Ah, the unicorn.
Mythical beast after my own heart.
Peace.
Monthly Archives:
October 2018
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October
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October
2018
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October
2018
The PVRTD Promo Blitz Continues…
The camera catches things the mirror can’t.
The way we hide.
The way we avert our eyes.
We can trick the mirror because we are the one on the other side.
You can’t trick the camera.
It has its own tricks, to be sure, but its gaze is more penetrating than the mirror.
We have control over what the mirror will reflect.
The camera will see us as it sees fit.
We don’t always like what it sees.
Sometimes, we want the lies that only the mirror can tell.
Because yes, it has two sides.
We can believe the lies.
We want to believe in them.
Life is easier when cradled in a cocoon of untruths.
Laura Argiri once wrote in her magnificent book ‘The God in Flight’, “Growing up is the slow process of learning to tell oneself the truth.â€
Forty-three years into this life, I find it may be time to grow the fuck up.
PVRTD
The New Project
NOVEMBER 2018
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October
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October
2018
Tiny Threads: An Insignificant Series
The world would be vastly improved if we still taught children how to write a proper letter, and how to wait for a response.
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October
2018
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October
2018
Secret Celebrity Stash: SJP
Celebrity fragrances are a dicey bunch. For every exquisite ‘Truth or Dare: Nake’ by Madonna there are five silly bottles of candy water by Britney Spears. Most famous folk just seem to be in it for the money, their eyes turning all shades of violet in the hope of tapping into the cash-creating legacy of Elizabeth Taylor. Every once in a while, however, someone comes along who puts a little more time and care and research into what the world will forever associate with them, and Sarah Jessica Parker has done just that with her successful beauty line.
I was impressed by the way Ms. Parker came off in ‘The Perfect Scent’, Chandler Burr’s telling of the creation of two new perfumes. She was making her debut fragrance ‘Lovely’ and it sounds like ‘Stash’ was her original, albeit slightly too dark and out-of-the-box for the masses, attempt at what she actually wanted to produce. Thankfully, ‘Lovely’ became a smash and ‘Stash’ came along a few years later for those of us whose tastes veer a little dirtier.
Its triumvirate of top notes includes two of my favorites: grapefruit and black pepper, with some sage thrown in for good measure. After they dissipate a more resonant collection of notes comes through: cedar, patchouli, ginger lily and pistachio combine to give it the woody heart that pulls the perfume to a more traditionally-masculine space. It doesn’t quite stay there, however, as the dry down becomes something exquisitely beautiful and unisex – with the sweet and pungent base notes of olibanum, vetiver, musk and Massoia wood. On me, this turns into a rich sandalwood, which also happens to be my go-to for holiday scents (think Tom Ford’s ‘Santal Blush’ and Diana Vreeland’s ‘Absolutely Vital’). It comes into its own during the fall season, when its smoky edge can ease into the coziness of the cooler nights.
This not-quite-linear journey makes ‘Stash’ an impressive addition to the wildly popular SJP Beauty line, and it’s rare to find such gorgeous complexity at an affordable price point. If you find that it doesn’t linger as much as you’d like, there are supplemental items such as the hair mist and body oil to bolster the effect. Personally, I enjoy its lighter touch, especially in the office or during the crisp early days of fall descending.
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October
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October
2018
Tiny Threads: An Insignificant Series
Phone calls are like meetings: largely unnecessary and better managed with an e-mail.
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October
2018
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October
2018
The Next Big Underwear Bulge
The time feels right for a new underwear moment to take the world by storm. It’s been a while since we had one – I feel like the last one may have been one of the Jonas brothers: Nick in his butt-cheek-teasing photo lay-out channeling Marky Mark or Joe in his oiled-up Guess shots. Prior to that the last bulge that shook the world belonged to David Beckham. Both he and Ben Cohen have been quiet of late on the baring-skin front, something that needs to be rectified. Or maybe they, like myself, have eased into the middle-age paunch of comfort and can’t be bothered to give a rat’s ass about showing their own shirtless selves off anymore. I can dig it.
Anyway, I have hope that someone new offers a scantily-clad moment to rock the pop culture world. We need it now more than ever. Who will it be? A few suggestions:
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October
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October
2018
Tiny Threads: An Insignificant Series
Where is my spoonful of sugar for the medicine of life being doled out each day?
While quite intent in my pursuit, I need a merry tune to toot.
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October
2018
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October
2018
Mid-October Strikes A Recap
It feels like October just got here, and already we’re halfway through it. Stop the world, I want to get off. As we barrel toward the release of a new project, and with the holiday season right around the corner, I ask that we pause for a moment to slow things down. Can we bring the lights low for a bit? Calm the tempo? Let me use my deeper seductive voice for this number.
There, that’s better. Fall can get entirely too serious sometimes. Let’s do a quick look-back at the week that just went by and try to sort it all out. Meet me back here later today for a fresh post.
It began with a cozy fall dish of Ghapama.
The arrival of a new project was heralded by blood & roses. Ominous…
Follow all the antics of the Tiny Threads series here. Go back! Go back!!
Driving into the autumn mist.
A simple potato recipe from Nigella. (If I were a straight man, nah nah nah nah nah…)
The Visible Penis Line (VPL) of Pietro Boselli.
Scarlet berries are signs of fall.
Before October goes, some sunny shades of Iris.
Taps for the angel’s trumpet.
Things are about to get very Perverted up in here.
Hunks of the Day included the fine forms of Brandon English, Clément Daguin, Tadd Fujikawa, Christian Stoinev, and Simon Nessman.
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October
2018
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October
2018
Perverted Promo Blitz
This is the first set of images from my upcoming ‘PVRTD’ project, which is a photo essay that will be captured in book form, as well as within an online album in The Projects page. In the trio of shots shown here you can see the cover shot from the book. The exact nature of this project been shrouded quite intentionally in mystery. The teasers you will see and the promotional madness about to ensue are a straight-forward bait-and-switch tactic, so before that all goes down (and my lace-covered and/or naked ass makes its grand re-appearance) here’s just the slightest inkling of what makes up the actual project. It’s not perverted in the way you may think it is, and though the promo photos may tell a different story, this is one tale you will have to tell for yourself.
“When the times are a crucible, when the air is full of crisis,†she said, “those who are most themselves are the victims.†– Gregory Maguire
PVRTD: The New Project
Coming November 2018
The Projects Page
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October
2018
Last Call of the Angel’s Trumpet
An unexpected reprieve from fall’s cold cadence, Andy heated the pool for two extra 80 degree days in mid-October, and I dove into both of them with the honor and reverence due. One doesn’t take such balmy weather for granted this late in the game. As I floated there, feeling the luxurious release from gravity on my ever-aging body, I smelled the lemon-like perfume of the angel’s trumpet. This year it has grown into tree-like glory, rising up and over the canopy frame that long ago shed its summer canvass. Thanks to a benign fall, the plant is still in full bloom, even if most of its leaves have fallen. I will cut it severely back at the first frost, and try to overwinter it again. Some things are worth a little winter pampering, and this fine specimen has provided a summer of beauty and perfume. It’s the least I can do.
As for the rest of the backyard patio, we’ve long ago let it go to proverbial seed. The straggly sweet potato vines have alternately floundered and flourished in these warm fall days. An especially vigorous stalk has trailed itself over two lounge chairs, giving the first indication of a ‘Grey Gardens’ deterioration. We seem always on the cusp of crumbling. There is beauty in such decay, though – I know this to be true.
I’ll make a game attempt at overwintering our banana tree too. That did exceptionally well and deserves a chance to come back next spring. A bit of extra work and care now may return an investment: a jump on next year’s growing season. It’s never too early to plan ahead.
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October
2018
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October
2018
Sunny Shades of Iris
One of these necklaces is a treasure found at an antique store in Ogunquit, Maine – the other is a cheap token of the Burlington Coat Factory. I’ll leave it to you to make the distinction, and if you have to wonder then the work is already done. This is one of those frivolous posts that I promised you back when we returned earlier in the fall. A space of superficial fun and extravagant fancy, may it lend itself to the escapism so many of us so badly need. I live in such space, and likely will for the foreseeable future.
The sunny shade of yellow seen here may be a subconscious effort at forcing cheer, as one might force a pot of Paperwhite narcissus in the depths of winter. It’s almost time for that cheerful tradition, and I’ll see if I can stagger the potting so we have waves of them when the days and nights grow dim and frigid. See, sunny thoughts yield more sunny thoughts, and this is how we will get through the fall and winter.
As for the accessories accenting this post, they reminded me of Iris Apfel and her fabulous excess of style. Sometimes more is more. More fabulous, more fun, more fancy… more of this beautiful life where nothing is ever promised but we never stop hoping…
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October
2018
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October
2018
Tiny Threads: An Insignificant Series
The only thing worse than a party guest who arrives extremely late is a party guest who arrives in any way early.
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October
2018
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October
2018
Scarlet Berries
Capturing the fiery brilliance of the fall season, these little berries were putting on a show the last time I visited Boston. Even in the heart of that fair city, there are mini-forests like this lending their mystery and enchantment, if you only pause to look. In the perfectly manicured garden squares in front of long rows of brownstones, or the hidden plots of green scattered throughout the South End, scenes of the season await such discovery.
Shuffling along such shaded corridors and crackling through leaves that have already dried and fallen is a rite of passage at this time of the year. We pull our coats closer, hustle a little faster, and turn to face the cold head-on. The pay-off for such a turn is in the beauty of these berries. Plants go to seed to save themselves from the winter. Even the ones that come back make their fruit in the biological ritual of reproduction. Maybe some bird will pluck one of the scarlet berries, swallow it down and shit it out into a pocket of soil – instantly fertilized and given a fair shot at life, if any such thing can be considered fair.
Or perhaps they’re poisonous, and the birds and squirrels know instinctively to stay away. Maybe scarlet means danger, and the plant only wants to be left alone, Garbo-like and secretive. I can appreciate that too.
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October
2018
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October
2018
Tiny Threads: An Insignificant Series
This space is intentionally left blank because I don’t give a fuck.
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October
2018
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October
2018
A Gratuitous VPL Post of Pietro Boselli
Everyone’s favorite math-teacher-turned-male-model is back with a pair of scintillating pics that reveal the very definition of a VPL. I’m not talking the typical ‘Visible Panty Line’ that the acronym typically represents – this is a much happier ‘Visible Penis Line‘ for which the gay guys and straight ladies often salivate. Sometimes the hint, or the slightest outline, of the body is sexier than the naked body itself, as Mr. Boselli proves in this post. But sometimes nothing but a nude male shot will do, to which he attests in this naked post. Boselli is certainly no strangers to these pages, so stop by this one and this one and this one if you want to see more.
You’re welcome.
