Andy has been on a burrata bend of late, and I’m reaping the benefits of it in plates like this, which features a ring of heirloom tomatoes outfitted with fresh basil from the garden and a generous drizzle of a balsamic glaze. Taken with bites of burrata, it makes for a glorious combination to form a light lunch, or happy appetizer for a simple summer dinner.
Simplicity is key for summer contentment.
Like when my husband brings home two melons and my first thought is doing this for the camera. Completely at odds with our demure coquette summer theme, it’s a badly-needed dose of silliness in a world that seems to be crumbling around us. In what may very well be our last summer of democracy, I urge everyone to live like this is our final gasp of freedom. Who knows what tomorrow may bring? And who is brave enough to ask at this point? Honestly, I’d rather not know.
In such ignorant bliss, I may choose to retire from the current life I live, going into exile like some forgotten Jedi, perhaps to be resurrected for a distant final act in which I might play a supporting part, or simply fading away with the gentle glow of whatever becomes/remains of this website, like the solar echoes of a long-dead star. One’s actual influence is always felt more than seen.
It seems even the silliest pose for a blog post cannot quell the underlying tones of seriousness the current moment demands. Anyway, suck on these melons – and don’t give up on summer or silliness yet…
Back when blogs were a big deal, Andy Towle created one of the most popular and relevant gay blogs the world had ever seen in Towleroad. Prior to that, and going even further back to when magazines ruled the gay landscape as far as getting information and making like-minded connections, Towle was the editor-in-chief of Genre magazine. In both career instances, he pioneered the path for an openly, and at times defiantly, gay existence, providing a means and mechanism for all of us to feel less alone at a time when easy access to other gay people often proved difficult at best. A lot has changed and happened since then, and in recent years Towle has successfully shifted his goals and focus to his painting, which finds happy fruition in a show currently running at Provincetown Commons (with another reception scheduled for this Friday, July 5 for all those in Provincetown for the holiday).
Today he earns his first crowning as Dazzler of the Day thanks to the fascinating journey he has invited us to join over the past two decades. (See more of his work on his website here.)
Playing on the song of this summer, it always feels like there is one endless supply of summer time, or in this case summer thyme. It sprawls out ahead of us, with no end in sight, unfurling in bloom and herbal freshness.
A carpet of thyme, especially in bloom, is a charm that may be found at the edge of a meadow, or the neglected patch of a parking lot divider. Brushing through its mat of pungent leaves, I sense the memory of a spice cupboard surfacing, bringing back fall and winter at a most inopportune moment. This is summer – and it’s only just begun.
A recent dinner with Suzie at Athos provided the opportunity to try this mocktail twist on their ‘Lavender Daisy’ drink – hats off to a restaurant that offers every single one of its cocktails in mocktail form. The presentation is coquettish, and I would love for violets to play a part in all my drinks from this point forward. That’s the sort of magic one can wish for in a coquette summer. Let’s also have a song – one for the moon…
And so I swim, in the pool that once brought us such joy, attempting to set the trappings of happiness in physical form, rekindling the precise atmosphere and setting where happiness once resided, leading with action in the motion, the way some say to smile when you want to feel better, tricking the body into thinking it’s in a space and place of happiness. And then I remember – a coquette summer isn’t necessarily meant to be one of happiness, and maybe this summer isn’t meant to have much of solace in it anyway. We shall dream in the day and swim in the night, drink in the stars and sip on the moon, and our coquette summer will be rounded in a sleep…
Clinching the number one position on the men’s gymnastics Olympic team representing the USA, Frederick Richard is crowned as Dazzler of the Day in glorious anticipation of this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris, France. Helming our Olympic gymnastics team, Richard has vowed to bring home some medals, even if he’s already proven himself in the past year of competition.
When your therapist lays out how all the conditions of the past few months have set you up perfectly for a mid-life crisis, it gives one pause, especially as it’s been a challenge simply getting out of bed in recent days, coupled with self-induced difficulty in getting to sleep at night. And so, we pause, as July dawns and this recap goes through the past week, as our weekly recap does. Perhaps the way out is focusing on our coquette theme, and losing oneself in the pink, ribbon-laced aesthetic, especially when the rest of the world has gone so atrociously dark. My niece Emi played a large part in conjuring the coquette theme, and so she appears here lending some support to her favorite doting Uncle. On with the recap…
Summer sunsetz and summer skize.
Still largely unaffected by FOMO. (I have HTMO – Happy To Miss Out.)
A strawberry moon amid stormy fits and rainy starts at the beginning of a Boston summer.
Even in the rain, Boston shines when it’s summer.
Under a wizard’s delicious spell.
The Virgo of August differs from the Virgo of September.
We don’t have to take our clothes off.
“Remember when you wanted what you currently have.”
A coquettish mix – the second playlist of our coquette summer.
Dazzlers of the Day included Michael Phelps, Louisa Jacobson, John Duff, and Ryan Murphy.
Our second playlist for this coquette summer is at hand for the moments before we turn the page to July. When summer turns to high, all feels endlessly glorious with the world, like summer could last forever. Every year it feels like that, every year it feels endless – or maybe that’s just hope. No matter how much we know it will end, we hope.
This is the second Coquette Summer playlist – entitled simply ‘coquettish’. Beneath the spell of summer, this music percolates like an old-school coffee-maker, sputtering auditory stimulation and sweetness to mask the murder of democracy for which this country seems headed. Enjoy what is possibly our last summer of freedom, bury your head in the sand and songs, and coquette away your trifling worries.
This is the soundtrack to the world getting fucked, and no one paying any attention to it.
The Forbidden Fruits of Eden – AURORA
Petite Fleur – The Hot Sardines
Love Is – Ingrid Michaelson and Jason Mraz
I Guess I Was Daydreaming – Cake on Cake
Heavenly – Cigarettes After Sex
What Love Will Do To You – Laufey
Zou Bisou Bisou – Gillian Hills
Kinda Hate U, Kinda Love U – Alex Sloane
Smaller Than This – Sarah Kays
The Conflict of the Mind – AURORA
Diamond – Hanna V and Joe Rodwell
Blank Space – Vitamin String Quartet
Home for the Summer – Sarah Kays
Come on Rainbow – Cake on Cake
Petite Fleur – Chris Barber’s Jaxx Band
Sunsetz – Cigarettes After Sex
A Night to Remember – Laufey and beabadoobee
“Remember when you wanted what you currently have.”
Words can lead to joy if you let them.
Sometimes – most times in fact – it’s sexier leaving something on, and leaving a little, or a lot, to the imagination. The gentleman in this post (starting with featured swimsuit beach model Shawn Mendes) are testament to that, as they give off their own impressive heat without baring it all. We have never done full-frontal male nudity here (or full-frontal female nudity either for that matter) but we like to come close. {Do a quick “Alan + Ilagan + full + frontal + nudity” Google search and stand back Buenos Aires… we’ll wait.} With that salacious digression out of the way and into your search history, here are a few folks who didn’t have to take their clothes off to inspire a good time, and a song that you will hate me for putting in your ear. Grab some cherry wine and go!
Jim Verraros has mastered the art of the scintillating tease, his seductive promos for latest singles ‘Take My Bow‘ and ‘Pyramid‘ have been nothing short of scorching.
While he may be more accustomed to being on the other side of the lens, photographer Leo Holden of Snooty Fox Images makes just as fine a model as any he has focused his camera’s gaze upon.
Our most recent Dazzler of the Day Ryan Murphy prefers the longer Speedo seen here for his Olympic attire, and it seems to be working for him.
Luke Evans loves a wet tease, as he has proven in his own Speedo pics through the years, and we are happily powerless to make an argument against it.
Finally, Orville Peck got a lot more naked in this post, but the tantalizing arm-pit reveal for those who revel in such things should make plenty people sit up and take notice. And here’s that ear-worm for those still seeking out worms and trouser-snakes…
Earning a second trip to the summer Olympics, Ryan Murphy also earns this Dazzler of the Day crowning. Following up on previous golden glory, Murphy is now a veteran, and maybe that means he has a little more to prove. Summer is made for swimming, and Murphy was made for speed – watch both collide in Paris next month.
This may be more true than I care to acknowledge.
Virgos… we are the worst astrological sign.
Appearing almost magically across the street from downtown Albany’s oldest store, Wizard Burger has been around for a couple of years, but I never took the opportunity to try it out until last week – and it was a happy and fortuitous revelation, as the pickings for lunch during the week in downtown are scant to say the least. Part of my reluctance is that I’m generally a meat-loving guy, so if I’m going to have a burger, I always thought I wanted it to be a meat burger. I was wrong. All of the selections at Wizard burger are vegan, but unless someone told you that you might not necessarily notice or believe it. The flavors and combos are that surprisingly satisfying .
Asking which burger on the menu was a good beginner’s choice, I took the advice of the person behind the counter and ordered their Big Kahuna (which seemed like a bold suggestion, given the pineapple and pickled jalapeño combo), as well as an order of their Buffalo-style fries (also vegan, despite their spicy taste and breaded-chicken-like appearance). Both were insanely good – the burger also had a soy glaze and some house mayo, all of which made for a sweet and savory and spicy combination that packed more flavor and punch than any burger I’ve had in the past year. The fries were no joke either, and while the creamy sauce accompanying them bore no similarity to the potent blue cheese that one may be accustomed to, it was no less delicious for the difference. All in all, it was a crazy satisfying meal, and I’ll be back again to fall under a different spell (the Wiz Mac sounds like a magnificently magical variation on the Big Mac, while the Magicano is their jackfruit-based take on pulled pork). And I haven’t even gotten started on the other fries and burritos…
If anyone is still looking for a Pride anthem at this late date, check out ‘Be Your Girl’ by John Duff, which takes us back to the gloriously melodic whirling days of carefree disco and delicious pop hookery. Duff has made a few of these bops, and several eye-popping videos to go along with them, easily earning this Dazzler of the Day crowning just in time to end Pride Month on a high note.
