Back when I was a pervert…
In the women’s bathroom at the Palladium in 1995.

Ha! Back then at the clubs, the “real girls” were always very welcoming of the drag queens—and many were thrilled to have us as special guests!

Last night I was invited to a book release party by my friend Michael Reynolds, who is deeply immersed in NYC’s creative media scene (For one thing, he helped give birth to Wallpaper magazine).

It wasn’t until I got to there that I realized that it was Michael’s own book. I thought he was helping spread the work for someone else. Duh!

The book, Tom House: Tom of Finland in Los Angeles, is a tribute to the famed homoerotic illustrator and his legacy. Tom died in 1991, and since then his California residence has served as an archive of his own work as well as other erotic artists.

The party was at Bookmarc, one of several stores on Bleecker Street that are part of the Marc Jacobs empire. It was glorious early summer weather, and the lively crowed spilled out into the street.

I was coming from a daytime Bingo gig (for Jack Daniels), thus my daytime drag look!

This past Saturday, I hit the after-party for the Asian Burlesque Spectacular, produced by Calamity Chang (“The Asian Sexation”). The location was a cute basement cabaret called Lumos, located a short walk from Le Poisson Rouge (where I host Bingo on the weekends)

Calamity is a dynamo powerhouse—Besides producing weekly shows in Manhattan and Long Island, she’s a fantastic performer. Plus, she makes her own costumes. Oh yeah, she also holds a full-time day job.

OMG, I consider it a major success if I manage to get dressed and out of the apartment before nightfall.

(One more thing–She also spokesmodels sometimes at Bingo, which is how we became friends.)

Calamity emceed the show at Lumos, and it was my first time experiencing her on the mike. She’s bossy! Reminded me of myself!

All the girls were really wonderful, and it was a fantastic night out on the town!

When I was at RuPaul’s Drag Con in L.A earlier in the month, Ru polled the crowd at his keynote address as to who should be the new big winner. By far the biggest applause was for Kim Chi.

Sorry, Ms. Chi! As everyone well knows, Bob the Drag Queen has since snatched the title. (It was pretty obvious that the third contestant, Naomi Smalls, didn’t have a chance. But she’s sweet!)

The Gay Internet is still raging about the results! If you think the battle between Hillary and Bernie supporters is intense, then stay clear of the the feuding factions that watch RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Although I would have been fine with either of the top two girls winning, I was definitely Team BTDQ. I saw her perform in L.A. as part of the “Queens of Comedy” show at the Ace Hotel, and I was really impressed by her confidence way of interacting with the audience. All her years of working at NYC bars and clubs have taught her well. She’s not as caustic as Bianca del Rio (thank God!), but very funny with her observational and goofy act.

The only thing I’m not crazy about is her name considering there has been a burlesque star around for years named The World Famous Bob. Although I guess it beats the drag name she was using up until a couple of years ago, Kitten Withawhip.

Actually, maybe I should change my own name. Linda the Seasoned Transvestite? Linda WithSoreFeet? Gotta work on it.

It’s been a few days since I returned from L.A. for RuPaul’s Drag Con… And it’s time I reported on the grand affair!

So what were my impressions?

*Ultimately, the event was all about promoting and celebrating RuPaul’s Drag Race. Violet & Latrice & Courtney & Manila and dozens of other stars from the show were holed up in booths, with long lines of adoring fans waiting for photo-ops in exchange for purchasing some sort of merchandise (glossy photos, postcards, T-shirts, etc). At $20 a pop, those queens must have been raking in the bucks! There were also a lot of merchants selling stuff—makeup, wigs, fake boobs, unicorn magnets, etc. but I didn’t really see people buying much.

*Similarly, if you weren’t a Drag Race girl, no one really gave a shit. One of the most pathetic sights was some poor queen, a Madonna impersonator who rented a booth, being completely ignored by the masses. Sorry, Madge, you’re yesterday’s news. The Drag Con attendees were mostly quite young, and their interest and knowledge of drag stops and starts with Drag Race.

*However, the “New York Legends” panel managed to get a big turn-out despite being devoid of DR queens. Moderated by former club-kid James St. James, the event focused on nightlife in the 1990s, and featured me, Sherry Vine (who mentioned that I was the first person to give her a gig in NYC—I deeply apologize to everyone!), Michael Schmidt (who founded the drag & rock party Squeezebox) and Constance (who also recalled partying away in the 1970s!) It was a lively discussion, with plenty of laughs, especially at the sight of Sherry’s comical orange clown suit, er, dress.

*The crowd wasn’t as large for my slideshow presentation, The Drag Explosion. (I told the audience that there was another panel scheduled at the same time on how to tuck—So it was stiff competition! Ba-da-bump!) But the event went well, and I was delighted that media & radio personality Frank DeCaro was in attendance. He’s a sweetheart!

*I also attended RuPaul’s keynote address. The crowd hung on every word, even though it wasn’t exactly new material. But I’d have to be a bitter bitch not to recognize that Ru’s signature message about loving yourself, striving for the stars, etc. is certainly sweet. And I’m not a bitter bitch, am I? Actually, don’t answer that…

*Drag Con 2017 has already been announced! So start shopping for some comfy shoes. I’ve never seen so many queens limping around in impractical heels in my life. Maybe I should set up a foot-massage booth. Who says you’ve got to be on TV to be successful?!

BIG THANKS to World of Wonder for bringing me to Drag Con, including the special efforts of Thairin, Rudy and Tony. Big Kiss!

P.S.
On my flight back to NYC, I ended up sitting right next to former-club kid Sushi (and his partner Artie), who is featured in my Drag Explosion slideshow. What are the odds? CON you believe it?