The return, a journey, and a new look!

Hey boys and girls, wow, so it has been over 9 months since I posted anything here on my blog! I guess it is about time I revived it a little, and as the last few months have been very busy and extremely exciting for me I decided that the time is now! In the last month and in the coming months I have been and will be doing some exciting things, and I'd like to share this with you.

So, without further ado, I hereby launch my new look blog! Hope you like it!

For those of you who follow me on Twitter and/or Facebook, you wll already know that 2012 has been a very exciting year so far for me. Late November last year I took on a residency at Molly Moggs in Soho as the hostess for their Friday night Open Mic event, and in the new year I was given the opportunity to do their Saturday nights as well! I jumped into it and haven't looked back!

Now, aside from the joy and pride I felt and am still feeling about having been given this opportunity, the journey of self discovery and personal development I have had is beyond belief! My background as a drag performer has only ever been as a lip sync queen, and although I still don't sing (it is, after all karaoke, it's all about everyone else singing!) I still have to use a microphone for 3 hours a night. Now, you might think that this is a doddle, but trust me, it has been a challenge! You see, I don't want to be the cruel bitchy queen who makes fun of my singers, I'd like to encourage people, and I have to be on the ball all the time and can't have a script, and this has been a learning curve for me!
At first I felt somewhat uncomfortable with it, but soon I fell into it and found my rhythm and character more and more, and thanks to the lovely comments I have gotten from regulars as well as random people dropping in from the street (some of which have since become regulars!) I now feel very much at home on the little stage at Molly's!

Not only this, but I feel I have been on a journey with my look too, and where I was last year isn't where I find myself now. My make up skills have improved, and I am more secure in my style too, which has been exciting to look back at.

This year, London played host to World Pride, and there was a lot of chaos around the arrangements and funding situation, which I'll leave aside for now. I was given the opportunity to do something fun for Pride, together with my friends Julie Paid and Cookie Monstar. We were chosen to be the first people on board a double decker routemaster that had been completely renovated to look like a handbag, courtesy of the MCM Brand. Click here to read about our fabulous day out on this amazing bus!

It is now the height of summer (believe it or not, if you are in the UK like me) and I'm about to go on another very exciting and amazing journey. Read more about this by clicking the link!

So, I'd like to thank you for staying with me, and promise that there will be more and more posts here at The World According to Diamond Pearl!
Don't forget, dreams are only reality in the making!

Love and kisses, Diamond! xxx

Los Angeles, Monday 5th Aug 2012

Ok boys and girls, my idea was to write a blog post a day while here, but today is the first day I have been able to sit down and relax, be it by the pool (I know, hard life!) in the sun! But I thought I'd give you a brief run down of what I have been doing so far! Day by day, and then link it to separate blog posts for each day as I finish them. Sound good? Ok!

I’m going to start with my arrival in LA and go up to today, and then add the week in SF after!! Here goes!

Thursday 1st Aug 2012

Today was my last day in San Francisco before travelling to LA, and I had yet to see the shopping areas, and the department stores, so that was first on the cards. It made for a nice way of killing an hour or so before heading to the airport.

Click here to read more! (coming soon!)

Arriving in LA I had strict and precise instructions on what to do and where to go, and after about an hour and a half I was in a bar with Joseps flatmate Rob. He made it his mission to show me as many gay bars in West Hollywood as possible!

Click here to read more! (coming soon!

Friday 2nd Aug 2012

In the morning, my lovely host Josep had hired a car so we could drive to one of his favourite places in LA, the Getty Museum. They currently have an exhibition on Herb Ritts, LA Style, which we both wanted to see, but he freely admitted that the Getty museum is probably better known for its grounds and architecture than the art! I can see why!

Click here to read and see more! (coming soon!)

In the evening, we had tickets to see Pixar in Concert at the Hollywood Bowl, which is an outdoor concert venue accommodating approx 18.000 people. We were going to a premiere, where the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra were playing pieces from Pixar movies, set to clips of the films on 3 huge screens.

Click here to read and see more! (coming soon!)

Saturday 3rd Aug 2012

Universal Studios day! I was secretly looking forward to this as I am a bit of a theme park buff, and I like behind-the-scenes things (sometimes I will buy a dvd depending on the extras content only!)

We set off in the car, Barbara, Robert, Josep and me, and Barbara was driving. We had passes courtesy of Josep, and once parked, we went straight for the best ride! Transformers 3D The Ride! I have to say I’ve never quite experienced anything like it, not a rollercoaster but still a rollercoaster, in 3D! i won’t say anymore! Afterwards we had some food as none of us had eaten, and then we did the Jurassic Park ride, and queued up for the Studio Tour including the back lot. This was amazing for me, seeing the CSI stage and Wisteria Lane, Cabot Cove/Jaws-land etc.

Driving back, we took a detour to avoid the traffic, a lucky detour for me as it took us up Mulholland Drive to the view point. I’m going to have to watch the David Lynch movie again!

Click here to read and see more! (coming soon!)

The evening had already been planned, we were going to Bar Sinister just off Hollywood Boulevard, a goth bar/club that my hosts really like and felt I’d enjoy! It was brilliant, the venue is perfect, decor and crowd amazing!

Click here to read More! (coming soon!)

Sunday 4th Aug 2012

Today I was let loose on my own in Hollywood, as my friend had to edit and translate his interview with Liza Minnelli (if you speak Spanish you can read it here!) Needless to say it was very sunny, so I popped on a baseball cap and some factor 30 and headed out into Hollywood. From the flat you can walk down Sunset Boulevard or head one block up to Hollywood Boulevard under the hills, and as this was where i was headed I chose to go direct. It is however a bit of a walk, but soon you get to the Walk Of Fame, where the pavement is peppered with Stars!

The shops lining Hollywood Boulevard are a real mish-mash of souvenir shops and tattoo and piercing studios, stripper clothes, wigs and shoes.

Click here to read more! (coming soon!)

In the afternoon we had planned to go to a superheroes party called Hard Heroes, at MJ’s bar, hosted by the LA Sisters Of Perpetual Indulgence! My friend Christophe picked me up in his convertible, his friends already in the car with him. As this party was somewhat a surprise on me, I didn’t have a costume. I had looked for one on Hollywood Boulevard that day but not found anything appropriate. But the guys told me that there was no strict rule about costumes, and that there were makeup artists on hand to paint on a mask, or even do full a body paint! That’s what I went for!

There were raffle tickets ( I didn’t win) and a N2N fashion show (hot guys in skimpy revealing underwear) and freebies thrown out at the end (I didn’t catch one). There were also gogo dancers and some really amazing costumes.

Click here to read and see more! (coming soon!)