Switching from the salacious to the sweet, soon we herald a couple of posts returning the Ilagan twins to the fold, with a recap of their fourth birthday celebration. For now though, a hint of that, in the toys of childhood ~ colorful, innocent, and fresh as the break of dawn. Come back in a day or two when we resume the usual adult content.

Until then, welcome to the dollhouse.

Today is Palm Sunday, one week before Easter. This was one of the more interesting Catholic days, whereby we received a few palm fronds while the Priest sprayed the congregation with Holy Water. Kids tend to covet things, and my brother and I were no different, so we loved getting the stringy palm leaves, tinged just slightly with green – proof that they were once a part of something that was alive. We held them up as the Priest came around blessing them and throwing a few drops of Holy Water about. That sort of thing was more interesting to us than any drawn-out homily or communion-hand-out.

Though this site has been in existence since 2003 (not many personal websites can boast that claim) I didn’t bother archiving much until a few years ago. Prior to that I’d simply re-boot and start fresh every year. Yes, some good things were lost in the process – mostly in the in-between moments that seem insignificant at the time, but whose meaning can only be gleaned in hindsight. Subtle patterns of evolution, small signposts of the way things would go ~ such are the jewels along the journey of life. A small part of me mourns that loss, but most of me is glad to be rid of the past. More people need to learn to let go like that.

For the past couple of years, however, we’ve had the Archives – the little box that can be found when you scroll down to the bottom right of this page. If you click on that it will bring you to the month and year of your choosing (all the way back to a few posts from 2010). You can find the events of May 2010 – the month of my wedding to Andy, the Provincetown fun of August 2012, the chill of this past December, and the mystical moments of March 2011.

There was this rather schizophrenic spattering of posts from February 2013, the Madonna-centric meanderings in September 2010, the sultry summer studs that populate July of 2013, and the mixed bag of spring tricks from April 2012.

Once you reach a certain point in the past, you can keep clicking on the ‘Older Entries’ link at the bottom of each page to go back post by post – though I don’t recommend that. It’s difficult enough to look ahead, much more so when trying to look back at the same time.

A close-second to The Writings, as far as my fickle interests go, are The Pictures. In some ways, they have taken over this site, as almost every post features some sort of photo to go along with it, whether it be Shirtless hunks or iconic Madonna poses or simple flower and gardening shots. Of course, there are more shameless photo albums, like of me in my underwear, or high-brow black-and-white collections (me in my underwear with an artistic slant).

There are also albums of favorite places I’ve been, like London, Boston, Ogunquit, Provincetown, Washington, Cape Cod, San Francisco, and some not-so-favorite places like Las Vegas.

Finally, there are the seasons – those natural markers that signify the passage of a year, the ticking of time. The freshness and hope of spring, the glory and celebration of summer, the ripe fullness of fall, and the woeful slumber of winter ~ each grand and gorgeous in its own right, each possessing a particular pulchritude.

One day I’ll get around to updating these galleries, but that day is not today, so you have some time to peruse them at your leisure.