Real Life HEA

For those who don’t know, and I know most don’t, HEA means happily-ever-after in romance publishing circles, gay or straight, historical or modern. Without HEA there’s no point to a book being called a romance. It defines the genre. I’m not talking about romantic drama or romantic comedy. I’m talking about Romance. For me, that’s not up for debate. And that’s partly because in real life we rarely see HEA. In real life we all deal with divorce, cancer, rape, nasty friends and all kinds of other things that gut us daily. I want that HEA in romance. But sometimes, in real life, we do see a happy ending, and in this case it’s for two gay men.

John Smid, who once claimed to have been “cured” of homosexuality and who worked with various “ex-gay” groups, is once again a married man. Only this time, he didn’t marry a woman. He and his partner, Larry McQueen, announced they tied the knot last weekend.

In 1980, Smid left his wife to be with guys, but he had misgivings and tried to go straight again by marrying a second woman and becoming a leading spokesman for conversion therapy. He ran Love In Action, an ex-gay ministry based in Memphis, and sat on the board of Exodus International for 11 years.

Here’s the rest. There’s a fantastic statement made about how other “ex-gays” should look for their own truth, too.

Raunchy Naked Men In Seattle

When people like me here in the east with a strong New York influence think about places like Seattle we often conjure images of  hippie types walking around in a daze wishing everyone peace, love, hope, and change. We think about coffee shops with brick walls where mostly white people read poetry and the best sexual thrill comes in the form of a haiku. We dream about moving there to live more peaceful lives because everyone drives a little silver electric car and no one flips the bird in heavy traffic. But that’s so wrong of us, and here’s just one of many reasons why. They’re evidently having a lot of fun out there and we’re missing it all.

A party called Area 2181 hit the Eagle in Seattle over the weekend, featuring a meat market of ill repute and plenty of cruising. Dark corners, crotch-grinding, and dom/sub gear fogged up the windows, or at least it would have if they weren’t already blacked-out.

Go-gos Matt, Ethan and Ben sampled each other in the cage, while promoter Kirk James roamed the premises wearing as little as possible. Resident DJ Pavone welcomed guest DJ Jens Irish, with a house/acid/techno sound that kept the asses shaking late into the night.

Here’s the link to photos you won’t want to miss on a boring Thursday.

Aging Models Parody Film Scenes

I’m in my early forties and I often find it amusing when younger people have such a strong attitude about youth, especially because they think they’re always going to be young. They actually think 30 is old. Wicked as it may be, I love to think about them when reality finally hits and they realize they’re going to get old and they are eventually going to die. That’s life. That’s not something anyone can escape. You will get old…if you’re lucky. And it’s going to happen sooner than you think. 

This doesn’t always mean you have to embrace getting older…at least not mentally. And no matter how hard you try to fight aging physically, the mental part is always going to be the most important factor. The last thing I ever want to be is one of those old ass-hats who sit around complaining about texting and all that evil technology, and wondering why no one sends Christmas cards through snail mail anymore.

But you do have to accept getting older no matter what. And I think these models in this calendar are doing a wonderful job. In a way, this could be a great HEA, too.This is one of those times it kills me because I can’t share a photo legally here on the blog for copyright reasons.

We’ve been covering a lot of calendars here lately. There’s the hipster anti-hunks, the oddly sexy orthodox priests, sizzling gingers and of course the naked Warwick rowers. But we may have just found our new favorite.

A retirement community in Germany has released a calendar where seniors recreate famous movie scenes. And it is just as adorable as it sounds.

Here are the months that stood out to us, reminding us simultaneously that we love cinema and our grandmothers:

The photos are here. I suggest checking them out if you’re a fan of Breakfast at Tiffany’s.