I’ll be releasing my next book in the Chase of a Lifetime series, Chase of a Holy Ghost, very soon and I just got the cover from the artist and wanted to share a preview. Below, at the bottom of this post, is an excerpt from the book.
I’ll post more as soon as the book is launched. This one is an indie project for me and I don’t like to rush it. After I get edits and copy edits I usually wind up re-reading it about 200 times on my iPad just to be sure. I’m shooting for a Memorial Day Weekend release, though. (Hint to indie authors: I find that doing a final read-through on my iPad or e-reading device helps a great deal because that’s how readers will see the finished book.)
Gay Batman/Superman Trailer
Here’s a link to a gay parody trailer of the new Man of Steel 2 movie with Ben Affleck. The real film hasn’t even finished shooting yet.
The three minute short in English depicts a Batman who is struggling with his sexuality – though a cute Superman seems ever so comfortable with his.
‘Every hero has a secret,’ a voiceover says in the video, ‘But when it becomes too difficult to keep and the word starts to spread they have to accept what they truly are.’
My favorite gay travel journalist, Jean Paul Zapata, wrote about his experiences with Tough Mudder. This is from one of my previous posts…so you can see what Tough Mudder is about. I’ve been following this because I love the idea of actually doing Tough Mudder. I would kill to do it.
I have posted about LGBT travel writer, Jean Paul Zapata, before because I always enjoy his pieces. And now he’s embarking on one of the toughest challenges of his career: Tough Mudder. In short, Tough Mudders are people who sign up for physical challenges that make boot camp look like kindergarten. It’s a lifestyle for many. Tough Mudder is a hugely popular physical endurance regimen that is gaining in popularity even more this year in the US and UK, and Zapata recently commented on his own experiences doing it.
The West London Tough Mudder event I participated in had 10 to 12 miles of muddy uphill running trails broken up with obstacles designed by the British Special Forces, and had around 20,000 people participate over the weekend.
The obstacles ranged from carrying logs uphill to running through a mud field where open-ended electrical wires waited to sizzle you into their embrace.
I’ve been wondering when TV Network OWN would finally start producing something more current that doesn’t have that old time 1980’s and 90’s feel with Dr. Phil content and all that self-help stuff that was so popular back in the day (I don’t think most people really care “Where They Are Now”). Now OWN is finally going to do an interesting documentary on Michael Sam and his journey as a gay man working toward the NFL.
‘Like every player out there working to make a team right now, my focus is on playing football to the very best of my ability,’ Sam said in a statement Wednesday (14 May).
‘I am determined.’ He added: ‘If seeing my story helps somebody else accept who they are and to go for their dreams too, that’s great. I am thankful to Oprah for her support and excited to work together.
I’ll be looking for this one. I think Sam underestimates how many gay men of all ages he might be helping. I get letters from them all the time, and I honestly don’t always know what to say. You can’t just tell someone in the closet to come out and life will be perfect, especially if it means giving up everything they’ve ever known. That’s dangerous. And documentaries like this one with Michael Sam can at least show other men struggling with who they are that life as an openly gay person is a lot better than hiding once you finally make the decision to do it.
They asked Jim a few more questions about the medical marijuana dispensaries and his limited relationship with Hal Robertson and he tried to answer them with direct eye contact and an even tone. Jim invited them both into the house because he knew they weren’t trying to implicate him with Hal’s disappearance by that time and he wanted to help them out as much as he could. The fact that a man had gone missing bothered Jim the most. Detective Sorrento seemed eager to have a cup of coffee. But Landers shot his partner a look and said, “We don’t have time. We have a lot of places to go after this. And we’re working on more important cases.”
This comment bothered Jim even more. “More important than a missing man?”
Landers shrugged. “I’m afraid we have priorities. The fact is some cases like this one are never solved.”
This should have made Jim feel better, but he frowned and said, “I see.”
“I’d kind of like coffee,” Sorrento said.
“Well you’ll just have to wait until lunchtime,” Landers said, sending his partner a dirty look.
When Jim saw the crestfallen expression with which Sorrento replied to Landers, he wanted to take him into the house and give him coffee anyway. Although he was over six feet tall and made of muscle, he had an almost childlike quality Jim found hard to resist. It wasn’t anything sexual and Jim would never have made sexual advances toward a straight man even if he hadn’t been married. Some straight men had an effect on Jim and he’d never understood why. He wanted to protect them. It was usually the biggest and strongest and most clueless that made him feel that way.
Right after that Detective Landers said, “Thanks for your time. I doubt we’ll be contacting you in the future. I’m not sure it’s a strong case in any respect,” he turned toward the dark SUV he’d parked near the front steps.
“If I can help, just let me know,” Jim said. “I don’t mind you contacting me again.” Len would have smacked him in the back of the head for saying that. But Jim was starting to feel terrible about the fact that no one seemed to care Hal was missing, not even the police. “If you know anyone interested in buying a few medical marijuana dispensaries, please let me know. Hal Robertson was my only hope.”
Detective Landers laughed and said, “Sorry I can’t help you out there.”
Jim turned to join him and tripped over a rock, lost his balance completely, and went face forward into one of the round boxwoods that lined the driveway.
Without saying a word, Detective Sorrento lurched toward Jim and grabbed him just as he was about to land on the boxwood. He reached under Jim’s arms, lifted him up high, and turned him around.
It happened so fast Jim didn’t even realize it until Sorrento lowered him and said, “Damn. Are you okay, buddy?”
Jim felt his face grow warm. “I’m fine. Thanks.”
Detective Landers honked the horn. He’d missed the fall and didn’t know why Sorrento hadn’t followed him to the car.
“I better get moving,” Sorrento said. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Jim nodded. “I’m fine.”He wanted to punch himself for being so clumsy.
As Sorrento turned to leave, he patted Jim on the shoulder and said, “Sorry about what I said earlier about the homosexuals. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
Jim watched him lope back to the SUV. “No offense taken.”
When Detective Sorrento was in the SUV, Jim stood in the driveway and waved as they turned around to head back to the main road. It struck him there was something familiar about Detective Sorrento he couldn’t figure out. Although he knew he’d never actually met him, he felt as if he’d seen him somewhere before.
He glanced at his watch and realized it was getting late. Even though he didn’t have to deal with selling the marijuana dispensaries at that point, he still had a heavy workload. He had one online retailer who needed more web exposure. He had another brand new designer who wanted to come up with a public relations campaign that would give back to the community and help brand her business. So he went into the house and up to his top floor office near the bell tower and forgot all about Hal Robertson and the two detectives until later that day.
Around two in the afternoon, almost exactly around the time Jim usually started wrapping things up so he could go back to West Hollywood and pick Culum up from school, the phone rang and Jim answered without thinking. He normally would have let it go to voicemail at that hour. He knew if it was Len or anyone important they would have called his cell phone next.
A mild voice said, “May I please speak with Jim Darling?”
“This is he,” said Jim. “I’m in a hurry, though. If you give me your name and number I’ll call you back tomorrow.”Jim glanced at his watch. He didn’t want to be late for Culum.
“It will only take a minute,” the guy said. “I want to talk to you about setting up a meeting to make an offer on a business you own. The medical marijuana dispensaries. My name is Vince Robertson. My uncle was going to buy the dispensaries, but now I’m interested in them.”
I’ll be releasing my next book in the Chase of a Lifetime series, Chase of a Holy Ghost, very soon and I just got the cover from the artist and wanted to share a preview. Below, at the bottom of this post, is an excerpt from the book.
I’ll post more as soon as the book is launched. This one is an indie project for me and I don’t like to rush it. After I get edits and copy edits I usually wind up re-reading it about 200 times on my iPad just to be sure. I’m shooting for a Memorial Day Weekend release, though. (Hint to indie authors: I find that doing a final read-through on my iPad or e-reading device helps a great deal because that’s how readers will see the finished book.)
Gay Batman/Superman Trailer
Here’s a link to a gay parody trailer of the new Man of Steel 2 movie with Ben Affleck. The real film hasn’t even finished shooting yet.
The three minute short in English depicts a Batman who is struggling with his sexuality – though a cute Superman seems ever so comfortable with his.
‘Every hero has a secret,’ a voiceover says in the video, ‘But when it becomes too difficult to keep and the word starts to spread they have to accept what they truly are.’
My favorite gay travel journalist, Jean Paul Zapata, wrote about his experiences with Tough Mudder. This is from one of my previous posts…so you can see what Tough Mudder is about. I’ve been following this because I love the idea of actually doing Tough Mudder. I would kill to do it.
I have posted about LGBT travel writer, Jean Paul Zapata, before because I always enjoy his pieces. And now he’s embarking on one of the toughest challenges of his career: Tough Mudder. In short, Tough Mudders are people who sign up for physical challenges that make boot camp look like kindergarten. It’s a lifestyle for many. Tough Mudder is a hugely popular physical endurance regimen that is gaining in popularity even more this year in the US and UK, and Zapata recently commented on his own experiences doing it.
The West London Tough Mudder event I participated in had 10 to 12 miles of muddy uphill running trails broken up with obstacles designed by the British Special Forces, and had around 20,000 people participate over the weekend.
The obstacles ranged from carrying logs uphill to running through a mud field where open-ended electrical wires waited to sizzle you into their embrace.
I’ve been wondering when TV Network OWN would finally start producing something more current that doesn’t have that old time 1980’s and 90’s feel with Dr. Phil content and all that self-help stuff that was so popular back in the day (I don’t think most people really care “Where They Are Now”). Now OWN is finally going to do an interesting documentary on Michael Sam and his journey as a gay man working toward the NFL.
‘Like every player out there working to make a team right now, my focus is on playing football to the very best of my ability,’ Sam said in a statement Wednesday (14 May).
‘I am determined.’ He added: ‘If seeing my story helps somebody else accept who they are and to go for their dreams too, that’s great. I am thankful to Oprah for her support and excited to work together.
I’ll be looking for this one. I think Sam underestimates how many gay men of all ages he might be helping. I get letters from them all the time, and I honestly don’t always know what to say. You can’t just tell someone in the closet to come out and life will be perfect, especially if it means giving up everything they’ve ever known. That’s dangerous. And documentaries like this one with Michael Sam can at least show other men struggling with who they are that life as an openly gay person is a lot better than hiding once you finally make the decision to do it.
They asked Jim a few more questions about the medical marijuana dispensaries and his limited relationship with Hal Robertson and he tried to answer them with direct eye contact and an even tone. Jim invited them both into the house because he knew they weren’t trying to implicate him with Hal’s disappearance by that time and he wanted to help them out as much as he could. The fact that a man had gone missing bothered Jim the most. Detective Sorrento seemed eager to have a cup of coffee. But Landers shot his partner a look and said, “We don’t have time. We have a lot of places to go after this. And we’re working on more important cases.”
This comment bothered Jim even more. “More important than a missing man?”
Landers shrugged. “I’m afraid we have priorities. The fact is some cases like this one are never solved.”
This should have made Jim feel better, but he frowned and said, “I see.”
“I’d kind of like coffee,” Sorrento said.
“Well you’ll just have to wait until lunchtime,” Landers said, sending his partner a dirty look.
When Jim saw the crestfallen expression with which Sorrento replied to Landers, he wanted to take him into the house and give him coffee anyway. Although he was over six feet tall and made of muscle, he had an almost childlike quality Jim found hard to resist. It wasn’t anything sexual and Jim would never have made sexual advances toward a straight man even if he hadn’t been married. Some straight men had an effect on Jim and he’d never understood why. He wanted to protect them. It was usually the biggest and strongest and most clueless that made him feel that way.
Right after that Detective Landers said, “Thanks for your time. I doubt we’ll be contacting you in the future. I’m not sure it’s a strong case in any respect,” he turned toward the dark SUV he’d parked near the front steps.
“If I can help, just let me know,” Jim said. “I don’t mind you contacting me again.” Len would have smacked him in the back of the head for saying that. But Jim was starting to feel terrible about the fact that no one seemed to care Hal was missing, not even the police. “If you know anyone interested in buying a few medical marijuana dispensaries, please let me know. Hal Robertson was my only hope.”
Detective Landers laughed and said, “Sorry I can’t help you out there.”
Jim turned to join him and tripped over a rock, lost his balance completely, and went face forward into one of the round boxwoods that lined the driveway.
Without saying a word, Detective Sorrento lurched toward Jim and grabbed him just as he was about to land on the boxwood. He reached under Jim’s arms, lifted him up high, and turned him around.
It happened so fast Jim didn’t even realize it until Sorrento lowered him and said, “Damn. Are you okay, buddy?”
Jim felt his face grow warm. “I’m fine. Thanks.”
Detective Landers honked the horn. He’d missed the fall and didn’t know why Sorrento hadn’t followed him to the car.
“I better get moving,” Sorrento said. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Jim nodded. “I’m fine.”He wanted to punch himself for being so clumsy.
As Sorrento turned to leave, he patted Jim on the shoulder and said, “Sorry about what I said earlier about the homosexuals. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
Jim watched him lope back to the SUV. “No offense taken.”
When Detective Sorrento was in the SUV, Jim stood in the driveway and waved as they turned around to head back to the main road. It struck him there was something familiar about Detective Sorrento he couldn’t figure out. Although he knew he’d never actually met him, he felt as if he’d seen him somewhere before.
He glanced at his watch and realized it was getting late. Even though he didn’t have to deal with selling the marijuana dispensaries at that point, he still had a heavy workload. He had one online retailer who needed more web exposure. He had another brand new designer who wanted to come up with a public relations campaign that would give back to the community and help brand her business. So he went into the house and up to his top floor office near the bell tower and forgot all about Hal Robertson and the two detectives until later that day.
Around two in the afternoon, almost exactly around the time Jim usually started wrapping things up so he could go back to West Hollywood and pick Culum up from school, the phone rang and Jim answered without thinking. He normally would have let it go to voicemail at that hour. He knew if it was Len or anyone important they would have called his cell phone next.
A mild voice said, “May I please speak with Jim Darling?”
“This is he,” said Jim. “I’m in a hurry, though. If you give me your name and number I’ll call you back tomorrow.”Jim glanced at his watch. He didn’t want to be late for Culum.
“It will only take a minute,” the guy said. “I want to talk to you about setting up a meeting to make an offer on a business you own. The medical marijuana dispensaries. My name is Vince Robertson. My uncle was going to buy the dispensaries, but now I’m interested in them.”
Last November I posted a link to a site where there are Davey Wavey nude photos. Today I’d like to post about how Davey Wavey has reacted to those photos, and how he’s not making any apologies to anyone. I actually didn’t know whether or not he’d posted them himself or someone had discovered them. He explains it all here.
Do I need to say anything else? I think it’s a good example of owning your decisions, taking a positive stand, and never letting anyone else intimidate you for something you’ve done previously. I’ve always thought that was important, even for authors. I once wrote about a burping penis in a parody gay romance loosely based on the TV show American Idol. And it was interpreted as serious literature by one dumb, but vicious, blogger. I have no regrets. I might even do it again.
Fuck with me: it’s the best attitude sometimes. We should all take it more seriously 🙂
Here’s the youtube link, where you can watch many other Davey Wavey videos on all kinds of gay topics.
Anal Hygiene
Speaking of parody and comic relief, I’ve been working on edits for a new book in the Chase series, Chase of a Holy Ghost, and I needed something that would make the storyline a little lighter. Actually, I needed a few things because the book can be emotional at times. So I wrote a scene where a ridiculous webcaster spoke about anal hygiene and referred to it as anal douchery. You should have seen the comments I received from the editor I hired.
On a more serious note, the fact is that there are certain things gay men should know about anal hygiene. As far as I know, I have never heard once of a parent explaining THIS to a gay teen when talking about the facts of life. In fact, I often wonder how younger gay men now learn about the facts of life with everything becoming more open nowadays. Do parents talk about these things with gay teens? Or do gay teens still get their information about the facts of life everywhere but at home?
In any event, once again, here’s Davey Wavey talking about anal douching. I won’t get into details here, but I often mention it in books just in case younger gay people are reading. It is important information every gay man should know…or at least almost every gay man.
For two men to have anal sex with each other, a certain routine of cleansing must take place. Perhaps, during your first sexual encounter, neither you nor your partner realized this. And then things got disgusting and you never, ever wanted to be a gay man again. And then you found out about cleaning one’s bottom — and how it’s an activity that’s best silently acknowledged, but never spoken about, because: ew. Take it away, Davey.
I’ve posted about Larry Kramer and The Normal Heart, many times. I don’t always agree with Kramer and his beliefs, but this article to which I’m linking shows how difficult it was for him when he first started out. I have no doubts about that. It’s still difficult for all gays, but it must have been torture way, way back then. He produced a film, Women in Love, and it became famous for the biggest taboo of all time: male full frontal nudity.
As Kramer recalled, adapting Women in Love to the screen was the easy part. Getting it produced was much more difficult because it involved the arduous task of negotiating a final approved cut of the movie with the British Board of Film Censors. Even before production began, Kramer sent a copy of his script to the board’s chief, a man named Lord John Trevelyan, who liked to brag, “We’re paid to have dirty minds.” Trevelyan didn’t hold out much hope for Kramer’s project and told him he doubted Women in Love could be filmed at all. “The wrestling scene,” as it was soon to be dubbed, and its male frontal nudity sent immediate shock waves through the BBFC.
If you follow my posts on male full frontal nudity in films, you’ll see not all that much has changed since Kramer used it in his film. I think the most recent full frontal male scene that I’ve noticed was with Bobby Cannavale in Boardwalk Empire, which I posted about here. That was in 2012. I’m sure there might be one or two I’ve missed. But the point is you don’t see it often.
Here’s an excerpt from my still-being-edited (and formatted for digital) WIP. It’s titled, Chase of a Holy Ghost, and will be released sometime at the end of this month.
On Saturday mornings, Jim usually went for a long ride on his favorite horse way out beyond the back pasture. He’d always been big on routine. He wore his favorite old cowboy boots that morning, jeans so old they were torn at the knees, and one of Len’s old cowboy hats because he liked the way it felt. When he reached the creek he stopped and smiled for a moment. He’d scattered Cain’s ashes there, and then Carol Greene’s ashes because there hasn’t been anyone else willing to give Carol a funeral service. Her roots went back to Amish culture and she’d been shunned for being gay and a transgender. He would have climbed off the horse and sat on a rock for a while to pay his respects. It was one of those bright mornings with a slight breeze, perfect for daydreaming. But he had to get back to the house before his mother-in-law, Doris Branson, arrived.
A few hours later, Jim jogged down the back stairs and heard voices in the main hallway. Clinger was barking and Jim couldn’t make out what they were saying, so he smoothed out his jeans, took a quick look in a mirror next to the back staircase, and then headed to the front of the house to see what was happening.
When he reached the hallway, he stopped and took a deep breath. He held it for a moment and exhaled slowly. Doris was hugging Len, and Jim’s mom and dad were standing on the sidelines waiting to greet her. Jim’s mom caught a glimpse of him in the doorway and she rolled her eyes. Jim shrugged and smiled, and then stepped into the hallway braced for battle.
As Jim walked up beside Len, Doris turned from Len and looked down at Culum. “And how are you, young man,” Doris said, with her deep raspy voice. “Are you happy to see grand-ma-ma?”
Culum blinked and took a step back toward Clinger. He called Jim’s mom grandma and he’d told Jim he didn’t like calling Doris grand-ma-ma, with the accent on the last syllable. Jim sent Culum a look, letting him know he wanted him to behave. No one appreciated Doris referring to herself as grand-ma-ma. COAL Ranch wasn’t Downton Abbey. It was Chatsworth, California in the twenty-first century. But in order to keep the peace, so to speak, Jim had warned everyone to humor Doris Branson’s pretentious quirks and make her feel at home for as long as she was there. If that meant calling her Your Royal Highness Jim would have done it.
Doris’s head jerked to the side. “What’s wrong?Aren’t you happy to see grand-ma-ma?” Her voice grew deeper and Jim had to wonder if she had a single nurturing bone in her body. Then he dismissed the thought, feeling guilty because he didn’t know her all that well yet.
Culum looked at Jim one more time, and then he nodded and said, “Yes, I’m happy to see you.”He refused to say grand-ma-maunless it was the last resort. He usually referred to Doris with pronouns.
Jim covered his smile with his palm. Culum had stubborn tendencies that often amused him.
Then Radcliff reached out to shake Doris’s hand. “It’s good to see you again, Doris. It’s been a while. You’re looking well, indeed.”Jim sometimes had a feeling his dad flirted with Doris, which tended to make Helen’s lips turn down.
Doris looked Jim’s dad up and down and said, “Yes, too long, darling. It’s good to see you again, Randolph.”She ran her long French-tipped fingernails down his sleeve and batted her eyelashes. Doris often flirted back, within reason, which also tended to make Helen’s eyebrows arch.
Helen rolled her eyes.
Radcliff didn’t bother to correct her about his name. He seemed to know it would be a waste of time.
Helen reached out to hug Doris, but Doris took a step back and reached for Helen’s hand instead. “Hello, dear, good to see you again.”Doris never used Helen’s name. She didn’t even bother to mispronounce it. She always referred to her as dear or hon. She turned to Len and said, “I hope my visit isn’t a bother. I didn’t know Jim’s parents would be here, too. I can stay at a hotel.”
Jim thought he had mentioned this to Doris. There had been so many things happening he could have forgotten.
Helen smiled and said, “If that would make you feel more comfortable. I’m sure there are a few fine hotels nearby, dear.”
Doris glared at Helen for a moment, and then laughed. “I love your sense of humor, hon.”
Helen smiled. “And I love yours even more, darling.”
Len smiled and looked up at the ceiling.
Jim shot his mom a look for the bitchy hotel remark she’d made. He wanted to laugh, but knew it would only get him into trouble. Jim actually had a better relationship with Doris than her own son. It had been that way from the first day they’d met. It wasn’t that Doris thought of Jim as her own son. In this case it was more that she felt close to Jim and thought they were a lot alike in many ways. Doris had always thought of herself as a victim living among the strong controlling Branson men and she’d learned how to survive with them by not backing down. She considered Len, her own son, just as vicious as all the other Branson men, and often sided with Jim as if he were an ally. Although Len could be aggressive and controlling, Jim humored her. He’d never considered himself a victim.
So Jim stepped up and broke into the conversation before Doris could reply to Helen’s catty remark with one of her own and said, “I just finished getting the guest suite on the third floor ready and I don’t want to hear anything about a hotel.”He put his arms around Doris, hugged her, and said, “You’re staying right here with us and that’s that. And why didn’t you let me know you were here so I could drive out to get you myself?I thought you would call.”
For the first time since she’d arrived she smiled and said, “Thank you so much. I prefer my own driver from Branson Communications. We pay him enough.”She looked at everyone else in the room, including poor little Culum who was just standing there observing on the sidelines, and said, “Now that Jim’s here everything will be fine. He clearly knows how to make an older, lonely widow feel at home.”
While Doris sent Len a fierce look, Jim winked at Helen and said, “I’ll help Doris get settled.”
Helen took the hint and said, “We were just leaving. We’re taking Culum to the zoo this afternoon. Would you like to join us, Doris? We don’t mind waiting.”
Doris made a face and said, “I think not, dear.”She glanced at Culum and frowned. “Grand-ma-ma will schedule something cultural for you while she’s here if there’s time.”That could have meant anything from the symphony to a trip on her private jet up to wine country where Doris had an established relationship with a Catholic bishop. Being a strict Catholic with a great deal of money, she had established relationships with priests, nuns, and bishops all over the world. In fact, she’d met two Popes in person. She collected priests and nuns the same way other people collect stamps. Back east, she often traveled with them. But the one in wine country, she claimed, gave her special blessings and she usually flew up to visit him while on the west coast.
With a blank expression, Culum nodded. The last time she’d been there and she’d taken him to a cultural event they’d wound up touring a convent where the nuns weren’t allowed to speak. The poor kid spotted a life-sized crucifix on a wall in the dark convent, screamed at the sight of a dead man hanging with blood dripping from his hands and feet, and had nightmares for one solid week. Although Jim had been raised Episcopal, and Len Catholic, they weren’t part of any organized religion anymore and they’d decided to raise Culum knowing both faiths. Of course Doris thought Culum should be raised Catholic, and Radcliff and Helen thought he should be Episcopal. But Jim and Len had made it clear they wanted to raise Culum their own way and he could one day make his own choice on religion. And until organized religion fully accepted gay couples and gay marriage, they didn’t want to expose him to hate.
Jim reached for Culum’s backpack on a chair in the hallway and handed it to Helen. “I packed a few things for him.”Then he handed Helen a box and said, “And this is for you to put in your purse.”He didn’t like to make a big thing about this. The box contained an epi-pen just in case Culum needed it. He’d experienced multiple bee stings once and developed a deadly allergy to bees as a result. Jim lived in constant fear of this. There was nothing he could do but watch and be prepared. If Culum had had an allergy to shell fish or nuts Jim could have made a conscious effort to avoid those things in a more relaxed manner, but bees were everywhere and you couldn’t trust them.
After they all walked Helen, Radcliff, and Culum out to the Tahoe and saw them off, Len turned toward the long black limo that had brought Doris there from the airport and said, “I’ll get your luggage, mother.”He called her mother all the time, not mom; she expected it and Len preferred it.
Doris waved her hand and said, “Just get your man to do it. I’m going upstairs with Jim.”
“We don’t have a man, mother,” Len said. “You know that. We do things around here on our own. It’s very casual. We’re just normal folks.”
Doris glanced around the property with a disapproving look. Even though COAL Ranch was one of the finest and most elegant ranches in Chatsworth, compared to her estate in Connecticut it was a small time affair. She frowned and said, “I see that.”She patted Jim’s back and said, “Poor thing. We need to have a long talk soon.”
Jim looked at Len and said, “Len will be more than happy to bring your things upstairs. It’s no trouble at all, Doris.”
Doris looped her arm through Jim’s and they headed back toward the house. “I don’t know how you do it, you poor thing. No full time help here at all, working full time yourself, and raising a child. You really do have to be more assertive, Jim. I don’t care if Len changed his name to Mayfield, my maiden name after my father.Len is still a Branson. These goddam Branson men will eat you alive if you’re not assertive. You should demand full time domestic help, at least a housekeeper. I learned a long time ago that you have to stand up to the Branson men or they will step all over you, trust me.”She clenched both fists and said, “You have to be tough, three steps ahead of them at all times, and never back down. That’s why I’m still here and Len’s father isn’t. He wasn’t going to kill me first.”She sounded proud of the fact that she’d outlived her husband as if they’d been racing to the finish.
When my author friend, Jon Michaelsen, sent me this link yesterday I have to admit that I found it more than interesting. The article talks about how it’s not as uncommon as we think it might be for straight men to cuddle in bed and show affection with each other in ways that have always been considered taboo. In fact, a study states that nine out of ten straight young men have spooned with each other in bed.
They believe as straight guys become less homophobic, they are happier to be more intimate with their friends.
‘We’re always cuddling, my lot,’ Jarrett, one of the young men who was interviewed, said.
‘We’re all comfortable with each other.’
Max, another survey participant, described how he and his friends would nurse their hangovers together at university.
Following a night out, he said he’s happy to watch TV, play video games, and frequently cuddle with friends.
‘If your mate has a headache you can like massage his head, or you just lie there together holding each other and laughing about how awful you feel,’ he said.
I could joke about this and make a comment or two. But I actually do find it interesting because I think straight men…and gay men…are always so highly underestimated because we’ve been socially conditioned not to show affection toward each other. It’s always been fine to see two women dancing together, but not two men.
Update: I polled twenty straight men I know about this earlier today and not one said they’ve ever spooned or cuddled in bed with another straight man. They have no reason to lie to me. I swore it was off the record and I would not mention names. And these are guys who have confided with me on personal things in the past. Just thought I’d throw that out there.
Zachary Quinto Shirtless
Openly gay actor, Zachary Quinto, didn’t get a Tony nomination this year, but he is out there promoting the role he’s playing for an upcoming Agent 47 film with his body. He makes it clear he’s not an exhibitionist for fun…just for work.
The openly gay star of the Star Trek movies (Mr. Spock) would be the clear winner in a ‘Shirtless Selfie of the Day’ contest.
Quinto posted this shot of himself onto his Instagram account and explained that his exhibitionism has a professional purpose: he is busy preparing for his next movie role.
‘Back to work(ing out). Agent 47. Home stretch.’
You can see the photo here. I pity the young male actor out there who is not “working it” with his body these days.
Gay Activist Slams Obama
A Malaysian gay activist, Pang Khee Teik, wrote what I think is one of those open letters to President Obama stating that he doesn’t want Obama to use gays as political pawns.
While I appreciate the call for Obama to support the activism on sexual orientation and gender identity issues, I find myself confused by the intended outcome of such a support. How can they help, really? And who are they helping, really? (And no, I wasn’t invited to meet Obama. But with my cynicism, could you blame them, really?)
On one hand, Obama’s visit seems premised on securing better international relations. And better international relations are often the stepping stone for better trade agreements. Better for the signers of agreements, naturally. Most notoriously, the USA has recently been trying to promote the TPPA (Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement), which has terms favorable to USA’s corporations and their economic interests, as well as the interests of ruling elites locally, at the expense of local communities and rights. A possible outcome of TPPA is the protection of the interests of pharmaceutical firms, thereby increasing the prices of HIV drugs and making effective cancer treatment less accessible for Malaysians.
You can read the rest here. It’s an angry commentary that hops from one point to another, and I’m still not sure what this activist is complaining about. But it’s an interesting read and some points do hit close to home for me.
What I would have liked is for USA to admit to its past discriminatory policies and bad laws targeted at LGBTs, and how some are still being enacted as we speak. Some states have recently signed into law the right of people to refuse services to LGBTs based on religious convictions. Really, USA, WTF?
And some states, like Pennsylvania where I live, have yet to recognize same sex marriage.
Chase of a Holy Ghost
I’m working on a new book in the Chase of a Lifetime series, Chase of a Holy Ghost, and here’s a short excerpt. This will be the fourth book in the series and it should run about 80,000 words. I’m 99% finished and I’ll post more about a release date.
By that time Jim could see he was friendly; just a little scared. He didn’t growl or snarl once. He seemed to be a Chihuahua with one of the most docile personalities Jim had ever seen. So he poured more water into his hand and the dog continued to drink until there was nothing left in Jim’s bottle.
Jim reached out to pet him and the dog stood up and wagged his tail. “There you go, buddy,” Jim said. “Now we’re going to find out who has been neglecting you and get you some dinner.” Maybe he’d run away and he’d just returned?
Jim had reached the point where he didn’t give a damn anymore about getting caught, not when a poor little starving dog was involved.
With both hands, he reached out to pick the dog up. The dog wagged his tail and didn’t put up any resistance. Jim had a feeling that if this dog could talk he would have begged Jim to take him away from there.
Once he was in Jim’s arms, Jim patted his back and checked his collar for identification. He remembered Hal shouting a dog’s name a few times while they’d spoken on the phone, but couldn’t remember the name. At least not until he saw the scratched tag on the dog’s thin black collar: “Jax,” was all it read. That was the name Hal had screamed during those phone conversations. Jim remembered it now. This had to be Hal’s dog.
Although Jim’s first instinct was to get back to the car and take Jax home, he had to at least try the door to see if Vince Robertson was there. Maybe Vince didn’t even know about the dog. Hal’s housekeeper or the police might have let it out by mistake and didn’t realize. It would have been presumptuous of Jim to assume anything under the circumstances and he didn’t want to irritate Vince and ruin the sale of the business.
When my author friend, Jon Michaelsen, sent me this link yesterday I have to admit that I found it more than interesting. The article talks about how it’s not as uncommon as we think it might be for straight men to cuddle in bed and show affection with each other in ways that have always been considered taboo. In fact, a study states that nine out of ten straight young men have spooned with each other in bed.
They believe as straight guys become less homophobic, they are happier to be more intimate with their friends.
‘We’re always cuddling, my lot,’ Jarrett, one of the young men who was interviewed, said.
‘We’re all comfortable with each other.’
Max, another survey participant, described how he and his friends would nurse their hangovers together at university.
Following a night out, he said he’s happy to watch TV, play video games, and frequently cuddle with friends.
‘If your mate has a headache you can like massage his head, or you just lie there together holding each other and laughing about how awful you feel,’ he said.
I could joke about this and make a comment or two. But I actually do find it interesting because I think straight men…and gay men…are always so highly underestimated because we’ve been socially conditioned not to show affection toward each other. It’s always been fine to see two women dancing together, but not two men.
Update: I polled twenty straight men I know about this earlier today and not one said they’ve ever spooned or cuddled in bed with another straight man. They have no reason to lie to me. I swore it was off the record and I would not mention names. And these are guys who have confided with me on personal things in the past. Just thought I’d throw that out there.
Zachary Quinto Shirtless
Openly gay actor, Zachary Quinto, didn’t get a Tony nomination this year, but he is out there promoting the role he’s playing for an upcoming Agent 47 film with his body. He makes it clear he’s not an exhibitionist for fun…just for work.
The openly gay star of the Star Trek movies (Mr. Spock) would be the clear winner in a ‘Shirtless Selfie of the Day’ contest.
Quinto posted this shot of himself onto his Instagram account and explained that his exhibitionism has a professional purpose: he is busy preparing for his next movie role.
‘Back to work(ing out). Agent 47. Home stretch.’
You can see the photo here. I pity the young male actor out there who is not “working it” with his body these days.
Gay Activist Slams Obama
A Malaysian gay activist, Pang Khee Teik, wrote what I think is one of those open letters to President Obama stating that he doesn’t want Obama to use gays as political pawns.
While I appreciate the call for Obama to support the activism on sexual orientation and gender identity issues, I find myself confused by the intended outcome of such a support. How can they help, really? And who are they helping, really? (And no, I wasn’t invited to meet Obama. But with my cynicism, could you blame them, really?)
On one hand, Obama’s visit seems premised on securing better international relations. And better international relations are often the stepping stone for better trade agreements. Better for the signers of agreements, naturally. Most notoriously, the USA has recently been trying to promote the TPPA (Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement), which has terms favorable to USA’s corporations and their economic interests, as well as the interests of ruling elites locally, at the expense of local communities and rights. A possible outcome of TPPA is the protection of the interests of pharmaceutical firms, thereby increasing the prices of HIV drugs and making effective cancer treatment less accessible for Malaysians.
You can read the rest here. It’s an angry commentary that hops from one point to another, and I’m still not sure what this activist is complaining about. But it’s an interesting read and some points do hit close to home for me.
What I would have liked is for USA to admit to its past discriminatory policies and bad laws targeted at LGBTs, and how some are still being enacted as we speak. Some states have recently signed into law the right of people to refuse services to LGBTs based on religious convictions. Really, USA, WTF?
And some states, like Pennsylvania where I live, have yet to recognize same sex marriage.
Chase of a Holy Ghost
I’m working on a new book in the Chase of a Lifetime series, Chase of a Holy Ghost, and here’s a short excerpt. This will be the fourth book in the series and it should run about 80,000 words. I’m 99% finished and I’ll post more about a release date.
By that time Jim could see he was friendly; just a little scared. He didn’t growl or snarl once. He seemed to be a Chihuahua with one of the most docile personalities Jim had ever seen. So he poured more water into his hand and the dog continued to drink until there was nothing left in Jim’s bottle.
Jim reached out to pet him and the dog stood up and wagged his tail. “There you go, buddy,” Jim said. “Now we’re going to find out who has been neglecting you and get you some dinner.” Maybe he’d run away and he’d just returned?
Jim had reached the point where he didn’t give a damn anymore about getting caught, not when a poor little starving dog was involved.
With both hands, he reached out to pick the dog up. The dog wagged his tail and didn’t put up any resistance. Jim had a feeling that if this dog could talk he would have begged Jim to take him away from there.
Once he was in Jim’s arms, Jim patted his back and checked his collar for identification. He remembered Hal shouting a dog’s name a few times while they’d spoken on the phone, but couldn’t remember the name. At least not until he saw the scratched tag on the dog’s thin black collar: “Jax,” was all it read. That was the name Hal had screamed during those phone conversations. Jim remembered it now. This had to be Hal’s dog.
Although Jim’s first instinct was to get back to the car and take Jax home, he had to at least try the door to see if Vince Robertson was there. Maybe Vince didn’t even know about the dog. Hal’s housekeeper or the police might have let it out by mistake and didn’t realize. It would have been presumptuous of Jim to assume anything under the circumstances and he didn’t want to irritate Vince and ruin the sale of the business.
