what i did know is that i was traveling with one of my very favorite co-workers (melissa) and that one of my very favorite colleagues (joan) would be helping us out at the booth. from the very beginning, it all the makings of a good time.
melissa and i kick things offmelissa and i checked into the hotel on thursday afternoon, and were pleasantly surprised to find that our rooms shared a balcony with a few others and overlooked (and had direct access to) the pool. when i was in phoenix last month i wanted nothing more than to spend a little time in the pool, but it was under renovation...which made this a total score!
after checking in, we ran a few errands and headed over to the show site to do some nominal setup. after that, it was time to meet joan and her girlfriend for dinner. speaking of which, if you're ever in phoenix, i highly recommend 'switch'. joan and i liked it so much on my last trip that we both wanted to go back. and it didn't disappoint--i had the most delicious SALAD!
the crew fantastic (joan, me, melissa)when i came on board with the company and started interacting with joan (she takes care of all our logo and promo items), we instantly clicked and have become friends. but since she lives in phx and i in socal, i dont get to see her very often. i was excited about hanging out with her for the weekend, and appreciative of the extra help, which, it turns out, was needed.
saturday was out of control (in a good way). we had so much traffic in the booth that there was barely time to look at our watches. the energy was high, and the crowd was great. i was told (by melissa) that this was a pretty 'tame' pride event. while there were definitely some interesting sites to see, there wasn't anything that made me really uncomfortable or out of place.
just a taste of the diversity...i can't count the number of times i was asked with disappointed expectation if i was straight, but even that disappointment was flattering. it was also flattering to have so many of the men comment on how beautiful i was and how i could possibly be single. that's the thing about a gay man complimenting you - they have no reason to lie! even though it does you no good in the end, it's still an ego boost.
one more thing i particularly enjoy about interacting with this crowd - you can pretty much say what you're thinking. so, when four guys came to the booth to chat with us, one of whom was so incredibly stunning, the first thing out of my mouth was 'you are absolutely gorgeous.' you can't really say that kind of thing to a straight man you've never met before.
ironically, one of the others piped in to introduce my gorgeous visitor as claudia b, 'the best drag queen in phoenix'. the boys spent almost an hour with us and inisted that we come see 'claudia' perform on the following night. we heartily agreed, swapped numbers and emails, and it was time to call it a day.
melissa and i and our new gay boyfriends (paul, claudia b., mike, jamie)the next day was far slower. painfully slow actually. there simply wasn't as much traffic at the festival. the upside was that we had joan all day, and we took the opportunity to gain a little education. melissa grew up in a religious family and as such, has a similar belief system to mine. this was the first time i can remember being comfortable enough with someone to ask some really probing questions about being gay. i knew that she would not be offended by my questions, and would answer candidly and respectfully - and she did.
it wasn't all serious though - the three of us enjoyed some good laughs and got to know each other better as we passed the day. towards the end of our time, melissa and i headed over to one of the side stages where claudia b. would be performing for the first time that night, and we oohed and ahhhed over the transformation. she was amazing, and we were looking forward to being a little more up close and personal later in the evening.
we packed up the booth, said our sad farewells to joan, and headed back to the hotel for a quick scrub down and dinner. at 10 o'clock, we pulled into the parking lot of charlie's - a local, predominantly male establishment, and headed in. as expected, there weren't very many ladies in attendance. finally, AMAZING odds and it was going to do us absolutely no good! :) the upside of course is that we were able to enjoy dancing to some great music with some really good looking guys without having to worry that they might want more.
claudia b. post-performanceafter about 30 minutes, it was time for the show to begin, and put simply, it was fantastic. after the performance we went to chat with my new gay boyfriend/drag queen, took the obligatory self-portrait, and called it a night.
political and religious views aside, i miss having a gay boyfriend. they make for fantastic girlfriends. all in all, it was the most fun i've had at an event thus far. i was in great company all weekend, and truly truly enjoyed myself. i am looking forward to long beach pride next month and hoping that my new friends stay in touch!
...and though it didn't make the play by play, melissa and i did get to enjoy the jacuzzi and pool a couple of times, and it was FAB-u-LOUS!
1 comment:
Tara, Did any of your "gay boyfriends" learned of your Mormon-ness. I'm seriously curious if they would have been so friendly to you. What have you experienced living in California and being LDS?
Post a Comment