This show totally made my day. I work up feeling really crabby today and Barbara’s talk about silliness reminded me just how much I love and cherish the life I have. There have been times when I’ve felt ashamed of my silliness. Especially being part of the leather scene where there is so much pressure to stand around the bar and pose and look sexy. I always go in with this intent to be this hypermasculine leatherboy and within the first ten minutes it goes to hell because I run into friends and we end up just howling with laughter or singing or something goofy. I remember one time Buzz, me and a few other friends were at the bar and we started dancing to the music they were playing and people just glared at us. I said, “well, none of us is getting laid tonight” but we didn’t care, we were just having too much fun. Luckily my new bf is as goofy as I am and can appreciate the silly side as well as the sexual, and often mixing the two.

And Marc, you are right that the leather community is very playful. I find the people who come to a leather bar just to get laid are often the ones who are so serious but the people I see at all the events and club meetings are usually the ones who are in on the joke. I mean, come on, I know how utterly ridiculous it is for me to run around on all fours barking like a dog. As much fun as it is and as much as I enjoy it, I know it’s completely crazy. That’s part of the fun of doing it. I saw a guy get mummified in plastic wrap once dressed as a clown (it was for a circus themed bdsm party) and I’ve seen the butchest leatherman you’ll ever meet get dressed up in a gold lame dress wig and makeup and call himself Bubbles Goldstein. Yes, at the heart of a true leatherman there is a great deal of silliness. And if there is any doubt, just look at the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. They are the epitome of leather, drag, silliness, queer identity and love.

Thank you so much for this show and for the whole cosmos of Feast of Fools. And thank you Barbara Carrellas. What a wonderful person, I can’t wait to read your book.

PupDon, I just love your stories and outlook on life. You rock!

Barbara is delightful! What a wonderful, warm person. I thoroughly enjoyed this two-part series… Now, every time I go out to the garden to tend to the tomatoes and carrots, I will be sure to do it, um, consciously.

I was cracking up at the end of the show, with Marc’s Scrabble tips! My mom’s side of the family are die-hard Scrabble players, and I can’t wait to whip out my quim during the next tournament. (Not literally; don’t want to give my grandmother a heart attack.)

p.s. I hate to quibble, but the origin of Mayor Quimby’s name probably has more to do with geography than genitalia… Matt Groening named several of the Simpsons characters after streets in Portland, OR. Quimby Street is a few blocks north of Lovejoy…

That’s good to know but I wonder if he knew what a quim was.

Springfield, IL lost out on the hometown premiere of the Simpsons movie.
I think if Matt Groening knew about the quim double entendre, he would love it!

But I don’t know if this guy would… whaddya think?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quim

These shows were great! I can’t wait to get my hands on this book!