http://www.alanilagan.com A Renaissance Man for the New Millenium Tue, 13 May 2008 04:04:38 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 It wasn't just that I wanted to be any woman, I wanted to be Wonder Woman. I wanted to deflect bullets with pretty bracelets, fly in an invisible jet, and magically lasso men’s bodies and hearts until they told the truth. I was entranced by the power she held over ... http://www.alanilagan.com/index.php?p=529 From an early age all I wanted to be was a girl. I would tuck my cock between my legs and look at myself in the mirror, praying that one day I would wake up and be in my rightful body, with long flowing hair, voluptuous curves, and a pretty ... http://www.alanilagan.com/index.php?p=528 Madonna begins the final track of her 1989 album Like A Prayer by whispering the broken bits of the Act of Contrition, before squealing electric guitars break in (courtesy of Prince) and the instrumental track of Like A Prayer is played backwards. She goes on to sing a strange and ... http://www.alanilagan.com/index.php?p=527 When the arena lights dimmed, the ice began to glow. They sped around the rink, executing flips, double salchows, spins, and camels, all to the accompanying razzle-dazzle of lights and music - including their very own theme song (that consisted mostly of the words "The Ice Capades" over and over ... http://www.alanilagan.com/index.php?p=526 My first trip to the circus was to attend the Ringling Brothers/Barnum & Bailey extravaganza, at the Glens Falls Civic Center. I don't recall much from the show, except the smelly animals and an electric gun that you had to rev up with a trigger to make sparks appear at ... http://www.alanilagan.com/index.php?p=525 Chapter 1: A Circus is Born Outside the forum, a crowd was gathering. It was lunch time, and businessmen in suits stood in small groups waiting for them to arrive. Hordes of children squealed with anticipatory delight, running around in small circles and tugging on their parents' coats. They heard them ... http://www.alanilagan.com/index.php?p=524 At the college where I teach I'm surrounded by circus people. We aren't tightrope walkers or acrobats. We don't breathe fire or swallow swords. We're gypsies, moving wherever there's work to be found. Our scrapbooks and photo albums bear witness to our vagabond lives: college years, grad-school years, instructor-mill years, ... http://www.alanilagan.com/index.php?p=523 Let them call you freak, In the havoc you wreak, In the noses you tweak, In the stories you leak, Not for the faint or weak, Not for the plain or bleak, You're much too chic For the pussy or the geek, For the mindless or the meek, Few dare to peek, A Piccadilly boutique, A scarf so fucking sleek, And a ... http://www.alanilagan.com/index.php?p=522 Going to see the elephant meant you were going over the wall, into the cave, across the mountain, into the dark night beyond the firelight’s reach. When you returned - if you returned - you said, "I've been to see the elephant." Some things once seen cannot be said, and ... http://www.alanilagan.com/index.php?p=521 The Lenten Rose has been blooming for a few weeks now - it took this plant three years before it sent up its first set of blooms, and I had almost given up on it. One thing I learned was that cutting off the dead and tattered evergreen leaves after ... http://www.alanilagan.com/index.php?p=520