It's Pride Weekend in Houston!

Happy Pride from Houston, Texas!!!

It's Pride Week in Houston and the big stuff starts happening tonight!  If you're looking for Miss G, here's where she'll be:

Starting at 6pm tonight she'll be with the Krewe of Olympus,  selling beads on Pacific Street outside of JR's.  Nothing says "PRIDE" like cheap plastic jewelry,  so come by to buy some rainbow beads and support the Krewe!

Tomorrow, during the pride festival,  she'll be hanging out at the Krewe booth,  selling more beads and generally enjoying the gay pride spirit!  The festival is always lots of fun so come on by and show your stuff!

She's walking the parade with the Macy's entry.  This is only the 2nd year for Macy's to be in the Houston parade,  but each year the entry gets bigger.  No one knows how to parade like Macy's (didn't they invent parades?), so who knows what the future will bring as they become more and more involved with Pride parades around the country!  This years Macy's celebrates it's 150th anniversary,  so we're hoping to have 150 walkers in the parade.  Everyone's welcome,  so meet us on Kipling before the parade if you want to walk with us!

After the parade the traditional gathering spot for the Krewe is EJ's. We'll be there for drinks until the wee hours, I'm sure.

Sunday, Miss G is planning to stay in bed and rest after the long week.  If any handsome men want to join in that festivity,  they will need to apply in person somewhere along the way!  A girl can dream,  can't she?!

Whatever you do this weekend,  have fun, stay safe, and be proud!  You are FABULOUS!

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Lots to tell!

It's been a while since Miss G has brought you all up to date, so here's what's been going on!

Miss G has finally worked herself back into home improvement mode, and finally finished a project that was long overdue.  When the house was renovated (over 2 years ago!) the intent all along was to build cabinet doors to go over the openings in the outdoor kitchen.  It never happened. So finally, Miss G dug out the saws and hammers and got them completed: just in time for Artie Gras and the Krewe recruiting party.  She also built a cabinet to house the outdoor refrigerators that used to be inconveniently located in the garage. What do you think of the before and after?

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Miss G is pretty handy with a saw and hammer if she does say so herself!

So, Artie Gras came and went.  Unfortunately Mark was ill and didn't make the drive from Austin,  so that was kind of a bummer. But the rest of us enjoyed each others company and the chance to spend time together.

The Krewe New Member Social was a success,  at least in Miss Ginger's book.  We pick up one new prospective member,  bringing our total to 7,  which I think all will agree is a good year. Now we roll into Houston Pride week,  and you'll get updates on those activities as we move through the week!

Now that the home improvement project is done,  Miss G is taking on a little self improvement project.  Actually,  she's hired a trained professional to take this one on.

The next section is not for the "squeamish"!

Ya see,  Miss G had some dental trauma a few years back,  and has really neglected her teeth since then.  She had a dentist that really pissed her off,  then one who wouldn't do what she wanted done (who's the customer here?), so she kinda gave up.  Now she has enlisted the services of Dr. Mitchmore to get her beautiful smile back into shape!

Have you ever noticed in Miss G's photos howher smile always seems "fake", like she's mugging for the camera? 

 

 That's because her teeth don't show at all if she doesn't force a smile,  because they have been worn down and are actually shorter than they are supposed to be! A natural smile has pointed canine teeth,  but if you noticed,  these teeth are all worn to a flat surface.  Not natural, and not healthy.

Because of the bite problem that caused the teeth to grind flat,  the next picture shows how the teeth toward the back,  especially at the bottom,  have sort of "folded down".  Not only does this collapse the smile, it has caused the gums to become unsealed from the teeth, allowing decay at the gum line that has caused a "notch".  The bad dentist told Miss G it was from brushing too hard, and there was nothing he could do. Eventually the decay could notch the tooth deeply enough that it would break off.  Dr. Mitchmore will restore the decay, then realign the bite to allow the gums to grow back into place without pulling away.  Voila- teeth saved!

 

Here's the scary one- gross amalgam fillings that the last dentist said didn't need to be replaced. (WTF?) You  can plainly see that the one to the right is pitted and chipped, and because it has come unsealed from the tooth,  grey decay has set in around it.  There are 8 amalgam fillings in Miss G's mouth that will all be replaced with beautiful white composite fillings.

So,  those are the "befores"- not too pretty, huh?  I go back Thursday,  and it looks like you may be seeing a weekly "smile update" for a while!

HAPPY PRIDE !!!

 

How to Make a Cat go on a Diet

Abaleman666 is fascinated by my kittie's weight loss.  How does one make a cat lose weight?  It's easier than doing it yourself!

As far as my cats know, there is only one food in life.  Kibble.  They hate it, but it's all they get.  They must not hate it too much, because they each weighed almost 20 lbs- and neither is a Maine Coon!  The trick is not to make them eat less kibble,  but the reduce the caloric content of the kibble they eat.  You can get Hill's Science Diet R/D (Reducing Diet) at the vet for about $25 bucks a bag,  pretty steep for cat food.  However, it's the best way to kick-start their weight loss routine.  If they restist,  start by intermixing it with their regular food,  and then slowly adjust the mixture to pure R/D. They'll eat if if nothing else is offered.  After they've dropped a few lbs, you can switch them over to reduced calorie diets that are more widely available at pet stores. Wide availiblity = lower price.  If they resist a change in food,  start by mixing and then slowly wean them to the one you want them on.
If only Miss G weren't too fabulous to live on kibble alone....

Miss Ginger Survives the heat in Austin!

Austin's Pride Festival has grown by leaps and bounds,  and this year it was bigger (and more spread out!) than ever!  and HOT!!!  OMG! Luckily,  we had a great group of folks from the Krewe, and we enjoyed each others company immensely as we sold our beads to the passersby!  We did quite well for an out of town event,  and most of the time we were so busy hawking beads or sharing gossip that we didn't even think about the 99 degree heat!  At least it wasn't humid!

Miss Ginger almost rendered Veronique Volvo mute for life on the way home! With the top down and the motorcycles roaring around her,  Miss G cranked up the volume on her disco hits to hear it over the noise.  At one point Veronique dropped to silence,  and nothing Miss G did could get her to sing again!  Even the little Swedish Navigation Man could no longer utter his timely turn-by-turn directions!  "Quelle dommage!" thinks Miss G,  "I've blown the speakers!" WTF- it wasn't that loud! Well,  Miss G sings to herself the rest of the way home, pretty sure she can find a fuse or a breaker in the amplifier once she's off the road (Miss G is pretty handy that way!).  BUT WAIT! After stopping for gas,  the Little Swedish Man startles the crap out of Miss G by screaming his famous opening line: "Please proceed to the indicated route!" Apparently, stopping the engine reset whatever had become unset,  and once again Veronique could serenade the freeways with the "bump-a-dump-bump" disco beat for which she is so famous!  All's well that's ends well!

Thank goodness,  because Miss G does NOT have time this week for car repairs!! After three packed days at the day job,  Miss G has the brothers coming for Artie Gras on Friday, followed by the Krewe's New Member Social at her home on Sunday!  She's taking a few days off from work at the end of the week to make some Martha Stewart magic happen,  but it's going to be quite a time crunch!  And she needs to get her nails done in a major way!  No sandals for this girls till she find time for a trip to Little Vietnam for a pedicure! 

Anyho.... here's the invite for the New Member Social on Sunday! (Snaps to Timmy for it's beautiful design!)  If you're interested- or even just curious- come on by for a few drinks and some fun Krewe gossip!  You'd better believe: when the Krewe gets together, fun will be had!  Come see for yourself!

Busy, Busy, Busy

There is some old phrase about "the Lazy Days of Summer..." but Miss Ginger has no idea where it came from!  Her summer has been busier than ever,  and she's barely even had time to get onstage!  But don't worry- she's got lots of commitments coming up.

Last night SonnaMae arranged a little outing for a group of us to see Leslie Jordan live at Wortham Center.  He played "Beverly Leslie" on TV's Will and Grace, and he's even funnier onstage than he was on that show!  We had a great time,  and if you don't get a chance to catch his show somewhere you should buy his book and read it!  Hilarious!

Pride festivities are gearing up in Texas,  starting with Austin pride this weekend.  Miss G and Veronique Volvo are going to make their first roadtrip together,  and lots of folks from the Krewe will be there to play with.  King Robert and Queen Kaylynn are riding in a convertible in the parade,  and a group of us is going to sell beads at the festival.  Always good to get out of town for a weekend!

The week after that is declared "Artie Gras" for Miss G and her brothers.  When our oldest brother, Arthur, passed away a few years back,  we all knew that if we didn't force the isses we probably would not get together as a group again.  So,  we decided we would pick a weekend each year around his birthday to do what we do best- eat too much,  drink too much,  and tell stories about our childhood.  "Dead Brother Weekend" sounded kind of dismal so we settled on "Artie Gras", since we always called him Artie. Here's Artie a "few" years back holding his beautiful baby brother.

 

 At the time the boy was named "George Grant" because "Ginger" had been taken by the family's faithful Irish Setter.  She's the one on the right:

For what it's worth,  the dog on the left was an English Setter named "Smokey".  That wouldn't be a bad name for a drag queen, either.  Picture this: "Ginger Grant and Smokey Setter present "Dog Day Afternoon".  It could work!

Whoa, Miss G is way off track!  Back to pride! Shortly after Artie Gras comes pride weekend in Houston.  For the 2nd year in a row Macy's will be reprensented in the parade,  which is awesome since the local company they took over would never participate!  They were very well received last year,  and this year the entry is going to be even bigger,  with a vehicle and everything.  Watch for us!

Speaking of Macy's,  Miss G and the day jobbers (that could be a great name for a drag group,  too!) recently when to NOLA to check out the progress on the new digs.  The buildings are still construction sites so we don't have access,  but we checked out the malls and the markets and we're real excited about the potential!  We'll have ultra-modern,  naturally lit facilities with a very contemporary crisp, clean finish and decor package.  Meanwhile down the mall, Dillard's is pissing away a fortune creating yet another one of those dismal, dated brown remodels that makes each store look like it was remodeled 20 years ago.

Also exciting in NOLA: our friend Mike has opened a place on Burgundy street called "the 700 Club" at 700 Burgundy. It's a real cute place that's a little more "clubby" or "loungy" than the typical New Orleans bar,  and seemed to have more of a local clientele!  Check it out next time you're there! For those of you who know places, not numbers,  it 2 blocks down from that "other" popular bar on Burgundy, the Chewtoy.

Lot's more to tell but Miss G is rushing off to the day job! She'll try to catch you up after the weekend!

 

 

 

Rip Van Winkle Has Awakened!!!

OMG!  I can't believe Miss Ginger slept for 40 days and 40 nights! Was "Mint Julep Kickoff" really the last time she blogged??? Oy, she's become a nischtik!

Actually, what a busy girl she's been! Day job has been insane with 3 new stores "adopted" in Baton Rouge and Lafayette.  And 2 more being built in New Orleans means it's gonna get worse before it gets better!  On top of that, Celia is STILL in Mexico,  so Miss G is having to do her own laundry and clean the cat box herself! ICK!

But she's alive and well,  and thriving, actually.  She's taken on a couple of home improvement projects. (more on that later)  And the cats are losing weight,  even if she isn't!

During her long respite, the only "big" thing you missed was the Krewe's Sordid Lives party.  It was a hoot! Not sure how it would go over at first, but as the party drew closer everyone really got into it!  Miss Ginger even took time from her busy day job to put together a "Brother Boy" Costume that won best in show!

She also learned 2 valuable sewing lessons:  1.Glitter Dot is not figure flattering.  and   2.Line everything!  Anyho,  thanks to "str8upwithatwist" for the photo. You can check out more on his blog: http://str8upwithatwist.blogspot.com/.

Speaking of "str8upwithatwist", I highly recommend his bog if you wish to keep up with the goings on when Miss Ginger falls into her lulls!  His blog is much like hers,  except his has fitness tips and political opinion, and Miss G has beauty tips and social monologue!  So if you are fat and sassy, read "str8upwithatwist".  If you are ugly and lonely, read "the FABULOUS blog of Miss Ginger Grant".  And if you are fat and ugly,  God love you because sitting on your ass reading blogs isn't going to help much!!!

Love to all!