GAYLETTER

The awesome indie food magazine Put an Egg On It just released their 9th issue and I can’t wait to see it. This Sunday is their official launch party. For those of you who are not familiar with the publication it’s “an irreverent digest-sized art and literary magazine printed on green paper from New York City. It’s about food, cooking and the communal joys of eating with friends and family. The magazine is biannual and features personal and photo essays of dinner parties, special art projects, illustrations, as well as practical cooking tips and recipes.” This Sunday you are in for a real treat, basically all guests eat and drink for free until everything is gone. There’s going to be beer, sake and snacks provided by Momo Sushi Shack. Ralph McGinnis (one of the editors of the magazine) told me that it’s “first come first serve for drinks and food, sooooo…when it’s gone it’s gone.” A word of advice, if you are greedy and don’t know how to share please stay home, it’s not attractive looking so hungry in public.  —Abi

You’re probably well aware of our love for Justin V. Bond considering we write about V at least 2 to 3 times a day (I kid), however this Wednesday we get to really show some love to V with a night dedicated to honoring the performer and V’s already legendary career. Best of all, it’s all going down at The Cock! The night is officially a fundraiser for NYPAC, a group that supports performance art in NYC, but we’d forgive you if you just showed up for V. Tickets for the main event are a little steep at $150, so if you’re on a budget we suggest you skip that and show up for the after-party where you’ll get music by Juliana Huxtable, Michael Magnan and Sammy Jo, plus you’ll get to hang out with all the rich boys who were there earlier for the pricey part of the evening (where they watched performances by Joseph Keckler, Erin Markey and Casey Legler). I haven’t been to the Cock in a while so am excited to see how they dress up the place for the evening, or dress it down — that’s the best thing about Justin, V fits in anywhere.  —tom

I was chatting to Nathan Manske, the creator of I’m From Driftwood, the LGBTQ Story Archive, about this upcoming event. As a fan of podcasts (I listen to about 30 on rotation each week) I thought the idea of reading queer coming out stories live (and turning them into a podcast — which I told him he MUST do) was a great idea. Turns out the event comes out of a mentoring program with the Moth, the popular storytelling show/podcast, so they’re in good company. This Sunday is the premier of what I’m sure will become a regular event: “Two I’m From Driftwood Video Stories will be screened, and then eight storytellers will tell their stories live with nothing more than a microphone and a spotlight.” Best of all the event is free, and the location, Videology in Williamsburg, will be offering happy hour drink specials. If you’ve spent more than a minute on the I’m From Driftwood site you’ll know what to expect from the night. If you haven’t, let’s just say you’ll probably get a little choked up. Some of the stories are super intense, but in a good way — look at it this way, if they’re able to share it to a roomful of strangers then they’re likely already in a better place #itgetsbetter.    —tom

All the gay boys go crazy for the show American Horror Story, the new season just started and everyone’s running around the city like crazy looking for a place to watch it. I was walking home last week and saw this boy Ryan, who’s part of NYC nightlife, and he was on his way to watch the show at a friends’ place, “OMG it’s gonna be so good...” he said. I saw this event and thought I must help these queens out… The event’s FB page says it best: “Are you a freak? Do you love American Horror Story? Do you love alcohol? Are you too cheap for cable?” If you answer “yes” to at least 2 of those questions then listen up. The Bearded Lady Wednesdays is brought to you by Will Sheridan and Mark Dommu at Gym Bar and it has everything you’re looking for from a AHS viewing party. While Mark hosts the show with trivia and “commentary between commercial breaks,” Sheridan will pour “#GIANT” drinks behind the bar —  Mark adds, “every time someone on the show dies, we offer cheap shots — and this is american horror story, so it's likely that you'll be blackout drunk in the first half hour.” Oh and btw the event is downstairs from the regular bar, just in case you are not in the mood to deal with the tired queens that populate that place. Trust me I’ve been there.  —Abi

Gio Black Peter is inviting us all to come with him to hell and this time he seems very serious about it — with an exhibition titled See You in Hell that opens this Saturday at 7:00PM at the Bureau of General Services  — Queer Division. The exhibition will showcase some of Gio’s paintings and drawings including his series of paintings on NYC subway maps. Gio told me over a very intimate Facebook chat how it all came about: “It all started with the idea that the life of art depends on the viewer’s willingness to suspend his or her rational thoughts and play into the believability of lies and realistic falsehoods." Expect a live performance by Gio (of course his peen will be on display) The Morning Star, Max Steele, Brian Kenny, Jordan Hall, Tyler Stone, Lady Simon, Gordon Beeferman and more. We heard that Gio will be at the Bureau every Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday working on new art for the duration of the show, feel free to go there and say hi — he’ll love it, we promise!

The talented cisgender actress Erin Markey sent me an email to tell me about this awesome event, a benefit for the Half Straddle, which as Erin explains it best is a “queerish mostly weird girl-obsessed theater company.” The benefit will be hosted at the Kitchen and the main goal is to raise money for an upcoming production tittled Ancient Lives that will also take place at The Kitchen. At the fundraiser Erin will be performing along with drag queen Kimberly Clark, Adrienne Truscott, the band Gold Dime and hip-hop duo Yackez. This is a great opportunity to contribute to some cool underground culture, tickets start at $50, but of course you can make that cash back easy, yes, there’s an open bar, food and a silent auction and of course there will be a dance party hosted by DJ Kimberly Clark. With a $100 ticket you can attend the pre-party cocktail with Artistic Director Tina Satter and Company, plus you’ll receive a Half Straddle Tote Bag, that just sounds super fancy, a press gift package, and more. The most important thing is that if you pay $100 you can meet some rich people and potentially a person that can also fundraise your life... events like this can be a real investment!    —Abi

The Bureau of General Services — Queer Division is one of our favorite places to visit. They sell all sorts of wonderful queer literature that you should be reading. I know most of the shit they sell you can find online, but let’s be honest, there’s nothing better than holding a book in your hands, flicking through its pages. It’s something that’s harder to do these days. So let’s support the people who are keeping the tradition alive. The Bureau previously had a space on the lower east side, but starting this week they’ve moved to west 13th st at The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center. This Saturday they’re throwing an event to  celebrate the grand opening. “Lady Quesa’Dilla (aka Alejandro Rodríguez - pictured), one of the charming information & referral specialists at The Center’s front desk, will preside over our Grand Opening, which will feature original CocketteRumi Missabu, visiting from San Francisco, along with local friends of the Bureau Stephen Boyer, Cristy C.Road,West Vargina (aka Heather Acs), Dust Tea Shoulders, Drae Campbell, Mizz June, Max Steele and DJ Jade Payne.” Come stop by for a drink and say hello to the crew. Queer books rule!  —tom

You may be wondering why GAYLETTER would be at the NY Art Book Fair. Well, let us tell you what we have been spending the last 6 months working on. (Don’t you just love surprises!?) Introducing the inaugural issue of GAYLETTER (The Magazine). That’s right, we’ve made the jump from the web to the printed page. It’s everything we love — in magazine form. It’s distributed by the amazing people at Artbook D.A.P, and will be available at all your favorite bookstores (Bookmarc, McNally Jackson Books, MoMA PS1) as well as art museum stores across the world. It features original photo essays by renowned artists and photographers such as Jack Pierson (who shot our cover), Renée Cox, and contributions from people like Justin V. Bond, Tim Murphy, Colby Keller, Thomas Knights, and Gio Black Peter as well as long-form interviews, travel pieces and fashion stories. Before it hits stores you can buy a copy by visiting us at the New York Art Book fair this Thursday to Sunday. We have a booth (A81). Come say hi and pick up the issue. Or visit GAYLETTER.com/magazine to order one NOW!