Too Busy For Love - Year of the Crown Part 1

You know I've been lamenting how busy I've been, and these last few months have been crazy, but I assure you, it's not just a cute heading for my blog.  I've been so busy, it's taken a year for me to post this tidbit.   About half of my 2018 was dedicated to BEST IN DRAG SHOW, a fundraiser for Alliance For Housing and Healing, as well as for Aid for AIDS.

It started in April, when I auditioned.

Once I found out about the auditions I got to work getting the idea for my show together.  I had to come up with 4 categories; INTRO

SWIMSUIT

TALENT

Evening Gown/Interview

 And they announced their six contestants

David Anthony Flores (Miss Washington), me (Miss Texas), John Green (Miss New York), Andrew Felix Garside (Miss California) and Philip Watrous (Miss Louisiana)- Not pictured Jason De Puy (Miss Colorado)

Once I found out I made it into the show, I had 5 months to get it all together.  I immediately went to Carol at Carol's Bridal.  She's who I usually run to to get my dresses made.  She said, "Sure! Get the fabric and I will make these."  She immediately got started on my Intro dress.

Later, I realized that Carol and I  hadn't discussed fabrics and construction strategies, (really, what fabric does one use to make a Nacho Poncho that stays crisp on the catwalk?) so, I decided I needed some advice.  I remembered that my friend John Coulter usually had fabulous Halloween costumes;

John the Rock-n-roller and me as The Virgin Murray

 I made a call and invited him to breakfast to show him my costume designs for advice & wisdom.  He took a gander and said he would give it some thought.  The next morning he called and said he would make my costumes!  I was all "WHAAAAAAT?"  That was an amazing and miraculous blessing!  I shared my budget and John went to work!  He sent me photos of stuff in the works.

We discussed new ideas and he improved on my original designs and ideas.  I did my part crafting a few details

with a little help from friends

Here's Brett helping me figure stuff out and put it together

like my Intro Blue Bonnet head piece,

 rigging the pecans that would drop right under my my dress on cue and these Dora the Explorer shoes that would be the cherubs in my Lady of Guadalupe evening gown...

Before I knew it, a few months had passed and it was time for the photo shoot for pics used in the show 

to promote the show

and for the BIDS calendar

Miss May with Alam Wernick
(and for a peek at his naughty twitter click here)

Might I say, the Calendar shoot was my favorite part?

Arad Winwin, Trent Ducati, Devin Franco, Remy Cruze, Alam Wernick

With the main photography done, and publicity for the show going out, I had just a month and a half before the show! 

I'm really busy, so I'll show you the show tomorrow!

This Is Why I Am Single - The Drag/Porn Equation

Drag Season hasn't exactly disappeared, I'm still donning slap & drag for different events, here & there, which is a big reason I'm too busy for love.  There is one recent event which ticked off another box in my Die Alone With Me situation: This BEST IN DRAG SHOW photo shoot is another example of why I am single. 

No, it's not the drag thing, again; it's a nice perk of the drag.  Although, to look at the photo below, you might not think there is ANY perk to drag (OMG! It's jus the start of the process, don't judge!) 

The thing is, as part of the shoot for photos that will be shown during the big pageant, we also shot some calendar photos!  What makes the calendar a little extra special, aside from our fabulous outfits, is the naked male models.  Yeah!  I don't know who put together the equation Drag = Gay Porn's Friend, but I thank them profusely!!  As if it wasn't hard enough putting myself together (alright, not so difficult because my beautiful make-up was done by the amazing Glen Alen) and trying to think of interesting and original poses, they compound the difficulty by adding these guys walking around! I mean, how am I supposed to come up with an emotional and evocative Cinco de Mayo pose when I've got this guy standing right in front of me?

(Devin Franco)

It's hard, right?  I can't post many pictures of me as Reba Areba, because I'm not allowed to show my final looks. Fortunately, I can show you theirs, because these are not their final looks... their's were less encumbered.

(Devin Franco, Remy Cruze, Alam Wernik)

Also, you may know that I have a thing for Arad Winwin, whom I've long admired, since my first DragCon...

Well, having him on set made it doubly hard for me!

How am I supposed to hold still for Glen's eyeliner pencil, when I've got this scene happening right outside my make-up room?

Somehow, I made it through the day without making a complete spectacle of myself and without my tongue flopping out of my mouth and onto the floor.  Also, it was nice that each one of them was a sweetheart. Trenton Ducati (with whom I am coupled in the top photo) seems to have put together a very pleasant stable of models!

This is Why I Am Single: Sometimes my line of work puts me in the company of some very hot and very disrobed, friendly men!