A new acquaintance recently looked up at me from across a half-eaten plate of Orphan Andy’s meatloaf.
His dark brown eyes bore into me, his mouth set in a rather grim expression behind scruffy, black whiskers. Though this was supposed to be a lunch date, it became immediately obvious there was no romantic spark. So, with that out of the way and the need to play butch gone, I spilled the beans about my drag career.
Since early January, when I was dumped rather unexpectedly by my boyfriend of nearly eight months, I have been admittedly listless. Nothing excites me, I told this relative stranger, least of all drag. Now, sitting opposite a former New York City talent agent, self-professed motivational speaker and recent Bay Area transplant, maybe he could offer some unique insight or direction to my life?
The guy’s interest was seemingly piqued. He immediately...
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Pollo Goes Backstage at Britney
By Pollo Del Mar Published: March 31, 2011
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town“Can I get a picture with y’all?” Though the five drag performers who readied the crowd for Britney Spears’ taped Good Morning America performance on Sun., March 27, were swamped with requests for photographs, this man’s deep, Southern drawl made him stand out to me. And, while...
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Pollo’s Random Community Musings
By Pollo Del Mar Published: February 17, 2011
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownIt seems there are far too many thoughts, emotions and events whirling in my brain for it to form any coherent, themed “column” this week. Rather than fight the current, I have side-stepped the norm to go with the flow. Here, in a nutshell, are some...
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Pollo Debates Whether She Has ‘Compassion’
By Pollo Del Mar Published: February 10, 2011
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownRecently, as someone was describing a series of utterly distressing events happening to him, I felt myself simply zone out. It was as if my eyes literally glazed over. On occasions like this, though I don’t intend to be, I become aware of exactly how hardened...
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Pollo Gets By with Help from a New Friend
By Pollo Del Mar Published: February 3, 2011
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownMaybe it’s just my advancing age, but I’m exhausted.The last few weeks for me have been both physically and emotionally draining. When I find myself in that place, it’s often hard for me to remember there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel. Sometimes...
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Pollo Can’t Tune This Out
By Pollo Del Mar Published: January 20, 2011
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownSeveral days each week, I’m startled from my sleep by the sound of a chair scraping the floor above my head. My upstairs neighbors’ kitchen table is located directly above my bed, and it seems they think nothing of dragging their seats across the tile as...
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Pollo’s (Narrow) Escape from New York
By Pollo Del Mar Published: January 13, 2011
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town“Honey, when are you going home?” Paul “Maka” Poole asked early Monday. My long-time friend’s concerned Facebook instant message broke the quiet of a morning spent lounging in my boyfriend’s Harlem apartment, awaiting his return from an audition so our collective day could start. A second message...
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New York City is Calling Pollo
By Pollo Del Mar Published: January 6, 2011
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownSitting in the early morning quiet of this Spanish Harlem apartment, well before any of those living here awake, the hiss of the steam heat is the only company I have. Accustomed to the relative silence of my own, quiet Excelsior District abode, the constant rattle...
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Pollo Confronts a Ghost of Christmas Past
By Pollo Del Mar Published: December 23, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownMy favorite Christmas ever, I think, was when I was in fifth grade. It wasn’t until many years later, though, that I truly realized the miracle that happened that morning.As I recall it, 1983 was particularly difficult for my family. We moved multiple times during that...
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Pollo Invites Dancer Into Her Home
By Pollo Del Mar Published: December 16, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownToday I cried… Again. Given the last week, though, it was expected – and par for the course. Since I picked up my boyfriend at the airport on Dec. 8, I have cried at least five different times – and not once for the same reason! When...
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Pollo’s Good-Bye to BRAIN FARTS’ ‘Unexpected Perks’
By Pollo Del Mar Published: December 9, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownWhen Chris Hastings called a few weeks ago to say he decided to end BRAIN FARTS Trivia, my first thought was, “How am I going to pay my bills?” For the past three years, I’ve had a regular gig at Lookout, hosting the weekly trivia...
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Pollo, Poppers & the Little Person in a Wheelchair
By Pollo Del Mar Published: December 2, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownWhen I stumbled into the backroom – a smoking area, not something more perverse – of the Los Angeles-area all-night club The Spike sometime around 2001, I was already fairly out of my mind. Earlier, a casual acquaintance from San Francisco (whose name I know very...
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Pollo’s Got the Beat – Yeah, She’s Got It!
By Pollo Del Mar Published: November 25, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownBy the summer of 1982, The Go-Go’s were inescapable. Earlier that spring, Jane Wiedlin, Belinda Carlisle, Gina Schock, Charlotte Caffey and Kathy Valentine made history with their Grammy-nominated debut Beauty and the Beat. The very first time an all-female group wrote their own songs and played all...
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Pollo Goes Swimming with the Big Boys
By Pollo Del Mar Published: November 18, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town
Standing in a private Six Flags: Discovery Kingdom dressing room with superstar DJs The Perry Twins, actor Chris Salvatore and two of his friends, I’m certain I looked mortified. Though I had anxiously awaited this opportunity to swim with the Vallejo, CA, theme park’s...
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Welcome to The GlamaZONE with Pollo Del Mar
By Pollo Del Mar Published: November 11, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownWhen I was coming out many years ago in Cleveland, OH, there was really only one gay bar in town where you could find most of my friends. Unquestionably, to us, it was the only place to be on Sunday nights.The Cage was located off Detroit...
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Pollo & The Neighborhood Watch
By Pollo Del Mar Published: November 4, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town“As soon as I heard the gunshots, I hit the ground!” Linda told us. Generally speaking, I try to avoid my upstairs neighbor with the gift for one-upmanship and drawn-out stories about everyone in the neighborhood. However, this night, there was no stopping her. From beneath a...
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Pollo’s Take on The Wendy Ho & Co. Show
By Pollo Del Mar Published: October 28, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town“My name’s Wendy Ho, and it ain’t because I’m Asian, boo! Okayyyy?”Like most everyone I know, I was introduced to Wendy Ho a few years ago when her first single “Bitch, I Stole Yo’ Purse” made the rounds on the internet. As hilarious as the title...
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Pollo Gives Parenting Tips?
By Pollo Del Mar Published: October 21, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town “I’m so glad you contacted me!” my old high school classmate Shawna Allen said the other morning.
It was a far more enthusiastic response than expected to my casual 3 a.m. (6 a.m. where Shawna lives in Florida) “Thinking of you!” Facebook instant...
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Pollo: It Gets Better
By Pollo Del Mar Published: October 14, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownThe crushing isolation of ninth grade lunch periods, to me, stands out as the worst of it. Certainly there had been bullying long before then – it started, as best I can recall, as early as third grade – but by junior high I had taken...
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Pollo Del Mar Has J.U.N.G.L.E. Fever
By Pollo Del Mar Published: October 7, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town
When I picked up my costume from Athena Van Doren the night before my big photo shoot at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, the reigning Empress of Alameda held the garment to her face, wrinkling her nose. “You need to Febreze this thing, girl,” she...
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Pollo’s Goes to the Ducal Ball
By Pollo Del Mar Published: September 30, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town“I never win anything!” gasped Cookie Dough, a stunned look on her face. Only a moment before, in a private dressing room at the San Francisco Veteran’s War Memorial, I had the simple task of informing adorable, young Jason Husted he was the City’s newest Grand Duke....
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Pollo’s Quest to Meet Jordin Sparks in NYC
By Pollo Del Mar Published: September 23, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town
“Can you please try to introduce me to Jordin Sparks while I am here?” I practically begged Dancer over dinner the first night of my recent trip to New York City. “I have to have a photo with her!”
In town for a...
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Pollo Reflects on 9/11 from New York City
By Pollo Del Mar Published: September 16, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town
Memories of my last trip to New York City betray me.
On one hand, I vaguely recall factors in my personal life which would indicate it was sometime in 2002. On the other, I strongly remember exiting the subway through the World...
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Pollo’s Unexpected, Unforgettable Text Message
By Pollo Del Mar Published: September 9, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town
Some moments, though they might at first seem mundane, are meant to be remembered.
Just before 3 p.m. on a Monday, as Jose A. Guzman-Colon and I navigated my little silver Miata across Market Street, at exactly the point where 9th merges...
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Pollo’s Raising Money, Changing Lives
By Pollo Del Mar Published: September 2, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownNearly every weekend for the past year, I have either planned, attended or performed at a fundraiser – and many weeks involved more than one such event. Of course, I knew this was expected of me last September, when I was elected Grand Duchess, a figurehead fundraising...
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Pollo’s Tale of Heartbreak… And Hope (Part 2)
By Pollo Del Mar Published: August 26, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town“When is your next trip to Los Angeles?” an acquaintance anxiously asked me several weeks ago after I hosted Mary-Go-Round, the weekly Wednesday night drag show at Lookout. “I’ve been following the situation with your ‘Dancer,’ and I’m so happy for you!” While I couldn’t...
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Pollo’s Tale of Heartbreak… and Hope (Part 1)
By Pollo Del Mar Published: August 19, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownI absolutely, positively did not intend to fall in love…but I did.When I met Dancer several months ago, there was nothing to indicate romance between us was in the cards. Yes, from the very first moment I knew he was adorable, incredibly sweet and a great...
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Pollo is Nothing More Than Fragments of Color
By Pollo Del Mar Published: August 12, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownAt first glance, few things are ever as they appear. In life, as with my art, perspective is everything.When we first meet someone, we often think we know much about that person from what we can see. However, as we draw closer to people, our perspective...
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Jimmy James is Still a “Fashionista”
By Pollo Del Mar Published: August 5, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town“I finally have my first real gig in San Francisco!” my gal-pal Jimmy James gushed in an email a couple weeks ago. “Call me!”It had been at least two years since gender-bending Jimmy and I had last spoken, and this was his very first appearance in...
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Meet Rotissary Ethnicity Jackson-Houston Ross, Miss SF Gold Rush 2010!
By Pollo Del Mar Published: July 29, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town
Let’s get this out of the way: Miss Rotissary Ethnicity Jackson-Houston Ross isn’t much to look at. There, I said it, OK? Rotissary’s lipstick is a frequently smudged. She’s a little – ok, a lot – shiny. And most of the time her clothes are...
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Some Things in Pollo’s Closet Don’t Fit Anymore
By Pollo Del Mar Published: July 22, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town
A couple weeks ago, as I prepared for a performance, I found myself grumbling about having nothing to wear. This is far from true, of course. My bedroom is jam-packed with nearly every costume, outfit and mistake I’ve made in over four years of drag....
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Pollo Reiterates the Power of Words
By Pollo Del Mar Published: July 15, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town Parked beside the historic Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, Dancer and I were leaning against my little silver convertible last Sunday, saying our good-byes after a four-day visit. With the car packed and ready to hit the highway for San Francisco, he had slipped out during the...
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Pollo Escapes to L.A. for 4th of July
By Pollo Del Mar Published: July 8, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town From the rooftop of Sabrina Sloan’s apartment complex, the fireworks extravaganza above the Hollywood Bowl some five miles away looked amazing. As one spectacular explosion after another illuminated the clear Southern California sky, the touring cast of the Tony Award-winning musical In the Heights including Sabrina...
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Pollo Celebrates Pride 24/7/365
By Pollo Del Mar Published: July 1, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownMany people spend all year looking forward to June. It would be a lie if I didn’t admit that, even before Pride month starts, I generally already look forward to it being over! This season, in particular, I had a bit of extra incentive which had...
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Bumper Stickers, Pride Parades & Pollo
By Pollo Del Mar Published: June 24, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownThe first time someone tried to persuade me to march in a Pride parade was 1996. Still living in Cleveland, OH, I was just a year out of college, about two years after coming out and a lifetime before ever considering drag. My friend Brooke Willis,...
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Pollo Relates to Dating Insanity
By Pollo Del Mar Published: June 17, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownA friend of mine recently shared with me a story about the man he is dating. Since meeting a couple months back, and hitting it off immediately, the two have seen one-another consistently. The guy appears to be open, honest and more than obviously interested in...
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Perhaps Pollo Is a Theatre Queen?
By Pollo Del Mar Published: June 10, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownWhile growing up obsessed with Madonna, Wonder Woman and Charlie’s Angels like nearly every other young homo of my generation, that musical theatre gene so prominent in many gay boys seemed to skip me. To be honest, aside from the content of beloved films like The...
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Pollo & Gay Club TV Go VIP at Gay Day
By Pollo Del Mar Published: June 3, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownGay Day at California’s Great America has traditionally been an affair shared with my entire drag family. Several years in a row, we caravanned down to the South Bay before racing through the park together, taking over as many rides as possible and enjoying the line-up...
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Pollo’s Pit Stop on the Drag Race Tour
By Pollo Del Mar Published: May 27, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town“Girls, this is…”Just as my friend Ongina started to introduce me to her pals from Season 2 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Jujubee seemed to recognize me. The Boston resident who finished third on the second installment of the smash LOGO reality series immediately rushed across the...
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Pollo Helps Kick Off SF Pride Season
By Pollo Del Mar Published: May 20, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownAs I arrived for San Francisco Pride’s 40 & Fabulous Benefit and kick-off party on May 15, there was barely anyone on-hand to watch me walk the red carpet. While I normally believe in making an entrance, and generally hate going unnoticed, the lack of fanfare...
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Celebrating Another Pollo de Mayo
By Pollo Del Mar Published: May 13, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownDespite my name, which is decidedly Spanish, I’m not sure I ever celebrated Cinco de Mayo until recently. Maybe I did but simply don’t remember it. Prior to just a few, short years ago, of course, that was usually a sure sign I had a really...
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Pollo Doesn’t Travel Light
By Pollo Del Mar Published: May 6, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town Oversized foam tits and ass? Check. Make-up kit containing no liquids over the airline-approved three ounce size? Check. Two evening gowns, brand new Lucite hooker heels, selection of travel-friendly hair and the optimism that, if required to ship all this separately from myself, it would arrive...
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Happy ‘Birthday’ Pollo Del Mar!
By Pollo Del Mar Published: April 29, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownPollo Del Mar was born, if you will, on April 27, 2006. It’s a date I remember, obviously, because it quite literally changed my life. Of course, there were previous occasions when I threw on a dress, some hair and a pair of heels to strut my...
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Pollo’s Childhood Ideals Go Up in Smoke
By Pollo Del Mar Published: April 22, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownGrowing up, I always hated smoking. Both of my parents, and most on my dad’s side of the family, were cigarette smokers I nagged relentlessly from childhood into college about their “dirty habit.” Since they collectively discouraged me from following in their footsteps, they generally didn’t...
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Every Time Is Like the First Time for Pollo
By Pollo Del Mar Published: April 15, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town Since I arrived in San Francisco on April 11, 1999 — 11 years ago this past weekend — I have loved sight-seeing. Having moved here as a fresh-faced 26-year-old, I spent my first six months in town playing the wide-eyed tourist, convincing a string of gorgeous...
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Pollo Inches Closer to Another Goal
By Pollo Del Mar Published: April 8, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownSince I was a child, I’ve always been what I would consider “goal-oriented.” There is a genuine thrill which comes from setting my mind on something and then, for better or worse, busting my ass to make it happen. It’s a sense of accomplishment I thrive...
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Pollo Unleashes Her Inner Bitch
By Pollo Del Mar Published: April 1, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town Jack Mackenroth is a bitch. That’s not a revelation – I don’t even think he tries to deny this fact – because there isn’t a drag queen alive, not even Heklina or Sister Roma, with a sharper tongue or more smarmy comments than the Project Runway alum...
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Pollo Continues to Trudge Her Path
By Pollo Del Mar Published: March 25, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town There was no message attached to a picture text which popped up on my phone last week from an unknown number. However, it only required a single glance at the image – an inscription scrawled several years before on the cover page of my favorite book,...
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Pollo Flips Her Wig for Ongina
By Pollo Del Mar Published: March 18, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownIt’s clear to me that we never know how things are going to turn out, but some things are just meant to be. One of those things, I think, is my friendship with Ongina. .From the minute she walked onto the set of RuPaul’s Drag Race,...
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Pollo Takes a Personal Day
By Pollo Del Mar Published: March 11, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownWhile A-Gays across the city gathered last Sunday for the annual Academy of Friends Oscars bash and charity fundraiser, I opted for a considerably more low-key alternative. It was a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, and the last thing I seriously wanted was to throw on my formal...
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Pollo is Making the Rules Up as She Goes
By Pollo Del Mar Published: March 4, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town Sometimes it seems like I missed out on Life’s Little Instructions Manual. Periodically, I find myself in situations or circumstances which feel completely foreign to me. It’s at those moments that I particularly feel like everyone else around me – the whole world! — has somehow...
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There’s a She Wolf in Pollo’s Closet
By Pollo Del Mar Published: February 25, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownThe heater was cranked full-blast as I drove down Castro Street last Saturday afternoon. Despite a brief glimpse of the sun around noontime, the weather was mostly overcast, and it was downright cold – you know, that damp, biting San Francisco cold — as I headed...
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Pollo Is Working Like a Dog - and for the Dogs
By Pollo Del Mar Published: February 18, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town“You’re a relentless fundraiser.” I’m not sure who in the crowd at The Mix last Saturday during the Grand Ducal Council of San Francisco-sponsored My Furry Valentine event said that, but it stopped me in my tracks – and put a huge smile on my face. Of...
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Pollo Makes an Important Promise
By Pollo Del Mar Published: February 11, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownMy heart broke this afternoon. I was pulling into the grocery store parking lot when the text came from BeBe Sweetbriar. It was so shocking, I slammed on the brakes to read it a second time. I was sure I somehow misunderstood, but the message was...
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Under the Hood of RuPaul’s Drag Race
By Pollo Del Mar Published: February 4, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownWith its greatly increased budget, that horrific blurred effect on RuPaul’s face noticeably absent, a cast expanded from nine contestants to 12 and bigger-name celebrity judges – not to mention more drama than even the one-hour episodes can contain – RuPaul’s Drag Race, Season 2, is...
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Pollo Plays the Parking Game
By Pollo Del Mar Published: January 28, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownIt goes without saying I love a good competition. Of course, drag is the perfect avenue for this. After being named “Miss Congeniality” in the inaugural Desperate Divas Pageant and placing first runner-up in the 2006 Miss Gay San Francisco contest, I was crowned Miss Trannyshack...
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Reno Brings Pollo Face-to-Face with Temptation
By Pollo Del Mar Published: January 21, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownAs many people know, it’s been well over five years since I’ve done crystal meth – and almost as long since I’ve even seen it. A nasty and a damn hard (daily!) habit to break, I’ve managed to steer clear of the drug which, by the...
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Pollo Takes Comfort in SF Night Ministry
By Pollo Del Mar Published: January 14, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town“God has committed to the San Francisco Night Ministry one of the most needy and poignant congregations in the city. The lonely. The frightened. The confused and discouraged. The defeated. The spiritually lost. And all too often, those whose public suffering is exceeded only by their...
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Pollo Hunts for a Car, Like Hunting a Man
By Pollo Del Mar Published: January 7, 2010
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownLate one night last November, as I headed home from rehearsals for The Golden Girls, my trusty Toyota began to shake and sputter, a miserable sound coming from the engine. With a cloud of debris trailing behind me, I beat a hasty retreat from the highway...
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Pollo Shares Her Christmas Tradition
By Pollo Del Mar Published: December 24, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownWhen I was younger, oh so much younger, I can remember being too anxious to sleep as I waited for Christmas morning. It seemed like an eternity from the time my parents turned out the lights in the bedroom I shared with my younger sister until...
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San Francisco’s Very Own Drag Race
By Pollo Del Mar Published: December 17, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town With plenty at stake this past Sunday, six contestants were set loose on The Castro in the Grand Ducal Council of San Francisco’s very own “drag race.” As a fun addition to the St. Nicolas Cotillion, an annual fundraiser for Toys for Tots, the Ducal Court...
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Operation: Drag Relief Floods Pollo with Memories
By Pollo Del Mar Published: December 10, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownWhen I was six, my family landed in Mansfield, TX. After accepting a job with a construction company in nearby Houston, my dad hauled our meager belongings more than 1,000 miles from my childhood home in rural Ohio, moving us into a house in the small...
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The Holidays Make Pollo Reflect
By Pollo Del Mar Published: December 3, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownSheffia Randall and I met the weekend before we started college. In my own little way, I think it was love at first sight.I was among the many other incoming students gathered on the campus tennis courts for “orientation,” a way to introduce us to fellow...
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Pollo Comes Out as a Fang-Banger
By Pollo Del Mar Published: November 26, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownA voracious reader from a young age, I have always loved fantasy. Throughout elementary school, an author named Ruth Chew fascinated me with stories of witchcraft and magic. In my early teens, a visit to the local bookmobile found me hopelessly addicted to the C.S. Lewis...
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Statuesque, Pretty, Aloof?
By Pollo Del Mar Published: November 19, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town“You know you’re aloof, right?” Virgil Romua recently asked. From the matter-of-fact way he said it as we were driving, the question was obviously rhetorical – a statement of fact, not a question at all. “You do know that, don’t you?”bEarlier in the evening, Virgil and...
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Pollo Examines the Mr. & Miss Gay SF Debacle
By Pollo Del Mar Published: November 12, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town Filled with evening gowns, tuxedos, big hair and rhinestones galore, the Mr. & Miss Gay San Francisco Pageant certainly sounds incredibly fun and glamorous. After all, to wear either title, one gets to represent our glorious metropolis, still considered by many around the world the Mecca of...
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Pollo’s Historic Look at Halloween
By Pollo Del Mar Published: November 5, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownOver dinner with H.L. Perry a couple months back, I quizzed the founder of San Francisco’s Grand Ducal Council about the climate of the city’s gay community at the height of her drag career. Reigning as Grand Duchess I in the early 1970s, it was clearly...
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Pollo’s Unexpected Email
By Pollo Del Mar Published: October 29, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownSeveral grades ahead of me, I never really knew Scott Allen, though I vaguely remember he went to truck driving school after graduation. I’m fairly certain I heard that from his sister, Shawna, who sat directly in front of me during English class our junior year....
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The White Ho’ Sends Pollo Down Memory Lane
By Pollo Del Mar Published: October 22, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownMany years ago, when I lived in Cleveland, Ohio my favorite stomping grounds was a little bar located off Detroit Ave. called The Cage. Not as seedy as the smaller dive bars in nearby Ohio City and not as pretentious as the night clubs which would...
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Pollo Del Mar, Tranny Vigilante?
By Pollo Del Mar Published: October 15, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownBy anyone’s account, my life is, at a minimum, “colorful.” Sometimes I would even call it downright “exciting.” When it comes to describing it in this column, I try to make sure it at least sounds “interesting.” However, I recently realized just how much more “exciting,”...
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Kylie Is ‘Love at First Sight’ for Pollo
By Pollo Del Mar Published: October 8, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownIt’s official. Even in a week filled with the Castro Street Fair and endless drag shows, the gayest thing a man can do short of getting his anus bleached while listening to show tunes is attend a Kylie Minogue concert. When the irrepressible Australian pop star launched...
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Introducing Grand Duchess Poy-Yo Del Mar
By Pollo Del Mar Published: October 1, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownThe way I cut my eyes at Grand Duke XXXII Rob Esmonde, he knew he said something wrong. “Did I mess it up?” he stopped to ask. The answer was yes. In the middle of reading my oath as San Francisco’s newly-elected Grand Duchess, the President...
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Pollo Survives the Ducal Campaign
By Pollo Del Mar Published: September 24, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownShaded from the sweltering midday sun by a bright, pink parasol, I stood at the corner of 18th & Castro this past Saturday afternoon collecting votes in San Francisco’s Ducal Council elections. Everywhere I turned, it seemed, I was greeted by a near-constant stream of well-wishers. Many...
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Pollo Is the Designated Driver
By Pollo Del Mar Published: September 17, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town"This ought to be…" I paused for a split-second, considering my options, as I guided my tiny Toyota away from the Tenderloin and toward The Haight. Finally I decided on "interesting." Next to me, Paul "Maka" Poole laughed out loud, unconvinced. I can’t say I blamed...
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Pollo Continues the Drama Behind Trauma
By Pollo Del Mar Published: September 10, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownBy the final night of shooting for extras on the set of NBC’s new series Trauma, most of us were more than ready to hear the director call it a “wrap.” Long days of waiting to be called to the set, and even longer periods while...
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Pollo Takes You on the Set of NBC’s Trauma
By Pollo Del Mar Published: September 3, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town“Is that Donna Sashay?” asked Sandra O. Noshi-Di’n’t as we pulled up in front of the AMC 1000 Van Ness Theatre shortly after 7:30am this past Tuesday. Though unmistakable in her long, red evening gown, stunning jewelry and signature blond hair, I was nonetheless surprised to...
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Jose Guzman Colon Comes of Age
By Pollo Del Mar Published: August 27, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town“Have you seen Edge of Seventeen?” asked Jose Guzman Colon. Best known locally as drag diva extraordinaire Putanesca, Jose and I were lounging outside a Starbucks this week, enjoying the dwindling afternoon sunlight, when the film came up. After a friend recently gave him a box of...
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Pollo Is Back on the Campaign Trail
By Pollo Del Mar Published: August 20, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownThough it was February 2008, it seems like only yesterday that I met Grand Duchess XXXV Big D for the first time at Encore Lounge. With a twinkle in her eyes and warmth that put me instantly at ease, from the start she was like a...
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Pollo Does Ducal’s East Meets West
By Pollo Del Mar Published: August 13, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownThere was little I wanted to do less this past weekend than put on drag. After an already exhaustive week, and with the sun beaming down outside, I felt more like lounging on the beach – or at least my couch — than being cooped up...
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Pollo Weighs in After Lazy Bear Weekend
By Pollo Del Mar Published: August 6, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town It’s no fun to suddenly realize you have gained a significant amount of weight. For that realization to come as you push your way through a sea of shirtless bodies during arguably the busiest weekend of the year at Russian River Resort, though, is downright...
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Pollo Is Hell on Wheels
By Pollo Del Mar Published: July 30, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownAs drag queens go, Cookie Dough seemingly side-stepped the more stereotypically negative traits such as jealousy, envy and competitiveness. Always cheerful, upbeat and helpful, with rarely an unkind word about anyone, my Mary-Go-Round compatriot is legitimately a very dear friend and one of the nicest people...
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Pollo’s Take on Miss SF Gold Rush
By Pollo Del Mar Published: July 23, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownWhen I won the Miss Trannyshack Pageant in November 2007, besting seven other contestants in front of 3,000 people at the San Francisco Gift Center, some people were in an uproar. There was speculation of favoritism, cries of cheating, accusations of bribery, and even suggestions that...
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Pollo is Coming Soon to a Litterbox Near You
By Pollo Del Mar Published: July 16, 2009
By Pollo Del Mar Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownOver a Tuesday night slice of all-you-can-eat at the Castro’s Thick & Thin Pizza, Erik Proctor became the first person I showed my upcoming cover spread in GLOSS Magazine. Even though it was not part of our initial dinner plans, if you...
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Pollo Goes From ‘Check Engine to ‘Start Your Engines’
By Pollo Del Mar Published: July 9, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownWhen the “Check Engine” light came on recently in my Toyota Tercel, my first thought, of course, was just how much it might cost me to get it back on the road. Once I had it at the repair shop, though, my next thought caught me...
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Pollo Tells the Story Behind the Smile
By Pollo Del Mar Published: July 2, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownIt was past midnight early Tuesday morning when the first set of images from Jose Guzman-Colon arrived in my email box. Despite every fiber of my flu-riddled body crying out to stay in bed, I dragged myself up to examine the results of my Pink Saturday...
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Pollo Ventures Into the Dog Days of Summer
By Pollo Del Mar Published: June 25, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownIt is said pets take on the personalities of their owners. Take for example Cookie Dough and husband MC2, whose kitties Wolfie and LuLu are growing old together in perfect harmony. There’s Heklina and Einar, a cat so vicious to all but its closest companion most enter...
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Pollo Goes Live in 3… 2… 1
By Pollo Del Mar Published: June 18, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownThe wonderful thing about the written word is the delete key. Before anything goes to print in this column, I have the ability to read, edit, rewrite and even re-edit if I so desire. And trust me on this one, I usually do! As a result,...
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Has Pollo Become Everything She Once Despised?
By Pollo Del Mar Published: June 11, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownShortly after coming out in Cleveland, OH, my “best gay friend” — or “BGF,” a term which far precedes today’s all-too-common “BFF” — Dan Kilbane met his partner Eddie Boyte. Through Eddie, the first person I ever knew to be a recovering alcoholic or member of...
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Queen of SF Media Expands Her Reach
By Pollo Del Mar Published: June 4, 2009
On May 26, California’s “Day of Decision,” my iPhone was going wild long before the State Supreme Court upheld Prop. 8 at 10 am. By shortly after dawn, I already had several voicemails and tons of emails. Some – like the call from reigning “Emperor” Paul ‘Maka’ Poole, with whom...
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Pollo Shares Her Decision Day Realization
By Pollo Del Mar Published: May 28, 2009
/* /*]]>*/ Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town A picket sign decrying Prop. 8 in one hand and the other pressed against his temple, Darryl Janssen’s face was puffy and red when we saw each other Tuesday morning in the Civic Center. As I pulled him into a tight embrace, he...
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Pollo, From the Big Screen to the Small Screen
By Pollo Del Mar Published: May 21, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownAccording to the “STARmeter” on the International Movie Database (IMDb.com), a Web site which tracks all of the latest developments in television, film and most of the entertainment industry, my popularity is up 267-percent this week. While I have absolutely no idea what the hell that...
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Pollo Goes Day-Trippin’ with Cookie’s Monster Show
By Pollo Del Mar Published: May 14, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownAs hostess of the bus for Russian River Resort’s maiden “day-tripper” excursion to Guerneville, I was at my wit’s end by the time we pulled into a Santa Rosa fruit stand for an unscheduled bathroom break last Saturday. Whether it was the strain of departing 45-minutes...
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Pollo Says: Gentlemen, Start Your Engines
By Pollo Del Mar Published: May 7, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About Town“Is every f*cking queen running for the RuPaul thing?” read Heklina’s Facebook status late Tuesday night. It was at least the tenth such posting I had seen over the last several days as, one by one, a flurry of San Francisco’s most beloved drag performers logged...
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Pollo Reminisces About St. Dan the Man
By Pollo Del Mar Published: April 30, 2009
Notorious Sainted Glamazon About TownWhen I parked outside UCSF Medical Center on Parnassus that morning, I knew it was very likely the last time I would see Dan Cusick. Every indication was that his struggle with Hepatitis C was nearing an end, and even his hopes of receiving a liver...
