THURSDAY AUG 2

It is currently 1:55 pm Friday afternoon. I have not gone to bed yet. The events of life night were out of control, and the weekend hasn't even started yet. This post might be a long one, but it's the experiences of last night.

It's 10:00 pm Thursday. I am on my way to a club named Bob and Barbara's, for their drag show at 11. It takes me a while to find a parking spot anywhere close to the bar (city parking is crazy). Closes spot I find is 8 blocks away. I take it and begin my walk. I'm totally alone. Salatta T could not come out tonight, and I'm not to happy about it. Sal did tell me that if I had any problems then to just say that I knew her and I'd "be fine." I get up to the door of the bar. There is a crowd of 15 gathered outside for a cigarette. They all stare at me. I'm uneasy about this situation. I pay the $5.00 cover and show my id. As I'm doing this, there is a brush across my shoulder. A light almost massaging touch. I turn around. I'm face to face with an Asian "tranny" (transvestite). I give a friendly smile. During our short lived conversation, I'm called "cutey" at least 10 times and I've also been invited out to a hotel..His hand does not come off of my shoulder/chest until I start walking into the bar. It's going to be interesting.

10:50. The bar is packed. Standing room only. There are small two person tables crowded by five or more. The only open space is on the stage that the queens will be performing on. I walk through the crowd of men of all ages and sizes. I notice at least half of them "checking me out", some even give me a "hey" shout out. I've become an object. An object of lust, and it doesn't help that the testosterone level in the place is through the roof. Think of it this way. In straight bars, guys are always looking for sex, girls hardly are. In gay bars guys are just always looking for sex. I am going to try my best to explain things here:

In straight bars you have a man and female. Usually the male is the "predator". In the gay bars there are men and more men. They are separated from the "twinks" (young pretty boys who really take their time to look perfect), the "bears" (big hairy men who don't care about things and like sports), the "trolls" (old scary men who still after all these years have their libido and are always on the prowl), and lastly the "regular gays" (the rest of them who don't fall into any of the above categories). Among these groups, they take separation a little further and categorize "tops" and "bottoms". It's important for them to find their top or bottom match. If one guy is a top he doesn't want to go home with another top. And because they are all men, everyone wants sex. Sex sex sex! I hope this clears it up a little. And yes, I have already been place in the "twink" category.

Back to the bar. I find a space, back against the wall. It's amazing how comforting a wall can be at times. The show begins. It is another lip sync show, only this time the girls can dance. They also look great. Some of them if I saw them in drag walking down a street, I would really think they were females. Needless to say I'm impressed with this show, and the crowd is loving it to. What I liked most about the show was the variety behind each queen. Some of them were small and petite, others were muscular, one was overweight. There was a Latino queen, a black queen and Asian. Everyone in the crowd had a different preference, and some would cheer louder than others when their favorite had finished her act. Again though, people would still give them dollars like they were strippers.

12:30. The show finishes with a great act performed by "Crystal T. Elektra." A lot of the crowd disperses while some of them stay and drink and talk about their favorite part of the show. I wait for a little til one of the queens come out. It's Crysta T. He's no longer dressed in drag, but there is still traces of makeup on his face, and a lot of glitter everywhere on him. He has a very young face, I place him around 22-25 in my head. I try to have a chat with him, let him know about my project and that I've been working a lot with Salatta T. Here's the ironic thing. Apparently in their drag back stories, Crystal T is Salatta's daughter! I try and get some information about all of this, but he's in a hurry. He's going to the club down the street. Because I mentioned Salatta though, he invites me out with him. Against my better judgment I decide to tag along. What's the worst that could happen...

1:00. We get to the entrance of Pure, an after hours nightclub. There is an $8 cover for non-members. Crystal gets me in for free. I love saving money. I walk through the red, velvet curtains. The dance floor is about half way full of guys dancing. The high pumping techno music is blaring through an amazing system. There are people on the second floor hanging out looking out over the crowd on the dance floor, and many people all crowding the bars all around. I stick close to Crystal T. We find his friends that he was meeting up with. We do our introductions and sit at the bar for a drink. There is no way I can talk to him about drag, between the music and his friends. I stick close to my beer

2:30. I've met several people. All buying me drinks. I've got a great buzz going, and I'm a little more relaxed. I'm talking to Mike right now about how Philly needs a larger gay community. Pee break. I feed my way through the now packed dance floor. It takes a good while for me to get through guys grinding on one another, hands down pants and up shirts, glow sticks twirling, and lights flickering. Mike gets me through. I finally make it to the bathroom. There are 6 stalls. 3 side by side and the other 3 side by side directly in front of each other. So while you're peeing you're looking at the other guy peeing across from you and vice versa. Talk about intimidating urinals. But whatever, with the amount of booze I've drank nothing is stopping me from draining my bladder. While i'm draining, i notice a small gathering of boys by the sink. They are Crystal T's friends that I've met. I watch one of them roll up a dollar bill and snort the white powder. They notice that i'm looking at them and ask me if i want some. I decline. Instead they hand me a little blue pill with a transformer symbol imprinted on it, and say "here take that instead," and hand me a bottle of water. There can't be anything bad with a transformer symbol on it! Transformers rock!

The effects and "dangers" of "E" or ecstasy can be found at these sites:
http://www.mydr.com.au/default.asp?article=2982
http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=880453


3:00. I am on the dance floor. The bass of the music is heavenly in my ears. My eyes are infatuated with the swirling lights. I don't ever want this to end. I love everything. My shirt is off and swinging over my head. Crystal T and his friends are shirtless also, as with most of the people on the dance floor. The floor is so crowded i am automatically pressed up against sweaty bodies, all moving and bouncing in different directions. I don't care, I'm sweating profusely myself. All i care about is the music. Everyone is having a great time. Cheering loudly for the dj.

3:30. We are outside the club, putting our shirts back on. I have trouble getting mine on with all the sweat shooting out of my pours. People are still packing out of the now closed club and all congregating in front of it to talk and meet each other. More than half of the people I meet have dilated pupils. I still want to dance. Crystal T. finds me in the crowd, and tells me we're going to an after party. I'm still wide awake. I tag along.

6:00 am. I am sitting on an amazingly comfortable black leather couch, in a lavish condo. The coffee table in front of me has a mirror sitting on it. There are a few lines of coke all placed out. There is also a small rock of "Tina" (crystal meth). I am offered several times for my choice. I just stick to my bottle of water. I am fading fast, but i don't want to sleep in a random place. I watch in amazement at at least 5 people doing drugs. I'm wondering how they will survive at work in a few hours (if any of them are even going). I come to find that most of them aren't.

8:00. I'm pushing my limit and it's time for me to bounce out. I thank them all for the invitations. Everyone that's left is pretty messed up right now, so I try not to make a big deal about my dismissal. One of them hands me an ambien, and tells me I'll need it. I leave. God the sun really REALLY hurts your eyes after partying all night. The hustle and bustle of the city on this Friday morning makes me feel so awkward. All these people in business suits and dresses, traffic everywhere. And here I am just getting out of a party. It's a long way to my car. I decide to walk it and get my dunks coffee on the way. God bless dunkin donuts.

3:21 pm. I am finally finished with this blog and I'm going to take a nap. I have another show at a different club, and who knows what else after it. Am I nervous? Damn right I am.