Burgers, Bingo, and Drag Queens...OH MY!

This post is going to have to be a short one...I'm running SO low on time this week. My company is sending me to Spain for a week to interview some teachers, and I leave Friday morning. I'm SO excited to go! It's not my first choice of places to go to in Europe (I would probably high tail it back to Italy or Austria, given the choice), but I'm BEYOND excited to go, as I wouldn't probably get there otherwise. I hope it doesn't sound like I'm complaining, because that's not how I want it to come off. This is such an awesome opportunity, and I'm so thankful to have a job that's helping me reach my goal of getting back to Europe this year...and to somewhere I've never been to before! I've heard SO many great things about Spain, so who knows? It may end up as a favorite spot of mine to visit. Plus, I know a little Spanish, so I'll be able to get around ok. Actually, if I use the Spanish I know, I'll end up in jail. Ro only teaches me the bad words. Hmm...better add "Buy a Spanish phrase book" to my list of things to do before I go.

But tonight, I'm here to talk about drag queens. As you know, Marin is training for a triathalon in Maui in June with Team in Training, which is a GREAT organization. They had a fundraiser on Sunday night in West Hollywood at Hamburger Mary's. Once a week, Hamburger Mary's does a Drag Queen Bingo night, and it's a RIOT. The proceeds from bingo night went to Marin's team, so we all turned out to support her, as well as watch the drag queens. It was awesome. Belle Aire, a sassy drag queen who is nothing short of a (somewhat scary) force to be reckoned with, called the bingo numbers. And let me just say, this ain't your grandma's church bingo. One of the bingo games was called "Rimjob". Uh, yeah. Rimjob. And when someone gets a bingo, you get to ball up your bingo card and chuck it at the winner as they run through the restaurant. Very cathartic. And every 3 games or so, they had an amateur drag queen competition. Fan-freaking-tastic. I didn't win any of the games, but both Jeff and Gordito won big gift baskets full of great stuff. In fact, this was one of Gordito's prizes, the Double Dolphin...let's just say it was from a sex toy shop, and leave it at that:

And believe it or not, at the end of the night, in the middle of West Hollywood, I got to take a man home with me. Barry Manilow. That's right ladies, Barry Manilow. Don't be jealous...it doesn't look good on anyone. Part of Jeff's gift basket had "Barry Manilow: The First Television Specials" in it. Apparently, he didn't want it (I have NO idea why), so he was sweet enough to give it to me. I was elated!

Here's a couple other pics:

Where do you think this disco ball is in the restaurant? Dance floor? Maybe even the lobby? Oh no...it's in the can. Whilst you pee, you can feel like Andy Gibb from the Bee Gee's. Welcome to West Hollywood.

And here's an admittedly BAD picture of the drag queens that competed. I wanted to get a picture with Belle Aire close-up after the games, but frankly, I was afraid of her. Um, him. Sorry, I don't know. I'm new to this. "Excuse me, waiter...um, -tress?"



Anyway, I hope this was a successful night for Marin and her team. It was packed, so I'm sure they made some good money. When all is said and done with this, 75% of the proceeds Marin raises goes straight to research to fight blood cancers. If you or someone you know has been affected by blood cancers, and you feel so inclined, donate HERE, and help an amazing cause, and help further the goal of an even more amazing person that has the motivation to commit so much time to training and fundraising for this race.