I feel this past Halloween weekend, I fulfilled a dream of mine. I have had this dream ever since I saw the iconic Halloween cult classic film, Hocus Pocus. Ever since I saw the Sanderson Sisters bewitch the adults of Salem with their fabulous rendition of "I've Put a Spell on You", I have dreamed of one day dressing up as the Sanderson Sisters for Halloween. I remember sharing this dream with other gay male friends of mine but for one reason or another - usually because a) how would we even begin to construct such memorable costumes and b) no one wanted to be Mary Sanderson aka , the fat one - the plan did not pan out. 

This year, my friend and fellow Hocus Pocus enthusiast, Franz asked if I would help him achieve his dream of going as the Sanderson Sisters for Halloween. I gay gasped at the thought and then died when he told me he would take care of all of the costumes - all I had to provide was shoes. I was chosen to be the hilarious Mary Sanderson; she goes around barking and wanting to eat all the time, it works. The costumes were absolutely flawless. By sheer coincidence, I happened to be hosting the QSU drag show. We were able to perform the number as part of the show. I think people shat their pants when they us emerge and perfectly execute the number. I even sang the number with Mary's droopy lip. By the end of the night my face hurt.

After the drag show, we had made plans to go to the Silver Legacy's Erotic Ball, with aspirations of entering the costume contest and winning. I was unaware that it was an "Erotic Ball" upon entertaining, but learned quickly, when I was surrounded by attractive scantly-clad individuals. Everyone wanted to take their photo with us; it was fabulously ridiculous. I felt as if I was some celebrity getting stopped every few moments to take photos with fans. I had no idea that this movie had such a following with people; or at least it was a memorable enough movie that 18 some odd years later people still get the reference. We also played our roles perfectly; we had the mannerisms, facial expressions and tone of voice down. There was only one unfortunate incident that happened. We were having a drink at a restaurant and this rather drunk women who I guess was going as ... a lingerie model ... a lingerie model spilling out of her outfit approached us. She had no idea who we were but, unfortunate for us, bound and determined to figure out who we were. For a while she thought that we were from The Witches and our friend Aaron - who was not in costume - was the fat rat. No matter how much we tried to play off her ineptitude and tell her we were not from Witches, she would not believe us.

When it was time to declare the winner, we learned that we had made the cut for best tandem costume. We awaited in line with the rest of the competition - which included sexy Adam and Eve, sexy Avatar aliens, sexy little Red Riding Hood and Big Bad Wolf. Crap, I thought there is no way that three drag queens in heavy layers of rags and fabric can compete with a sculpted Adonis wearing a g-string with some fur for a costume. When they presented us to the audience, the crowd went absolutely nuts, ushering in as the clear winners. AHHHHH!! Are you kidding me?!?!?!  It was the perfect end to an amazing evening. 

The next day we hiked up our skirts and did the Zombie Crawl. The hightlight of which was going and standing on the vents outside of the Elderado and pretending that we were actually flying through the air. What ... I'm just saying ... wouldn't you?

I'm thrilled that I am able to scratch this off my gay bucket list ;) 

I am still in recovery from the show on Saturday. I woke up yesterday morning feeling like a hot tranny mess that just got blind-sided by a semi, and then as I lay tired & emotionally spent on the ground a small child walked over and jumped on both of my feet  - that's how much pain I was in.

A'DOLLed Fantasy had its premiere show this past Saturday at the Cal Neva Events room. Overall the show went well - with just a few issues and problems. I'm sure it was part nerves, part performing in a new space, and finally part of the joys of doing a live show. I probably prepared & rehearsed more for this show than any other show in my career and this was the show I was most nervous about. Upwards to 300 people were going to come see us perform in a casino - a statement of fact that continues to warp my Midwestern mind. I was stressing about my hair, outfits, choreography and all the while I was emotionally eating my stress which did not help the overall situation. However, I knew everything was going to work out okay when I went to the Chocolate Walrus mere hours before call time for the show to pick up some eyelashes. My quick trip to the Chocolate Walrus turned into so much more, when I decided to peruse the shelves and see if there was anything else I needed. Then I saw it. I saw this sequins corset on the wall in front of me, saw the artificial lighting of the store reflecting off the shiny surface of the corset, gave the GAY GASP, and then impulsively bought it. I needed some retail therapy before the show. So while I should have been getting my makeup done, I was being cinched into a corset. The second that I walked out of the dressing room to the ooohh & aaahhs of the random customers of Chocolate Walrus I knew that I needed this corset and that it was going to be a good show.

My girl Ariel Lea did my makeup and I looked fierce and ferocious for the night. I walked through the casino with my big diva-is-a-female-version-of-a-hustler sunglasses on and worked it. Live shows are always a mix of sheer insanity coupled with a lot of praying and our show was no exception. Girls were having to do quick costume changes in order to transition from one number to another - bras, panties, corsets, and more flying everywhere is quite the sight to see. Also we had some technical difficulties with the first act of the show. Unfortunately during the song "Come Together", our singer Fleur was on top of a table when that table started buckling and she started sliding toward the ground. Apparently she caught herself and stuck the landing but was so shook up she couldn't finish the song. It was nobody's fault for what happened. This is part of the gamble of running a live show. In a live production there are so many details that need attention and focus and so many things could potentially go wrong at any second - the power goes out, sound board gets fried, girls fall off tables, etc. The important thing to remember is to continue with the mother fucking show. The audience is out there waiting to be entertained and 99% of all audiences are amazing and forgivable and will appreciate you picking yourself up and continuing with the show.

One of the best parts of the show I thought was our trio number I performed with Lady Lola and Gigi to Michael Buble's "Feelin Good". In the song, I am supposed to play the sex kitten that exudes sex from my pores. My solo in the song involved me taking off my corset and flashing the audiences. My choreographer told me I didn't need to show my boobs and I thought: F thought, go big or go home. So I slapped on some boobie tassels and mentally prepared myself to undress on stage - something I had never done before. When I showed the audience my boobs they went NUTS and I still laugh at myself that in a burlesque show full of really hot attractive girls, the only person to show off their boobs was the drag queen ;)

The show was completely sold out & and actually we had to turn away about 60 people from seeing the show. I cannot wait to work out some of the issues in our show and put another one on as soon as possible. After the show we decided to have a little celebration at EDGE Night Club at the Peppermill. I am always a little nervous when I go to public spaces as Ginger - that aren't gay establishments. We had some connections in the club so we bypassed the whole line - which if you have never done is one of the most delicious things ever in life - and entered a packed club. The night was amazing and I even had four or five gentlemen callers courting my affection. Of course, when you are wearing a tight majenta bedazzled corset you tend to draw some attention to yourself.

I ALSO GOT RECOGNIZED AT EDGE - I had my celebrity moment for the night. I was dancing to my jams and all of a sudden I hear through the noise of the club "GINGER!!!! GINGER!!!!!". Two fabulous ladies who came to the last A.Love.Nouveau show were at EDGE and we reminisced about Michael and him taking his clothes off. It was an incredible night but wearing heels for 10 hours straight was quite possibly the stupidest decision of my life. I have been wearing my Crocs ever since and probably will not wear anything else until the next show. Thank you so much to everyone who came out to support the show. Stayed tuned for more information about upcoming shows in the future.

Last night, some friends and I decided to celebrate a rather long week by emotionally eating our feelings. We felt that the best way to achieve that was through a casino buffet, but not just any casino buffet, the mother of all Reno buffets, the Grand Sierra Resort buffet. Halfway through the night I had the realization that going to this buffet was an event and spectacle in and of itself.

We arrived at the Grand Sierra with much anticipation. Although arriving at 6pm in the evening, the wait still stood at two hours – a marketing ploy to encourage us to gamble I'm sure. The wait outside of this buffet was epic, as if it were outside a large concert hall and a bunch of groupies are anxiously waiting for the band to come outside. We had the inside scoop that if we went and got our free players club card we could get the buffet at reduced cost [$7.77] – so obviously I signed up for one. Now we had our players club card, but still had about an hour and a half to wait, so the next natural step in this whole process is to pretend that you are gambling so you can scam free drinks from the bar. I don't really understand gambling or truly appreciate it. Maybe one day when I have oodles of money or a husband that enjoys watching me gambling away – and most likely loosing his money – than perhaps I will “get gambling”. For now, you can find me hauled up at the Wizard of Oz penny slot machine trying to amass my vast fortune. So after loosing about $15 and getting sufficiently trashed at the bar, our little buzzer went off alerting us that our long awaited dream was about to come true.

As we were sitting at dinner, we started discussing the art of buffets and how there is a lot of tactical strategy involved in the successful completion of a buffet – especially one of this magnitude. So here are a few tips and pointers for the buffet goer to get the most out of your experience.

1. First of all, it is important that you stake out the buffet and quickly contrive a mental map outlining where all the sections are. This allows for quick entry into and quick exit from the buffet with the least amount of traffic. It also helps you avoid any pitfalls or potential traffic jams – AKA the tub of shrimp counter – that might stand in your way.

2. Realize that you can take as many plates/trips as you would like. I know sometimes the sheer amount of food is overwhelming and there is an urge to attempt to fit THE WHOLE FUCKING BUFFET on your plate and end up having a mound of food forming an awkward triangle on your plate. We may be at a buffet where our sole purpose is to indulge in eating tons of food in some hedonistic fashion, but we are still civilized human beings.

3. Don't carbo load too early!!! Buffets are an endurance trial and therefore it is about longevity. Do not load up on bread rolls, pasta salads, and french fries too early in the night. Strategically incorporate your carbs throughout the night.

4. Do not load up on cheap crappy stuff. Clearly you did not come all the way to a buffet to load up on spaghetti and meatballs. If this is the case, then save yourself the $20, mow down on some spaghettios, and stay home. If you are going to a buffet, get your money's worth, and head immediately to the prime rib table. Why would you go anywhere else? Although fruit or a salad may seem like an acceptable side dish to get, invariably though it is a waste of space in your tummy that could be better used as space for prime rib or my three different kinds of potato byproducts.

So here just a few of the tips that I have picked up over my illustrious career of buffet frequenting. There is nothing more delicious or more American than a buffet that takes up three large rooms and offers me 8 different kinds of meat and 3 different potato options.