Over Christmas break, I went up to Dallas to visit friends and we subsequently went to S4 to see their drag show.
I've seen many a drag show in my day and love every incarnation, including Rupaul's Drag Race on LOGO. But whether professional or amateur, there are a few staples that are necessary for a great time:
1. A great emcee. Nothing ruins a night faster than an emcee who isn't funny or entertaining, or the lack of an emcee, with the DJ announcing the girls. Emcees are incredibly important: they need to be spontaneous and respond to the audience without being overly vulgar. There's a difference between joking and insulting and a good emcee (with a good audience) can toe the line magnificently.
2. A good audience. Don't try to be funnier than the emcee, because you will not win. Have fun while still being courteous to both the girls and the other audience members. Basically, don't be an ass. Have fun but don't spoil the rest of the audience's fun.
3. Tip! Tipping is not mandatory but is the best way of showing your appreciation for the show. If you're going to tip, then don't make them work for the money -- don't hold on to it and "make" them perform for you in order to get it. They're working their asses off for everybody, and you're included in that. Let them get their money and move on! They're earning every bit of it.
4. Performers need to know the words to the songs. This is one of my pet peeves. Yeah yeah, they're lip syncing, which means they don't necessarily have to know the words, but come on. Nothing takes me out of a show faster than a performer moving their mouth like a fish and pronouncing random syllables that do not in anyway sound like the song they're supposed to be performing. Ladies: pick a song you know, and then perform the shit out of it.
5. Keep the music topical. There are the obvious gay anthems that are staples in shows, but if you're performing a random 70s disco song that no one in the audience knows, you're just setting yourself up for a boring show. I may be biased in this one, but my favorite performances have been queens that dress as Beyonce, Gaga, or Britney and rocked the shit out of a medley. The Beyonce queens are my favorite, I must admit.
It's probably sad how much thought I've put into what makes a good drag show, but there you go. Go, drink, and hope that I never figure out how to pull a Connie and Carla because I will take my drag show on the road and it will be a GLORIOUS show.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Monday, November 19, 2012
Gay Men Will Marry Your Girlfriends
One more reason to support gay marriage: gay men will marry your girlfriends. And I believe I speak for all women when I say that we all enjoy a motherfucking quiche. You have been warned.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Barack the Vote
Tomorrow is election day! To put you in the mood, I would like to direct you to this letter from President Obama in response to a 10 year old girl's letter about being bullied because she has two dads:
And I swoon.
Don't forget to vote tomorrow!
Don't forget to vote tomorrow!
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Girls on Film
It's all fun and games until you find out that your new friend once starred in gay porn.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Pentatonix
Yesterday, we traveled to Austin to see Pentatonix, as per the Roommate's request. He's a choir director and loves everything and anything that has to do with music and I am always down for a trip to Austin. So we went and mostly survived the trip (I got hungry towards the end of the drive, and that's never good for anyone in the vicinity). I knew next to nothing about Pentatonix other than what the Roommate had told me, which was that they were an acapella group and they were amazing.
It turns out they're an acapella group and they're amazing. They're also comprised of two amazing gay men, a baritone and a tenor. Mitch Grassi is one of the new loves of my life. I would like to be put on the list of his Queer Dears, I'm just saying. He is adorable and reminded me of a grown up version of Sassy Pants from "School of Rock." Love love love him. Every time he opened his mouth to speak, I grabbed the Roommate's shoulder and swooned with the love that only a Queer Dear can understand.
It turns out they're an acapella group and they're amazing. They're also comprised of two amazing gay men, a baritone and a tenor. Mitch Grassi is one of the new loves of my life. I would like to be put on the list of his Queer Dears, I'm just saying. He is adorable and reminded me of a grown up version of Sassy Pants from "School of Rock." Love love love him. Every time he opened his mouth to speak, I grabbed the Roommate's shoulder and swooned with the love that only a Queer Dear can understand.
Monday, October 15, 2012
The Odd Couple
I'm living with a boy.
There are certain things to be expected when living with a boy. No matter how much he says he's cleaned the bathroom, there are still beard hairs on the sink. Anytime you say, "does this smell weird to you?" his answer will always be "it smells fine!" And when it's Saturday and you ask what he wants for dinner, he'll look at you incredulously and say, "it's Saturday.....it's grilling day."
So far things have worked themselves out well. I shower at night and he showers in the morning, so bathroom time isn't an issue. He helped me move in all of my heavy furniture, including a couch that once belonged to my parents and is now part of the house, as he says he'll die before having to Tetris it back down the skinny hallway.
When we discussed my moving in to his house, he said that I would have the two back rooms, one as a bedroom and one as a living room (where my TV, couch, and coffee table went). They were boring neutral colors, so we set upon painting them. The living room is orange (as in Halloween, not burnt, ew) and my bedroom is a deep purple. While we were painting, we discovered that each room in the house is a different color of the rainbow:
Red is the sunroom/dog room,
Orange is my den area,
Yellow is his bedroom,
Green is the kitchen,
Blue is the living room,
Purple is my bedroom.
Of course, I managed to move into the Rainbow House.
There are certain things to be expected when living with a boy. No matter how much he says he's cleaned the bathroom, there are still beard hairs on the sink. Anytime you say, "does this smell weird to you?" his answer will always be "it smells fine!" And when it's Saturday and you ask what he wants for dinner, he'll look at you incredulously and say, "it's Saturday.....it's grilling day."
So far things have worked themselves out well. I shower at night and he showers in the morning, so bathroom time isn't an issue. He helped me move in all of my heavy furniture, including a couch that once belonged to my parents and is now part of the house, as he says he'll die before having to Tetris it back down the skinny hallway.
When we discussed my moving in to his house, he said that I would have the two back rooms, one as a bedroom and one as a living room (where my TV, couch, and coffee table went). They were boring neutral colors, so we set upon painting them. The living room is orange (as in Halloween, not burnt, ew) and my bedroom is a deep purple. While we were painting, we discovered that each room in the house is a different color of the rainbow:
Red is the sunroom/dog room,
Orange is my den area,
Yellow is his bedroom,
Green is the kitchen,
Blue is the living room,
Purple is my bedroom.
Of course, I managed to move into the Rainbow House.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
As seen on Lifetime.
Sometimes life gets in the way of blogging. Like when your best friend goes through a rough break up and you have to be available at all times for needed Ben and Jerry's support. Especially when his ex's life could be made into a Lifetime movie.
It's difficult enough being a teacher these days, what with the increasing emphasis on teachers being judged based on their students' standardized test scores and the lack of salary growth in the career. It's even worse when you have teachers that have inappropriate relationships with their students.
In this case, said student had graduated in May (three months ago) and was 18. But guess what? IT'S STILL WRONG. If you are an adult and you hang out with teenagers for fun, then you need to look at your life, look at your choices. It also ruined several relationships and, more importantly, sleep cycles.
I will be the first to say that I hate when people expect that just because you belong to a certain group, you have expectations and roles you have to fill. As Natalie Portman so eloquently put it, I never said I was a role model. But I'm sorry gays (and teachers, and gay teachers), you have a responsibility to not be a creeper. When you have groups that honestly believe that homosexuals are more likely to be child molesters, then you need to oh, I don't know, not take your 18 year old former students on vacation, just the two of you. That is suspicious and saying that you're just friends does not make it sound better, because I am around teenagers all day long at school and trust me, there is nothing about them that would make me want to hang out with them socially. A teacher I worked with last year took a student to the Renaissance Festival last year, and while I cannot fault her for the choice of venue because that place is awesome, it's not okay and she abruptly quit two weeks later. I wonder why.
Break ups are hard, no matter what the reason is. In this case, it was a long and horrendous process that took all summer and ended with a severing of lives and separation of houses. It hasn't been an easy process and it has been hard on everyone involved. Luckily, it's all pretty much settled. He's just ready to move on, and I am, too. I wasn't sure how many late night phone calls I could take.
On a more positive note, this whole experience means that I have a new wonderful roommate! More shenanigans and Will and Grace comparisons to follow!
It's difficult enough being a teacher these days, what with the increasing emphasis on teachers being judged based on their students' standardized test scores and the lack of salary growth in the career. It's even worse when you have teachers that have inappropriate relationships with their students.
In this case, said student had graduated in May (three months ago) and was 18. But guess what? IT'S STILL WRONG. If you are an adult and you hang out with teenagers for fun, then you need to look at your life, look at your choices. It also ruined several relationships and, more importantly, sleep cycles.
I will be the first to say that I hate when people expect that just because you belong to a certain group, you have expectations and roles you have to fill. As Natalie Portman so eloquently put it, I never said I was a role model. But I'm sorry gays (and teachers, and gay teachers), you have a responsibility to not be a creeper. When you have groups that honestly believe that homosexuals are more likely to be child molesters, then you need to oh, I don't know, not take your 18 year old former students on vacation, just the two of you. That is suspicious and saying that you're just friends does not make it sound better, because I am around teenagers all day long at school and trust me, there is nothing about them that would make me want to hang out with them socially. A teacher I worked with last year took a student to the Renaissance Festival last year, and while I cannot fault her for the choice of venue because that place is awesome, it's not okay and she abruptly quit two weeks later. I wonder why.
Break ups are hard, no matter what the reason is. In this case, it was a long and horrendous process that took all summer and ended with a severing of lives and separation of houses. It hasn't been an easy process and it has been hard on everyone involved. Luckily, it's all pretty much settled. He's just ready to move on, and I am, too. I wasn't sure how many late night phone calls I could take.
On a more positive note, this whole experience means that I have a new wonderful roommate! More shenanigans and Will and Grace comparisons to follow!
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