Category Archives: General

“Look for the archetypal trickster in any story of growth, for growth always means moving toward one’s own human richness which, in turn, means the growth of one’s soul.

The Trickster delights in frolicking with symbols… Jumping across boundaries between the conscious and the unconscious, between the psychological and the physical, the Trickster tosses out images in play that express the sheer vitality of the imagination.” ~ Allan Combs & Mark Holland

One does not have to be psychotic to have an inflated self-image. We are all at times prone to think too highly of ourselves. At such moments the Trickster may pay us a visit in the guise of a prankster, to bring us back to earth, to make us look foolish or ridiculous in little ways just when we want to look our best. He is adept at undercutting self-inflation. ~ Allan Combs & Mark Holland

For the inner, archetypal Trickster, play includes a synchronistic taking hold of whatever materials come to hand in order to break the boundaries of our usual perceptions of reality. In addition, trickster stories almost universally emphasize his doing exactly what he pleases regardless of the consequences. The apparent selfishness is, in part, a way of portraying his sovereign nature as an uncontrollable aspect of the human psyche that originates totally outside the reach of the conscious mind. The meaning of his actions, however, depends not on himself but on some deeper aspect of the psyche in whose service he acts.

There are no limits to his antics. It is his delight to shatter our boundaries, borders, and frames, stripping us of our protective coloration and baring us helplessly to something new. This is his play, and when we ourselves are playful, we are in harmony with him. ~ Allan Combs & Mark Holland

Allowing our imagination to play, letting our fantasies have their day, is to honor him. Utterly to deny this natural tendency of the mind, to suppress the imagination, to refuse to give it a hearing, to refuse even to honor it with our momentary attention, will cause it to carry its case to the shadow where the sympathetic ear of the prankster awaits it.

Allowing the imagination to play means to lighten up from time to time, to let our fantasies run free. To do this we must relax rigid attitudes or moods, even perhaps our concepts of morality… Temporarily relaxing your morality means putting aside your culturally created and therefore limited conception of reality, including the reality of your own self. The Trickster can then reveal aspects of our selves that are hidden from our scrutiny. Growth of the personality is certainly not guaranteed by this. But if we allow the Trickster to be our guide and we follow his play consciously, we are given the very real possibility of expanding our sense of who and what we are. ~ Allan Combs & Mark Holland

The last week of January has begun! I was quite over this winter before it even began, and I’m not going to say anything about it just yet as we’re still not quite over the hump. Let’s just take a quick look-back over our shoulders to survey what damages came before – and some of these damages are hot hot hot!

Take for example the Hunk of the Day. These guys kept things scorching in the face of sub-zero weather and snow storms. Four-name wonder Francisco Javier Gómez Noya started things off on the right foot, whizzing through triathlons like nobody’s business.

Hot on his heels was Cam Newton, who kept things thrilling by his winning smile (and a body to-die-for.)

Not one to let the fit and hairless have all the fun, Brian Maier brought hirsute hotness to the proceedings.

Taking a break from the hunkdom, we paused for a moment of love, or at least love of fragrance.

Sometimes something smells so good that I have to have it right then and there. Mandarino di Amalfi was one of those times, but this week it was Black Saffron.

It turned out that hunks weren’t the only thing that could keep things hot, as evidenced by this steaming bowl of Tom Yum soup.

A onesie kept my package warm in Boston.

These guys certainly helped.

Barrett Pall is in a class all his own, and is a prime example of when the Hunk of the Day becomes so much more than just a hunk.

Music makes the people come together. It also makes the winter more bearable.

Family does that too.

Once upon a time, I was a Trickster. (And at my best moments, I still am.)

Finally, the most important invitation of the year was posted. I’m opening up this platform (isn’t it pretty?) to you. Yes, YOU. The reader, the viewer, the up-to-now-silent partner in all things to do with this website. On certain Sundays I’ll be hosting a “Special Guest Blogger” with someone else helming the post of the day. The best part is that all content and submissions will be up to you. (For those who like a few guidelines, you are welcome to stick with the tried and true themes you see here on a regular basis – all things gay, beautiful, fabulous, fun, deep, moving, disturbing, decadent, depraved, sexy, seductive, scented, tumultuous, sweet, upsetting, depressing, wonderful, melodious, deleterious, witty, courageous, touching, calm, and daring – oh, and if you want to throw in your take on Tom Ford, Madonna, David Beckham or Ben Cohen, be my guest.) In other words, sky’s the limit. Oh, close friends, ex-boyfriends, and former-crushes are especially encouraged to apply, as they may give the other side to all the stories I’ve spun over the years. (I may end up regretting this, but it will be well worth watching.) Hit me up at alanilagan1[@]gmail.com if you have something to say.

Sarah Palin, the person who quit midway through her governorship, is hinting that she may run for President. Personally, and all politics aside, I hope with all my heart that she does throw her hat into the GOP nomination ring. There is no greater spokesperson for the Republican Party. Go Sarah!

“The man can only ride ya when your back is bent. So strengthen it! Then the man can’t ride ya!” – Sarah Palin

To be fair, I’ve always found this to be true.

[See also “Bat-shit crazy.”]

“Through synchronistic coincidences the Trickster can sometimes confront us with what we do not know about ourselves but must recognize if we are to know the whole of our own reality… As a creature without boundaries, his existence and activity are never absolutely fixed in place. He makes connections across the limits we ordinarily set for life, bringing together polar opposites and disclosing that which is hidden.

The Trickster puts life in our path in spite of our denials. We continue to stumble over his gifts, ignoring their disturbing nature when our luck is good, cursing some vague fate when our luck is bad.”

~ Allan Combs & Mark Holland

He is the mythic embodiment of the unexpected. He symbolizes the unexpected eruption into awareness of truths hidden away from the ego. In a psychological sense, the Trickster is one mode by which other archetypes, such as the archetype of the self, assert themselves.

This appearance of the Trickster is characteristic of his style: he pops up unexpectedly. The quality that he brings to synchronicity, however, is not simply that of surprise. his manner has the impish charm of cunning and magic. There is a flavor of roguish enchantment to the situations he orchestrates. ~ Allan Combs & Mark Holland

One has the feeling that in synchronicity the Trickster engages in the fabulous play of a divine jester; he is a “juggler of reality.” It is in the notion of play, we believe, that we may find the key to understanding our best relationship to the Trickster and thus to synchronicity. It is also the key to discovering his divinity in ourselves.

As a messenger and herald he represents the interests of a considerable range of unconscious or mythic figures. The most roguish play of the Trickster, however, is in the role of the prankster. In these the Trickster acts on behalf of an unconscious structure known as the shadow. ~ Allan Combs & Marl Holland

 The Trickster’s play frequently gives us opportunities, usually unwelcome, for personal growth by flaunting our most private secrets for the whole world to see. This seems to be the Trickster’s delight.

Thus, the play of the Trickster makes us confront our own faults in the everyday world, much as we are forced to confront them in our dreams. These instances offer the opportunity to recognize our faults and, by owning them, to take away their sting and in the bargain render ourselves more whole.

This is the Trickster as the shadow, stealing our purpose when we want to appear flawless – just to amuse himself with our foolishness. If we are open to this impish play, we realize that we have been reminded that we are only human, that we have limitations, no matter how perfect we might wish to appear. ~ Allan Combs & Marl Holland

“Virtually all cultures have stories involving the Trickster, most notably connected with the related ideas of creation, boundaries, and change…

Since synchronicities abound at times of transition, we can also expect to find the Trickster present at such times, giving with one hand while he might take away with the other, but he will certainly play a few tricks in the process.” ~ Robin Robertson

Of all the mythological characters, it is the Trickster who is most associated with chance and synchronicity, who is the bearer of good or ill fortune, who stirs the sands of fate and melds together glad and unhappy chance in patterns guessed only in the gleam of his eye. ~ Allan Combs & Mark Holland

But the Trickster is nothing if not paradoxical, and so he is also the joker, as selfish and unreliable as they come. His faults are ridiculously evident:

Sometimes he made mistakes, and although he was wise and powerful, he did many foolish things. He was too fond of playing tricks for his own amusement. He was also selfish, boastful, and vain.

~ Allan Combs & Mark Holland

The world of modern mechanistic science is a world bounded by the rigid constraints of causality. It is the Trickster’s predilection to cross such boundaries, bringing the unexpected to the commonplace. His gift of synchronicity, however, seems dark, sinister, and threatening to that world, because it appears to be an intrusion from an alien landscape, a world that mechanistic science cannot enter. Synchronicity plays the devil with the myth of causality. The expressions of the Trickster, who returns to us the life that our boundary-making tries to exclude, raises a satanic specter in the eyes of science. Its qualities are the most offensive: it cannot be objectively tested, and it makes itself unavailable for prediction and control. Synchronicity represents a hostile other because it is acausal, and as such blasphemes against the mythos of the causality principle. ~ Allan Combs & Mark Holland

Earlier this year I promised a few changes on www.ALANILAGAN.com, and one of those was the implementation of a Guest Blog feature. In an ongoing effort to make this site slightly more interactive, and to give voice to better writers than myself, I’m opening a few select spots up to those who have something to say. It need not be ground-breaking or earth-shattering (and I’d prefer if it wasn’t the latter as I know I wouldn’t fare well in an earthquake) but I know some of my friends have a gift for gab, as well as some sharp minds and wonderful wits.

First up is my pal Skip, for whom this feature was pretty much created. I begged, pleaded, and bothered him until he agreed to spill some words for the cause, and after reading his virgin entry it’s just as impressive as I knew it would be. He’ll premiere the Guest Blog spot with a two-part introduction that’s as hilarious as it is moving.

After that, I’ll be opening the series up to anyone who has something they’d like to contribute, particularly on the issues of love, life, sexuality, Tom Ford, Ben Cohen, and Madonna. (And pretty much anything else.) If you think you have what it takes, or just have something to say, contact me at alanilagan1[@]gmail.com.

The title of this post is slightly misleading, as it would seem to imply some sort of excitement or event that made the past week extra-special or noteworthy. In reality, nothing much happened other than the usual parade of Hunks and interludes of incessant complaining about the weather. (We get it, it’s cold.) Still, maybe something resonated with you, so let’s recap.

Murray Swanby rounded out the Andrew Christian explosion of late, and did it in fine underwear-clad form.

Tiffany unveiled its first-ever advertisement featuring a gay couple

Jerrad Swodeck made all the gay boys, and more than a few straight gals, swoon. (I think some straight men and gay ladies swooned too.)

Perfumed punctuation.

Ning Zetao got into the pool, and into a Speedo.

The best memories can be conjured by the cheesiest pop songs.

Hanging with a very hunky Mr. Cooper (Helfet, that is.)

Deep in the heart of Boston…

…with a little help from a few friends.

A ginger with an ass made fine from curling ~ Niklas Edin.

An Andrew Christian bonus: Daniel Sisniega.

Finally, Rob Gronkowski got his official honor as Hunk of the Day, mostly because someone pulled his pants down.

Today marks the birth-date of the woman who (whether you like it or not) brought me into this world. That’s right, it’s my Mom’s birthday, so if you see Laurie today wish her a happy one!

In their first same-sex marriage ad, Tiffany is proving to be as forward-thinking as it is venerable. Like everything the sterling company does, this is classy, timeless, touching, and beautiful.

Strangely, or wisely depending on bank accounts, I own only one Tiffany item: a gorgeous pen given to me by a dear ex-boyfriend. It’s still the best pen I’ve ever owned, and writes better than any other I’ve ever tried. I’ve had it for over sixteen years (I save it to use on special occasions). Like the company that made it, it’s classic, timeless, touching, and beautiful.

Oh brutal winter, you are delivering some cruel blows. The temperatures, as I write this, are well below freezing, and the wind is kicking up a storm. It’s awful stuff, made only barely bearable by long-johns and velour track suits. Don’t cast your stink-eye at me: when you know the rules of fashion you can break them. On to the week gone by…

Beauty’s where you find it, and this week it was found in the eyes (and hair) of Walter Savage.

It can also be found in a book, especially when it’s as gorgeous a read as ‘The Perfect Scent’ by Chandler Burr.

Put up your dukes for Luke.

From the land of ice, the music of winter.

The very first Non-Hunk of the Day, Justin Bieber, who completely ruined Calvin Klein underwear for many of us. And I mean forever.

The most powerful memory-conjuror: fragrance. (Even when it’s so-so.)

An unlikely Hunk, by request: John Cusack.

This Charlie is a man of eloquent words.

It was a week filled with scents, even one as light as snow.

A trio of Hunks rounded out the chilly week: Jeffrey Hawkins, Jerrad V. Swodeck and Ashley Parker Angel.

Most people would say that there is no smell to snow, but I disagree. It’s nothing strong, it’s nothing you might notice, but it’s there, in the air, this metallic tinge of ice crystals. There would be no point in trying to capture this for a fragrance or a candle. It’s not substantial enough. The only route would be to incorporate some other ancillary scent – maybe the pine trees, or the smoke from a fire, or even the acrid notes of exhaust and snow-blowers that can’t help but attach itself to the scene, in the way that gasoline from a lawn-mower is inextricably bound to the smell of freshly-cut grass.

Yet in its purest form, the scent of snow must exist. There must be some combination of molecules in the air when it snows that combines to form the fleeting fragrance, like the scent of ozone after a summer rain. Technically speaking, this wouldn’t be the scent of snow, exactly, but whatever else was in the air at the time of its falling. These are the circles the mind traverses as the temperatures chase us inside. Really, who would want to smell snow at this time anyway? We’ll get more than enough in its natural form, no need to put it in a bottle when it will surely overwhelm.

Still, it’s tempting to capture it, so beautiful is the scene at hand. So much of life is driven by that quest for the sublime, but the only thing that can truly convey the wonder of snow is, well, snow. Everything else is but a poor substitute, a hollow echo of the real thing – and an echo of something as ethereal as snow is hardly a thing at all.

Most of us have one of these. The catch-all room that gets turned into a storage den, usually unintentionally and over years of accumulation, until it gets to the point you see here, and you keep the door closed whenever company comes over, hoping vainly that your piece and nephew don’t stumble into it in the way that they usually stumble into the only places you don’t want them to be. In my defense, I’ve been sick lately and haven’t had time to keep things as ship-shape as I’d like. But even that’s a cop-out and an excuse, as this mess has been in the making for years.

Like a junk drawer that never quite gets cleaned out, this is the room that houses both my work-out equipment (hence the sorry state of my rotund tummy) and just about everything else that doesn’t have a spot in the house. The bench-press is more of a shelving unit at this point, and the actual shelving units bend beneath the warped weight of wood that’s been punished by the wayward watering of an ancient Thanksgiving cactus and several butterfly amaryllis. The room is in a very sad way, which is why I’m making it one of my New Year priorities to get it cleaned up. I don’t do resolutions, but I make a few promises and goals that almost always get accomplished. Cleaning out this space is first and foremost among them.

There won’t be any before-and-after comparison shots, and the door will likely remain closed even when it gets its make-over (there’s no reason to showcase a work-out/CD room.) But I’ll know it’s spotless, and that is a burden off my back. I think that’s the point of feng shui. It’s a mental matter. When you know there is clear space and cleanliness, you may just find peace. At least, I’m hoping.

Injecting a dose of rejuvenation into the New Year and this old blog, I’m planning a few different posts for the near and far future, as well as some changes to shake things up. First, the tone. I’ve always been a little hoighty-toighty and lofty and arrogant in the way I write here, mostly because I went to school to study literature and didn’t want to make it seem like a total waste. Since it largely was, however, there’s no point in pretending, so the voice you hear now will be a little more raw, a little less polished, and a lot more blunt. It should also sound slightly more urgent and, ideally, more exciting. Demanding too, perhaps, because I’ve learned that when you ask nicely nothing gets accomplished. Bow down, bow down, Goddamn, Goddamn, Goddamn!!!

Second up will be a few new posts that require something of you – the reader, the viewer, the wonderful people out there in the dark. One of them will be a guest post or two from some of my favorite people, beginning with this guy: my webmaster and partner-in-Thor-crimes, Skip Montross. Skip is a fantastic writer, but even better than his way with words is his skill at eliciting emotion when he tells a story. I’ve seen him go from hilarious to poignant to gross to touching in a single telling. Those are the skills that dazzle and amaze. That’s the shit I want on this blog. If you’d like to contribute, drop me a line and make your pitch: alanilagan1[@]gmail.com. Batter up, Tom Brady.

Third, the Hunks. Which guys do you want to see? And for those who like the ladies, dare I do a Hunkette feature? (That sounds wrong. Instruct me on the error of my misguided ways with the ladies. Set me straight. Or at least try. You did know my first crush was on Kayla on ‘Days of Our Lives‘ right?) Send me names, send me photos, send me your fantasies. I always aim to please. You aim too, please?

Fourth and finally, I aim to be a little less guarded. For all the chaotic ramblings, the emotional silliness, and the dramatic snit-fits, nothing here is ever out-of-control or spontaneous. It can’t be ~ I plan too far in advance, I’m too much of a perfectionist, I’m afraid to really let go. But this is the year I have nothing to lose. It will be a bit of a high-wire act, and there will be magnificent mistakes and fantastic falls and some days you won’t be able to click away fast enough – that’s all part of this roller-coaster. You can watch from below, or ride up to the top and plummet down with me. Either way, I hope you enjoy the ride.