-
The Man on Page 602
I’m planning on doing a post today about the Sears Catalog. You need to be a certain age to know what that is. If you were born after 1970, you might be asking “what is the Sears Catalog?” Some of you might even ask “what is Sears?” If that’s you, ask your parents. For the…
-
The Entirely Unnecessary History of Gaylord
Ask any gay man born as part of Generation X (Gen X) or earlier and they will tell you of a name they were called. For some it was Fag. Others might have been saddled with Queer. For me it was Gaylord. There was a time when Gaylord was a perfectly respectable name. A dignified…
-
You probably don’t need to know this
We have already established that as a young boy I was rubbish at sports. It wasn’t for lack of trying. My father, may he rest in peace, had me “try out” for everything, but when it came to a ball, I was simply no good at kicking one down a lawn, hitting one with a…
-
The good old days
I like music. Everything except country. And the really hardcore rap about da bitches and da hos. I have an extensive iTunes library with 557 songs in it, and I love putting it on “shuffle” where one minute I’m listening to Earth Wind & Fire’s “September” and it segues into “Smells Like Teen Spirit” from…
-
Oryctolagus Cuniculus
What do Cher, Madonna, Beyoncé, and Rihanna have in common? Besides all being mononymous? Ok, add Diana Ross and Lady Gaga. Girl singers? Well yah, thank you Captain Obvious. What if I add Elton John, Freddie Mercury, and Lil’ Nas X? Gay singers? Sure, but Cher’s not gay. I’ll throw in Divine and RuPaul. Gay…
-
Where’s my flying car?
The 1960s were an amazing time to be born, if only for the television programs. And growing up in the 70s meant those programs found their way into syndication and were a kindof “life primer” for a young boy like me in the suburbs of Los Angeles. Flipping between channel 11 (KTTV) and channel 13…
-
From Madeleines to Saltines
My first encounter with Marcel Proust was not academic, or even literary. As a teenager, I was obsessed with Monty Python, which I’d come to know through a dedicated, bordering on religious, listening to Dr. Demento every Sunday night on 94.7 KMET (“the Mighty Met”), at the time the most listened-to Sunday evening radio program…
-
The Stuffing Letter
I have kept a journal since I was 19. A “journal” is like a diary, except entries are not made daily (though they can be) and it is not meant to be a record of anything: such as, “met Ryan for coffee,” or “saw Jennifer Aniston at the Farmer’s Market.” I use my journaling (the…
-
Cotillion
As a young boy I showed little interest in the things boys generally show interest in. But if there was one thing I was fascinated by, it was kitchens – the cupboards, the appliances, the counters. While Chris, and Dave, and Brock were out riding skateboards, I was usually in my mom’s kitchen. I would…
-
Hiking in the Verdugos
You might think I’m going to write about what happened in the United States of America yesterday, how the day was nothing more than an orgy of grievance, bold-faced lies, xenophobia, Nazi salutes, score-settling, and false bravado. But I’m not. Because January 20th is a very significant day for me. Two years ago, on January…
Your mileage may vary.