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February 2006 Edition Of Excellence
Du'Bois' Dish By Nicole DuBois (MGA 2006)
It's now the beautiful month of February, and more festive holiday's are upon
us. Beginning with Feb.14th , Valentine's Day. Don't forget that loved one or
that special someone in your life. It is always' nice to get a great gift
(chocolate, rhinestones). But it is even more beautiful to hear the word's I
Love You.
Feb. 28th, Mardi Gras, Let the good times roll. New Orleans, famous for their
Mardi Gras celebration, will be going ahead with parades, carnival ball's, etc.
, but on a much smaller scale. On the Mississippi Coast, we will be celebrating
as well, but also scaled down quite a bit. Fortunately, it's back to some
normalcy for our people here. Thankfully every day gets better.
The Winter Olympics are also this month. I also enjoy the opening ceremonies,
quite a huge production. Go team USA...
January found me in Denver, Colorado, for our first preliminary, Miss Colorado
America. Congratulations go to Winner- Dakota St. James, and First Alternate-Marea
Estefan . The pageant was held at B. J.'s Carousel. I also had the privilege of
working with Sabrina White and Maya Montana, two amazing Miss Gay America's. I
am looking forward to working with many more of my MGA sisters through out the
year. Also on hand for the pageant was the talented Barbra Seville, our new Miss
Gay Arizona promoter and my new sister for life. It's an amazing experience
meeting new people that you just click with. Also, we worked with Miss Colorado
America 1980, Nina Montaldo, absolutely a true professional. Love you girl!!!.
While visiting Colorado, I met up with a friend from the coast that is now
living in Denver. We invaded he and his partner John's home with drag. Thanks
guy's for the hospitality. Also my friend Walter and Chris were there as well.
Love you both.
I am actually sitting in the airport in Atlanta, GA., writing this while waiting
on my plane for Arizona. Next month, you will have all the gossip from my
fabulous trip there.
Preliminaries are filtering in with pageant dates and our calendars are getting
full. I urge our promoters to send in franchise fees, and claim your dates. I am
looking forward to working with each of you throughout the year. Best of luck to
you all.
Reminder that our family retreat will be held in Memphis, TN. April 1st. I urge
as many promoters and contestants to attend if at all possible. Lots of
activities planned, as well as a meet and greet for all involved.
Have a great month, and remember "Cover Girl does not cover boy". Love you all,
and KEEP PAINTING.
Much Love, Nicole
From the desk of Larry & Terry
The Storm Will Pass
With almost every preliminary that has occurred since our
journey of ownership, of this wonderful pageant system, there has been drama.
Either something based on the action of the contestant, the promoter, an
entertainer, the titleholder or the judges’…. and the list goes on. While we are
certainly capable of handling the drama of any contest, we would prefer to see
“stress-free” contests, which is rarely the case. In all that we (promoters,
contestants, titleholders, judges etc.) say and do, the world is watching and
waiting for mistakes to be made. And when our “favorites” win, life is great. It
is win favorites do not win, that the mistakes are mentioned and the accusations
are made. Many times, the national office is petitioned to make a ruling on
various issues and this can be somewhat difficult considering we may have not
attended a particular contest or event. For this reason, we place much
confidence in the reigning titleholder, the promoter and the lead judge to be
the eyes and ears of the national office. When asked to make a decision on any
issue, we must have credible evidence for the decision making process,
otherwise, we must rely on common sense and the ability to rationalize.
Fortunately for us, we both have experienced enough of life to be able to make
sense of a situation, in the absence of credible evidence.
Most of the drama of the pageant world is “self inflicted”
in that usually, someone does something they should not have done or, someone
does not do something they should have done. In the competition world, actions
are scrutinized daily therefore it is imperative that in every word and action,
you think about what is in the best interest of the contest, and act
accordingly. Usually if in doubt about a certain word or deed, if you will ask
yourself, is it in the best interest of the contest, things become clearer.
In every instance, drama will be temporary, provided you do
not continue to feed the drama. The “nay sayers” are always lurking, waiting to
respond to negativity and to continue to “stir the pot”. We learned a long time
ago, (long before our ownership of the Miss Gay America pageant system) once you
have logically reacted to an action, stand your ground but respond firmly but
positively, do not get caught up in the negativity that the situation may have
caused, then look toward and speak of a positive future and most storms will
pass, rather than linger. We certainly realize at times, we are forced to make
decisions based on the action of others however; keeping in mind the best
interest of the pageant system, most will reflect on the situation, understand
the action taken and once again be supportive. The key for all involved in this
pageant system is to learn from mistakes, learn from others, as we all have
something to teach one another, and not repeat mistakes. This is what makes an
overall positive pageant experience, and will cause the storm to pass, and the
sun to shine again.
Until next time…
Chat
With Cat
Hello everyone. It is an odd deja vu to be sitting here
writing an article again. I have to apologize to Larry and Terry who have asked
me to do this a few times. Unfortunately my mind kept letting this assignment
slip to the back of my mental “to do” list. Hopefully everyone had a fantastic
holiday season and came through all the family and social functions unscathed
and in need of only minor therapy.
So I am staring at this computer screen wondering what in the world to write
about. After all, if you all are anything like me, you get tired of queens on a
soap box saying how much we need to work together to make everything better
while being hypocrites and doing everything they can to make people miserable. I
know this will probably offend some, but then again, when have I ever worried
about the truth offending someone? So why start now?
Since I have changed my outlook on this business, I guess the best thing to do
is share what I have found. Honestly, my mind has been in a 100 other places
besides drag lately, and this has left me in a most peculiar
position…unstressed. Why is there nothing bugging me? What is going on in this
warped head? Well currently there are workout schedules, car shopping details,
dance routines, physical therapy. Hmmm, but no drag. Could it be that I am done
with it? Well no. I still love performing weekly and competing in pageants and
working with MGA. But wait…it would appear that I have walked onto yet another
path in the road trip of life. Is this what the real world looks like?
Last year, after many years of devotion to female impersonation, I found myself
in a place where I was so disgusted with the direction my career was going, and
with the down right evil attitudes that seemed to be running rampant amongst
some of the people in this business, that I decided to step away. It was my
intent to never set foot back on a stage as Catia again. Then after some soul
searching I found this would be impossible. The things that were actually making
me so miserable were not the career or the people, but myself. So being a big
believer in the idea that I control my happiness, I decided to break away from
the illusion and become me again.
I started working out, and decided that instead of immersing myself in the
politics and positioning of the drag world, that I would essentially give all
that up and start from scratch. I would compete again, but this time only for
fun and personal betterment, I would get out into the real world and offer
myself a different viewpoint of the business of illusion. What I see is,
frankly, disturbing. I see in almost every arena of drag a group of people who
are so immersed in an imaginary world that they forgot that a real world
existed. I see artists who either squelch their abilities and creativeness in
order to try to please a small group of judges so that they can get a crown. I
see a group of parasitic people who, while they cannot actively perform
themselves, hover around performers like vultures waiting to pick apart the
first weakened individual they find. I see people who think they will be defined
by their winning a pageant, only to find that their popularity is only as far
reaching as a bar door. But in amongst all that I also see sparks of hope. I see
some truly gifted people trying to maintain both a positive career, and positive
attitude in life. I see people trying to fight against the many harpies who try
to ruin this business. At times I see hope.
I urge everyone to take a step back and evaluate what this business means to
them and where it fits into their real life. I urge you to step away from it and
live in the real world and merely visit in the imaginary one, and I urge you to
stop trying to mold yourselves into something you may or may not be, and let
your true selves show when you perform. It is better to walk away from a
performance happy or sad with your own execution of what you did by having tried
to let people see your passion, than wondering if a judge will like something or
if you fit the mold of the pageant in which you are competing. There is no mold
for individuality. Never lose yourself in this dream world. It is not an easy
thing to get your self back. Like a train track, with two rails that parallel
themselves, both rails get to where you are going. Use them both.
Happy New Year.
Aron
“Catia”
A Note From The Editor
The Excellence strives to be an informative newsletter delivered to the promoters of the Miss Gay America Pageant System throughout the year. Should there be any issue or topic of discussion a promoter would like to see addressed (or to write an article to be published) in a future newsletter, please contact the editor via
Email.
Please note, any article, comments, or opinions faxed, mailed, (postal or electronics),
or otherwise sent to any of our "addresses" become our property and carry an implied consent of publication should we choose to do so. No articles will be published in which one or more of the following occurs:
- complete identity of the author is not known
- plagiarism
- defamation of an individual or company
- false or misleading information (as we are able to determine)
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