One thing that never ceases to amaze me is the phenomenon of how connected we all are as individuals. How many times have you met someone and realized later that you had been in the same place or at the same party only a few days or weeks earlier? Whenever I experience this sensation, I'm always curious how many times I had passed by that person before we actually met. The first time I met my friend Vudu is a good example. He's tall and graceful with a Euro-80's flair, someone you'd expect to see in a modern Depeche Mode video. He's hard to miss. This was especially true when I met him a few years ago because of a vibrant red swish of color that painted the front of his bangs. I was introduced to him at The Chapel by Succulent Sam and realized soon after that I had just seen him in a Yoga class a week before. Or how many times do you run into one person in the course of a few weeks? I managed to bump into Robb Green 5 times in one month before he moved to San Francisco. Whenever I discover these kinds of syncronicities, I always believe that we were destined to meet.
That said, there is no doubt that in Palm Springs, I was destined to meet Pooh.
The night started at sundown, when I awoke abruptly from my pool side nap. Myself and the party girlz had been bathing in the sun all day at the TGIF Pool Party hosted by GirlBar at the Wyndam Hotel. After lunch on the outdoor patio at Ruby's Diner we headed back to our Desert Lodge for some downtime before the evening's festivities. I gathered my book and towel and headed upstairs to the room where Mxxx and Trinitron were chillin'. I opened the door abruptly and said, 'Let's play I Never.'
'I Never' is a drinking game. The premise of the game is that one person says 'I Never - blah'. If you HAVE done blah, you drink. If not, you don't. Thus, the more blah you've done the drunker you get. I used to play 'I Never' in college. Since college, I Never forget that I can't drink like I did in college (drink). So, I Never played 'I Never' after college (drink). Now, I Never drink before I head out to the bars (drink). Because, I Never like to get drunk (drink). I especially Never like to be hung over. I Never got buzzed before I headed out to the Pure White Party that night (drink). And I Never realized how buzzed I was.
I also Never realized, when I started up a conversation with the two girls in the bathroom about our non-all white outfits, that I'd become great friends with the smiling American-Indian girl behind me. Her name was Pooh and she followed me out of the bathroom because she said I 'funny and cute and a little drunk'. We Never connected the fact that only a few hours earlier she had been chatting with Trinitron in the pool while tossing around a football. And she Never foresaw what she was getting into (drink).
So while the Friday Night White Party was a little blurry for me, I do remember quite a few highlights:
- The fluffy poodle outside of our hotel room before we left
- The male owner of the fluffy poodle outside of our hotel room before we left who said he was a lesbian (I've Never heard a guy say that before (drink))
- The many hundreds of women all wearing white, dancing and smiling
- The House music DJ Kimberly S. played all night until the last hour or so when DJ Mike Bryant threw down lesbian-loving hip hop
- The hot dancers.
- The super talented lighting girl who was wearing all black
- Taking an in-club self-portrait with Peta.
- Showin' off my hip hop flava by giggin', squished between Mxxx, Trinitron, Pooh and her Crew.
- Pooh asking me to do Karaoke with her the next night at the Mardi Gras Masquerade party
- Saying 'No Way' to Pooh asking me to do Karaoke with her the next night at the Mardi Gras Masquerade party
- Listening to Belinda Carlile sing live to many hundreds of women wearing all white, dancing and smiling
- Getting to know Pooh in the 24-hour hot tub at our Desert Lodge
- Listening to Trinitron interrogate a very very very drunk US Marine of Russian decent who claimed he was a doctor and about to go to war while getting to know Pooh in the 24-hour tub at our Desert Lodge
I know what you are wondering.
At this point you are wondering 'what the hell do Pure White and TGIF Pool parties have to do with Dinah Shore?' Dinah Shore was a well-known singer and actress in the 40's and 50's. She continued acting and became very popular from both her television career in the 70's and 80's as well as her many romances to such leading men as James Stewart, George Montgomery, Frank Sinatra, Dick Martin, Andy Williams, Dean Martin and Burt Reynolds. 'Shore, who played golf herself, was a long-time supporter of women's professional golf. In 1972, she helped found the Colgate Dinah Shore golf tournament, which today, now known as the Kraft Nabisco Championship, remains as one of the four major golf tournaments on the LPGA Tour. The tournament is held each spring near Shore's former home in Rancho Mirage, California.1' About 20 years ago, the two owners of the lesbian GirlBar in Los Angeles, Sandy Sachs and Robin Gans, came to the tournament and decided the next few years to throw a party. Which, 20 years later, is the biggest lesbian party in the country. (Check out this article from The Observer for more info about the history of the Dinah Shore Weekend ('We're not just a weekend anymore!')
I did, in fact, watch the golf tournament -- for about 5 minutes. It was on television before we left the hotel room for Saturday's WET and Wild Pool Party. This pool party was even more insane! Now thousands of women of all shapes, sizes and priorities filled the main pool and surrounding spas to dance, drink and party like the rock stars they are. It was like 'Girls Gone Wild' for lesbians (Though I Never saw any boob shots ((drink)).
Instead of DJ's this day, live music filled the stage. I miraculously managed to find a lounge chair to lay down in by Pooh's Palm Springs roommate, Jamie, immediately in front of stage. This was fine except it was incredibly loud. I wished I had brought the ear plugs that had become a staple for me during my adventures. I shuffled around the pool chatting with chics and taking pictures of the swarms of women. I Never drank any of the $9 vodka redbulls (drink), not even a sip (drink, drink). I caught up with Pooh dancing at the front of the stage at the end of the day, but only long enough to say goodbye. I was headed back to our Desert Lodge to get some rest before yet ANOTHER night of dancing and women.
Saturday night's party was GirlBar's main dance party event, the Mardi Gras Masquerade Ball. Mxxx, after kickin' it at the pool all day with the ladies , decided to stay in that night, but Trinitron and I headed out around 11 to get the party started, riiight (hip hop reference). We found a parking spot and sauntered toward the large event center. You'll Never guess who we ran into at the exact moment that we crossed the street to the corner of the Event Center (drink).
You can't run from fate. But I tried. I wasn't too into the dance part of the night. The energy of the large, long event center felt too reminiscent of Girl4Girl in Seattle, a night I haven't enjoyed for quite a while. There is too little electronic music swirling the stagnant energy created from high levels of drama and expectation. DJ's that do well at events like those, like DJ Beyonda, DJ Spinderella and DJ Automation, must play a plethora of pop and hip hop styles in order to gratify the age gaps that span the party's patrons. So instead, I spent some time in the Mock Vegas area, learning craps in preparation for my trip to Sin City in the next few days. I wandered through the Latin room, dance room and front room saying hello to some of the people I'd already met that weekend. I stared at the hot Go Go dancers who MUST have been way tired because they'd been dancing it up all weekend. And, I watched the 80's band the Go Go's re-live their stardom at the first concert they'd played together in 30 years.
But otherwise, I was bored. Very bored. So bored I decided to turn towards the future and face my fate. I decided to do what I'd imagined I'd been brought to Palm Springs to do. I did that thing that stops me from going to the only women's bar in Seattle, the Wild Rose, on certain weekdays. I did what I'd been trying to avoid all night. I did something that I had never before done while sober.
I did Karaoke.
There is only one song I will Karaoke to. If you can guess the song, I'll Karaoke it with you. The night before, Pooh would have never guessed it (drink). So I told her. I told her because underneath it all, I realized that I was ready.
The only song I will Karaoke to is a song by the soul funk legend, Clarence Carter. Its called Strokin'. I walked into the Karaoke room and sat at the table. 'I'm here to pay my dues,' I said. She put our names on the teeny tiny list and I waited to fulfill my fate. After not very long, Pooh and I stood up on the small stage and Karaoke'd to Clarence Carter's Strokin'.
I've Never had so much fun singing.
Missed Part I?
1. Quoting Wikipedia
