Not you finally responding after I call you out on not texting me back, and then getting mad when I don’t immediately reply.
Nope. No time for that sort of fuckery. Gaslight somebody else – I’m burned out.
PS – Is it funny or sad that a number of people in my life are going to think this is about them? Today I think it’s sad, but maybe that’s just because I’m feeling sad.
Spring stirrings and artistic renderings of a blue bird, in painted and musical fashion.
Our opening days of spring have been rather chilly, but the sun has been about, and the world seems to be moving in the right direction. A spot of spring music, then, for the afternoon hours, to celebrate the ‘Bluebird’ of this song’s title, and to celebrate the triumphant arrival of spring. Winter be banished!
Afternoon siestas pass more beautifully when something like this is playing in the background, or the foreground – choose your own volume and choose your own adventure. Spring demands we take charge and take control, if only because there is about to be much to do. On that clunky sentence, I’ll leave you to the music.
It’s been five relatively sad years since Mom and I have made a trip to Broadway, thanks to catastrophic events like a worldwide pandemic and my Dad’s decline, and it’s been one of the more heartbreaking things we’ve missed. This year we look to return to that happy tradition, and I’ve lined up a couple of shows that will hopefully thrill and entertain, as we need some escapism right now.
First up is ‘The Who’s Tommy’ – a revival of the 90’s stage musical that ran for raves. The new production is being heralded as a visual feast, with all the bells and whistles one might expect from a show celebrating the ‘Pinball Wizard’. Having never seen any of its iterations, this will be new to both of us.
Speaking of new, the next show is an original musical production of ‘The Great Gatsby‘ starring Jeremy Jordan and Eva Noblezada (more on them in future Dazzler posts). While early reviews of a pre-Broadway run had been mixed, it’s one of my favorite stories, so we’ll immerse ourselves in the Roaring Twenties and make the most of the atmosphere and ambiance. (Any excuse to break out the fringe and fascinators…)
I’ve intentionally chosen a couple of ‘lighter’ shows, big on visual bombast and slim on serious soul-reckoning drama/trauma, as this will be the first trip we make without Dad waiting at home for our return. As such, it is somewhat of a sad return to things we did before, but also a new step forward, so we will focus on the new.
New steps require new accommodations, and the hunt for a pretty hotel is next…
A song, then, to echo the spring morning we’ve just had, perhaps with a sadder slant in the sweet care of Judy Garland. A few fanciful spring images too, for the season now at hand – now, after so much waiting and wanting – now, after this kind winter, now… yes, now. A word that lends spring its intrinsic urgency: now.
Oh spring, please be as gay as I remember you being in my youth. Please do not have spent all your lilac blooms in last year’s wayward autumn warmth. Please do not rush, and please somehow make haste. Please… please… another lovely word, perhaps even lovelier than now: please. The want of spring; the regret of winter.
Spring nights call for music like this, something that rings slightly of Savannah, maybe by Harold Arlen, something that speaks to the heart, and to the longing of the earth when she breaks open in an irreversible state of thaw. Release. And relief. I remember walking beneath a small stretch of flowering cherry trees in Boston one night, long before Andy, long before I even knew or loved myself, and spring felt like the only source of solace for an early twenty-something on the cusp of life.
Such tenderness at the budding youth of the season carries a risk and a warning. There is still time for snowstorms and spring freezes; we might yet lose all the precarious flowers-in-bud, and the world is vicious in how unrelenting such acts can come upon our course. Winter may be harsh, but it would never pretend otherwise; spring is more cruel in what it can take away with its promise of hope, and promise of… promise.
The Dazzler of the Day goes out to Lena Waithe, for her reigning run as actor, producer, and writer. Waithe has created the Showtime series ‘The Chi’ as well as the BET series ‘Boomerang’ and ‘Twenties’, and acting as Executive Producer of ‘Them’. She’s received a Tony Award nomination (for ‘Ain’t No Mo’) and won an Outstanding Writing Emmy as well as a Black Film Critics Circle Award for Best Original Screenplay for ‘Queen and Slim’. That’s a lot of accomplishments, and it still feels like this is only the opening act.
When a Leap Year occurs, such as occurred last month with the extra day tacked onto February, spring comes early, so today marks the arrival of the season of hope. I’m all for an early spring, in every possible way. Perhaps you’ve noticed some ornamental changes happening here as this site enters the spring season – some vining florals have been winding their way along the borders and featured picture boxes. Spring is more than just flowers and vines – it speaks to something deeper, something more powerful. It speaks to hope, rebirth, and renewal.
This year, it also speaks to youth – lost, found, destroyed, and conjured. My niece and nephew turn 14 years old at the end of this month, and that was the age I remember coming into the voice and soul I still feel like I have today. Of course kids grow up a little quicker these days, so perhaps they’ve been in such headspace for a while. I was always a little slower and more hesitant to grow like that.
And so we enter spring with a slower step, a contemplative step, a step that moves us forward while taking a quick look back – something I am loathe to do, but willing to try for all the good that was in the past.
‘Last night when we were young’ might be a reference to the last day of winter, the last night of one’s youth, or the last bit of innocence before the world reveals some of its darker secrets. Whatever way one reads it, it’s a time for consideration of where we each stand. Slowly, I’m embracing what that means, even when it means growing up a little at this mid-to-late stage of life. There is always room to grow, and spring has often been the bearer of that beautiful lesson. Spring, with its air of hope, its sweet perfume of floral possibility ~ spring, with its tricky weather, its cold nights braced by its encroaching warm breezes ~ spring, with its green splendor and voluptuous buds, tight and hard and coiled…
Spring is when it all happens, even when it might not feel like it in its first few days. All I can promise is that the end will look nothing like the beginning. Take your time and stumble through it with me – spring is better when done with company.
If a recipe calls for folding whipped cream into some kind of pudding mix at any point, I already love it.
Your kids will love it too.
Still enraptured by the new twist that Madonna gave to this iconic corset, I’m posting another pic of the ensemble from her Oscar party. That’s about all I have the energy or desire to do right now, so take a look back at the week that came before in this typical Monday morning recap.
As mentioned, Madonna reworked her magical reinvention powers here.
The Madonna Timeline was back with ‘Joan of Arc’ from the glorious ‘Rebel Heart’ era.
Maluma took some of it off for Playgirl.
Better looks at that Madonna reinvention.
Carnations and stock make for a beautiful pair.
Green and lavender love in a cup.
My fake-smiling skills have been honed to steely perfection. That still doesn’t make it right.
A shirtless Lenny Kravitz, John Cena, Zac Efron and more!
Career goals have been supplanted by retirement goals, which is the way life should be.
Dazzlers of the Day included the luminous likes of Eric Andre, Mickey Boardman, Ian Paget, Bobby Ilagan, Gina Yashere, and Nicholas Capolino.
I love a good spiritual trajectory, especially one that echoes the ups and downs most of us will have experienced if we make through any decent run at life. Nicholas Capolino is our Dazzler of the Day because he has gone on such a journey, and continues to follow his own path, through a practice of yoga and meditation and healing, which he now shares with the rest of us. But as they once said on ‘Reading Rainbow’, you don’t have to take my word for it – here’s a better description of his story from his website.
Nicholas cultivated his own yoga and meditation practice in 2008 while studying acting and graduating from Cal State University of Fullerton in 2012. Every day in the acting program, he learned in depth embodiment techniques and trained with world renowned teachers such as Fay Simpson , Kennedy Brown Katherine Fitzmaurice, and many more!
He learned how to tune into his own hormone centers (yogis call these “chakras”) with the Lucid Body Technique, various voice techniques including Fitzmaurice Voice work, and physical embodiment practices to bring classical characters from Shakespeare, Chekhov, and Moliere to life on the stage. He truly believed acting would be his career until he was cut from the program in his junior year. It was heart breaking…
He stopped doing yoga and meditating and instead started smoking cigarettes, and partying for the remainder of his college years. This downward spiral of feeling addicted to smoking, partying, and sex taught him the power of learning to live a life of discipline, moderation, and spirituality.
In 2016, Nicholas rediscovered his roots in yoga and meditation by becoming a certified Hatha yoga instructor at the Huntington Beach Wellness Center. Once he recognized his own healing transformation, Nick expanded his style of teaching by getting certified in Pranic Healing by Master Ko. In addition, he is certified and trained in Hatha, Tantra, Healing Qi Gong , Iyengar Yoga, Yin Yoga, and Restorative Yoga; which allowed him to become a E-RYT 500. (Expert Registered Yoga Teacher 500 hours of training + 200 hour of Healing Qi Gong) He is also certified as a group fitness instructor with expert knowledge in strength training and nutritional programming.
He has partnered and worked with companies like Nike, Equinox, Lululemon, Fabletics, MLB, Topo Chico, Vuori, Bay Clubs, and much more! Nick continues to teach yoga and meditation for hundreds of people by co facilitating health and wellness festivals and leading private retreats around the world.
His true purpose is to promote and inspire growth, healing, and transformation for each individual. Nick’s grounded nature, gentle guidance and spiritually-focused approach provides a welcoming and loving atmosphere for all ages and levels of students.
Career Goals… no, Retirement Goals: luxuriating in bed until a day/afternoon of lounging begins.
Also, making up words that offer new ways of being lazy.
While most of us are aging in the traditional manner of getting worse-for-wear with each advancing year, Lenny Kravitz seems to be going in the opposite direction, as judged by this feature photo – and many recent photos – showing him as fit and fine as ever. Give me whatever he’s eating. Here are a few more fine gents who are aging, or not aging, accordingly, and in their shirtless splendor.
John Cena made a naked splash (naked in the Hollywood sense of not-quite-entirely-naked) and here’s a little behind the scenes reveal of how not-naked he actually was.
One of our favorite on-screen couples of the past few years has got to be Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galitzine, who have been part of previous shirtless spreads like this one.
Maluma has been making the Playgirl rounds of late, showing off the physique he also put on display here and here and here.
Dominic Albano is currently promoting his insanely-comfy underwear line, but has occasionally been known to slip into a Calvin Klein brief now and then.
His first name leaves him alphabetically last, but there’s no finer way to bring up the rear of a shirtless post than with Zac Efron. See much more of Efron here, and enjoy the rest of your Sunday.
I love a Dazzler who writes their own post, so I’m letting Gina Yashere’s brilliant bio from GinaYashere.com. do most of the explaining here. For those woefully-out-of-the-know, Yashere is a hilarious comedian, producer, writer, vocal artist, television correspondent, and actor. She easily earns this Dazzler of the Day for never allowing her star quality to be dimmed.
Gina was born & raised in London UK, of Nigerian parents, and previously worked as an elevator engineer for Otis. Gina has been a stand up and TV star in the UK for numerous years now, with appearances on iconic TV shows such as Live At The Apollo & Mock The Week, as well as creating & performing the hugely popular comedic characters, Tanya & Mrs. Omokerede on The Lenny Henry Show. She broke onto the American comedy scene with her appearances on Last Comic Standing (NBC), where she made it to the final 10, and then never went home!
Gina went on to be named one of the top 10 rising talents in the Hollywood Reporter.
She is also known in the US for being the only British comedian to ever appear on the iconic Def Comedy Jam, as well as for her hilarious appearances on The Tonight Show (NBC) & Crashing on HBO.Gina self produced 3 separate 1 hour Stand Up Specials, Skinny B*tch, Laughing To America, & Ticking Boxes, two of which are currently streaming on Netflix.
Gina’s 4th stand up special is also streaming on Netflix, as part of The Stand Ups, season 2, and is garnering rave reviews on the network. She is also regularly featured on Comedy Central as the British Correspondent on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
Gina is also an in demand voice artist. She has voiced characters in various animations, including Keisha in the British cult hit, Bromwell High, & Gravelle in the latest movie from the makers of Wallace & Gromit & Chicken Run, Early Man! She can be currently heard playing a starfish called Gareth, on the Children’s ITV show, The Rubbish World of Dave Spud.
Gina has performed for audiences not just in Europe, the US & Australia, but she is in fact, a highly sought after comedian in Asia, making numerous sold out appearances in Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia & Hong Kong.
It’s a wonder she found the time to pick up her 4th award in a row for “Best Comedian” at the recent Black Entertainment & Comedy Awards (UK).Gina has performed numerous times at the prestigious Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal and Toronto. Feature films appearances have included Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Mr. in Between, and she has also appeared on the West-End stage in The Vagina Monologues.
Gina currently resides in Los Angeles where she is producing, writing and acting on the new sitcom Bob hearts Abishola, which she co-created with Chuck Lorre, & is currently airing on CBS.
The older I get, the more fake-smiling I seem to be doing.
It really should be going in the opposite direction.
This is a post in which I have absolutely nothing and everything to say, and I expect it to be largely a mess, the way the end of winter is so often messy. It will also be blessedly brief, for both our sakes. My allergies have come early, mold and mites and a bunch of things that were never quite properly killed off with a righteous blast of the freezing spells that once characterized our winters are in full effect, undimmed by this relatively warm season. Unburied by snow and ice, such tiny monsters are wreaking their havoc, leaving me with the infuriating feeling of being constantly on the edge of a cold, with sinuses that sting and a nose that runs at only the most inconvenient of times. And exhaustion, regular and debilitating exhaustion that is entirely unwelcome when there is so much to be done.
This little crocus is the first sign of floral life, but I’m not counting on it to bloom. Chipmunks usually eat its head off before it can give us a proper show, and I find life is better spent not expecting anything great, and then being happily surprised if such good events are destined to happen. All we have is the here and now.
The back patio is a shambles. Our canopy has been disassembled, and we need to rent a dumpster to get rid of two broken-down canopies. I need to paint a bathroom somehow. And the yearly yard clean-up, always one of the most onerous and back-breaking tasks, looms immediately on the horizon provided there is no rain. My spirit is dampened and I’m seeking (and failing to find) the ambition and drive to make much of this happen beyond a few half-hearted minor motions per day. (On the evening of this writing, I moved some turtlenecks from the guest room closet to the attic. That would be it.)
So let this crocus inspire you, and me, and the whole coming onslaught of spring. Godspeed to us all.
Hey, at least we’re not in the royal family. Silver lining.
The people who dazzle me the most are usually my family and friends, so this Dazzler of the Day honor, going out to my cousin Bobby, is especially fun to write. Today is his birthday, so this is a little gift to him, and he deserves it regardless of birthdate because he’s become our point person for all things going on in the Ilagan world. Whenever anything noteworthy happens in our family, Bobby is usually the one who knows the news and who helps us all stay connected. He’s an integral member of our immediate family as well, who has in many ways become our third brother (because cousin doesn’t fully convey his place in our home). Growing up in our home was an experience, not always the most fun or sunny, but Bobby helped us get through our toughest years, and when Dad got sick he was there when Mom needed him most. He’s raising his own family now, heading up his own table and leading his own way, and he’s still our family point person. Happy birthday, Cuz!
