the new Latrice Royale poster.

In my own mind, these posters are going to make me famous, somehow.  I'm going to be like Brian Kinney's character from Queer as Folk, only with a lot less sex and drugs.  In my mind, I'll be making money off from my posters, instead of just doing them because I can. The truth of the matter is, I have a lot of fun making the posters.  Until I don't.

Sept. 6, 2014

Generally, I ask the patron for an idea of what they're looking for in a poster (unless it's an "I'm bored, so I'm just making one".)  From there, I can usually get something put out really quickly.  This, to me, is a good thing.  If I were getting paid, the more that I could do, keeping the client's idea in the forefront, the better I would be making off from them.

My biggest pet peeve, however, is a client who says, "I don't really know what I want, so just use your own judgment."  Because, really, they do know what they want, and it usually isn't the same as what I want.  Dan tells me all the time, "You need to use your words, and tell me what you want, because I can't read your mind."  It's good advice if you ever decide that you need a poster from me.  Because what I think looks good, may be far different than what you think looks good.  So, we need to have a common ground somewhere, where we can start off, and go from there.

Honestly, it's not a big deal if I'm working up a poster, and you say, "Scrap the idea, it's not working, try this."  It's not even a big deal if I have seven different saved copies of your poster...unless after the seventh, you decide to go with the first after all.

April 12, 2014

My issue here, is that I'm currently working for free, to get myself some experience, and some exposure.  I don't always mind that.  For instance, back in December, I had done a quick poster for Styxx/Frannie Peabody Center, to advertise that they were doing free HIV testing.  Given that Frannie, through Shaunna Rai, has become my charity of choice, I would have done the poster for free anyway, because it's a way for me to give back.  And, the Styxx shows with the RuPaul girls, I'm getting tickets for not only myself, but, my parents too.  These posters, I don't mind doing, because I'm getting some kind of "reimbursement" for...be it the ability to feel like I'm doing something important, or the opportunity to get to go to a show that I don't have to pay for.

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I do art.  That's my thing.  I can't always do it on command.  I may start a project 5 times, before I show you what looks like the first version of it that you can critique and change.  It takes time.  It takes the right mood.  And, it takes a little bit of understanding from the person ordering the poster to get that I have a full time job, and I do this on my own time.  Art is fun for me.  But, when a poster turns into a monster, I'm going to want to be done with it as soon as I possibly can, to never think about again.

And, now for the shameless plug for myself.  I'm open to doing posters.  You can shoot me a message on Facebook, or via email.  We can work something out.  A little cash would be appreciated, because I do have bills to pay, but as I said before, I'm willing to barter as well.  If it's a show, I'll work for tickets, if it's realistic for me to get to it.