Awesome Tattoos

Two weeks ago I went to my FAVORITE gay night out that I’ve been to in LA. It was called MUG SHOT and it was held at the Alexandria Hotel Downtown.

It was awesome for many reasons, the first being that it was five minutes away from my house. Also, since it was on the East Side, it attracted a different (and in my opinion more fun) crowd than many of the West Hollywood events. It was much less uptight and cliquey and there were actually people dancing. When I walked in and saw one of the hired dancers doing aerobics moves from the ‘80s, I knew I would fit right in (since those are the only dance moves I know).

Plus, since it was an East Side event, the girls were wearing more fun clothes, had cooler hairstyles often involving shaving their head asymmetrically yet still looking amazing, and were generally more tatted up than the West Hollywood girls. even though I myself am somewhat uptight about clothing and don’t have any tattoos*, I’m very appreciative of them on others.

*as in I wear boat shoes on a regular basis and don’t often show much cleavage. and as far as the tattoos there are a few obvious major problems. first, I pass out when needles are stuck in me. I don’t know when this started happening because when I was younger shots didn’t really bother me. However now, seeing blood in conjunction with any kind of needle (every blood test) causes me to lose consciousness unless I’m lying on my back with my eyes shut. Plus, you know, I’m Jewish, and there’s this whole thing where you can’t get buried in a cemetery with other Jews if you mar your body or whatnot. I think this is stupid. However, my father, a very sweet elderly Jewish man named Bruce, might have a stroke and I really don’t want to kill him because I like him.

In fact, it kind of felt like I was back in San Francisco. which was fantastic. While I’m not super into the overcast weather, I have had an AMAZING experience every time I’ve gone out there, and the gay scene there is pretty much the best. as well, there is a general non-judgmental attitude which I really appreciate. People come as they are and as they want to be, not how they feel they should be dressing. There’s a level of comfort there that doesn’t usually exist in other places.

This is a pretty cool thing. Not only because it’s such a supportive environment, but because, in a completely selfish way, the people watching is fantastic.

It’s kind of like when you go to Folsom Street fair or Dore Alley (for those of you who haven’t heard of them, these are fetish and bondage fairs that take place on the streets of San Francisco) and part of the reason you go is to support people’s interest and right to be involved in what most of society considers non-normative (or worse) sexual preferences, and the other part is because it’s entertaining to see bears (big hairy gay men) get dressed up in leather domination outfits and smack each other with feathered crops. 

And MUG SHOT had a little bit of that going on, though certainly not to the same level as Folsom or Dore Alley.

At one point during my night at the Alexandria, a friend of mine pointed out a woman wearing head-to-toe leather and spiked six-inch heels. She didn’t stand out, and I wasn’t particularly interested in looking at her until the friend mentioned that she was a professional dominatrix.

HOW AWESOME IS THAT?! Did you know that is a profession? How Crazy/beautiful is it that people would pay this chick to dominate them? or that someone can actually make a living that way?

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