29 San Francisco
THE INTERVIEW
July 10, 2009. 8:05pm
Eli: in retrospect - i think i may have been doing some acting but everything i said was very me
Travis: in what parts do you feel like you were acting?
Eli: in the silent parts and maybe some of my answers. i dont know im a very harsh crtic
Travis: that's right. i was a little shocked at how harsh you were on yourself. i thought you looked gorgeous and it also seemed out of step w the eli i filmed and know
Eli: aww thanks trav -ive had some serious self image problems my entire life
Travis: youre a gay man, it kinda goes w the territory on some level, eh?
Eli: totally - as an adult i think i have a lot less
Travis: as it should be. We should also say that we've known each other for a few years now. you're actually the only person I knew fairly well before going in to shoot. do you think that had any impact on things?
Eli: if anything - made me more comfortable with the project at large
Travis: when i think of your segment i think red, ripe and juicy. have you always been a ripe berry?
Eli: for the most part yes. im a lot more comfortable with myself now, at least in the past year or so breaking up with my ex and moving here has really made me open myself up the most
Travis: i was going to say that i sense that youre in the middle of some kind of 2nd or 3rd coming out, blossoming, for lack of a better word
Eli: its my saturn return
Travis: that's true! youre 28?
Eli: moving 3000 miles away from my family. for now - ill be 29 on sun
Travis: the city will do that. talk about how performance fits in with who you are
Eli: loosing my dad has also really put things into perspective for me as well. that bullshit doesnt matter. life is too short for it, what matters is having fun and making an impact on your firends lovers and people around you
Travis: that's a great sentiment to live by
Eli: i was also in a very toxic relationship and not being in that has really made me feel amazing.
DOING DRAG
Eli: ive always been a ham since i was a toddler. my dad was a photographer and my life was always documented
Travis: so youre cozy in front of the camera
Eli: i went to undergrad to be an actor and did that for years until i made a switch to be a designer which i love and then i got really anxious from not being on stage. being a drag queen-thing opens so many doors for me. my drag is not typical of most queens
Travis: that's what makes it incredible. talk about your style
Eli: i never try to appear like a real woman or try to look pretty, thats been done. not that i am re-inventing the wheel i just stay true to me my song choices and how i think elijah should look and act thats all me.
MIRROR MIRROR
Travis: okay, can we talk about you and your mirror? you two really have something special going on there.
Eli: thanks sure - what do wanna know abut us?
Travis: well, it plays into your performing and into your sex life...this didnt make it in the final ITR piece but you mentioned leaving the door (that holds your mirror) open so that you can watch (and boys can watch) yourselves doing it. how's that going for you?
Eli: i still like watching myself cum. havent had any boys in my room in a LONG time
Travis: really, what gives?
Eli: BUSY and too broke to go out and find it. there is a dude i REALLY dig, but he doesnt live here just yet
Travis: i see. so you're holding out maybe?
Eli: hell be here at the end of the month. no - im still slutty. actully i think u met him at pride with me
Travis: i was getting worried. ooooh. he's the hunky guy?
Eli: with the huge arms and chops
Travis: i noticed...
SERIOUS MASCULINITY
Travis: so this brings to mind a common thread with most of you guys, this hunt for some serious masculinity. dirty, sweaty, hairy, big...
Eli: i guess thats kinda common for a lot of fags, we want what we dont have
Travis: so are you saying that Butt boys are really just a bunch of top hungry bottoms?
Eli: not at all, everyone is different. i cant really only speak for myself i guess
Travis: true. im just interested in the threads of natural masculinity and some romanticized notions of pre-aids 70s sexiness that seem to come up a lot with you guys and with a lot of boys out there in SF these days. any thoughts on that?
Eli: sure. all my brothers and sisters seem to go for the same types: beared, tattooed and filthy. and why is that? thats kinda of the prototype of masculity, not to mention kinda trendy
Travis: trendy is a word that nathan used too
Eli: she would. jk
Travis: lol. if it's trendy can you see it shifting in some cyclical way? trends come and go. ideas of masculinity change
Eli: id like to think that if i liked a dude for who he was and not just what he wore - id still dig him
Travis: for sure
Eli: unless he wears sketchers - then forget it
Travis: damn!
Eli: we all have to have standards
Travis: true
THE OTHER GUYS IN THE VIDEO
Eli: dinno seemed to be my type
Travis: i was going to ask you what you thought of the other boys
Eli: and after i got to know him - turned out he wasnt. jesse - i think it was, totally foxy
Travis: indeed
Eli: i wasnt into the other boys at all, probably because they were too much like me. mike and ginno - i can see alot of myself. nathan is my brother. then jesse, i dont know him well enough to say i guess...hes tall, foxy and intelectual, things i dont see in myself maybe
THOSE HEELS
Travis: I have to ask about those heels/boots. they deserve some sort of trophy. im glad that you suggested i film your tori number.
Eli: my heels broke mid performmce last time i did drag, but i won the contest - nonethe less
Travis: how does a queen recovery mid performance when the heels break?
Eli: i did what any good performer did, i kept going. i took them off mid lipsynch and kept dancing my ass off. you can see pics on fb, some with heels - some without but all FIERCE
Travis: people love it when someone's thrown a blow and they say fuck it, it aint gonna stop me. i wonder if it actually helped you win
Eli: hell yeah - gina ladavina in her judging of me said she almost threw up when she saw them break maybe - i think my outfit i made and my number made me win or all the blackmailing the judges did the trick
Travis: whatever it takes.
Eli: if a dude sees my drag and is not freaked out but impressed - thats rad
Travis: if he's freaked out, what's the point. next.
Eli: thank u
IT'S FRIDAY NIGHT
Travis: what are you doing tonight?
Eli: prob going to charlie horse
Travis: explain charlie horse to our readers
Eli: or midnight mass, sorry anna conda. charlie horse is a weekly drag show at the cinch anything goes there, its the tragic of the tragic queen. very alternative - like trannyshack
Travis: sounds like my people
Eli: its rude - but true. at trannyshack i intensely watched every number, studied it - owned it…where elijah first performed as a boy - then a manatee. theres a youtube vid if u wanna see it
Travis: before we leave, anything else you want to add about anything: ITR, yourself, your room...
Eli: im glad there is a way to see me - or us in our somewhat natural surroundings and get to know a small side of me however u did not get to see the pervy side of me
Travis: we got hints. and hints are sometimes even better
Eli: totally. u didnt get to see what in my goodie drawr
Travis: hmmm...we'll have to use our pervy imaginations
Eli: yes u will
