Hard French Winter Ball

Let me just say that it never gets old.  I will never take a full dance floor for granted, especially at this stage of the game!  

Thanks so much to Hard French for inviting me to participate at the Winter Ball at the haunted Brookdale Lodge.  Thanks also for giving me something to obsessively research for a few months.  I read everything I could find about the history of the Brookdale and it's hauntings.

I am both relieved and disappointed that i didn't experience any supernatural phenomena.  I guess next time I'll have to bring my EVP recorder. ;)

And though I didn't get the bajesus scared out of me, for some reason it is still exciting to be standing in the same space that has been occupied by so many legends - Marilyn Monroe, Joe Dimagio, Mae West, Rita Hayworth, Joan Crawford, Tyrone Power, James Dean and so on.  

And at the same time, the way it stands today- musty, crusty, rusty, DUSTY, pealing, crumbling, moldy, somewhat plain in decor- it's hard to picture the Brookdale being fancy enough to attract those folks.  But it does attract me.  I don't know what it is I love about run-down, dilapidated buildings.  I guess maybe it's trying to imagine what it was like in it's heyday.  Or maybe it's more about seeking beauty in something neglected and forgotten.

I guess that seems to be a common thread through most things I love in life.  I have always seemed to love things that other people have forgotten or left behind.  Often times I've felt alone in my appreciation of such things.  This is why it's so heartwarming to meet vintage music-loving kids like Amy, Tom and Ashleyanne in San Francisco.  They "get it" and as a result I feel they "get me".

I also have to admit that it was really gratifying to be a part of such a glorious queer event.  Nothing means more than to be "amongst my people" and watch them dance to my records.  THAT IS A VERY SPECIAL FEELING!  

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE MAGIC!