RPR 109: Yes, Chef.

the irony of silence, bartending nostalgia, 100 dapper queers

This is my dapper friend Mariya Tikunova. I think I’m going to nominate her and all of the cute queer RPR readers for Dapper Q’s top 100 list for next year. If you want to be included in my mass-nomination, just hit reply to this email and tell me if it’s okay to wear neon yellow after Labor Day. Photo credit: Kristin Leong, Seattle, 2022.

SOMETHING TO LISTEN TO

Odd One In’s latest 2-minute teaser is here! This week it’s the unstoppable Simon Tam. Simon is the author of Slanted: How an Asian American Troublemaker Took on the Supreme Court.

In 2017, Simon won the right to trademark his band name, ‘The Slants,’ in the historic Supreme Court battle that redefined ‘obscenity’ and brought Asian American voices into mainstream conversations across the United States.

In this surreal clip, Simon takes us into the courtroom at the Supreme Court on the historic day of his hearing where the Justices debated if Simon’s band name was offensive to Asians. Meanwhile, the only Asian Americans in the courtroom that day—including Simon whose name was on the docket—weren’t allowed to say a word.

To listen, click on Simon’s portrait here. 👇

SOMETHING TO READ

This one’s for all of my former service industry peeps who are now watching The Bear and wondering if picking up a shift or two again might be “fun.”

I love everything about this Bad Waitress essay by Becca Schuh for Dirt.

I haven’t worked in nightclubs for over a decade, but I have dreams sometimes that I’m behind a bar and there’s house music all around and in front of me is the sea of the crowd and behind me is a barback who spins and washes and refills and wipes down with the dexterity of a ballerina and the biceps of a bouncer, and everything is flowing: A bottle and a soda gun in each of my hands, beer tops popped, shot glasses lined up and put down, the cash faced and smoothed even in the rush, the regulars fist bumped, the bachelorette parties calmed, and we’re all dancing now—us bartenders, and the cocktailers, and the bussers, and the promoters, and security—we’re all moving in sync and the customers don’t even know, can’t even see it, but we’re doing the perfect choreography we do every night, partly for them but more for us, because we love the money but we love each other more—all of us with the broken and bottomless hearts of 20-something drinkers who chose nights because cubicles would have been impossible.

I wake up from those dreams like I wake up from the flying ones—wanting to slip back into sleep just to stay there a little longer. Paragraph by paragraph, Schuh’s reflections on waitressing and her writing life brought up in me exactly the nostalgia that I love to revel in even though it makes me feel unbearably wistful. Enjoy!

SOMETHING TO HOLD ON TO

Pride Month might be over, but lucky for everyone, queer style is forever. DapperQ recently released their 10th edition of their list of 100 Most Stylish DapperQs for 2023 and the roundup is inspiring as always.

Some personal favorites:

Cam at #7 under Travel & Lifestyle looking unbothered and in charge in a cobalt suit with tassel loafers (no socks, of course).

Christina Moreland at #11 under Fashion & Entertainment rocking a white tank top and neck tattoo, looking like she’s about to tell you what you’re going to order for dinner.

Lachlan Watson at #20 under Fashion & Entertainment giving hot Victorian ghost alien vibes with a bleached buzzcut and doll eyelashes.

Brittney & Cherelle Griner(!!) at #27 under Fashion & Entertainment(??) representing as the regal power couple they are in a black and white Calvin Klein ad to remind you that CK One smells just as much like your crush as it did in 1994.

Chef Renee Blackman at #1 under Food & Spirits, to which all I have to say is, YES, CHEF.

Shout out to RPR mascot Keri and sylish subscriber Mellina, who are both former DapperQ 100 supermodels. 💅

Is that dapper RPR subscriber Mellina White in an amazing pumpkin spice suit flanked by L Word royalty? You bet it is. Photo courtesy of Mellina, 2023.

THAT’S A WRAP ON ISSUE 109

Thanks for listening, reading, and holding on, friends. And thank you for forwarding RPR and Monday’s photo essay from The Family Court Report to your curious friends! Your spreading the word about our misfit dispatch means so much and is the best way to grow our community. And to all of our new subscribers—welcome! We’re so glad you’re here.

See you next week.

K.