7:30 on a Friday

I've reached that point of the day where yes, I'm physically at my desk but I am in now way doing any kind of work.

Last night was an mixed bag. I stayed at work late then went directly to the Ukrainian East Village Restaurant which from the street looked like Off-Track Betting but housed a banquet room in the back with wood-paneled walls and Ukrainian women serving drinks and kielbasa (of which I ordered a plate happily). I was there for cover Linda Simpson's Bingo-ski. I sometimes forget that Linda is a drag queen because she speaks so genuinely as a bingo hostess and with this down-home mid-Western accent that it sounds like somebody's Aunt Margey is up there at some points. What's hysterical is how she's able to get people in the audience literally standing on their chairs in excitement over a pink snuggie or a toilet-paper dolly.

There were no seats available in the actual room so I mixed, mingled, greeted and got some photos then grabbed a table solo for food. The girl brought over a basket of contraband carbs that I tore into like I hadn't eaten in weeks. The bread was stale and I was still shoving it in my mouth as she came to clear my plates and give me the bill. I guess I need to be a little more lax on that or one day my roommates are going to come home to me sitting on the couch surrounded by empty Pillsbury dough containers and cinnabon frosting all over my face...

Heading uptown, I headed to the Hudson Hotel for the Keith Haring by Patricia Fields Collection afterparty which was being held in their new basement space. I like the upstairs because it reminds me of a music video set (and was where Lady Gaga had her interview with Barbara Walters I believe) but the downstairs was a stark opposite in all black and looking more like a megaclub. The neon lights and large installations made it very unique and felt more like an open version of Happy Valley. I met Matt there (a boy I met on Tuesday at the Stonewall Quarter Share recruiting event and subsequently went on a date with that night) and we hung there for a while then walked down to the Renaissance Diner for tea. The MTA gods decided to transpire against me and it took me until after 4am to get home but I slept rather soundly.

Waking up later than I had planned, I rushed to get my write-ups finished which proved to be an uphill battle as my slow Internet seemed to have shifted to reverse overnight and it took me nearly 2 hours to get my posts uploaded correctly. Alas, I sit here at job #1 late before heading to Splash for the Escort of the Year pageant. The dichotomy this job at Next creates is really interesting, I'll be at the HRC Gala one night and a bingo game in an EV restaurant the next, sometimes those two polar opposites in the same night. Those, of course, are still more entertaining than my banal day job but I prefer to have the means of comparison or I feel I'd get very jaded, very fast with Next.

I'm hoping to sort of streamline this blog in the future so it's less of an overview of the day prior and speaks more personally, but that will come in time.