JENNY: In The Name of Research

I read an article recently about the things writers do in the name of research. It called to mind my strangest research experience. I was writing my novel, MY PERFECTLY IMPERFECT LIFE, and one of the characters is a drag queen. Whenever I was writing scenes that took place in the drag bar, I'd get stuck because I had never been to such a place. My niece (in her mid-twenties) told me we have more than one in our fair city, and she offered to take me. My sister (her mom) went along.

We arrived just before the floor show. It was "Trailer Park Beauty Pageant Night." My summary of the night: Fun, hilarious, bizarre, surreal.


I learned several things:
(1) Drag queens are friendly to others who stick out like white crayons in a box filled with chartreuse ones. (Yes, my sister, my niece and I were the oddballs that night in our boring jeans and tucked-in t-shirts.)
(2)Girls really do just wanna have fun, even when they aren't really girls.
(3)Some men look drop-dead gorgeous in spiked heels, short tight skirts, and low-cut skin-hugging tops.
(4) Some men don't.
(5)If you're going to wear a bustier, you should wax your chest hair.
(6) If you plan to wear silk stockings, shave your legs first. Please.