Whine and Cheese

Work has been brutal of late, or at least it has felt that way because I've not taken a lot of time off. I'm not overwhelmed, but I think I'm suffering from a bit of burnout. My fuse has been short and growing shorter.

Last week, I remembered that drag queen comedic superstar Bianca Del Rio was going to be in Columbus, OH with her "It's Jester Joke" comedy show. I knew this was going to be the closest the tour was coming to my location, so I hopped online and bought a ticket. I was amazed that I managed to get a FRONT ROW ticket. I had also debated on staying the night to avoid driving home late at night, and I eventually booked a room at a nearby Marriott to the venue.

I ran into some Cincinnati and Dayton bear friends of mine outside, but none of them had seats in the front row. So I was sitting solo and the seats around me were unsold, or the ticket holders did not come. The show was WONDERFUL!

RuPaul's Drag Race Season 7 Alumna Mrs. Kasha Davis opened the show. I think she has a fantastic sense of humor and I loved hearing her sing. She saw me sitting solo and asked where my friends were. I shrugged. She told me that SHE would be my friend and she liked my beard. She asked if it tickled testicles or vaginas. I told her "testicles" and she announced me as a gay and I got a round of applause. I was in heaven.


My new friend Mrs. Kasha Davis

After the warm-up, Bianca came out and did an amazing 90 minutes. She never stops moving. I took probably two dozen or more photos and only a few had no blurs. Her humor was bawdy, irreverent, and non-PC. She explained to the masses that it was going to be that way. I can't imagine why anyone would go to Bianca's show if they didn't know her humor. I absolutely loved it and was howling with laughter many times. I can't wait to see what she does next.


Bianca Del Rio! Yes I was this close!
I made my way back to the hotel and crashed almost immediately. I did make the mistake of opening one of the apps and getting so much "fresh meat" messages. Nice guys, but I didn't have time or energy to hook up with anyone. It must be my age these days.

The next morning, I woke up, got ready, checked out, and drove down to The Book Loft, a 32-room bookstore in the German Village part of Columbus. It's co-owned by a brawny bear friend of mine and I'd not visited there in a long time. I wasn't disappointed. I spent WAY too much money there, but they have so much good stuff there. Seriously, you can wander that book store for hours upon hours and still never really see all of it.

I finally headed for home, enjoying my day off from the office and still basking in the aftermath of the comedy show. I spent a lot of money in the last two days, but the break from the work was certainly worth every penny.

It's been a fairly active weekend, so here's a summary of everything that went on:

• Friday I called the cable company and set up a repair visit. They could have done it over the weekend, but I have to take Wednesday off, so I scheduled it for then. And the repair will be free believe it or not. I still plan on giving the installer company a good chewing out. While it isn't costing me anything, the annoyance of being without cable in my bedroom for nearly two weeks has sucked



• Saturday was a Cincinnati MovieBears outing to see "IT." It was a beautiful night and it was good see the guys. Everyone seemed to enjoy the movie, which I've now seen twice. I imagine that clowns will be a popular this Halloween.



• Brian (cincycub) brought me a wonderful gift. While he was at Market Days this year, he bought me three issues of "How to Kill A Superhero," by Pablo Greene, autographed to me. According to the author's website, www.howtokillasuperhero.net, the novels tell the story of Roland, a young man who is changed forever by an occult book that grants its reader dangerous but seductive superpowers. It involves some superheroic bondage, which is very enticing. I was so thrilled with them, I hugged Brian twice. I look forward to reading them. The author is very much into superheroes, spandex, and singlets. I can relate :)



• Sunday was mostly home stuff. I mowed the yard (by removing the boot and wearing the ankle guard), did laundry, and finished a retirement cartoon for a co-worker. It did wear me out a bit.



• Tonight is the series finale of "The Strain." I'm curious to see how our heroes defeat the Strigoi (the vampires). It's been a very interesting show, with some cute leads. After the last season where Zach set off a nuke and gave the vampires reign over the world, I'm kind hoping he gets offed. I'll have to wait until tomorrow to watch it.



• My next doctor's appointment is Wednesday. I sincerely hope I'm done with the boot. I need to get back into working out, as my lower body and mid-section are seriously out of shape.

I think that one of the reasons that a lot of kids in high school didn't like having to read certain books is that they don't find them overly interesting. I remember reading "The Catcher in the Rye," "The Lord of the Flies," and "A Separate Peace" among many others. Some of them I enjoyed, others were blah. I usually enjoyed reading when I got to choose the book, even if limited to classics. I usually picked "Dracula," "Frankenstein," or "The Picture of Dorian Gray." "Dracula" was one that hangs in my brain because of the unusual structure of the book, being made mainly from newspaper articles, journal entries, and letters, so the perspective continually changes.

Lately, the books I've enjoyed reading have been easy and fun. When I was in junior high I read a book by Lois Duncan, the author who wrote "I Know What You Did Last Summer." Just before my last business trip to Boston, I downloaded a couple of her books to my iPad, "Gallows Hill" and "The Third Eye," dealing with reincarnation and psychic powers. They were quick reads, but I enjoyed them immensely.

I still have a few books of her to read, but I admit that I'm looking for others.

What have you read of late?

Busy week, but I'm thankful to see the weather finally turning toward non-winter stuff. "Go away, white stuff," I say.

One of my latest finds at the used bookstore is a 2002 book called "Live From New York," about the history of "Saturday Night Live." The book is unique in that it doesn't contain narratives really. It's literally an accumulation of different interviews that the author had done with the cast, the writers, and the hosts, segmented into different eras of the show. By interviews, I don't mean there are pages and pages from a single cast member, but rather a paragraph from this cast member, followed by one from the writer, etc. It's told in a strange chronology of things happening there and presented in a way that it almost looks like everyone was in a room telling stories on each other. It actually is a fascinating read, especially since the viewers only see the final product, not the issues, arguments, etc. that went on to put the show together.

I'm just getting into the early 1990's when Adam Sandler and that generation was involved. My favorite was the first years with the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" though. I love the candidness of the interviews. Once people leave, they feel free to discuss not just the facts, but their feelings on them. Just a few things I've gleaned from the book:

• Chevy Chase can be an @$$hole when he hosts. He was there the first season only, made a name for himself, and bolted, which didn't make him particularly popular with rest of the original cast and writers. Most people believe he's very mean when he's there for a hosting gig.
  
  
• Everyone loved Gilda Radner. Everyone. There were no negative things said about her at all. And I like that.
  
  
• John Belushi was destined to burn out. Nearly everyone on the show was doing coke in the first years. He was the worst in terms of usage.
  
  
• Eddie Murphy became a star on the show, even though the producer at the time didn't really want him. He blossomed on the show, but refuses to discuss his time on it. There are no interview quotes from him in the book.
  
  
• Victoria Jackson was a born-again nut while on the show. She left because there was nothing for her to do really. Apparently nothing has changed.
  
  
• When Sinead O'Connor ripped up the photo of the Pope on stage, everyone was shocked. In dress rehearsal, she held up a picture of an orphaned child and talked about taking care of our youth, which her management told SNL she would do. She switched it in the live performance.
  
  
• Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow auditioned for the show and didn't make it.

It's been a good read so far. I'm sad it ends at 2002, because an update of the book would be great.