Last night, I guest appeared on the Utility Players newest "Awkward Moments" podcast episode entitled The Tax Man Cometh. Scott Gasquoine, CPA with High Desert Accounting Resources (HDAR),served as our special guest for the show. HDAR has signed on as an official sponsor for the Utility Players' 4th season. Having Scott on the show last night served as reminder that I have avoided doing my taxes for the past month. Initially, I was waiting for all of my paperwork to filter in. However, now that that is no longer an obstacle in my way, one would assume I would get cracking on my taxes. No ... I won't. I say that I will and will have every intention of submitting my tax return early. Invariably, what will happen is I will wait until April 12th, see my W-2 sitting unobtrusively on my desk, remember that the deadline is the 15th, freak out, rush through my taxes, and pray that I answered all of the questions completely ... and honestly.

Scott got me thinking on the podcast yesterday about whether or not I might need a CPA. I always assumed that you needed a CPA's help when juggling mortgages, small children, deductions, write-offs, businesses, and the such. I don't really own anything - my assets include a feathered headdress and an extensive sci-fi fantasy book collection -, I thankfully don't have small swaddling infants, nor do I have to deal with filing jointly with my partner. So the questions is; do I really need one? It might be nice though to have a resource to answer my inane and stupid questions about what classifies a deduction and what doesn't.  

Either way, Scott was a fantastic addition to the show last night. A master of early 90s alternative rock, Scott impressed us all with his comedic wit. I also saw a blossoming bromance relationship brewing between Scott and host Ian Sorensen. I believed Ian's eyes started to tear up as Scott described his favorite bands and I thought they were going to make a date to go to a record store and point their favorite albums to one another. It was adorable to witness; may I just say I am a big fan of the bromance.

Check out the podcast below; we discussed everything from taxes to the complete and utter tragedy that was the Oscars. I want on another one my epic rants defending the Midwest and its people. Hope you enjoy.

This past weekend I sat down with fellow Utility Players Ian Sorensen and Amanda Alvey as we discussed our New Years Resolutions - or in some cases our lack thereof. In my typical fashion I went on a long-winded but delicious diatribe about the ridiculousness of creating New Years Resolutions. We generate a lengthy list of goals and ambitions for ourselves for the upcoming year and valiantly attempt to achieve said goals. More often than not we fail miserably, feel bad about ourselves, and then have to spend the rest of the year justifying to ourselves and those around us why we did not follow through on our New Years Resolutions. Why do I want to put myself through that horribly disappointing experience? Sure I could say that I am going to lose weight, eat better, become famous, live forever, give up my vices, read more, watch less TV, blah blah blah blah blah. However to be honest these are my goals everyday of my life and not solely reserved for New Years. If I do decide to make any resolutions I will be probably keep said resolutions to myself as to have others place expectations upon me, but for the sake of social propriety I plan on reading more, loosing weight, and travel more. :) Enjoy the podcast!! 

Last night I got together with fellow members of the Utility Players - Ian Sorensen, Amanda Alvey, and Jessica Levity - as we wrapped up our Christmas experiences. I love working with the Utility Players - voted Reno's best comedy troupe in 2010. Their contagious energy and infectious humor make even the simplest things - like doing a podcast - an enjoyable and unforgettable experience. At the moment, we as the Utility Players are at the center of a creative flow. I am working on developing my blog, Ariel Lea just released her debut album, Ian Sorensen is crafting some amazing stand-up, and Amanda continues to take Reno by storm with her theatrical talents and abilities. I am blessed to be part of such a creative group that allows for this little drag queen to do her thing.

Make sure to listen to the most recent "Awkward Moments" podcast. The podcast is a random hodgepodge of news articles, personal anecdotes, and quick quips that hopefully will keep you entertained. We have also introduced a new recurring segment called "Ginger's Diatribes" - where in 60 seconds I improv a rant about some particular subject. This time around I ranted about my holiday travel experiences which overall were less than stellar. Enjoy!!! 

This weekend has been absolutely crazy. A'DOLLed Fantasy held auditions for new spots within the company. We had a great turnout and we hired on some amazing new dancers to the company. They are all absolutely incredible and all bring different looks and talent to the table. Amidst all that, my icon and general role model, Miss Betty White, hosted one of the funniest Saturday Night Live episodes in a hell of a long time. It reminded me of the golden times of Saturday Night Live with Ana Gesteyer, Tina Fey, Molly Shannon, and more. They brought back some of my favorite segments and sketches for the episode.

Meanwhile, the Utility Players put up the newest episode of their podcast AWKWARD MOMENTS. This episode focused on a discussion of reality TV in all of its splendor. I have a very intimate relationship with reality tv - I basically grew up on it. I started out with a regular dosage of game show reality tv with The Price is Right, The Weakest Link, Hollywood Squares, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Deal or no Deal, and more. I then quickly moved on to the reality tv sensation of Real World and Road Rules. Then of course, competition reality tv took over with Project Runway, Survivor, American Idol, Biggest Loser, and The Amazing Race. Finally, but certainly not least, the reality tv dating games are perhaps my favorite. I became an avid fan of Joe Millionaire, One Shot with Tila Tequila, the Bachelor, and the Bachelorette. My favorite one and probably the one that highlights the ridiculousness of reality tv was a dating game featured on the Bravo network called Boy Meets Boy. It was a gay reality tv dating show where this studly yet sensitive gay bachelor had 15 hot men to choose from. He even had the assistant of his fag hag best friend to aid him in choosing which bachelors to kick off. The caveat of this show - not all of the men on the show were straight. If bachelor ended up choosing a gay partner, then he and his partner would live happily ever after in gay bliss with $100,000. However, if a straight men was chosen as the bachelor's partner, the gay guy would get nothing and the straight men would walk away with $100,000. The bachelor and and the friend were unaware of this at the beginning and it was only revealed to them at the end.  I remember watching the show fascinated until the producers told the bachelor and the friend and the best friend freaked out. She broke down and thought that this was stupid and hurtful to do to another human being. I had that get real moment of "how far are we willing to go in order to entertain the masses?"

Do we enjoy watching reality tv because it is comforting to witness the lives of people who are worse off than we are? Does it provide solace? Do we tell ourselves, "as bad as my life is, at someone else has it worse than I do"?

There is no doubt that reality TV has molded and shaped our experiences and perception of pop culture. It will be interesting - and slightly scary - to see how reality television continues to evolve and works to shape entertainment.

Here is the podcast episode with the Utility Players sharing their own views and experiences with reality TV. Enjoy!!!!

So I have had the idea in my head for a while to start a podcast. The life of a drag queen is often ridiculous and comical in nature and there are many things that are tied to gender & gender expression that we do not discuss. With that in mind, our team came up with Confessions of a Drag Queen. The podcast is going to be different everytime. Sometimes I would like the format to be like that of Chelsea Lately where myself and a panel of commentators sit around and discuss different topics and share our opinions. Some will be one on one interviews with different individuals here in Reno but also in other cities and states as well who have a unique perspective on a particular topic or situation. Others will perhaps will be solo addresses with me talking about a particular topic from my experiences - everything from pop culture classes about Miley Cyrus' multiple identities to a discussion about homophobia and the whole gay marriage batte.

Let me know what you think of the preview episode. We had a lot of fun with this one and decided to just talk about something completely random. After a Utility Players Improv show, where the host Jes talked about the time that her, myself, and two of our friends took a roadtrip to Florida and spent the end of every night in the hot tub, and Jes discovered that the three of us had been occassionally peeing in the hot tub. Thus began a discussion of IF and WHEN it is ok to pee in a hot tub. So for the first podcast I had the idea of talking about different social taboos. We ended discussing peeing in hot tubs, masturbation, and farting in public and blaming it on somebody else. I am so excited to do the next one, I have so many ideas in my head. So let me know what you think and also if there is anything that you would like me to discuss or talk about, comment down below!

The Utility Players, good friends and fellow Homeslice Production entertainers, decided to start producing a weekly podcast. Hosted by Josh Inwood, the podcast typically follows a roundtable discuss format with different segments to break up the show - everything from comic book and video game reviews to bits of pop culture knowledge in less than three minutes by yours truly.Periodically, I will appear on the show in an attempt to explain some pop culture fad, phenomenon, or a topic of my choosing in under three minutes.

This episode, Josh, Erin, Ian, and myself sat around discussing the large topic of love in all of its splendor, glory, and general awkwardness. Listen as we relate our own personal stories in preparation for the upcoming holiday. This was the preview episode of the podcast so make sure to let me or the Utility Players how we went so we could make it better.

Enjoy the podcast!!!!

THE RIGHT NOW PODCAST BY THE UTILITY PLAYERS