Da fuq outta here.
21
March
2025
No comments
March
2025
21
March
2025
No comments
March
2025
#TinyThreads: An Insignificant Series
Sometimes when I’m washing windows I hear the voice of R2-D2 in the squeaking of the glass.
I’d like you to sit with me in the discomfort of all that I have just revealed to you.
21
March
2025
No comments
March
2025
A Pose that’s Lasted for 35 Years
From the moment she demanded us to “Strike a pose!” I have been enthralled and recaptured by Madonna’s song ‘Vogue’. Released thirty five years ago (sweet baby Jesus how old does that put us?!) it remains an epochal and iconic song that has stood the test of time, surviving and thriving in the various iterations Madonna has performed on tours and halftime shows. For me, and for many gay men of a certain age, it has always meant a little bit more than meets the superficial eye.
Thirty-five years ago I was a freshman in high school. In our small town in upstate New York, the closest I could get to any sort of gay culture or lifestyle was Madonna, and ‘Vogue’ offered a glimpse of a world in which I sensed I might belong – a world of beauty, glamour, freedom, and dance-floor abandon. At a time when the AIDS epidemic raged and eradicated great swaths of the gay community, this was a space and a place to get away, even if the fabulousness and fantasy existed solely in our minds. Sometimes that had to be enough to get us through.
A great pop song won’t ever save the world, but once in a while one comes along to save a moment and even a life.
20
March
2025
No comments
March
2025
Life Could Be A Bunny Dream
Our theme for the season is Spring Dream. It goes perfectly with this dreamy doo-wop bop that sees us into the first evening of spring. Greeting the green season is this fluffy bunny doing double-time and preparing the way to Easter. The world awakens with life and possibility.
Life could be a dreamLife could be a dreamDo do do do, sh-boom!
Life could be a dream (sh-boom)If I could take you up in Paradise up above (sh-boom)If you would tell me, I’m the only one that you loveLife could be a dream, sweetheartHello, hello again, sh-boom and hopin’ we’ll meet again, boom (ba-boom)
Life could be a dream (sh-boom)If only all my precious plans would come true (sh-boom)If you would let me spend my whole life lovin’ youLife could be a dream, sweetheart (do do do do, sh-boom)
Every time I look at youSomething is on my mindIf you do what I want you toBaby, we’d be so fine
Oh, life could be a dream, sh-boomIf I could take you up in Paradise up above, sh-boomYou’d tell me, darlin’, I’m the only one that you loveLife could be a dream, sweetheartHello, hello again, sh-boom and hopin’ we’ll meet again, boom (ba-boom)
20
March
2025
No comments
March
2025
Dream A Little Spring Dream
Every winter Andy and I wait for the bedroom lamp on his side of the bed to throw its rainbows against the wall, as it signals that spring is almost at hand. We’ve been watching these rainbows grow in strength and saturation the past couple weeks. Soon, the oak leaves will obscure the sun, meaning that summer is almost here, and the rainbows will go away until another winter.
Stars shining bright above you
Night breezes seem to whisper, I love you
Birds singin’ in the sycamore trees
Dream a little dream of me
Say nighty-night and kiss me
Just hold me tight and tell me you’ll miss me
While I’m alone and blue as can be
Dream a little dream of me
For now, spring has arrived, and the rainbows are here again. A covenant, a promise – just like spring itself. A feeling, a romance, a memory – and all in a song. While Andy eagerly plans the opening of the pool at the first sign of any stretch of warmer weather, I play the music that brings the season of hope to mind.
Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you
Leave the worries behind you
But in your dreams, whatever may be
You’ve gotta make me a promise, promise to me
You’ll dream, dream a little dream of me
20
March
2025
No comments
March
2025
A Beautiful Spring Dream Begins
The Melachrino Strings ever-so-sweetly start off our spring season – the twenty-second spring we’ve celebrated on this blog – with this mash-up of ‘Beautiful Dreamer‘ and ‘Moon River‘. There’s a freaking harp in this, to give you an idea of the fantastical heights of whimsy we aim to achieve as we head into the loveliest season of them all. My intent to provide enthralling escapism in a world that grows more dangerous and ever-dimmer by the day will continue for as long as I am allowed to do this. (And to wonder whether our freedoms will exist in the near future is no longer such a far-fetched worry.)
This spring, the light and loose theme for the blog will be that of a dream. Especially in the earliest days of the season, there is still a winter haze that hangs over the cold nights and mornings, offset by the thrill of warming days and the bursting of spring bulbs through the wet earth. It is a dreamy sort of crux, where winter and spring do their awkward hand-off – one not quite ready to leave, one not quite ready to arrive. And us, not quite watching somewhere, all averted eyes and downcast gazes. The sheepish, happy conundrum of spring. Welcome…
19
March
2025
No comments
March
2025
A Dream Too Much Alone
One of my favorite date nights with Andy was when we got to see an advance screening of the HBO version of ‘Grey Gardens’ in a Boston movie theater. It was a magical spring evening, and we stopped for a night cap at a Copley bar that would only be around for a season or two. We walked back to the condo on a perfect April night, slower than usual, not wanting the spell to dissipate.
You cannot guess
What loveliness
Belongs to you
If you would dance
We’d have a chance
To share it too
On this last night of winter, I find solace in the springs we’ve had, and the one about to arrive. In dreamy entrancement, there is a giddy sense of possibility – the greatest gift that spring provides.
I am not gay enough
To share a waltz
Tonight I boast
One of my most, unhappy thoughts
I dream too much
But if I dream too much
I only dream to touch your heart again
What lovely thoughts as we see winter gently out the door, and what gratitude I feel for a winter that did what winter was supposed to do. She kept her chill, blanketed the gardens with a healthy cover of snowfall for most of the coldest days, and provided us the slumber needed to barrel through the rest of the calendar year. Winter, we bid you farewell, knowing you will come again when it is time.
We dance and sing
We steal a touch of spring
I dream of everything
We two have known
And yet my dreams have shown
Perhaps I dream too much alone
19
March
2025
No comments
March
2025
#TinyThreads: An Insignificant Series
Saw this online somewhere and wanted to hypocritically share it with you – you, who are actually good enough to be visiting my website if you are reading this now:
“Some of you need to log off and touch grass.”
That warning is as much for me as anyone else. We have been scolded. What we do about it now is entirely in our hands. (Come back for a pre-spring song in a few hours.)
19
March
2025
No comments
March
2025
The Last Sky of This Winter
We have arrived at long last at winter’s final day. How many weeks has it been? Count the weekly blog recaps below and see for yourself. In total, it wasn’t a horrid season. We had some snow storms, and then the temperatures remained steadfastly below freezing, ensuring the insulating blanket of snow cover for the gardens and the grass. We didn’t lose electricity for any stretch of time, so we will count this as a relatively benign season. Peruse the weekly recaps below for a more detailed glimpse into how we made it through the winter wilderness, then look to the Eastern sky for the dawn of spring tomorrow…
12/23/24 ~ A Recap Bordering on Holiday Joy
12/30/24 ~ A Holiday Recap in Limbo
1/6/25 ~ A Recap Filled with Comfort Food
1/13/25 ~ A Toasty Recap
1/20/25 ~ A Recap Slightly Later Than Usual
1/27/25 ~ A Recap Clad Only in Underwear
2/3/25 ~ A Recap Fronted by David Beckham’s Bulge
2/11/25 ~ A Day Later Recap Due to Divinity
2/17/25 ~ A Super Bowl Recap
2/24/25 ~ A Floral February Recap
3/3/25 ~ Already A March Recap
3/10/25 ~ A Lost Hour Recap
3/17/25 ~ A Recap with Outtakes
18
March
2025
No comments
March
2025
#TinyThreads: An Insignificant Series
When you’re just trying to conquer Block Blast and this emotionally-cloying ad pops up to hit you like that Sarah MacLachlan animal cruelty commercial… it’s not right. And who are the sick fucks playing this kind of game? My Lord.
18
March
2025
No comments
March
2025
Tom Daley in Skimpy Attire
Retirement seems to agree with Tom Daley, and while he need not don the regulation Speedo for diving anymore, it’s a comfort and reassurance to see he is still using it for recreational wear and photo opportunities. While we are still in the midst of winter, there are ways to warm up. A list of links to that end follows.
Tom Daley bathing and bulging.
Tom Daley stripping and stretching.
Tom Daley as Dazzler of the Day.
Tom Daley’s crocheted contours.
Tom Daley busting out of his Speedo.
Tom Daley selling his stuff in a Speedo.
You are so very welcome.
18
March
2025
No comments
March
2025
The House Where Anneke Died
When I get out for a lunch walk, I often pass this ancient building on State Street, right beside the building where I started my state career almost twenty four years ago. It stands somewhat incongruously with more modern buildings surrounding and towering over it, and I love it all the more for that. There is a plaque on it denoting its historical significance as the place where Anneke Jans Bogardus once lived. She was one of Albany’s more notorious denizens, having earned herself the nickname of ‘The Vulture’ and cultivating a reportedly cantankerous personality during the 1600’s, when she is said to have come into swaths of impressive land in New York due to a surprise gift left her in a family will.
Disputes and questionable records left the whole story a little bit muddy, which is somewhat fitting, as mud would one day save Anneke’s ass. Her rumored ornery disposition with others was on full display when she allegedly got into an exchange when passing several local men out for a break of pipe-smoking. The story is that she lifted her skirt and presumably mooned them, for which they took her to court. She was cleared when she explained she was merely attempting to keep the hem of her skirt out of the mud.
That’s a woman after my own heart. Leave them with something to talk about and end up with your name on a plaque that survives for centuries. And who doesn’t get a kick out of a good mooning?
17
March
2025
No comments
March
2025
Bad Bunny In Nothing But His Calvins
Calvin Klein has engaged Bad Bunny as the body and face of his spring campaign, so we have these sizing shots by photographer Mario Sorrenti to rival the recent display of Jeremy Allen White in his own Calvins. Bad Bunny has already been a Dazzler of the Day here, and he cements that status with this turn in the iconic boxer briefs.
See also:
Jeremy Allen White in his Calvins.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson in his Calvins.
Bad Bunny body, Bad Bunny Calvin Klein, Bad Bunny underwear, Bad Bunny bulge
17
March
2025
No comments
March
2025
In the Waning Light of Winter
Only a few more days of winter remain, and though the technical arrival of spring doesn’t instantly equate to better weather, I’m allowing myself some hope. The pool is thawing out and Andy is eager to get it open. The last few years we’ve been opening it early to catch that first spell of 80-degree days that have been creeping up earlier and earlier. I don’t know if that will be the case this year, and I’ve made my peace with enjoying it if it happens, and not being disappointed if it doesn’t. There is wisdom, and contentment, in learning to roll with the punches.
On a deeper level, it’s like the proverbial rock at the bottom of a river bed. The trick is to sit still and be ok with whatever washes around you, no matter how wild and crazy and mucky it might get. Especially when Mercury is in retrograde motion.
I’ve been religious about maintaining my daily meditations this winter, and it’s been a consistent and comforting respite. For that little section of the day, I sit in complete silence and reverence. Every day we are alive deserves such an honor, even if it’s just for fifteen minutes. Even if it’s just counting breaths and letting other thoughts fall away.
Winter’s waning light rises from a candle, in a purple-tinted bit of glass that once belonged to my grandmother.
17
March
2025
No comments
March
2025
A Recap with Outtakes
For reasons that should be obvious (these look ridiculous!) the two photos here are outtakes from The Divine Diva Tour: A Fairy’s Tale and were wisely never used in the final project. Twenty years ago I wa much more careful of my image and putting forth only what I thought was presentable, and these in no way passed muster. Today, I find them hilarious, and am happy to parade myself looking like a sheer-sheathed, frilly fool with peek-a-boo Calvin Klein briefs. When at last you know how to take the pissout of yourself, you become more or less invincible. On with the weekly recap, if it so pleases you…
It began, sigh, with another FAFO moment for those who voted for the FOTUS.
This shirtless quartet of gents in shades of gray righted the ship for the moment.
Our lone Dazzler of the Day was Josh Groban, who hasn’t texted me since.
The cop-out post, or, a skylight pictorial series.
Scarlet streaks of hope in a backyard of gray.
A scandalous take on boba tea.
Birthday wishes for Skip garnered a favorable social media response, further evidence that people want to see anybody other than me up on here. So send me your Dazzler recommendations! Almost all will be honored! (Even you, Urbanczyk… someday…)
These days I find myself doubting everything.
Obsessed – utterly OBSESSED – with this Lady Gaga song.
Disturbing dreams and comforting realizations.
Echoes of incense in a sacred space.
The Divine Diva Tour: A Fairy’s Tale went all gratuitously naked and nude, with an underwear-heavy post titled ‘Vanity Under Where‘ and then re-doubled on the effort with a post titled ‘Vanity Under There‘ and capped things off, literally all off, with this George Michael-inspired ‘When you shake your ass, they notice fast’ post.
Now let’s have a great week of Mercury in retrograde! It’s Monday, my friend Ann’s favorite day, so rock out with your whatever out and do the damn thing.
