RuPaul's Drag Race

To the best of my recollection, this was the first photo of RuPaul I ever took. I remember to this day (we are talking 20 years ago), how amazed I was by this Amazon with the Confederate flag mini-skirt. We became fast friends as only myself and famed night life photographer, Tina Paul of the Fifibears, were allowed to take photos in this four-story, seedy, fabulous, drag-ridden club in the meat packing district of Fourteenth and the West Side Highway name Mars. I usually had three cameras: the 35mm, the brand new Sony hand cam video, and the Nimslo 3-D with me; I could have gotten into so much fun/trouble had I not been encumbered by all this equipment. Still, we all had fun as much as three Extacy's might have been expected to produce. Ah, the memories.

Today Edison Farrow informed me of a new reality show that, for the first time, will glue me to the TV. RuPaul is hosting a show named RuPaul's Drag Race which will showcase drag talent in competition for titles. (Maybe I'm crazy, but David Archuleta should have saved himself; Leo and I would love to see him as Pia Zadora.)

In those glory days of New York during which I roamed the gutters in search of every imaginable creature with a dress and a wig, Ru was the only one at the time who had a vision. She had cleaned up her act (no more drunken stage shows at La Palace de Beaute') and focused on a highway ahead that had no exits but that which she envisioned. She's been a great model for drag queens in the wings. RuPaul's Drag Race. The time has come.