Everyone knows my addiction to drag queens. Even as a teenager in Rhode Island I always knew one; my favorite was Mona, a black drag queen who carried an axe in her handbag and once chopped up a Cadillac of a man who wronged her. So the annual Shelley Novak Awards is a type of Nirvana for me. And, Shelley...well, there is a piece of work.
Henrietta, flanked by "sisters" Billy and Sammy, was dressed in black leather and turquoise.

Johnna reached a certain drag perfection with this look. I followed her around all night, mesmerized.

Hot stockings were the rule, but they were only worn by the men.

Miss Tiffany Fantasia-Phillips with the handsome Tony Ferro.

Call me old fashioned, but simple home-spun entertainment like a drag queen strumming a guitar just warms my heart.

And, of course, no event would be complete without our favorite wag-about-town, and new owner of The Wire, Thomas Barker. One of the many things that made us fast friends was our mutual love of plaid pants.

I was intent upon retiring for a while; things are so bad and it is so easy to get depressed. But, Countess Bedelia arrives today and if there one thing I am certain of it is that The Great Southern Court is NOT going to let The Great Northern Court think that we are slacking off. The hats are coming out, the jewels polished and I guess those patent leather YSL will have to come out of the box.