LADY HAHA

Pain, Heavy at Times

What was I thinking? The weather forecast for the Northwest was “partly cloudy, showers”, generally a safe bet, so I wore a big black raincoat and layers for my trip to Seattle and Portland.  Had I forgotten the daffodils during the Vancouver Olympics?  Forsythia, flowering quince, blooming tulip trees and blindingly blue skies greeted my squinting, and grateful eyes for my Northwest sojourn.

After a great lunch at Seattle’s Wild Ginger with producer/activist Paul Bauer who had picked me up at SeaTac in his black El Camino, I had a quick nap. I woke up with a quick Starbucks double latte – I did not notice any open-carry weaponeers in the order line – and headed to the Triple Door Theater for two shows produced by Square Peg Entertainment.  The second show at 1030p, my 130a, was a wild ride, but thanks to Sarah Palin, it’s now okay to write my whole show cheat sheet on my hand, so I was fine.

The next day, I was off to Portland, the City of Roses, and was met by my artist rep, Tam Martin and her partner Carol Daebrl, who gave me a tour of their new digs and then took me to a great lunch at Wildwood restaurant.  It was great to see Tam in person again after months of emailing and phoning. As Carol stared into space, Tam and I caught up on the dish of our biz.

That night Tam and I attended the annual Oregon ACLU Liberty dinner.  The very chatty, optimistic affair honored the work of Candace Morgan, librarian, champion of intellectual freedom and steely populizer of Banned Books Week.  OR ACLU also honored the work of Dr. Peter Goodwin, physician and one of the movers and shakers behind the Death with Dignity Act passed in 1999 in Oregon.  Executive Director, David Fidanque gave a great speech on the serious assaults on civil liberties even during the Obama administration.  The speech was a perfect set-up for some comedy and that’s where I came in.  The courage and tenacity of the attendees was invigorating.

I made it back to NYC in time for some Oscar couch potatoing.  I was wearing GAP. In honor of Women’s History Month, the Oscars presented a tribute to Horror Shows, which should have been called “Men Attacking Women.”  Ugh.  I consoled myself with Penelope Cruz.

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LBL*

Just washed ashore from the RSVP cruise, and should have my land legs back any day now.  I need a Dramamine to go to the Duane Reade.

I met up with my 2,200 mateys on the Eurodam in Curacao last Tuesday and they were in crazy good form.  They had already had a sail away theme party, a Valentines party and when I arrived they were in Carnival Masquerade mode. You should have seen the two Avatars! These guys don’t mess around. They plan for two or three costume changes a day.  I was unable to ask them how big their luggage was, due to silly double entendre problems.

When they weren’t party planning, the guests were entertained by the dynamic duo of Amy and Freddy, the Guys Who Would be Divas, and the comedy stylings of Paul Williams and Danny McWilliams.  In honor of my comedy cohorts, I changed my name to Esther Williams.  The RSVP staff was endlessly accommodating.

We arrived Saturday morning in Ft. Lauderdale and I deshipped, or whatever it’s called, and went to the gorgeous Atlantic Resort Hotel, one of the big sponsors of many local LGBT events.   After I checked in, I ran right into the concierge who I knew when he owned a beautiful shop in Ptown.  When I went for a walk to see if I could, I ran into the retired postmaster from Ptown.  I had lunch that day with four friends from Ptown.  It was old homo week.

That night I performed to a wonderful sold out house at The Amaturo Theatre in the Broward Center for the Performing Arts.  It was the last night of their big and getting bigger ten day ArtsUnited Festival.   Under the stewardship of Keith Clark, ArtsUnited brings LGBT culture – writers, artists, film-makers, musicians, comics – to Florida.  Every visiting artist, especially those from wintry northern latitudes, want to stay extra days.

But next day, I left and drove to Ft. Meyers for a show at the Carefree Clubhouse.  Again, more friendly faces from Ptown!  Has anyone checked the live videocam feed from Commercial Street to see if anyone is left in Ptown?  It was great to be in that community of women.  Many are retired and are having a blast there – canoeing, volunteering, painting, writing, swimming, being the much visited favorite auntie.  None of them can figure out how they had time to work.  What I enjoy most is how well they take care of each other.

Back in NYC, snow expected this afternoon. Back to Polartec.

*Land-based Lesbian

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