I've never really been aware of the entertainment that Hamilton has to offer the LGBT community. I have many friends who are a part of that community, but being straight I guess I just never had the inclination to look into it.
That all changed on Thursday night. I didn't change. I'm still straight, but I was introduced to some awesome Hamilton LGBT fun! I went to embassy for the very first time!! Embassy is one of the gay clubs in Hamilton. I didn't even know that there was another one but apparently The Werx is a good place as well. I mean it can't be bad...it has a leather bar in the basement. Awesome!
My friends David, Ian and I at our first drag show! Exciting! (Ugh not a good hair night :P)
I think the idea that you can go somewhere and not worry that people are judging you or criticizing you is very liberating. Even though I'm straight I felt completely comfortable there and wasn't afraid to be myself (not that I'm usually afraid to be myself...not at all. BUT there have been instances at certain "clubs" where I felt too fat, not fashionable enough or too old to fit in). Of course in a perfect world everybody would feel comfortable everywhere and not be judged. Sadly that is not the world we live in so it is nice to have somewhere people can be themselves and not worry about being hassled.
To my absolute delight Thursday night was drag night at Embassy. It was very entertaining. The ladies would get up on stage in their beautiful outfits and do a dance or lipsync (for your life). Some real talent was seen. Some of the drag queens made me feel super unfeminine because they were just so lovely. Not only that but there were also drag kings in the mix and that was nice to see them being included as well. There was one imparticular (I'm sorry I can't remember his name) who was an insaaaane dancer. He was all over the place. Chris Brown eat your heart out.
Smooth Moves
After the show (which was raising money for charity) there was dancing and it was it was a fun night all around. Seriously it really made me realize how few "comfortable" places or acknowledgment the LGBT community really has in Hamilton. I mean two bars in the entire city. What if you aren't into the club scene?
There are some things that go on during "Pride Season", including a Pride Festival and even a Pride Service at the First Unitarian Church of Hamilton. But is that enough? Why aren't there events all year? I guess it's a good start, I just didn't realize how little was going on in this area.
I would definitely go back to Embassy, and I'd like to go to The Werx as well. The atmosphere at Embassy was just fun and happy. Check out the Hamilton Pride website for more information on pride events in Hamilton.
This post has nothing to do with Hamilton OR travel. I just have to share because I think people may get a good laugh out of it. That laugh will be at my expense but I think I'm secure enough to join in the giggles as well.
Alrighty then, here goes the story. This is possibly one of the most embarrassing things to ever happen to me and that is crazy because I usually embarrass myself at least once a day. Let's add some pretext to this story shall we? I'm sure you've all seen that curling hair tutorial where the poor girl (Tori Locklear) burns off a piece of her hair? Well if you haven't I will share it with you right here.
Okay so this video went viral a couple of weeks ago and I will admit that when I watched it I laughed my butt off. I also said things like, "how would you ever manage that?" and, "what an idiot!".
The laughing stopped last Tuesday. Abruptly.
My friend Danielle gave me this handy dandy waving iron. I had never used one before or even seen one for that matter. To be honest I'm not the most girly girl out there. I can't do hair or nails without messing up. I rarely even blow dry my hair. Anyways I had this iron for a couple of weeks and I hadn't had a chance to use it yet. Then last Tuesday my work sent me home early. I had a whole afternoon off. Time to try this thing out, I thought. This is where karma sat, waiting for me.
When I turned on the iron it smelt kind of funky. I just assumed that my friend had used product or something and it was smelling because of that. I now know that maybe it was malfunctioning or something more of that nature. I proceeded to wave my hair. I did half of my head and although the smell continued I thought it was looking pretty awesome. Then it happened. The very last piece that I curled burnt off. I freaked, but it was hideable so I calmed down pretty quick. Brushed my hair, threw it in a braid and went out for dinner with my friends. If only I had known the horror had just begun.
Later that night I came home and decided to have a shower. As soon as I got in I knew something was wrong. My hair was falling out. I was pulling out enormous chunks of it. I started to cry. This continued for about 20 minutes. My hair just kept coming out. By the end there was a huge pile of hair and I knew I had to be bald. I kept picturing that scene in the movie, The Craft, where Ben Stiller's wife is crying in the shower and her hair is falling out. That was me. That was my awake nightmare.
This is how I imagined I looked while I was in the shower.
"Now Derek Zoolander will never marry me!"
When I got out and brushed it, a lot more hair came out, but I forced myself to look in the mirror and somehow, by some miracle I was not bald. I had lost a ton of hair though and a lot of it was in the front and not easily hide-able. I decided I was not going to go to work the next day and would go for an emergency haircut but in reality it was pay week and I didn't have a lot put aside for an emergency cut. So, I hid my hair shame the best I could and continued on with my week as usual until I could go get it fixed on Friday. It was a horrible week. I couldn't stop worrying about it but also my hair smelt SO bad.
I assumed they would cut all of my hair off. I've had it short before so I wasn't worried that it would look terrible but I was really upset because I've been growing my hair out for over 2 years and I didn't want to start all over again.
I loved my hair short, don't get me wrong but I didn't want to do it again this way.
I enlisted my sister to come with me for moral support while I got my hair cut. Somebody had recommended Total Image in Jackson Square and I had been there for a trim before so I went there and met Felma, my hairdresser/hairfix guru/miracle worker.
She was sympathetic and only laughed a couple of times but she also said the most beautiful words I'd heard all week. "I can save a lot of it."
By doing all kinds of crazy layers and bangs she managed to keep quite a bit of my length. I wasn't sure how I felt about bangs but it's been a week now and I am starting to really like them and have got tons of lovely compliments. A lot of people just think I wanted a style change. They don't know the terrible truth.
I wanted to share this story so that others out there might avoid this fate. If you don't know how to handle hair devices, don't. If something seems off about them, don't use them. If you're unsure of how hot things should be, don't use it!! It's not worth it. I lucked out but even though it's fixed it was still damaged and I am going to have to work really hard to get it back to a really healthy state.
Right after leaving my hair angel, Felma. I was more relieved then I let on.
One week later I'm really into the bangs and learning how to wear it funky ways.
The moral of the story is this, beware when you laugh at others misfortunes. Karma may just come and hit you upside the head. Tori Locklear...I apologize for laughing uncontrollably at you for burning off one piece of your hair. After burning more than half of mine off I can appreciate the turmoil you must have felt...but still...both situations are kind of funny. At least you got YouTube famous thanks to it. If only I had been fiming myself in the shower. Wait...what? No.
Thank goodness I've always been pretty good at laughing at myself otherwise this really could have been a much more traumatic experience.
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