paris is burning

i highly, highly recommend this documentary. i finally sat down to watch it last night (i've had the netflix envelope for a good month now), and was completely enthralled. for those of you who haven't seen it, it's a documentary about the balls in harlem in the 80s and 90s, where gay men would compete in dramatic fashion shows... but the categories are things like "realistic schoolgirl", "executive", "high society". there were categories for crazy haute couture fashion as well, but most of them were about how "real" the boys could look, how closely they could pass for a woman/executive/military man in real life. there was also a whole explanation of how vogueing got started, and showed some "dance-offs" between some guys who totally worked the floor. it was exhilarating and touching and sad and funny.

the balls also reminded me a little bit of the dance competitions i've been to over the years. i mean, it's a close community, and people get dressed up in flashy outfits and perform for a room full of people who know them... it's a big emotional high to have people love your costume or your performance and just be a rockstar for a few minutes out there.

i've also developed a minor obsession with Ru Paul, now that i understand what some of his songs are about. :) love love LOVE.

[weight loss] psyyyyched!

one of my best buddies at work told me today that there's a "biggest loser" contest in our building. it costs $20 to enter, and they're going to see who lost the biggest percentage of weight at the end of 10 weeks. even though the contest started a week ago, we still decided to join as a pair. (we'll be judged individually, but you have to have a partner to enter.) we're getting weighed this afternoon, which is perfect because i was planning to go to the gym later anyway. so now i have 2 incentives to motivate me: a smaller hiney AND some cold, hard cash! w00t!

the boy is trying to shed a few pounds as well, so he's making a healthy dinner for us tonight. great way to start the contest!

oh, and our "team name": "Don't You Wish Your Trainer was Hot Like Me"!

BTW, i'm sending this out to everyone, but after this my weight loss posts will be filtered. so if you're not on the filter and would like to be (so you can point and laugh when i'm weeping at the junk food i'm turning down), let me know.