Three Months In NYC
I’ve been wanting to write about my first few months in New York. In fact, I’ve been bullying myself (not very nice) to share something since the first week I arrived, a little over three months ago. Several times I’ve sat at my desk and opened my computer but the words escaped me each time. Today, however, I find myself high from last night’s trivia win and I’m determined to share and hopefully get back into the habit of putting my thoughts to words on this platform.
I’ll start with last night: My trivia team consisting of Elise, Clare, Jesse, and myself won first place at Singer’s Trivia. This was shocking to us all, who just went there to “have fun and look hot” - Jesse. Jesse answered the most questions correctly but we still didn’t know the answer to a lot of them. It was hard! The last round ended and we were considering leaving early because we were sure we didn’t win, but we lingered at our table having gotten swept up conversation. (One thing about Jesse Clare and myself is we were each blessed with the gift of yapping). When they announced the third place winner, which in a perfect world would have been us, we we sure we were safe to leave as we definitely didn’t win second or first place. They then announced second place and we all mused at how the third and second place winners had a lot of teammates (us only having four and then loosing Elise halfway through because she had to work the next day). Low and behold, they announced our name as the first place winners and we saw it projected on the wall they were using as a screen:
I need the readers to understand that we were all flabbergasted. So much so that Clare stumbled up and delivered a gorgeous acceptance speech (that no one asked for) and quoted Marion Cotillard when she won an Oscar for La Vie En Rose “it’s true, there are some angels in this city”.
The night before last, which was Tuesday, I also had an iconic night out. (Sometimes I like going out on weekdays more than weekends). I met my friend Gen, or Djean as I call him, at the Leather Dyke Strap Sucking Contest at the Montrose in Williamsburg (or, Will.I.Am’s Burg as I’ve been calling it in my head for no reason at all) My roommate, who has been amazing to live with and I actually feel like I won the New York roommate lottery, alerted me to this event but wasn’t able to make it, so I went by myself and met Djean in a swarm of dykes. Luckily we got there early enough to secure good seats, though we both ended up standing on our chairs for the entire competition for an even better view. I had one frozen Margarita which was delicious and very strong and then switched to diet coke after that. I was surprised I wasn’t hoarse from screaming so much the next day. The winners were a hot threesome, one person wearing a traditional harness around their waist and another dildo attached to their boot. The two femmes aggressively sucked both dicks while shaking ass and the crowed went wild. I, drunk from my frozen marg, felt a few tears escape my eyes.
While I love a frozen marg sometimes, I really love activities that aren’t centered around drinking or getting fucked up.
I’ve done a lot of random activities here ~ like taking a queer line dancing class (which I suck at and won’t be doing again) taking a figure drawing class at the Bush (another gay bar) and going to several WNBA games. I also went to the Tribeca Film Fest and the Dyke March in June. Last week when my friend was in town we watched the All Star’s game at Gingers. I never realized I was a sporty guy and am obsessed with this development which I attribute to my friends, especially Clare, who writes about Women’s Sports for Sports Illustrated.
I’ve also been going to Jacob Riis (a top-optional beach) fairly often and am so happy to be a bus ride away from The Gay Ocean, though I am terrified of sharks and several have been seen along the Rockaway beaches. I will keep swimming and as my mom says “getting those ions”.
Work is slow in the city right now, which I’m hearing is true for many tattooers, and I’m grateful to have the ability to travel back to Detroit to tattoo. I will keep traveling back there, possibly once a month, or until people in Detroit stop booking me. It’s been nice to pop back into my old studio and tattoo people I have already worked on in the past, some of which are clients from my early days when I was tattooing out of my living room.
(some new flash)
I’ve had a few photoshoots in New York and am excited to have more next month. (This one was at the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx.) Also, an album I shot for Shigeto has finally come into the world. It’s a beautiful and thoughtful piece of art and I highly recommend you listening to the newest single (“The Punch”) and ordering a copy when it’s released in October.
