The most beautiful glass isn’t entirely clear.
Author Archives: Alan Ilagan
06
March
2024
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March
2024
Dazzler of the Day: Colin Grafton
American pair figure skater Colin Grafton has also done some modeling, which makes his crowning as Dazzler of the Day a sure thing. He made a splash on ‘Dancing on Ice’ as well, lending some additional sparkle to his dazzle.
06
March
2024
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March
2024
The Ravishing Ranunculus
Ranunculus flowers have always appealed to me, so much so that I once toyed with the idea of growing them, until I read up on their form and habit, none of which made for a great garden plant. I’ve had to admire them from afar. That’s often the best kind of admiration in which to engage. It’s safer from a distant vantage point.
Meanwhile, the bloom of this flower demands a closer inspection, bringing things to a macro level. In my mind, they are a beautiful cross between a rose and a poppy.
The power of a single bouquet of flowers is never lost on me.
05
March
2024
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March
2024
#TinyThreads: An Insignificant Series
Are interior design shots all about the flowers?
I would venture they are.
(More on these Ranunculus later…)
05
March
2024
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March
2024
Dazzler of the Day: Caitlin Clark
Caitlin Clark easily earns her first crowning as Dazzler of the Day thanks to her record-breaking feat of scoring the most points by a Division I basketball player, men’s or women’s during her final regular-season home game in Iowa. That means she has shattered the record previously held by NBA legend Pete Maravich.
PS – Perfect timing, as it’s Women’s History Month. Congratulations Caitlin!
05
March
2024
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March
2024
Albany: Looking Up
No matter what size city you may find yourself in, I always advise looking up when you are first finding your way, because much is missed is you keep your gaze solely at eye level. I must have ignored my own advice for the past few decades, as I never really noticed the beauty atop the Peter D. Kiernan Plaza, which sits right across the street from my office building. Previously operating as Union Station, the building was once where trains arrived and departed from unit the late 1960’s, when it was bought by New York State. Renovated and preserved in the late 1980’s, it was named the Peter D. Kiernan Plaza for the head of Norstar Bancorp (which is still listed on the front of the building).
Sadly, that’s all the historical and architectural Albany info I bothered to investigate. One day maybe I’ll do a deeper dive into what the sculptural elements mean, such as the lion-fronted globes on each corner of the building. I do love a lion sculpture. It’s also a good reminder to myself to look up and see what other treasures are dangling right above us every day. Now that I’m walking more in the milder weather, the world is rising before me. Remember: look up!
04
March
2024
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March
2024
Wayfair Woes & Angi Atrocities
This marks Day Five without a fully-functioning bathroom thanks to Wayfair’s dismal installation service, so I want to again strongly dissuade anyone from ordering from Wayfair, and most importantly I adamantly advise against ever utilizing their installation service, in this case Angi.
We ordered a mirror/light/medicine cabinet for our bathroom, which arrived fully assembled at 4 feet wide, 32 inches tall, and 115 pounds. It looks like a great item, and I also paid for the installation service. We took out the original light and cabinet on Wednesday night, for the scheduled installation on Thursday morning at 7:30 AM. After no one showed, we got a text at 8:30 from the Angi “Pro” saying they weren’t coming. I rescheduled for Saturday morning, and tried to impress upon Angi and Wayfair that this would require at least two people to install. They argued that I would have to order a second ‘pro’ to come and pay for that out of pocket. They also said it might be good to wait until Saturday to see if one person could do it.
On Saturday, the second ‘pro’ arrived and indicated there was no way one person could do that job (DUH), and that this was far from the first time that Wayfair ordered for one person to do a multiple-person job by Angi. So here we are, medicine bathroom cabinet and light resting on our bathroom floor, and Andy and I unable to see anything or lift it up ourselves since he just had hernia surgery.
Once again, don’t buy anything from Wayfair (this was my second or third purchase from them, and now last), and definitely do not waste your money on their installation service.
(Update: see the original post at the first link above for how they are rectifying this.)
04
March
2024
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March
2024
A Roaring Recap
While our entry into March has been one of a relatively calm and quiet lion, I’m certain there are several meteorological roars coming before winter departs later this month. Before that, here is our weekly recap for your enjoyment and perusal.
Suzie and I shared a flowering onion in our hometown of Amsterdam, NY.
A man of a certain age running out to get the mail in his underwear in the middle of winter. (See also ‘This Is Me.’)
Cheerful glimpses of hope in the grocery store.
The pendulum of light brings out the bloom of this beauty.
Shirtless male celebrity heat.
A day of leaping deserves an exclamation point!
Move. I’m gay.
Beware of the woeful Wayfair and equally-awful Angi.
Father Time tricks and treats.
If only… a dangerous frame of mind indeed.
The light of aural heaven – Madonna’s ‘Ray of Light’ celebrates another year of majesty.
Dazzlers of the Day included Daniel W. Green, Ari Shapiro, BJ Gruber and Barbara Smith.
03
March
2024
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March
2024
The Annual Pussy Drop
Earliest harbingers of spring, pussy willows make their annual appearance in this blog post, paving the hopeful path for spring weather and fun-in-the-sun to come. As much as I enjoy these fuzzy fellows, I don’t bother with a pussy will tree in the yard – they demand too much water and this is their only big show – the foliage that follows is basic. Still, I love finding them in the market at this time of the year, along with all the forced daffodils and hyacinths and tulips.
Andy has already been talking of opening the pool come next month – as we have bumps dit up into April over the past few years – a happy extension of pool season when it’s usually too fleeting. Last year I didn’t spend much time in it, so maybe it’s time to get back into the wet swing of things… and these pussy willows would more than likely agree.
03
March
2024
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March
2024
Dazzler of the Day: BJ Gruber
Actor, model and producer BJ Gruber neatly earns his first crowning as Dazzler of the Day. Having built an impressive resume in works such as ‘The Queens Project’, ‘Younger’, ‘Daddyhunt: The Serial’, ‘Alex Strangelove’ and ‘Zero Avenue’, Gruber maintains a certain social media stardom, which is the current celebrity currency. Check out his website here for more of his magic.
03
March
2024
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March
2024
The Light of Aural Heaven
Last year Madonna’s ‘Ray of Light’ album turned 25 and we celebrated its silver anniversary within this post. On this day, I am scheduled to find myself departing Boston from a weekend there, which is where my ‘Ray of Light’ experience originally took place. The world occasionally circles back in such reassuring fashion, though that night grow ever dimmer with each passing year, if I think about it hard enough, and pace myself there again, I can rekindle the faded magic of that time in my life.
Mostly, it was a time of solitude, and for me that’s where the majority of my growth and resolve as a human being began. When you’re alone, you have to deal with the inner-voice, alternately heckling and pushing, degrading and supporting, celebrating and criticizing – and learning how to control and live with that before getting entangled with a romantic partner. It is, I still believe, one of the best ways of beginning a relationship, and I watched as I and many of my friends thought that finding a partner was the best way of finding ourselves, only to have it fizzle out because we didn’t even know who we were then.
‘Ray of Light’ was setting the stage for my adult relationships, even if I felt entirely out of control and disastrously lost when it came to romance. Madonna’s lyrics, and the accompanying majesty of the ambient groove that opened the album (in the exquisite ‘Drowned World/Substitute for Love‘, which remains my favorite Madonna song) and drifted into more worldly concerns such as in ‘Swim‘ and the epic wonder of that thumping title track, resonated in ways that felt more personal than any of her albums prior or since.
I traveled many miles listening to ‘Sky Fits Heaven‘, seeking and searching for a destination that looked like peace and tranquility, and never finding anything remotely close. I drove south with a boyfriend as ‘Nothing Really Matters‘ was released, desperately aiming to mold myself into a creature made full and complete by a command and understanding of love, only to lose him in a winter that ended up rivaling the lonely winter in which I first heard ‘Frozen‘. (In some ways it only made sense, as I met him when ‘The Power of Goodbye‘ was being released.) The more I learned, the less I knew, and I was too deep in it to see the overreaching arc of any progress or discovery I might be making. Whenever I got lost, ‘Ray of Light’ was the musical journey that set me back on the right path.
To this day, the music brings me back, as much as it brings me forward – a testament to the enduring power and legacy of this album – still the best in Madonna’s vast catalog and at this point unlikely to ever be topped. Music, when it is heard at the crux of winter and spring, on those warmer nights when the earth seems to be awakening again, and all sorts of possibility and hope ride on the Western wind, strikes at the heart, and renders me breathless. With ‘Ray of Light’, Madonna proved that she still knew how to cast a potent spell.
02
March
2024
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March
2024
Ten March Seconds
A lazy post, as I’m scheduled to be taking a break in Boston this weekend, and pre-populating posts is tedious business at best. Let’s take a look back at ten previous March 2 entries on this blog, assuming I was so consistent.
In began in black briefs on March 2, 2014, and in white briefs as well.
On March 2, 2015, it was the weekly recap with a naked male model.
Holy fuck, I cooked a duck on March 2, 2016.
Playing the numbers game on March 2, 2017, and a quokka.
A 15th anniversary of this very website took place on March 2, 2018.
A sneak-peek of a Madonna Timeline featured her ‘American Life’ album on March 2, 2019 while the Jonas Brothers returned with this ‘Sucker’.
March 2, 2020 featured this lion-hearted recap.
An attempt a these Ogunquit oaties opened March 2, 2021, and Dr. Angela Davis was Dazzler of the Day.
Red and gold flowers bisected winter blue for March 2, 2022 and Ariana Debose was Dazzler of the Day.
On March 2, 2023, winter blues looked beautiful and Russell Tovey was Dazzler of the Day.
02
March
2024
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March
2024
#TinyThreads: An Insignificant Series
If only I’d spent my younger years learning the basics of HTML coding or something to do with computers instead of memorizing the lyrics to ‘Cats’ I might be a semi-rich man, instead of struggling to make ends meet while screaming, “The Rum Tum Tugger is a curious beast!”
02
March
2024
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March
2024
Tricks of Father Time
My Dad has been on my mind this past week. Maybe some recent time spent in Amsterdam rekindled a few memories. Maybe it’s that I’m finally realizing how much I miss him. Some small part of me is still expecting him to be there at an undefined point in the future. When he was well I would only see him about once a month or so, and in a way I’ve reverted back to that time, or the years when I was in college and saw him even less. It’s easier to think of him being away for some indeterminable length of time rather than gone from this earth forever; my head makes sense of it, but my heart holds out.
On a recent lunch break, I walked up the hill to the church I used to sit in during his last days here. It offered a small bit of solace in that sad summer, but on this visit, as on my last, the doors remained locked. The day was splendid, though – one of the first sunny and warm ones we’ve had this year – so I made the most of my time outside. Later, after I’d arrived home, I sat down to my meditation and invited Dad to join me there. (Not out loud – I haven’t gone that crazy yet.) It is a comfort to think of him sitting silently beside me – it’s something that would never have happened quite in this way in real life (my father was not the meditative type) but there were many times when I would find him at a gathering or dinner, alone in the family room watching television, or sitting off to the side at a wedding, and I’d stop to sit next to him. We didn’t talk much, simply sat there together in the unease of a crowd, or the welcome semi-solitude of his favored family room. In that shared silence, we understood one another in a way that no one else could.
The next morning I felt that familiar emptiness which has been part of our lives since last summer – duller and less pointed now, but still there – and as I looked out the front window I saw a quartet of cardinals going about their daily business – a few of their chirps cutting through the glass as they flitted away. It was the happy sound of spring on the way, the sound of hope, and maybe the sound of a lost loved one reminding me that he was still near.
01
March
2024
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March
2024
Dazzler of the Day: Barbara Smith
There are certain Dazzlers of the Day who simply defy the limited trappings of this superficial title, and Barbara Smith brings a gravitas and solemnity to these proceedings in a way that dazzles more than most of us ever could. Smith’s alum info on the Mount Holyoke site indicates why this Dazzler of the Day is so merited:
Barbara Smith is a Black feminist pioneer, lesbian, activist, author, lecturer and publisher. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, she and her twin sister, Beverly, began participating in civil rights protests in the 1960s. In 1974 Smith co-founded the Combahee River Collective in Boston, Massachusetts, and in 1977, she co-authored the Combahee River Collective Statement, with Beverly, and Demita Frazier.
Smith taught her first class on Black women’s literature in 1973 at Emerson College and has taught at numerous colleges and universities. She co-founded Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, the first U.S. publisher of books for women of color, in 1980.
In 2005, Smith was elected to the Common Council in Albany, New York. She was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize that same year. Smith’s essays, reviews and other work has been published in The New York Times, The Black Scholar, Ms., The Guardian, The Village Voice, and The Nation, among others.
