2014: A Year in Drag

Each year, I realize that I'm getting older.  A thought that I am still not ready to succumb to.  This year, like every year before, has gone by faster than I would have liked for it to.  Some awesome things happened.  Some horrible things happened.  Some things that are really sad happened, and some things that I will never forget, (because I took the time to write about them, so when I get to be old and senile, I'll at least have some kind of record of what I have done).  Over all, I don't have a lot to complain about for the year.  And, yes, I know I still have 4 days, technically, before the year is over...but the news channels have been pushing this end of the year crap for a week now, already, even before Christmas...

Manila Luzon

I'll start with the sad stuff, first, and get it out of the way.  This year marked the passings of Crystal Eaton, Scott Randall, Chase Wakeling, and Mildred Poland.  These are all people who at some point have had some kind of impact on my life.  Only one did any kind of drag.  Evie Does-It/Scott, made an otherwise exciting day, less so, as his passing happened to coincide with Latrice Royale's appearance at Styxx.  Crystal, who got her own post at the beginning of the year, was my babysitter, when I was a kid.  Chase invited Dan to live with him and his husband, when Dan had to evacuate an apartment, with only days notice, and Dan was still living there, when we met.  Chase was a supporter of us as a couple, from the very beginning, and it's still a shock to me that he's gone.  And, Mildred was my ex's aunt.  She reminded me an awful lot of my grandmother, and even after the breakup, she kept in contact with me via Facebook.  Her passing was a shock, but, it wasn't unexpected, and she had already made plans that it was her time to go.  Out of respect to the family, I opted to not go, because I didn't want anything to be weird, nor did I want to make it about me.  

Jessica Wild

2014 also marked the passing of one of the first "drag queens" that I was exposed to...Robin Williams, as Mrs. Doubtfire.  When I first heard the news, I thought it was another hoax, like, Macaulay Culkin's three deaths.  When it turned out to be true, it brought up a lot of things, for the kids I work with, as well as myself.  If nothing else, Robin Williams, as Mrs. Doubtfire, taught me that there is sometimes a thin line between the place where Love is Everything, and Love just isn't enough.  And, his final teaching, was that life is short, and let the people who mean anything, and everything to you, know that, because you never know for sure, when you won't get the chance to tell them again.

Joslyn Fox

There, now that the sad stuff is out of the way, I'll focus on some of the big things that happened this year.

2014 brought about my biggest year in RuPaul girls, yet.  I will have met, by the end of tonight, seven different RuPaul girls... Jujubee, Joslyn Fox (twice), Manila Luzon, Jessica Wild, Alyssa Edwards, Latrice Royale, and Mimi Imfurst.  It also brought about the first time I've ever won any kind of contest.  It only took me 34 years to win something more than a participation ribbon... This was the year, that I accidentally won a VIP ticket to see Alyssa Edwards...accidentally, because I forgot that I had entered, and, given that it was a Facebook contest, I didn't actually expect to win...

Alyssa Edwards

While my attempt to create a graphic novel, featuring drag came to a screeching halt, due to a lack of interest (on my part), and an attack on my creativity and imagination, due to doing some actual research by interviewing some queens, I put it aside.  It hasn't been scrapped entirely.  But, it's not a main focus.  At this point, I'd do better, writing a book..."The Boyfriend's Guide to Drag Husbandry." While it wouldn't necessarily be a best seller (or maybe it would), it would give me an opportunity to write what I know, and then nobody could attack me based on a lack of creativity, or plagarizing stories, by using bits and pieces of someone else's life...

Latrice Royale

I learned just how much my parents love the drag.  I have to admit, when I first started dating Dan, the biggest fear, was how they would react to the drag.  I obviously had nothing to worry about, since my mom's goal for this year was to start getting picture

s of her with the RuPaul queens, and, she's now working on hunting down DVD's of all the seasons of Drag Race.  It's been through this whole process, that I realized just how cool my parents really are.  They probably always have been, but you never think that your parents are cool, when you're a kid.  

Mimi Imfurst 

The year has been a giant teaching experience for me. I started to take my blog seriously, as a soapbox of sorts. On top of teaching about the acceptance of drag as an art, and an understanding of trans issues, I have also tackled why drag is dying in Maine, why we need to continue to teach about AIDS, and I grew a beard for testicular cancer. 

My No-Shave November Beard

At work, I've also been able to teach more about acceptance as well.  We took the kids to Salem, Massachusetts back in October, just before Halloween.  While we were there, the (at the time) Duchess Gigi Gill was out and about taking pictures with the tourists.  The boys all saw her, and started saying really mean things about her. So, it was my job to talk about the fact that not all drag is RuPaul "grade". And that it is as much about playing a character, as it is about dressing in the opposite gender's clothes.

Cherry Lemonade

Over the course of the year, I made some friends, and lost some friends. The friendscape of my life is in a big time flux right now. People are moving away. Other people just have stopped making the effort. And, I've done the same. Yet other people have surprised me. Cherry Lemonade has become someone  I consider to be a good friend...and she's going to be famous now. Starting January 7th we'll get to see her journey on American Idol.  

I went to so many shows throughout the course of the year.  Two fundraisers in January, March Dragness,  Jujubee at Styxx, Joslyn Fox at Mainestreet,  the Frannie Peabody AIDS Walk weekend in Ogunquit, Dragapalooza,  Zumba Wekend at Point Sebago,  all the Pride events and fundraisers, the shows at Seacoast Rep with Manila Luzon, Jessica Wild and Joslyn Fox,  Alyssa Edwards at Paradym, Latrice Royale at Styxx, the Miss AIDS Awareness Pageant, and Mimi Imfurst at Styxx. And I'm sure I missed a few shows as well.

The year gave me a totally different view of RuPaul's Drag Race, as a show. While it is still one of my favorite shows on tv, I learned through listening to stories from some of the girls, just how much the show is edited. What you're seeing on air, likely is not necessarily the way things happened in reality. 

I learned that some people just don't get how to promote. If you're trying to get people to come support your venue with a show,  it's important to get the word out on the street as early as possible. A last minute, "I need a poster for tomorrow,"  is NEVER going to get you the same business that you would get if you let people know a month or more in advance. 

I'm looking forward to New Year's Eve in Lynn, Massachusetts. I'm hoping that this will be the beginning of a year when I finally step out of the role of silent photographer, and start mingling on my own. I've done it a couple times this year, but it's always awkward.  I just have to keep trying. You know, "Fake it til you make it."

And, here's to a great 2015,  to all of you, my readers. Thank you for your support!

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."