truvy
Monday, July 08, 2002
4th of July Week
What a scorcher! Last week had me sweatin' every time I stepped outside, but it went by in a flash!
Thursday RJ and I headed out to Fire Island (avec chien) for Invasion. He went directly to the Pines to visit with Peter & other friends there, and I went to the Grove to Jacqueline Jonee's place to prepare to Invade. For those of you who don't know, the "Invasion" of Fire Island Pines commemorates a day long ago (26 years?) when a drag queen came over from Cherry Grove to the Pines to a bar or restaurant, and they would not serve her! OUTraged, she went back to the Grove, gathered her friends, commandeered a boat and Invaded the Pines, taking over the harbor and demanding that the snotty & insular fags serve them.
So, the message - it's one of Inclusion. We are not that large a sector of the world, and even if you don't like it or don't want to participate, you need to accept that there are many many parts of our queer society, and we all have worth, we all have something to contribute. Okay, politics aside, the Invasion has now turned into a huge party, with at least 1000 people in the Pines crowding the harbor, waiting for the 200-300 drag queens to come over from the Grove on a most fabulous Ferry. Even straight folks from the mainland come over to share in the fun. Sure, it has an element of "freak show" to it (did you SEE her outfit?), but drag always has that aspect, and hell, we wouldn't be drag queens if we didn't like the attention. :)
So, I slapped on the makeup, donned my tiara and had a great day of it. I even got to see Woody out there, which was fun, since he had never seen Miss Anne Thrope, and I think he got a kick out of it. The heels though (more like hells), were torture. I shopped and shopped for silver heels of a reasonable height, but ya know - there's just nothing out there that's acceptable. I ended up with 5" silver spikes that were quite fetching, but after several hours were a bit painful. By the time I hauled myself up onto the bar (a yearly tradition), my feet were just about screaming at me to STOP! It was a fun, but hot day. I went back to the Grove, de-dragged and then walked (through the meat rack - chock full of straight people thank you very much) back to the Pines to meet at Tomas' house for a dip in the pool. On the boardwalk (back in the Pines), I was accosted by these 2 handsome Latino guys. They offered to help carry my bags (which I almost took them up on), and then one got in front of me & one behind me & they started majorly molesting me! Now, I'm all for a good feel, but this caught me a little off guard! The one in front of me was playing with my chest & nipples and pulling down his bathing suit to show me his monster-huge cock - it was quite a hand, er, eye-full. The one behind me was reaching around & playing with my dick (quickly aroused) and grinding his hard dick into me. Now, if this were some other time than (a) the middle of the day in the middle of the boardwalk, or (b) when I had both hands full of bags, etc., I might have taken this into serious consideration and run off to the bushes. I'm no prude, and I certainly appreciate a fun offer. However, I had my hands full, there were loads of people on the boardwalk, my boyfriend & dog were waiting for me, and it was all a bit much (and I'm frankly not used to such attention). I managed to squirm my way off to the side, telling them I'd see them that night at the Pavilion (a lie, but it seemed to satisfy them for the moment), and readjusting my bathing suit (and holding a bag strategically in front of me for the next 5 minutes), I continued my walk. My goodness. I have a feeling, however special I might have felt at the moment, that I was not the 1st & would not be the last boy they accosted in exactly such a manner that day.
It was also the day of ticks from hell! Right after the Latino boys adventure, I felt a tick crawling on my arm, and flicked it away, and then had a few on my bag. Rowan, the poor dear, had several on his snoot! We treat him with Frontline religiously every month, but they still decided to jump on for a quick meal. I imagine it must be a very bad year for ticks if, in less than 8 hours, we had that many on us and the dog. We got him an extra tick collar to wear if we go back, and gave him about 20 careful combings to make sure we got them all. I hate the little bloodsuckers.
We got back to the City before sunset, and went to an All-American dinner of burgers (turkey for me) and beer at Chelsea Grill. We then watched the Macy's fireworks on tv, rather than battle more of the heat and crowds & try to find a spot on the street or the roof with a good view. It was a nice show, but produced within an inch of its life...sometimes fireworks should just be fireworks - a celebration & show, not necessarily a voiced-over cheese-fest. That's a bit harsh, because I did enjoy the show - it was fun to see them on television & be able to hear them faintly outside too.
There's a lot to be thankful for this year, and a lot of reasons to celebrate our country and, corny as it might sound, the freedoms we enjoy and the principles for which our country stands. Even though there are many things I would change here to make it my "ideal" world, I'm very proud to be an American, and I enjoyed the opportunity to reflect on that and celebrate our nation.
Friday, I had to work, but Robert went up to the house with Claude (his college roommate) & Susan (Claude's wife) and their 2 little boys. I joined them by bus later in the day, and we had a nice weekend. It's been a while since I've been around babies (17 months & 4 years old) for an extended period of time, and it was a bit unnerving at times. The amount the 4-year old said "no" to his parents was astonishing. He's a good kid, really, but I would have never dreamed of telling my mother or father "no" when they told me to do something. I might not have liked it, but you just didn't Question your parents like that (at least not at age 4 - maybe by 14). Ah, it was nice to spend time with them, and I really like the whole family, and it was also good to reaffirm my non-maternal instincts. I used to toy with the idea of adopting, and my friends with children are all very fulfilled & happy, but I just don't think it's for me. Everyone says it's different when they're your own kids, but my fear would be it wouldn't be different, that I would mentally freak out just the same when the child picked up the plate of scrambled eggs & flung them on the floor. It was good, but not particularly relaxing this weekend.
Last night was one of the final fundraisers of the Chorus year (fall to summer) - the "Sea Tea" aka booze cruise around the harbor. Anne dressed up as a French sailor (thanks to Joey for lending the outfit), and I have to say - I love drag in pants & tennis shoes! So comfortable and practical - if not, of course, a bit hot. It was a good turnout and it was also a good "farewell" for Ed/Eve, who is moving back to PA, at least for a while. For the 5th drag event since June 15th, I think I held up quite well - but I'm quite ready to give it a rest for a while (as is Robert, who gets particularly weird - threatened, or abusive? - when I do drag...it IS an odd thing, but it's just part of who I am, and this year with all its obligations & duties as Queen of the Chorus is already more than half over, so the duties in the future will be much less demanding and time-consuming.
I am glad for Pride month - with all its drag - though. I was feeling that my year as Queen was a bit lackluster...that I hadn't really done that much or accomplished anything. I think the March, with our great float & wonderful contingent of marchers, really put a nice cap on the year and the Pride activities. I still have a few more events in the fall & early December, but I think I'll be able to look back on this time as very successful and a lot of fun - one of the highlights in a busy year.
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