2 posts tagged “drag”

It seems as though I can't find it.

I've been insanely busy lately, or at least it seems like that.  Not really surprising, considering that a) I'm working about 7 hours more per week - on average - than I did last spring, b) I've been involved with Spectrum's production of The Wiz (in the chorus), which takes up maybe about 8 hours a week, and c) it's midterm season.  Not that I have that many midterms (I only have one), but at the same time, the assignments in my other classes seem to be piling up.  We're workshopping two stories a day in fiction class, which means I need to write two pages of response a couple times a week, plus there are three different group projects in the planning, I've got my own writing assignments to worry about, and we do journals about every week in media class.

GAH.

On the plus side, my bio class is having a cheese tasting on Thursday.  Mmmm...

I think I can handle it.  I'm just juggling a lot of stuff, and getting kind of a weird sleep schedule to boot.

On the other hand, this weekend was (mostly) one big party, Saturday especially.  Basically, I overslept, woke up at about 12:30, dragged my ass out of bed and over to the drag show setup, blew up a lot of balloons, and generally tried to make myself useful.  The setters-up were dismissed at 3, and since I was a performer, I had to be back at the gym by 6:00, but I needed duct tape for the show, so I decided to go to Wal-Mart and maybe grab a burger at Steak & Shake while I was in the area.

However, the Muncie bus system had other plans for me.  The buses are supposed to run every 30 minutes on Saturdays. I waited almost an hour for one. By the time I actually got to Wal-Mart I had about an hour and half before I had to get back, and if I didn't catch the next bus I could be waiting for a very long time (there appeared to be only two running).  So, along with the duct tape, I grabbed a package of Hawaiian rolls, some deli meat and cheese, a bottled Frappucino, and a box of no-bake cookies.  I made it back in plenty of time, so I sat down and had a little picnic in the gym lobby.

The show itself went swimmingly.  A fellow king and I swapped duct-taping tips beforehand, and I shared my cookies with a lot of people.  I took as many pictures from backstage as I could before my camera battery died (that always seems to happen at inopportune moments).  I was suitably impressed with the agility of every drag queen.  Nobody broke any bones, and I made a few bucks for the Indiana AIDS fund (although not nearly as much as anyone else did.  Whatever; it's fun).

(Just as an aside, really experienced drag queens are intimidating as FUCK.  Very nice people, but oh so intimidating.)

I had to leave after the first act because of a prior commitment; I booked it back to my room, replaced the duct tape with a normal bra (because that shit is uncomfortable), hid my cell phone in my sock in case of muggers, and walked about a mile to Lys' house for her birthday party.

Upon arrival, I was offered a drink.  Having had extremely limited experience with alcohol (read: I know what exactly one drink tastes like), I didn't know what to order, so I sampled a half-shot of Skittles vodka (not bad) and Lys poured me her favorite, Malibu and orange juice.  Quite tasty.

I'm not really the getting-drunk type, so I nursed my drink and alternated with pieces of her Pikachu birthday cake while watching everyone except the DD have funny drunk moments.  We all watched Cow and Chicken when it came on (and freaked out at the fact that it was on in the first place) and then later went to McDonalds.  (I got a hot fudge sundae.  Bliss for a dollar.)  I ended up crashing at  Lys' place, since the alternative was walking the mile or so back to my room, alone, at two in the morning.  She gave me and one other girl a ride home the next morning.

I went to a tasty on-campu brunch, and then spent the rest of Sunday doing homework.  Literally.  Like, until two in the morning.  Talk about your wake-up calls.

Anyway, that was my weekend.  I had fun, but damn, was it exhausting.

I have to get up at an early hour tomorrow morning to get on the road to Michigan for a family wedding, so I really should be getting to bed rather than reading, but I had to finish this book:

Debbie Harry Sings in French

Meagan Brothers

This is one of the most unique books I've ever found in the young adult section.  Now, I've read gay literature, straight literature, transgender literature, and just about everything in between and on either side, but this is the first book I've found about a straight guy who just happens to enjoy dressing in drag.

Basically, the premise is, the narrator is a misunderstood high school guy who is a recovring alcoholic and a music addict.  He also idolizes, and obsesses over, Debbie Harry (the lead singer of Blondie, for those who don't know).  After an accidental overdose at a club, his monther sends him to live with his uncle in another state, where he meets Maria, a kindred spirit and all-around cool girl.  Eventually, they start dating, and after hearing quite a bit about his Debbie obsession, Maria buys a thrift-store dress similar to one that Debbie wears on an album cover.  Only it turns out, she bought the dress not for herself, but for Johnny (the narrator).

To make a long story short, after being easily coerced into trying on the dress, Johnny progresses to a drag competition, in which he makes friends and wins a prize.  He gets through his family issues, which are only  somewhat relevant to the main plotline, and begins to get a real handle on his life.

I like this book because it touches on an aspect of GLBT culture that isn't very widely discussed - the heterosexual cross-dresser.  to some extent, I can identify with this guy; I mean, I'm not a cross-dresser, but I've been known to do drag shows and I certainly enjoy them, plus I feel absolutely fabulous when I'm dressed as a man at Rocky Horror.  People in the audience automatically assume that anyone who does drag must be gay; Debbie Harry Sings In French contradicts that stereotype.