I love Taylor as much as the next Swiftie, but her recent quote on Kim Kardashian sadly doesn’t hold much truth.
Trash doesn’t always take itself out – in fact, literal or metaphorical, it most often must be thrown out with force and effort. (Hopefully this applies to the Republican Presidential nominee.)
This week Madonna is scheduled to reach Boston on her Celebration tour, and I am planning to be there for the Tuesday show. That write-up will follow a long tradition of Madonna tour write-ups, as it sounds like she still knows how to astound the world. I can’t wait to see her again… and so we go on with the weekly recap, and begin a few days of pre-populated posts.
The toothpick spears the meatball, and makes it taste all the more delicious.
A new fragrance for a new year in the beauty of a black tea.
January is the Monday of the year.
A winter song before the drifts.
The Madonna Timeline featured ‘Crazy’ from the marvelous ‘Madame X’ album.
On 21 years of naked navel gazing.
Dazzlers of the Day included Karamo Brown, Antoni Porowski, Jeremy Allen White, and Mark Consuelos.
Husband of Kelly Ripa and friend of Andy Cohen, Mark Consuelos has a pretty impressive circle of friends and family, but it’s his own charismatic talent, and current hosting duties on ‘Live with Kelly and Mark’ that earn him this Dazzler of the Day.
Madonna has been through a hell of a lot in the last year – not the least of which was a literal brush with death just a scant few months ago. For her to simply be here at all is a miracle for which we should be grateful – to have her putting on such a show as her current ‘Celebration’ tour (due in Boston today and tomorrow, when I get to see her for the first time since the rousing ‘Rebel Heart Tour’) is blessing and reason enough for great gratitude.
She has said that she wasn’t sure she’d make it, and if Madonna was unsure of herself, that certainly shook those of us who have always relied on her as a bastion of iconic pop royalty, sometimes faltering but never falling. She claimed it was the thought of her children that pulled her through, and in that admission was the often-hinted-at notion that Madonna was human after all. Some of us have known that forever, and loved her all the more for it. We were simply waiting for the rest of the world to catch up.
And so when I saw the first few clips of her ‘Celebration Tour’, my heart rejoiced and rebounded. Our Lady of Perpetual Inspiration was still intact, still inspiring, and still bringing the world joy and music and spectacle and escapism – the very tenets of her first ‘Dreams Do Come True’ mantra from those lovely ‘Like A Virgin‘ days. I remember them well, as I do each musical step she has taken since then, and as I caught a little glimpse of ‘Crazy For You‘ I felt the tears well up just a little bit. And then I remembered that it was always best to trust in her journey.
Trust in the ecstatic process.
Trust in the liturgical legacy.
Trust in the icon she has been and always will be.
Above all else, trust in Madonna.
No one does it better, and no one ever will.
Way back in 2008 blogs were changing their dirty reputation into something that would crest and soon enough ebb as all social media tends to do over the long arc of time. For me, it was a little boost and boon of viewers and readers, but not something that I particularly cared about or sought out, as this site has never made me a dime. I’m here because I like to create and share and work out my own demons through whatever expression I find works best.
This year is the 21st year of ALANILAGAN.com, so yay for me and everyone who has helped along the way (and there are many, as I still know little to nothing about programming or HTML or even if that’s used anymore). Last year we had our celebratory 20th anniversary, as seen in the following list of links that honored two decades in the navel-gazing/blogging business. Revisit them as you like on this snowy Sunday.
It had been a couple of months since I last stopped in at St. Mary’s in downtown Albany, so the other day at lunch I buttoned up my coat, slung a scarf around my neck, and walked up the hill in the direction of the church. I used to go there in the summer before and after Dad died. It was a small moment of comfort in days of sorrow.
On this January afternoon, the sky was blue and the sun was shining, but there wasn’t much warmth in the air. At least there wasn’t much wind either. I hadn’t been moving a lot in my post-holiday slump, and my calves burned as I neared the top of the hill. This was where I served jury duty in that awful murder case. Walking past the courthouse no longer left me with a haunted feeling, it was just another marker of a memory, another piece of the past living only in my head, like summer in the middle of winter.
My contemplative mood melted into relief that I’d arrived at the church. I reached for the heavy door, but it was locked. On this day, not even God would let me in. I paused there in the shadow of the doorway, then headed back down the hill.
{Note: The Madonna Timeline is an ongoing feature, where I put the iPod on shuffle and write a little anecdote on whatever was going on in my life when that Madonna song was released and/or came to prominence in my mind.}
The Madonna Timeline is on a bit of a ‘Madame X’ kick of late, with the most recent entry being ‘God Control‘, and this one moving on to ‘Crazy’. One of the most charming and effervescent tracks of that album, ‘Crazy’ brings me happily back to the summer of 2019, a time that feels more quaint and sunny when you realize it was all in the months right before a worldwide deadly pandemic. In so many ways, that summer feels like one of the last great summers, and all the summers since then have been trying to achieve something similar, and all to no success. Maybe I’ve just grown up beyond having a carefree summer. Maybe last summer simply ruined it for me. I don’t know. What I do understand is that there is power in music – and power in this pretty little song.
The start of the summer of 2019 was spent in gleeful anticipation of the ‘Madame X’ album – one of the first true summer albums released by Madonna since I can’t remember when (perhaps the most notable one being ‘True Blue’). The magic had begun with ‘Medellin‘ and while some of the album was gloriously experimental, Madonna still knew her way around a heady hook and a magical melody, which she melded with some strong Portuguese influence on ‘Crazy’.
Starting the season as early as possible, I remember painting some of our worn backyard plant stands and furniture a bright yellow, unifying the accents with the curtains hanging from the canopy that year. They would be excellent foil for the garishly-colored pots I was using, forming a vibrant fiesta of color and bold hues that would help to make a celebration of summer. All the while, I played the ‘Madame X’ album on repeat, burning these beautiful songs into a summer memory.
Once the patio was put together and looking pretty, the canopy assembled and providing some shade, and the pool swirling its chlorinated warmth in circles of wavering blue and aqua, Andy and I would pause and take it all in, enjoying this little oasis in the midst of upstate New York, our own little escape from the rest of the world. His adamant desire to have a pool paid off, and I’ve always been grateful for that. Madonna sang her songs crafted halfway round the world, and they matched the surroundings and the time perfectly.
Summer ended all too quickly that year, though we didn’t realize it then. It was just another summer in a long line of summers, and there would always be such summers to come, wouldn’t there? I wish I’d known so I could have held onto it a little longer. Strike that – I’m glad we didn’t know. There was nothing to mar the happiness of the moment.
If that makes me crazy, so be it.
Song #174 – ‘Crazy’ ~ Summer 2019
Winter songs, at least the one’s I enjoy at the moment, should be quieter moments, acoustic-like and simple, with perhaps a bit of a dour undercurrent. Especially before the onslaught of a winter storm, such as in the predicament in which we currently find ourselves in New York. Here’s a comforting one to pass the morning, a gorgeous bit of music by the aptly-named Zach Winters:
January 6 is also often referred to as the saddest day of the year, so this song resonates a little deeper. I’m leaning into the sadness this winter, finding ways of co-existing with it rather than fighting or trying to distract myself with other baubly bits of whimsy and frivolity. My life provide enough of those – I want to focus on the melancholy – not get drowned or bogged down by it – but simply experience it, feel it, let it wreak its stretches of crying, let it wring the tears and allow them to fall. Such salty water is heavy, and better drained than retained.
I’m also learning to accept love from others as a way of working through the heartache. Andy came home with our first pot of hyacinths for the season – a trio of violet bulbs that began blooming almost the second he brought them in the door. They smelled of spring, of hope, of a time less foreboding. They felt like a hug from my husband – always welcome, always needed.
Today’s PSA for the conservation-minded:
If it’s yellow, let it mellow.
If it’s brown, flush it down.
Show-stopping performances seem to come naturally for Jeremy Allen White, who earns his first Dazzler of the Day crowning for being the current ambassador of the legendary Calvin Klein underwear brand. More impressively, he’s been part of several cultural touchstones of the past year – ‘The Bear’ and ‘The Iron Claw’ – which simply cements his dazzling status. [See other CK Ambassadors Shawn Mendes, Maluma, and Noah Centineo for further viewing pleasures.]
Lest anyone think this site has gone all serious and somber – BAM! – here’s your shirtless post with more than a few salacious links, starting out with Glen Powell’s recent streak of nakedness in service of his latest movie ‘Anyone But You’. (Full booty shot of a nude Glen Powell here.) Everyone loves a little male nudity.
Taking the world by storm as the latest Dr. Who, Ncuti Gatwa made a splash in his first Dazzler of the Day crowning here.
Zac Efron has a long list of links in which he’s appeared shirtless and half-naked and semi-naked and fully-naked (even if it’s not fully-frontal).
Singing the praises of Lenny Kravitz is a popular endeavor, and someone so beloved across all musical realms more than deserves this Dazzler of the Day crowning.
Chris Meloni can always be counted on for some bodacious butt service, as evidenced from many a naked Meloni search.
Setting things even hotter in this shirtless greeting for the weekend is Wilson Cruz, who changed my life with his groundbreaking turn in ‘My So-Called Life’. Checking him out today is even better.
Final shirtless honors go to today’s upcoming Dazzler, Jeremy Allen White, whose new Calvin Klein underwear ads are making a big splash across the internet. Check back here in a few hours for more of this action.
Someone just posted that “January is the Monday of the year” and that feels so very true.
Continuing our celebration of the upcoming return of ‘Queer Eye’, Antoni Porowski earns his first Dazzler of the Day, thanks to a career spanning all forms of infotainment. Check out Antoni’s website here for a more comprehensive view of his accomplishments, and read the literature found there:
Antoni Porowski is a New York Times Bestselling author, host and executive producer of Netflix’s Easy-Bake Battle culinary competition series and the upcoming docuseries No Taste Like Home from Studio Ramsay Global for National Geographic, and star of Netflix’s award-winning hit Queer Eye. Coming up, Antoni is developing a feature film, entitled Girls and Boys, for Netflix with Black-ish creator Kenya Barris. The film is loosely based on Antoni’s real-life dating experiences as a sexually fluid man.
A self-taught cook, Antoni is a four-time Emmy nominee for his role as Queer Eye’s resident food & wine expert. The hit series has won the Emmy Award for “Outstanding Structured Reality Program” for five consecutive years, breaking the current category record for most wins.
Antoni brings his lifelong passion for food to Yummers, his pet food brand cofounded alongside Queer Eye castmate Jonathan Van Ness and pet industry veteran Rebecca Frechette Rudisch.
Born in Canada to European emigrants, Antoni is an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ+ rights everywhere, especially his family’s native Poland where he serves on the board of the Equaversity Foundation, which was established to organize international fundraising to support the LGBTQ+ community there.
Our variegated ficus plant will shirk off a round of leaves at various points in the year, often preceding a growth spurt. At first this alarmed me, and I wondered at what sort of atmospheric change I had instigated to result in that flush of fallen leaves. (Ficus are notoriously abhorrent of the slightest change in situation, but will usually come around if given time to acclimate, and if the change in atmosphere still provides them with bright indirect light and decent humidity.) Immediately after it shed that first showering of leaves, fresh ones appeared – and ever since then I’ve understood and slowly learned to appreciate this cycle of life.
Our plant usually goes through a few shifts in growth during the year, and the happiest one occurs right now, as the earliest signifier of longer daylight hours and the impending approach of spring. Another batch of new leaves is on the way, and more plentiful than the ones that have fallen.
The new season of ‘Queer Eye’ debuts on Netflix January 24, and with it the return of Karamo Brown as their “culture expert” – a coveted position indeed, and one that solidified Brown’s place on the pop-culture map (following a turn on MTV’s ‘The Real World: Philadelphia’ back when MTV mattered). Today he earns his first Dazzler of the Day crowning for those pioneering efforts, as well as an appearance in Taylor Swift‘s ‘You Need to Calm Down’ video, and his memoir ‘Karamo: My Story of Embracing Purpose, Healing, and Hope’.
