Last Friday night I participated in my college's second annual Drag Show, which was put on by our Pride Club (LGBTQ).
Papi Chulo, ready for action
It was, hands down, one of the most fun events I've participated in since starting to work at MCC seven years ago. The only events that come close--and I'm going to say that it's an even three-way tie--are the Alternative Spring Break trips I took in 2009 and 2010.
The students organizing the drag show were out to raise awareness and celebrate the LGBTQ community. And they absolutely succeeded.
They started planning the event in the Fall and it was beautifully organized, with seven "kings" (five female students, me, and the student life coordinator), four amateur/student "queens" (the gutsiest four kids I've met in a while) and two professional drag queens. The MCC dance team also performed, and a half dozen Pride members spoke about serious issues among the LGBT community. The house was packed almost to the brim (our conference center seats 350, and it was nearly there), and they raised almost $2,000 for scholarships and various community support groups.
But, of course, being well organized and early to promote an event also means that crazy people in the community hear about the event early and decide to "protest." The College got almost forty calls and e-mails from people speaking out against the event. Some people were diplomatic, and some people were outright hostile. But none of them actually came out to the event itself, which didn't surprise me one bit. It takes a lot more effort to come to the school and march with a sign (flying your bigotry for all to see) than it does to pick up the phone and anonymously spout homophobic rhetoric. So nuts to them! The show went on and it was fan-flipping-tastic!
Here are some of the backstage photos I took:
Four of my fellow kings--amazing ladies, all of them
Makeup backstage
Backstage gang with Cee-Cee LaRouge, one of our amazing professionals
Nautica Nero, our other professional, ready to wow the crowd
Hugs!
Paola and Nautica
Ivana Deek, practicing her moves
Jack Zero (Brianna), Papi Chulo (me), and Slovick (Shauna)
Don Alejandro romances Paola
Now THAT is a wig.
Caroline (our Drag Mama!) and Jon
Mr. Drag 2013, Jasmine!
The Northwest Herald (the local paper) also had a photographer there to capture more of the behind-the-scenes action, and you can check out the online photo album here.
And the amazing Trevor, best husband in the world, came out to the show and took some videos of our performances. We're still hoping for a full length video (apparently someone was recording the whole show, but it will probably take a while to be ready), so when that's done I'll be sure to share it. In the meantime, here are two snippets.
This first one is Don Alejandro Guerrero Montoya de Venegas (a.k.a. Kaitlyn) with his back-up trumpet player, Papi Chulo.
And this one is me as Papi Chulo with my back-up Kingettes, the best back-up dancers in the world.
Trevor and I have some news, readers, and it may come as a shock to you: we're moving to the country.
It wasn't something we'd really thought about doing until a couple of months ago when Trevor, during one of his many online noodling arounds for property, found an adorable little house in Crystal Lake, just off the lake itself. And if you didn't know that Crystal Lake--about 50 miles northwest of Chicago--has an actual lake, it does! Here it is:
It won't be this cold all the time
But the purpose of this post is not to talk about the move--we'll do that in a lengthier post very soon.
The purpose of this post is to tell you that what comes along with moving to the country is moving out of the city; but to do that, we've first got to sell our place.
So, if you're looking for a terrifically cozy, updated shoebox loft in West Town (oh, it's only the bestneighborhoodin Chicago, thank you very much), then you should buy our place!
Check it out on on Redfin or Movoto or anywhere else you can find it listed. Our amazing realtor's name is Caren Chessick (yes, she was featured right here on this very blog a few weeks ago!) so if you dig our place and want to check it out, give her a call.
And although the books do not stay with the place, the book shelves do.
Last month we posted Photo Shoots, Part 1, starring Neill and Fran Power, and this is the second part.
This past December I was featured in McHenry County Magazine, a lifestyle magazine in McHenry County (obviously), which is where I teach. The editor of the magazine contacted me in November about being included in their annual "10 Intriguing People" edition. I was a little taken aback since I do not consider myself to be particularly intriguing (see, for example, my recent posting on how I spent my spring break), but I was, of course flattered and excited.
But I was even more excited when Stephanie (the editor), asked if I'd "mind" wearing diamonds for the photo shoot, since they were also covering a local jewelry store for the holiday edition. My reaction: "Um, sure. I guess I'd be okay wearing DIAMONDS."
They did my hair and makeup and draped me with diamond jewelry that I did not get to take home. The photographer, Melissa Emory, was so much fun and put me at ease, which was helpful since making smiling faces and looking really, really excited about touching my face for two hours was a little...odd. And I didn't realize until they started taking the pictures that I'd be on the cover! Ack! Here it is:
Hi! I'm on the cover of a magazine!
And here are a couple of the pictures from the shoot:
See that ring on my finger? It's a lot of diamonds. I didn't get to keep them. But I really wanted to.
It was very, very cold outside.
But what was even more fun was that very few of my colleagues at school recognized me--I think because my hair was all curly and I wasn't wearing my glasses. So there were a lot of "Hey! I didn't even recognize you!" statements for a while. And one of the lovely ladies in the counseling department was even upset because she thought they made me look too "suburban." I think she wanted my tattoos on display. I tried to tell her that it was cold, but she had none of it.
So, I was a tiny bit almost famous for a couple of weeks! What was great, though, is that they asked for a quote from one of my students, so one of my favorites (I have one hundred favorites every semester) Uli, an MCC soccer player and all around excellent student, was quoted in the magazine.
As soon as I started to do a bit of the work on Friday afternoon--work I'd put off doing all week long--I realized that my break was finally over. But right before I did that first bit of work (grading, of course), I had my ladies' lunch: Julie and Max, Mary and Sophia and Lydia, Caren and Lindy (Lilette was home with Tim), and me and Rebecca (both of us childless).
Pretty ladies!
Maxie Five Cents, looking cool as usual
One nice picture just after sitting down, before the toddler hijinks began
Maxie Five Cents, staring me down. He's a tough cookie.
And then I knew that my fun was over and I had to do a bit of work (and a bit more knitting and a bit of straightening up before my amazing V-Write mentee, Angelica, and her friend Chantal came over for some hang-time on Saturday.) But I swear that I did a little work.
On Saturday the girls suggested that we make an Oreo pie, and I thought it was a fine idea. Better than fine, actually, so we got our ingredients and the girls got to it. Although they first had to see what all the fuss was about baker's chocolate. Was it really as gross as I told them it was?
Yes. It really was.
They quickly got over that, though, and went to work.
Cooking up some pie filling
Chantal, scraping the cookie crumbs for the crust
Angelica, pouring out some crumbs
A layer of ice cream? Don't mind if we do!
The almost finished product
Once the pie was at this stage (and covered in more crumbs, obviously), we stuck it in the freezer and I started dinner while the girls did some work. Angelica did her science homework and ACT prep, and Chantal worked on a cover letter for a job she's applying for at the Anti Cruelty Society. Obviously, they will both be successful because they are both fantastic.
But to be really successful, they needed to eat a balanced meal. So we sat down to eat some vegetable soup with pasta and sandwiches,
Dinner
and, of course, pie.
Dessert--also part of the formula for success
The mostly eaten product
The girls went home with leftovers (a half pie in my house would not have lasted the night) and set our next date to go check out the Mitsuwa Marketplace in Arlington Heights.
And today, Sunday, was Easter; and there was a lot more dessert. I mean, a lot.
There was lamb cake:
The most suspicious looking lamb in Chicago
And since that lamb was so suspicious, we took care of him, and quick.
Oh, sorry lamb. Did you need that head? TOO BAD. Lamb jerk.
There was also marzipan cake (nearly as fun to say as it is to eat!):
There was another cake (caramel) and good four pounds of cookies. Bo was responsible for eating 2/3 of them. I might have been responsible for eating the other third. That's what aunts are for.
We burned off a few calories by playing catch.
And then T. and I retired home to watch the season finale of The Walking Dead (o.m.g. how am I supposed to wait until October for the next season? October!?) and the season premiere of Game of Thrones (o.m.d. [d for dragons, of course]). And I have more work to do before tomorrow, but instead, I worked on this post and am now watching Superman on t.v. And I might eat a cookie before I go to bed. Yes. I think I'll do that right now.
My finished vanitas picture. T. suggested the inscription.
V/H/S (an interesting concept, but not very successful)
The Switch (good only because there's the mention of a three-legged dog, but that doesn't come until the end of the movie, so just fast forward through it)
And four episodes of Revenge (which I am quickly falling into a trash-t.v.-romance with)
And thinking about finishing the vanitas painting I started during our English/Art Appreciation learning community. Here it is:
It's unfinished. But, I also have very little talent.
It's my first painting, and it was really fun to work on, so I'm definitely going to finish it before my break is over. I do not guarantee that it will be better than it currently is, but it will, at least, be different. So that's something.
Roo and I also went to visit Trevor at work this afternoon after I'd gotten home from a work trip to check out the professional development department at Moraine Valley Community College (it was a lot of fun and it made me feel productive after all of that t.v. watching). T's work buddies liked Roo a lot, and she loved being the center of attention:
Checking out the cubicile scene
Touching base with T.
Giving some kisses
Tomorrow I'm meeting some of the girls for a ladies' lunch (a very luxurious thing to do), doing some errand running, and cleaning up the house before Saturday, when Angelica (my Open Books mentee) and her friend Chantal are coming over for dinner (I will cook), baking (Angelica will bake), and homework (Angelica will do, and I will help). I'm sure that more pictures of that will follow, so until then,
The other day I was given a poignant example of the canyon sized difference between working in corporate America and working in non-profit education. And it came in the form of pastries.
This was what Trevor had waiting for him on Friday afternoon:
Baked goods and banana pudding, courtesy of Magnolia Bakery (which is trying to wrangle some business from CS Brides)
And this was what I had:
Now, don't get me wrong; I love my job and I really love Country Donuts. But sometimes, I miss that corporate America decadence.
Luckily I have a wonderful husband who shares his treats.
Happy One Year Anniversary to the gorgeous Fran (Napier) Power and Neill (Power) Power!
The two were married last year on a warm, sunny St. Patrick's Day afternoon. The ceremony was lovely and the party was full of family, food, candy, and a whole hell of a lot of dancing (there may also have been drinking). We posted about the Napier-Power wedding officially, but we never posted about the fame that followed a month later.
Trevor, who works as a photo editor for four magazines published by Modern Luxury, immediately recognized Fran & Neill's attractiveness and submitted one of their wedding photos to CS Brides, one of Modern Luxury's sister publications.
Here's the photo he submitted:
I mean, they're gorgeous, right?
Of course the editors published the photo, and it ran in the Fall/Winter 2012 print and web editions. It's still on the CS Brides website, so check it out (and I'm not saying that the other couples on the site are duds, but, well...yawn.)
So, here's to many more years of happiness for Neill and Fran! And hurry up and get to a milestone anniversary so we can have another party.
Except that Roo and I had an official snow day last Tuesday (campus was closed--all classes canceled) and we spent the morning eating the delicious breakfast sandwiches that Trevor had picked up for us at the corner deli (Roo, actually, did not have a sandwich, but Trevor and I thoroughly enjoyed ours).
Sandwich
Then, poor Trevor had to go to work, so Roo and I whiled away the time, playing with toys,
This is my squeaky pink dog. Her name is Cliffina
Walking in the snow,
Snow.
Eating macaroni and cheese,
What? You didn't expect that breakfast sandwich to tide me over for the entire day, did you?
And napping.
There is no picture of us napping.
Otherwise, not much is going on. Hopefully we will do something fun and interesting very soon.
Since we got Roo a month ago, she's been steadily getting cuter--day by day, moment by moment. So, here is a quick post to tide you over until we have time for something more substantial (because it's almost mid-term and things are getting busy at school, but I promise to fill you in soon about how I've agreed to perform in our school's drag show in April [YES, you read that correctly!] and about the textbook I'm trying to write but am not being very quick about and am constantly procrastinating [see evidence, this blog post]).
But Roo. Well, she's the bees knees. Last week, she graduated from puppy pawsibilities class at Anything is Pawsible, and she was a straight-B student (B is for "bones" [ha!]).
Contemplating the agility tube
Getting her diploma
She learned a sit, down, and wait, and she's gotten very good at all of them. She also had some major playtime with the other puppies in class. Look at her run!
At home she's constantly exhibiting her übersonic snoring capabilities. Like, X-Men snoring capabilities. Check it out (and don't turn up your volume too much or you'll blow out your subwoofers).
Other than that, the three of us haven't been up to much. Roo's better at riding in the car, and she's got a cool seat cover that she really likes to roll around on. She's had two baths at Soggy Paws and she has also gotten a half dozen new toys that she absolutely did not need.
Here's her playing with a toy my friend's daughter picked out for her:
And here's a picture of her lazily playing with something called a "monkey stick" (Trevor had just left the house, though, and she knew I was only trying to get her to play with the monkey as a distraction. She wasn't buying it.):
She's become a good walker, and Trevor takes her to check out our neighborhood.
Out with Trevor
But, she's still kind of a lazy puppy, and she likes to hang out at home.
Sleepy eyes on her cat blanket (or beach towel. whatever.)
Hanging out Sunday night (missing puppy class)
She's gained some good weight and has gotten a little taller. Odds are that our next post will show her even bigger, so stay tuned! (and good night.)
