By BetteAndTinaForever

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I went to San Francisco for my third consecutive Pride event and on Friday night attended a Lollipop dance party thrown by Wild 94.9 radio station. And it was wild… The main reason I went to the party was the celebrity guests that were invited. They were Rose Rollins who plays Tasha on The L Word and Dani Campbell who was the contestant on the “A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila” show; she was also on the cover of one of the latest Curve magazines.

What can I say? Even when I’m on my vacation, it’s all about work for me. Work, work, work and a little play…or a lot, depending on the party. And let me repeat, this party was wild!

The actual party began before the celebrity guests arrived so I had a chance to dance, drink and mingle with a lot of cute girls. By the time they made it to the small VIP room, most of the fans were already dancing and drinking the night away. The guests were chatting with the fans and even in the crowd I could easily spot Rose because she was tall and beautiful.

After waiting an appropriate amount of time, I pushed myself through the crowd of adoring fans and asked Rose if she would answer a few questions later. We had a short talk and I hung around a little longer, watching her interaction with the fans. As an aside for all of you readers, I have to explain something. It’s a little embarrassing for me but I have to tell this story so you will understand.

Rose and I have this ongoing banter between us. Every time she sees me, she reminds me about my first interview with her that we did at the SLDN dinner in Washington DC on March 24, 2007. It wasn’t my first event but it was my first ever interview with her! It was spontaneous, as well. I had a list of names for the cast who were supposed to appear and Rose Rollins wasn’t on that list. She came as a surprise and after the initial press conference was over, I saw Rose standing alone and she was available, so I approached her and asked for an interview. I made most of my questions up right there on the spot and everything went fine, I thought.

Later that year I went to an LA Convention organized by Starfury in Los Angeles and saw Rose at the Uh-Huh-Her concert. I took a few pictures, said hello and continued to mix with the crowd. Everything was still fine.

The next time I saw Rose and had a chance to talk to her was at the Season 5 Premiere Party in Los Angeles in January, 2008. As I approached her to say hello and to ask a few questions during the after party, Rose suddenly began laughing and told me that she wouldn’t answer my questions because I didn’t make her look good in the interview we did at the SLDN dinner. I was flabbergasted, to say the least. I thought it was a good interview, especially considering it was my first.

But then Rose explained that it wasn’t the questions but the way I transcribed it. As a first time interviewer I assumed that I had to stay true to the answers that were given to me and keep transcribe them verbatim. Therefore, I typed everything, including things like ‘uh’, ‘um’, ‘oh’ and such. Since then, I’ve learned that this is not the best way to endear one’s self to an actor, but that night I didn’t know. I apologized and Rose was very nice in forgiving me, she even let me take a picture with her and answered a few questions about Season 5. I think I said “I’m so sorry” about a hundred times as I ran into Rose more than once during the course of the evening.

And now, I was again in Rose’s presence, asking for an interview. She again mentioned the SLDN interview and I went for my “I’m so sorry, it will never happen again” sincere apology. At first, Rose was hesitant and even told me that she knows that I’m a Bette and Tina fan but I reassured her that since Dana’s demise, Tasha and Alice have been my second favorite couple, which is the absolute truth. We chatted a little and finally Rose agreed to an interview later on.

The evening was progressing nicely and loudly. There were two dance parties in full swing on the first and the second floor of the club. The music was fabulous, by the way, and I did have chance to dance.

Rose was dancing on a stage for some time, as Christie from 94.9 introduced her. Some fans took the opportunity to take pictures with her and everybody was having a very good time and enjoying themselves on the dance floor. After she finished dancing, Rose and a few members of her family sat down in the corner of the club and she signed issues of the Curve magazine with her latest interview in it. Finally, after the autographs were finished, Christie took Rose outside for interviews and I finally had my chance.

I had prepared nine questions but as it turned out I only had time for four. I had to think fast and choose some that would be even remotely interesting. So here’s the short interview we had.

B&TF: In season 5 Tasha chose love and her true self over her military career and her dream to serve her country. Do you see it as a happy ending for the ‘Don’t ask, Don’t tell’ storyline and was it presented realistically?

Rose Rollins: My character is not choosing love necessarily over her career and that’s why it could be easily confused; but it’s more about her figuring out what it is that she wants. People can be confused that my character is choosing the relationship but it’s not about that. I kind of lost perspective, my character lost perspective of what it is she was fighting for and then she finally figured it out. Everyone was against her and it was time to take care of herself and she wants to finally live for herself. If quitting the military is what that means then by all means do it. It has nothing to do with anyone else; it’s just what she wants and what she wants to stand for.

B&TF: So if Tasha hadn’t met and fallen in love with Alice, do you think she would stay in the military?

RR: No, I think she would still quit the military. In any situation I think that she still would figure out what she stands for and that military wasn’t what she wanted.

B&TF: I know you can’t tell me anything about season 6 but what are your hopes for Tasha in terms of her life and her relationship?

RR: I hope that she finally gets her feet on the ground and has an autonomous relationship with herself. Not surrounding anyone, not surrounding her relationship and her career but just finally figuring out what it is that drives her and what makes her happy and to finally live for herself and not live for others or live for her circumstances ever again.

B&TF: Remember you told me before that you always wanted Tasha to be with Alice, do you still want them together?

RR: I do, I do but now I’m not so sure. After everything that happened I’m not so sure but you know, anything can happen.

At this point Christie was making a hand gesture, signaling that we had to end the interview and all I could do was to turn my recorder off. I thanked Rose for the interview and told her to keep laughing because she has one of the most infectious and incredible laughs I’ve ever heard. And then she left. It was almost 3 am and it was my time to go, as well, because I had a busy next day, attending the Annual Grand Marshalls brunch, thrown by Donna Sachet.

The Sunday Parade was as Grand as ever and the most amazing thing for me was to see so many couples, walking during the parade with the signs that they were together for a number of years, some for as long as 40, and they finally got married. It brought tears to many eyes.

As I was leaving San Francisco to go home to my boring life, I was sitting at the airport restaurant and noticed some writings on the walls. I really liked one of them. It was a saying by Walter Cronkite, a famous broadcast journalist, who said, “Leaving San Francisco is like saying good-bye to an old sweetheart. You want to linger as long as possible.” I feel that way too.