RIP TAYLOR MEAD

RIP Taylor Mead, a Warhol superstar and New York icon who has been twerking hard in the East Village / Lower East Side for a very long time. You will be missed and I will miss hearing about you from your bingo buddy Linda Simpson. More on Mead's LES legacy at EV Grieve.

LINDA SIMPSON IS GOD

I have only been twerking hard in the East Village for a nanosecond compared to legendary drag superstar Linda Simpson. To know Linda is to love her and to read anything she has written is to burst into unstoppable laughter, as she is as witty and hysterical as the likes of David Sedaris.



Linda used to do a bunch of parties here in the East Village (Slurp!, Channel 69), though nowadays she spends more time hosting bingo and honing her writing skills on the interweb. She ran a zine called My Comrade (which I'm hoping some publisher with clever gay marketing sensibilities will compile into a book a la the Butt Book) first in print, then online. Now she has a new bloglike website which is absolutely hi-LARious.

My favorite bit thus far is a little video she posted of her good friend Big Bill. I met Big Bill when he was running the door at the Governor Bradford up in Provincetown. He's also been to a few bear parties I've DJed in New York City and is a total sweetheart but apparently he's moved to Provincetown full time. There's no way to not love his contagious laughter either. Just try.