My first lengthy feature article in quite a while is now available for your reading pleasure at the sex-and-culture website, Nerve.com.
The subject is NYC’s drag scene from the late 1980s to the mid ’90s, and features photos that I took during the era. (The article’s format is based on my multi-media project The Drag Explosion.)
Many thanks to Nerve editor Brian Moylan for commissioning me to write the piece. Makes me want to do more!
Time to take stock of my year so far… and what’s in store next.
Among my January highlights:
*I finally got to see the complete version of the 1968 cinematic masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey, which I’d always resisted watching until I could see it at a theater. At long last, the opportunity arrived. What a trippy movie—2001 is transcendent!
Also in January, I got to reconnect with my drag peer Vaginal Davis, who was in town from Berlin to host some artsy stuff, including a panel discussion about Bob Mizer, famed for his homoerotic beefcake photography. As always, she was a hoot!
As for February…
I played host to my friend Franky, who now lives in Miami. Back in the day, we hung out a lot in drag, when she was known as Francine.
Nowadays, he goes for a more manly look and is still quite striking.
And on the horizon…
*My first major photography exhibit is coming up! Photos from my debut photo book, PAGES, are going to be on display at ClampArt Gallery! The show is in the small room, but it’s still an incredible honor!
*During the exhibit, I’m planning another presentation of my slideshow extravaganza, The Drag Explosion, featuring my photos of NYC’s drag scene from the late 1980s to the mid ’90s. Also, I have an article about my photos coming up in Nerve.com. I believe it’s hitting the Internet tomorrow!
*I’m expanding my Bingo boundaries! Tomorrow, March 4th, I’m launching a Tuesday-night event at Cibar Lounge. And on March 12th, I’ll be hosting with Murray Hill at Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club in Brooklyn, which is either going to be a weekly or monthly event.
Please join me for some fun and games!
On the way to the winners podium…
According to some people, whatever you’re doing on New Year’s Eve is how you’ll spend the rest of the year. Well, guess where I was as the clock struck midnight and we entered 2014. On an elevator, frantically racing to get to a party. I missed the whoop-de-doo by a few seconds.
I ended up having a blast at the party, but will I be spending all of 2014 running behind schedule? For instance, posting this New Year’s greeting on Jan 5th!
Or does the elevator incident symbolize that it’s my year to ascend to the top?! Last year, I accomplished a ton of stuff, and hopefully laid the groundwork for even more success this year. A little lateness once in a while isn’t gonna stop me from rising up, up, up!
HAPPY 2014! I wish you all the best!
I’m in Minnesota visiting family. It’s freezing, wish you were here so we could cuddle!
This past Sunday at XL nightclub was a celebratory memorial for Codie Leone, one of the shining stars of downtown NYC nightlife for the past 20 or so years.
The event was a marathon—performances, video screenings, a raffle, speakers ranging from Patricia Field to Codie’s manicurist, and a very vocal and participatory audience. It was very appropriate.
Looking around the room, I saw lots of people who pre-date even me on the nightlife scene! When I entered the drag fray in the late 1980s, Codie was already a starlet at the Boybar, the drag show palace that used to reign on St. Mark’s Place. Matthew Kasten, ringleader of the Boybar’s shows, flew in from L.A. to help emcee, and the Boybar Beauties who took part included Princess Diandra, hilariously reminiscing about days gone by, and Perfidia, reminding the crowd that she and Codie both had the same “mother”—trans beauty International Chrysis.
Of course, XL was charged with diva energy! Get a bunch of tipsy grand dames together and some old rivalries and twisted feelings are bound to bubble to the surface. But, ultimately, a true sense of togetherness prevailed as speaker after speaker recalled Codie as both a sister and a mother to so many people (including her three biological sons, who were all in attendance).
There were many wonderful moments, and the event’s showstopper was undoubtedly a performance by Connie Girl, another one of the Boybar beauties and one of Codie’s best friends. Honey, it was ovah, legendary, life-affirming, and a reminder that our generation is as vibrant as ever.
I was humbled and moved to be at such a momentous farewell. R.I.P. Codie, your energy infused the night.
