at Tuk Tuk in Long Island City, Queens
I was feeling good last night when I got out of the train at 14th St and 8th Ave. For the first time since last year, my late shift at work had actually felt relaxing again, even though I worked right up until when I left at 9:30pm. The office was quiet, I chatted with people as they left, and I even found time to make a start on a big new project I’m supposed to complete over the course of the next month. The details are boring, and it’s a lot of busywork, but it’s something. The new responsibility of it feels like a step in the right direction. The trick will be juggling that new responsibility with the myriad others I try to keep track of each day, many of which I’m still getting used to.
I met Richard at a burrito place on Greenwich Ave in the West Village, where they serve $3 frozen margaritas until 10:30pm, so we squeezed in two rounds before last call. They were good, and strong, and I (not sure about Richard) definitely wobbled out of there when we left and made our way over to, drumroll…….the Jane Hotel, a chic hotel along the West Side Highway with a ballroom that I’ve been wanting to check out for a long, long time. We walked inside, amused the bartender, pissed off the owner by wandering into the closed-off ballroom section, and then spread our cheer in the adjoining Cafe Gitane, a beautiful, fresh-baked-bread-smelling low-lit bar and cafe (with foosball table), where the hostess pointed out to us the taxidermied alligator on the wall, and recommended we come back for the Avocado Toast during their brunch hours.
We were in a good mood on the way back to Never Never Land, and we reminisced the whole time about living in Italy and our host families and what the gay scene must be like in Rome and Viterbo. I think, secretly, that year abroad when we were sixteen had a huge impact on us growing up. And even though we didn’t stay in touch and lived pretty separate lives for six years, we were both shaped similarly by the glamor and ease of Italian life, and furthermore, both share a strong desire to go back. Who knows. There is no reason not to. I told him about La Mucca Assassina, the gay disco in Rome I’d been to with some other friends, and he said he was only a little “gay” back then. I said he was very gay, and we all knew it.
We ended the evening with a drag show at Barracuda, a tiny but long gay bar with a stage in the back. The star, and she really was, of the evening was Peppermint, who is incredible to watch and even more charming to listen to. She had lot to say, and a lot of wigs to put on, but mostly her whole show was punctuated by a sharp, easy, hilarious stream of banter. I think half the time, my mouth was hanging open in a big gaping awestruck grin. Here’s a video of her with Sherry Vine covering Lady G’s “Telephone.” Enjoy!
