Author Archives: Alan Ilagan

One of those tricky January thaws just visited the Northeast, and with it the teasing scent of spring gave the cruelest glimpse of what remains so far away. It was too quickly followed by a plunge back into below-freezing. I’ve always loved these little thaws, even if they wreak a certain emotional havoc with the seasonally-affected among us. On with the previous week in hindsight…

To keep things as hot as possible, there was this double-bang Speedo post with Chris Mears and Jack Laugher. 

Not to be outdone in the heat index, Ricky Martin gave a glimpse of his ass in the upcoming Versace series. 

The Winter Olympics are coming from PyongChang, Korea this year, and with gentlemen like this showing off it looks to be a grand event. 

A new fondue maker makes a world of difference. 

Let’s be a little kinder in the winter months. (Well, I’ll try…)

My obsession with chipotle peppers in adobo sauce continues to burn brightly. 

A rare cocktail fail, but we drank most of it anyway. 

A naked Gus Kenworthy on a snow-covered mountain. Skis and poles. (Not all the poles though.)

Wise words from a wise hero. 

Auto Erotica, take two. 

Hunks of the Day included Ross Butler, Hendrik Giesler, Doug Armstrong, Shaun White and Austin Scoggin.

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” â€• Martin Luther King Jr.

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” â€• Martin Luther King Jr.

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” â€• Martin Luther King Jr.

“There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.” â€• Martin Luther King Jr.

“As my sufferings mounted I soon realized that there were two ways in which I could respond to my situation — either to react with bitterness or seek to transform the suffering into a creative force. I decided to follow the latter course.” â€• Martin Luther King Jr.

“People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.” â€• Martin Luther King Jr.

“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.” â€• Martin Luther King Jr.

“Another way that you love your enemy is this: When the opportunity presents itself for you to defeat your enemy, that is the time which you must not do it. There will come a time, in many instances, when the person who hates you most, the person who has misused you most, the person who has gossiped about you most, the person who has spread false rumors about you most, there will come a time when you will have an opportunity to defeat that person. It might be in terms of a recommendation for a job; it might be in terms of helping that person to make some move in life. That’s the time you must do it. That is the meaning of love. In the final analysis, love is not this sentimental something that we talk about. It’s not merely an emotional something. Love is creative, understanding goodwill for all men. It is the refusal to defeat any individual. When you rise to the level of love, of its great beauty and power, you seek only to defeat evil systems. Individuals who happen to be caught up in that system, you love, but you seek to defeat the system.” â€• Martin Luther King Jr.

“One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change. Every society has its protectors of status quo and its fraternities of the indifferent who are notorious for sleeping through revolutions. Today, our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change.” â€• Martin Luther King Jr.

We all tend to get a little snippy in the winter months. Usually it doesn’t happen until later, but I’ve already noticed it in myself and in others. At such times, I take a deep breath (if possible – in below-zero temps that’s more difficult) and pause in whatever annoying mood I have stumbled upon or into. Gazing at the Christmas tree about to come down, or out at the snow that still stands brightly against the rising temperatures of the week, I remember to take in the moment.

A cardinal alights on the hedge in front of our house. Vivid scarlet against the dark evergreen backdrop, it reflects the last light of the day’s sun. It seems to peer directly into our front door, as if to say hello and bring a message of cheer in a stretch of gray days. I try to capture its brilliance, but as these grainy photos attest it is impossible to capture. That makes it all the more magical. As soon as I begin a closer examination of its feathers, it is gone.

The day is too cold to stay long outside anyway. Winter shirks off its fleeting beauty in quick fashion.