Yvie Oddly! Dating advice? Dispatches from Colorado!

Hey friends,

Hope you’re all hanging in there. I got my vaccines this afternoon and I’m very aware that the side effects could hit at any moment, so I probably shouldn’t have waited until 9pm to write this??? Live and learn! (I will not learn.)

Before I forget: I’m recording an episode of How’s Your Sex Life on Friday, and they’ve asked me to solicit advice questions for the show. So… sure! Here’s the language they sent:

I'm going to be a guest on KCRW's advice podcast How's Your Sex Life. And I wanna hear what's going on in your dating life! What do you need advice on? Tell me what you're struggling with in sex or relationships and we might answer your dilemma on the show. Everything's anonymous so send me a DM, or email sexlife@kcrw.org. Questions are due October 18 EOD.

I’ll also be part of this free lit panel event in Crown Heights (Brooklyn) on Monday, September 23, moderated by the genius Jeanne Thornton. Come thru!

Anyway, this week on the show, it was a pleasure and an honor to chat with Yvie Oddly. I am SO GLAD that I randomly listened to Ru’s memoir for the goss because wow, the goss really paid off! What a joy to get to analyze Ru’s whole deal on the pod with an expert — and, more importantly, to hear Yvie’s very smart thoughts about drag/gender, queer fame and public perception, disability access at the club, labor issues in reality television, and so much more.

Photo: Yvie in frilly purple drag, holding a copy of her book 

As promised, we also shared an extra six or seven minutes of the interview on Gender Conceal, which included a discussion of ~Brooklyn vs Denver community vibes~. Well, funny coincidence…. last weekend, hours before the episode dropped, I actually flew to Colorado and watched a big drag show!

Yvie was obviously not involved, but I did get a great taste of the local and regional drag scenes, and it genuinely made me appreciate our conversation even more. The best queen of the night did a perfect lip sync of like fully half of this Welcome to Night Vale episode ???????? (She has basically no online presence but I’m obsessed with her, so if you’re ever in Western Colorado…)

I also went on a beautiful hike that I cannot stop sharing photos of because LOOK AT THIS.

Photo: Some big, red, Flintstone-ass rocks against a blue sky

I know I say this every week at this point, but I genuinely do think we will have at least one big fun announcement next week! Maybe two! In the meantime, here’s Links & Stuff.

• ProPublica has been putting together a series of resources for the hell of finding an in-network therapist

• Rolling Stone attempted to explain why the youth love 9/11 memes

• Meanwhile, the Guardian tried to pathologize the youth having a little fun once in a while

• My friend Sam sent me this and it’s just … such a perfect use of transsexuality.

  • (Here’s her original music btw! Very trans very catchy.)

• Meanwhile, in Tuck’s Creature Corner: baby chomps :)

That’s it for this week. We’ve got our Union Hall live show on Sunday, so if I forget to send a newsletter next week, thats’s why. :) Here’s your weekly Rhubarb.

Photo: Ruby lying inside two layers of a ripple rug, with just her head and tail sticking out. 

Xo,
Yr resident gender detective