Out of all the skills I’ve learned at the office, faking the reach to pretend I’m trying to hold the elevator is the greatest.
11
June
2019
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June
2019
A Bit of Brunch
A gin and tonic with lemon is Andy’s twist on the classic summer drink. I like to add a sprig of lemon thyme just because I’m precious that way. Back in the days when drinking was a means to an end, garnishes and preparation was less important to me. Now, it’s everything. A cocktail is something to be savored, not gulped or swallowed whole. This one makes integral use of its lemon thyme leaves, tying in the lemon twist with the herbal aspect of the gin.
Having one or two of these for brunch, however, can be risky business. Best to pair it with a stomach-filling plate of a tomato and cheese omelet and some roasted potatoes with some goat cheese and fresh oregano. This was less a result of careful planning and more of an impromptu meal made from whatever we had on hand. It worked out. That’s what Sundays are about: improvisation, casual cocktails, and leftover ingredients given new life with a few herbal accents.
10
June
2019
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June
2019
Madonna By Andy
While waiting for my new credit card to arrive, tickets for Madonna’s intimate ‘Madame X Tour’ in Boston went on sale, so I quickly texted Andy to see if he could sign up for them. The convoluted and mysterious way they were on sale left me flummoxed, as did horror stories of other fans who were frozen out. Once my card arrived, I signed up for the chance too, but I assumed it was too late.
A few weeks later I got my official denial e-mail, but Andy got a message saying he would be receiving his ticket information soon. Hope! When they finally did arrive, he went on the site to claim them, but nothing happened. He stayed on, waiting for spinning icons and frozen websites until 3 in the morning, perhaps fearful of the wrath that might ensue should the tickets just disappear.
The next day we went back on the site and there they were – amazing seats for one of Madonna’s Boston shows at the Boch Theatre. Once again, Andy saves the world.
As for the Madame X Tour, I’m not sure what to expect. Sounds like a more casual and intimate affair, and based on the size of the venues I’m guessing it won’t be quite as bombastic and big as previous tours have been. But if anyone can astound and enthrall, even in a small acoustic set, it’s Madonna. The girl can’t help it.
10
June
2019
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June
2019
A Very Sunny Recap
Still on a high from this year’s BroSox Adventure (stay tuned for that tale as old as time), I’m easing into the work-week while taking in the Tony Awards. Summer is practically here, and we’ve had a weekend of sunshine, so give me just a little more time to mourn the end of such a grand time. Let’s go back a week and start it all over again…
The #TinyThreads thread.
The Flower Clock begins its countdown.
This Thursday marks the GLSEN Gala.
A hint of the BroSox Adventure to come.
A family get-together for Memorial Day.
The Ilagan twins jumped stumps.
Love bloomed with a visit from Tyler and Kevin.
More of Albany in love.
Sunny days… sweeping the clouds away…
Hunks of the Day included Alan Bersten and Nick Dompierre.
09
June
2019
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June
2019
Sweeping the Clouds Away…
Summer demands the dish of simplicity, where slaving over a hot stove or baking in a hot oven are just gauche. To that end, we turn a healthy eye to ingredients that are fresh and in season. It’s a little early for tomatoes, but I couldn’t wait, and these heirlooms were so sweet and ripe, it worked out rather well. Trimmed with some white balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and a bit of salt and pepper, the meat of the matter was the tomato itself – its golden flesh both tart and sweet, balanced with the vinegar and the pepper, tempered with the virginity of the olive oil. If you’re feeling adventurous, add some fresh basil and/or mozzarella beads. Summer likes to keep things simple.
09
June
2019
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June
2019
Sunny Days…
A simple Sunday cocktail makes all the difference.
This fuzzy little dream was some Grapefruit & Rose Ketel One vodka, a few drops of fresh grapefruit juice, and some grapefruit seltzer. That’s about as healthy as a cocktail can get. Its sunny disposition gets an extra jolt of freshness from a grapefruit twist and a sprig of grapefruit mint. Yes, grapefruit mint. It’s glorious.
A long, long time ago I used to serve a Sun Cocktail – which was vodka, grapefruit juice, raspberry liqueur, and sparkling wine. Accented with blackberries and whatever juices came out of them, it was a semi-sweet fizzy treat that personified summer.
If the sun continues, I may have to bring that back.
Nostalgia can be sticky and sweet.
08
June
2019
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June
2019
Love in Albany
Sometimes the beauty of the familiar can only be revealed through the eyes of the unfamiliar.
We slept in to account for Tyler and Kevin’s jet lag, and Andy and I’s old age. Turns out I slept the latest of us all. Brunch was thankfully not until 12:30, at which point polka-dots of downpours were popping up on the radar. We sidled into Innovo right before the dark sky opened up. I can’t think of a lovelier place in which to pass a quick spring storm than having brunch and a bunch of bottomless mimosas.
We took our time as one downpour subsided and another one began. Then, a spattering of sunlight. The plan was to hit the New York State Museum – a place I’d visited as a kid but haven’t seen in three decades. They informed me that it was the largest state museum in the country – proof that it once again takes a non-native to reveal native truths. (I mentioned that I thought it would be Nevada, given how sprawling Las Vegas was – proof that some things should not be spoken aloud.)
Despite a closed carousel (it was Sunday afternoon) we got a glimpse of the Empire State Plaza. The haunts that I occasionally occupy as part of my job took on a magical quality I couldn’t appreciate when rushing by them on a workday. The sun poked out for the time we were outside – blue sky and puffy clouds reflected in the waters of the plaza.
From there we made a cocktail stop at Oh Bar, showing Tyler and Kevin where Andy and I first met almost nineteen years ago. An old couple and a new couple sat in the window as the rain started again, just like it had on July 23, 2000. Love was suddenly all around in Albany.
08
June
2019
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June
2019
Love In Bloom
Strange as it may seem, a little sadness and heartsickness have always been the mark of a good weekend or vacation. That is to say, if at the end I feel a little empty and down after a particular weekend, it’s a sign that a very good time was had, and I file it away in my room of happy memories. Last weekend we had one of those times, and we didn’t even need to leave Albany for it to happen.
Andy’s second cousin Tyler, and Tyler’s boyfriend Kevin, were visiting the East Coast from Arizona, so we offered to host them on their way to various parts of New York. Apparently/reportedly/supposedly I met Tyler at one of our first parties at our current house, a rare gathering of Andy’s family and extended family. It was years ago, and mostly I just remember making a bunch of apple martinis for his Dad. (The use of an apple martini should be a faux-carbon-dating technique to indicate just how long ago this was.) Tyler was just a kid, and likely didn’t register on my radar because, well, kids. I had a blast with his parents and they remain some of my favorite people. In the ensuing years, Tyler crept into that circle of favorite relatives as we’d see him at the occasional birthday or wedding or funeral – the extremes of life, along with all the heightened emotions and mental mayhem that go along with such gatherings. He and his parents were always a bright spot for me. As he grow into a young adult, it was easier to talk to him, and his intelligence and wit were keen indicators of where he was headed.
We had last seen him on a visit to New York, just as he was about to depart for Arizona. After a double-dose of Harry Potter plays, we slid into the last hour or so of service at the Chatwal, where Tyler and a couple of his friends regaled us with tales of youthful exuberance, and Andy and I moved into the older generation of gay couples without further ado. There’s something very special about when a family member becomes a friend. It doesn’t always happen that way.
When we heard they were going to be in the area Andy made sure to insist they spend a few days with us. There’s no better way to step into the summer season than to do so with a few guests.
The house was filled with Chinese dogwood branches (a nifty way of making maximum use of the remnants of judicious pruning) and a couple of bouquets of roses. It’s all too brief a season, so we must make the most of the time when it’s in residence. The same goes for guests, and Tyler and Kevin proved to be the spark that spun spring into summer.
We began with a sunny day by the pool, and I whipped up some Senor Sandwiches from this crazy-good recipe by Pati Jinich. A supply of grapefruit cocktails was on the ready, and the sun moved across the sky. Having taken the red-eye, both Tyler and Kevin needed a nap. Andy did too since he had been up all night making sure we got Madonna tickets (more on that happy tale later). Everyone slept until it was time for dinner, when we switched to the first rose of the season and a casual Filipino feast.
Suzie and family joined us for dinner and swimming, and then we stayed up into the night, talking and making brunch plans…
07
June
2019
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June
2019
Jumping Stumps with the Ilagan Twins
These days it’s much more fun to be behind the camera phone than posting in front of it. I’m sick to death of selfies, and not even a new selfie-stick has done much to curb that waning interest, but the opportunity to catch my niece and nephew in all states of silliness has not lost any of its enduring appeal or entertainment value. Like private jokes and home movies, this may prove less amusing to you than it does to me, but too damn bad. We need more family love in these parts.
In this quick series of shots, I directed the twins to act like they were crossing a dangerous stretch of molten lava. Not sure how those wooden stumps survived such temperatures, but there they were, and there they had to manage.
One of the best parts of being a kid is the power of imagination to turn the dullest of objects into items of enchantment. Such magic is especially powerful at the start of summer.
Soon fireflies will sparkle in the deep blue of evening.
June bugs will buzz from tree-top to tree-top.
And summer will unveil her long-awaited charms.
07
June
2019
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June
2019
A Family Kick-off to Summer
The grass was green, the sunlight was slanting through the trees, and the afternoon at my childhood home was idyllic. Andy and I drove to Amsterdam for a Memorial Day dinner with family. The lighting was perfect for a bunch of photos with the twins – these will show up in the Christmas calendars at the end of the year, but a fun sneak-peek is on preview here.
The unofficial start to summer was surprisingly filled with sun – a rarity this spring – and we took advantage of it with an outside dining experience. And this photo shoot. I’m not sure which we enjoyed more.
While Andy talked with Mom and Dad, I entertained the twins, first with these i-Phone pics (they also insisted on video, which I will not be posting on my YouTube channel because I hardly post anything on my YouTube channel, and it’s rather ridiculous that I even have a YouTube channel, but I digress…)
Following dinner, instead of letting digestion work its time-honored magic, I got roped into a game of tag with the twins. Thanks to all of us getting a little older since we last played, it was more and more difficult to get ahead of them. I no longer had to slow down to even the score – they were quick and relentless enough to genuinely give me a challenge.
Thus summer began at the Ilagan house.
A happier start I could not have conjured.
We left satiated and spent – the best way summer can close a day.
The twins are at a perfect age for summer memories, and I often wonder when that line of memory demarcation will solidify for them.
Will they remember the day that they started to catch up to Uncle Al as we raced through the grass together? Will they recall the way the sunlight filtered through the oaks and pines, lighting up the last of the lilac blooms and the bleeding hearts?
I hope so.
If not, maybe this Memorial Day post will memorialize it for the future.
07
June
2019
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June
2019
Once Upon A Project
In the spring night, whispers on the wind…
The calls of peepers, baying at the moon…
Somewhere the sound of water
The sound of life
And you can almost hear the plants growing.
There was talk amongst the pansies,
And chatter between the crocus,
That something was coming…
Something was in the works…
A hint… a mystery… a new…
Swirls of color,
Rainbow divine,
Palette of spring,
Floral design…
Conceived in Winter
Born in Summer
~ J U L Y 2 0 , 2 0 1 9 ~
06
June
2019
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June
2019
A BroSox Adventure Begins Anew
Our annual Red Sox game weekend begins tomorrow, as Skip and I make our way to Boston for a game. I’m told the Sox aren’t performing in stellar fashion these days (my nice way of saying someone said they suck) but that doesn’t matter. To change things up a bit, we are doing a few things differently this year, starting with seats way out in right field. Or left field. One of the fields. In the bleachers. I was toying with the idea of bleaching my hair for the event, but that felt extreme for one game. If it was a double header I might have done it, but that will have to wait for another year. This time it’s one game, one night, and I don’t have the energy to be blonde right now.
We’re also going to aim for keeping things casual and cheap – a grand departure from, well, my entire life, but I’m game. It makes packing and planning easier when I only need a pair of sneakers, some ratty shirts, and a pair of shorts or jeans. Maybe that’s why most of my straight guy friends are so mellow – they don’t stress out over dressing well. I could get into that. Come to think of it, a lot of my gay friends do the same thing. Actually, maybe I’m the only person I know who makes such an effort to dress up anymore. This weekend I shall join the masses.
Other new forays, at least for Skip and I together, include Cambridge and Chinatown. We tend to stay closer to the condo – Copley, Newbury, the South End – with the occasional T-ride to Faneuil Hall. We’ll expand our repertoire, at least we’ll attempt it. The best-laid plans have a way of slipping into old habits. We’ve been doing this long enough that the years are blending together, but each trip has its own highlights and moments of demarcation. I can’t wait to see what those will be this time.
06
June
2019
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June
2019
Tiny Threads: An Insignificant Series
Open question for office building co-horts: why would you go to a different floor to use the restroom? I’ve done that when the men’s room is being cleaned and there’s a big sign on the door and tape blocking the way, but when it’s open why bother?
06
June
2019
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June
2019
The GLSEN Gala Gives Us A Clue
The cult-classic ‘Clue’ and its wacky cast of indelible characters form the inspiration and theme for this year’s GLSEN Gala, taking place next Thursday, June 13, at the Albany Lakehouse. This is one of my favorite events of the year, given its formal, dress-to-the-boas fancy attire (suggested and encouraged) as well as its noble cause. Come dressed as your favorite character, or simply get into the spirit of the thing with a few festive feathers or jewels. It’s the month of Pride – the time to be as fabulously extra as you can be.
Join us Thursday June 13, 2019 for THE Funky Formal event of the season at Albany’s Washington Park Lakehouse.
The black tie is entirely optional, feather boas & big hats are strongly encouraged.
Celebrate 21 years with us, as we continue to fund the Safe Schools Advocacy & Bullying Prevention Work of GLSEN NYCR, right here in the Capital Region of Upstate NY. Our mission is to ensure that every member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.
Get your tickets early, and get them here.
