As of midnight tonight, it will be exactly five years since my first post. It's hard to imagine it's been that long, and a lot's changed—the tone and subject matter are different, how often I post, my limits (no nudity in a couple of years due to ad constraints). I've devoted a crazy amount of time and money and energy to this blog for a very small financial return (you couldn't guess low enough), but it's always rewarding to have this forum with which to express myself, keep my writing ability fluid, perhaps influence a couple of people here and there, share obsessions with strangers (in both senses of the word) and learn new things.
Take That's Howard...can you believe this happened onstage at a pop concert?
Here are some of the posts that were most important to Boy Culture's history. For the uninitiated, some of the oldest ones refer to Boy Culture, the movie made of my novel; I started the blog at the time Boy Culture was being filmed as a way to keep people informed of the progress...and it all snowballed from there.
Subtle
Some of these posts are milestones when it comes to the hits they provided but most are filled with original writing and/or photography and video and are just the posts of which I'm proudest. I hope you'll take some time to click on them and send their links around to others—and some time is what you'll need...
MY ART
Boy-crazy
FROM BOY TO MAN: BC B.C. (2007): The entire history of my novella, novel and movie Boy Culture; might be my ultimate post.
From '07, one of my faves. Old iPhones were better because they were worse.
"Your pictures suck" (2008): An art critic attacks me, but not without sustaining some hits in return.
GUYDAR (since at least January 17, 2008) & ENDS OF THE WORLD (since at least January 13, 2008): Attractive men of the world—I got your backs. Your fronts, too.
i-i-i (phone)
TriBeCa is for Boy lovers...
BOY ON FILM (2006): An account of the NYC launch party for Boy Culture as it played the TriBeCa Film Fest.
I was left "Reeling" by the experience
FRIENDS AND "FAMILY" (2006): The movie version of Boy Culture hits Chicago.
RAPT PUPIL (2006): The final night of Outfest with Boy Culture; I was fat but on the other hand got to meet Bryan Singer.
Let's call it a draw
DRAWN TOGETHER (2008): How my desire to draw related to my secret desire. One of my absolute favorite posts.
ME
Death of the party—Jeff in high school, already halfway through his life
BURNING MAN (2007): Tribute to my late high school friend and first romance.
I had the Fever for Jon-Erik Hexum
AN OBSESSION IS BORN (2009): One of my best posts about my obsession with...obsession.
Death becomes here
ILLINOIS DEATH TRIP (2007): Ruminations on death while revisiting a past home, and the past.
Life is short and meaningful
PASSING BY (2008): Mourning the loss of a person I only met once.
I was given the red-carpet treatment
HAVEN'T WE MET? (2010): Celebrating my time with someone I've only met once—Madonna.
Borrowed nostalgia
THE PICTURES OF VERNON GRAY (2010): Materialism isn't always greedy.
Puerto Rico always impresses the gaze
FREEDOM ISN'T FREE (2008): Documenting my trip to Puerto Rico in words and pictures.
Escapism is delish, but only if you're sure what you're seeking to escape
GLACIAL PROFILING (2007): In which I manage to relate Tasti D-Lite (RIP) to my '80s teen angst.
For a while, we were Bay-listers
THIS WAS THE NIGHT (2010): I finally locate the long-lost video of my drag performance as Samantha Fox!
THE FOUR-DAYTRIPPERS (2009): San Francisco in words and pictures.
Self-portrait of the artist as an old man
PARTYBOY (2008): Turning 40. Sigh.
"No pictures, please!"
KATHY'S CHOICE: MY THREESOMES vs. MARCUS WELBY S&MD (2009): A fun but frustrating meet-up with Kathy Griffin.
Even then, New Yorkers feared 9/11 was the beginning of the end
ART IMITATES LIFE (2006): My 9/11 and my distaste for grief tourism.
I'm gonna love you, too
"CALL ME" (NO, SERIOUSLY!) (2005): My first post on this blog and still one of my favorites—it's about meeting Debbie Harry at an exclusive AOL Sessions taping for The Curse of Blondie, but it's about more than just that.
If he shook his moneymaker, how did The Roxy ever fail?
MY ROXY HEART (2006): The day The Roxy went bankrupt. Plus, bisexual French guys'll break your heart.
These guinea pigs magically became 16-pound dogs
PROMISES, PROMISES (2008): The first appearance of my four-legged offspring, Hyphen & Sash Rettenmund-Vélez.
Peruvian Princess
FOR THE BIRDS (2005): Why Yma Sumac is better than Laguna Beach.
Miss, there's some toilet paper attached to your dress!
PRIDE/A DEEPER LOVE (2008): A journey home to Michigan, then a march in Manhattan.
I like it. "Ruff!"
ARE YOU OUTTA CONTROL? IS THAT DOG WALKING YOU? (2008): Bringing my dogs home.
"Beady" ladies were just "all too awful," my friend and boss used to say
A FIGHT AT THE MUSEUM (2007): My mentor's husband struggles to give away his family home.
His 'n' herpes
EXPELLING BEE (2008): The most inappropriate things I ever wrote for school.
An East Side story
A GAY OLD TIME (2009): Mixing it up with Arthur Laurents.
The gays go wild...for Mickey Mouse
BUTT PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN (2007): Our trip to Gay Days at Walt Disney World.
Run of the house
PUPPIES AS METAPHORS (2008): The Zen of Shih Tzu.
They had faces then, but who was looking at their faces?
WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS (2007): Erotic memories of my brushes with the Big Leaguers.
Selling it like it is
BIRTH OF A SALESMAN (2006): Did you ever know I'm a natural-born capitalist?
Garfield and Who Killed the Robins Family?...must be the '80s
BRING BACK ALL OF THOSE HAPPY DAYS (2008): The charm of Easter remains hidden to me.
Killing time
SECRET SHOTS (2008): My trip to Dallas, and to the site of JFK's murder.
Life's not fair, but The Fair was life
TAKING STOCK (2007): My first job—as a stockboy—helped me see what life had in store for me.
She gave Madonna her material, girl!
THE LOOK OF LOVE (2009): Meeting Maripol.
John Deere in the headlights
MO MO MO (2007): A journey to Missouri as a fat kid. Stuckey's was involved.
I've got a Proposal for you...
WHITE NIGHT (2009): The story of how I got my favorite celebrity pic-with ever.
"We're all dreamers, we're all whores"
I WAIT IN ANTICIPATION FOR YOUR TOUCH (2007): Meeting Belinda Carlisle and remembering the time I almost got my ass kicked in front of her.
This was Real exciting
I FELT THE MAGIC (2010): My second meeting with Belinda Carlisle.
"This won't help a bit..."
WELL HEALED (2006): Some of the doctors I've had were enough to make ya sick.
If she's got nice tits, you must acquit
THE JURY IS OUT (2007): My experience on a jury was so horrible I can't believe it's been so long since it happened!
Justice is blind
LEGENDS OF THE FALL (2009): My next jury experience was better...kinda.
My walls? Got ya covered!
LONG-DISTANCE RUNNER (2008): A peek at my youthful roomabilia.
How do I look?
ON THE FACE OF IT (2009): My project to have all my high school classmates do simple self-portraits.
I was Validated!
YES, ICON (2009): Meeting with Liz Rosenberg.
POPGASMS
The i-stardom movement is upon us
IT'S IN THE iSTARS: IN 15 MINUTES, WE'LL ALL BE FAMOUS (2009): One of my best essays. Top three.
Anonymous sex isn't always
THE TRUTH IS NOT MALICIOUS UNLESS YOU ARE LIVING A LIE (2007): The Thomas Roberts Affair, one of my first backlash backhands.
Striking poses
MADONNA: HINDSIGHT IS 50/50 (2008): My never-completed series meant to compare Madonna, at age 50, to 50 other famous women when they were the same age. Should've been a book for all the effort!
Kimspiracy theories
WILDE AT HEART (2008): A tribute to Kim Wilde.
He has the right stuff
DIDN'T I (BLOW YOU THIS TIME)? (2009): This passing along of the news about Jonathan Knight being gay went viral.
Whose knife is it anyway?
AND LIKE A CASTLE IN THE SAND, YOU HAD TO FALL APART (2009): Probably my favorite piece on Madonna and plastic surgery—and as you know, I've written lots of 'em.
The first cut is the deepest
OLD AGE IS NOT FOR SISSIES...OR FOR MADONNA (2008): My first plastic-surgery heart-attack over Madonna.
Patrick Duffy is my main man (from Atlantis)
IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY HILTON... (2010): Visiting the Chiller Theatre Expo with Barbara Eden, the cast of Dallas and tons more OMG-listers.
They're killing all the beautiful girls
UNFUNNY FACE (2006): Is Looker the best movie ever made?
Ladies with an attitude...and Britney
DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK (2007): Why Britney Spears sucks. Forever. Times infinity.
The shirtless one
LOST ANGELES (2009): My favorite photographic travelogue of L.A.
Underwear the boys are
REALITY CHECK (2008): These Mario Testino images of Ashton Kutcher in his skivvies gave me my hugest influx of traffic up to that point.
Birth of an icon
MADONNA & PRINTS (2009): The amazing Madonna prints I was—and am still (some left)—selling.
Love 'em and leave
HARD TIMES (2009): The death of gay porn magazines. (Some are coming back soon!)
The sun sets (and always shines) on Morten Harket
TOTALLY AWESOME '80S: AN a-ha MOMENT (2009): Musings on Morten.
ORANGE YOU GLAAD YOU CAME? (2010): Firsthand account of The 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards.
Granted, he's the hottest guy ever
CHAN THE MAN'S PRIZE-WINNING CAN (2009): Frustratingly, images of Channing Tatum's stripper days gave me what to this day were the most hits the site's ever gotten.
A pop-culture writer's same old song and dance
lazy/BEAUTIFUL (2006): Are women who try to look good slaves to male desire? Is Madonna?
Posing with Chace was half the fun
WHAT HAPPENS AT MISS USA DOESN'T STAY AT MISS USA (2008): Things can get pretty/ugly at beauty pageants.
Madonna, in all of her Bedtime glory
IT'LL LAST LONGER (2007): Unseen Madonna.
Kiss and tell
HAPPY ENDINGS (2006): The internet makes it hard to keep secrets, but it makes it easy to tell them, too!
The spiritual godmother of Madonna's Susan
"LET'S GO TO THE MOVIES...A DOUBLE FEATURE?" (2009): Screening Smithereens and Desperately Seeking Susan with director Susan Seidelman.
THE MOVIE-MAGIC CLUB (2010): My surreal time at the Desperately Seeking Susan 25th-anniversary screening.
Choosing cash over the sash
BOTTOM'S REMORSE (2008): Maybe I just like the title, but this juicy exposé of a Mr. World turned pornstar did rack up the views.
Missing you
PRETEND IT'S 1978 AND YOU'RE STRAIGHT (2008): Of Matt Dillon and Debralee Scott.
Losing Bette
THE HANGING OFFENSES OF BETTE MIDLER (2005): My second-ever post, also recycled from a 2004 essay, was this hit piece on the not-always-Divine Miss M. Have my opinions softened? Somewhat.
My terms of endearment for Jennifer Jones
LISOLETTE-DOWN (2008): Me and Mrs. Jones.
Like a [fill in the blank]
AS I AM, YOU WILL BE (2008): Madonna's chameleon ways under the microscope.
He was a male stripper in a go-go bar
HE'S GOT THE PART (2007): There's something about Marcus Patrick...oh, wait, I know what it is.
Yes, slur, that's my baby
SUPERFAG (2007): That gay joke from Vince Vaughn's new flick is quaint compared to this shit.
Madonna, hostess with the mostest
THE DIVA, THE DANCE FLOOR & HER WARDROBE (2005): Fame as a virus.
Who, me?
HARVEY MILKING IT (2009): My first stab at defending Perez Hilton.
Evil tongue
THE DEATH OF "PEREZ HILTON" (2009): My second and best stab at defending Perez Hilton, but it goes way beyond exploring Mario-bashing.
That's my boys
TOTALLY AWESOME '80s: SHOOTING PARTY (2009): A predilection for pop perfection.
Nice stems, sonny!
ACTION JACKSON (2007): This post on Cheyenne Jackson in reFRESH got me oodles of hits. My scans are the main ones from this mag seen all over the 'Net to this day.
Madonna's very first time
ISLAND OF LOST SOUL (2006): First-hand info on Madonna's Island Magazine cover.
Gay movies? The Quad is in the mix
SCREENING QUEENS (2007): Are gay movies usually crappy? Or are gay people just crappy at supporting them?
Lard magic
DIVINE INTERVENTION (2007): My fascination with famous corpses.
Quaid's dreamscape.
QUAID MAKES ME RANDY (2008): Shirtless shots of buff Dennis Quaid became an Internet sensation thanks to my scans.
Where Kevin James goes, (unintentional!!!) homophobia follows
TRUNZO IS DUNZO (2007): Star Magazine implying gay people aren't quite right? Not normal!
Omelette down your guard
MADONNA, OVER EASY (2006): This simple post, calling attention to Madonna's infamous egg movie from high school, was what got me my first Towleroad (and only Boing Boing) link.
Dressed for success
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS (2009): The A Single Man press day, with video.
Curtains
AND JILL CAME TUMBLING AFTER (2009): The death of Farrah Fawcett.
Brothers, but not in law
WHICH TWIN HAS THE BONER? (2008): I was first with pictures from outlaw twin brothers Keyontyli and Teleon Goffney, who along with committing robbery had earlier performed twincest for porn mags.
Pretty maids all in a Monroe
HE WENT POP (2010): Freezing my ass off for some Mr. Brainwash freebies.
POLITICS & ISSUES
Should I stay or should I go now?
THE MOURNING AFTER: AND NOW FOR THUMPING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT (2010): Mid-term migraine.
Grist for the Crist
FLORIDA'S GOVERNOR ENGAYGED: DOES THIS COUNT AS "GAY MARRIAGE?" (2008): Charlie Crist is gay. Really, really gay.
There's always 2012...
HOW DO I LOVE THEE? LET ME COUNT THE GAYS... (2008): The gay affair with Hillary Clinton.
Are gays our own worst enemies? Or is it the fags we need to fear?
WORDS, THEY CUT LIKE A KNIFE (2008): Rejecting anti-gay slurs is not being PC.
Barebacking is not your friend
SEROPERVERSION: TWISTED LOGIC & HIV (2008): Being judgmental is underrated.
Dykes on bikes? Likes!
ILL WILL & GRACELESS (2009): Why it's wrong to think flamboyant homosexuality is damaging our movement.
Oh, father!
McCAIN (NOT THAT ONE) & OBAMA & ME & US (2010): I'm not ready to make nice, nor am I ready to make war, with the party that's letting me down.
It breeds!
PREGNANT PAUSE (2008): Remember how liberals were made to feel dirty for questioning Sarah Palin's questionable behavior while pregnant? And how conservatives were made to feel dirty for questioning Barack Obama's status as an American? Who gave it up and who's still not backing down?
Hail, Mary, full of disgrace
SARAH PALIN = SPIRO AGNEW + HARRIET MIERS (2008): Aw, she'll never last...
Whoopi-tee-doo!
THE MARRYING KIND (2008): That fabulously spontaneous anti-Prop 8 march in NYC.
Madonna's motherhood on trial
OY, MOTHER (2006): Proof positive that Andrea Peyser is just a douche.
This has to do with the following article, but it's still pretty gratuitous
PLANET OUT (2007): The debate over labeling involving two magazines on in-the-life support.
If McCain calls, I'm not here.
NEW YORK TO McCAIN: DROP DEAD! (2008): The time I saw John McCain and showed him exactly how I felt.
BLACK, WHITE & GREY (2007): My take-down of the Isaiah Washington take-down.
Knock three times on the debt ceiling if you want me
MY REALITY IS I AM (NOT) A GAY AMERICAN (2007): Flushing out the Larry Craig affair.
Speech therapy
ALL TIME HIGH (2008): When it was still okay to love Barack Obama.
"Wanna go skinny-dippin'?"
OUTRAGE (2007): Barebacking, my great white whale.
Two of Oprah's Favorite Things
STANDING O (2007): Was Oprah keeping it real in choosing O over Hill?
The Clintons practice some black magic
WHITE MISCHIEF (2008): When Bill and Hillary decided to use race in the race for the White House.
Are you a kitten and don't want to be?
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT (2007): I used that title a lot, apparently! This time, it's to kvetch about an infamous ex-gay.
REVIEWS
STRINGS ATTACHED (2007): A review of the film version of The Kite Runner.
I love her "LoveGame"
LADY GAGA LIVE: PAPARAZZI DON'T PREACH (2009): My first GaGa show, and I went GaGa for her.
So bloody good
SUCH AN INNNTERESTING MONSTER (2010): My favorite GaGa show.
The original Cyn
CHANGE OF ART (2008): To 'the Brink with Cyndi Lauper.
The son he always had
ABOUT A BOY (2009): A review of the film Chris & Don.
YOU HAD TO LAUGH (2008): The first time I saw Kathy Griffin's stand-up act, it was falling-down funny.
BARE ESSENTIALS (2008): I'll never forget my first, Matthew Morrison-dominated Broadway Bares.
Must be the money
EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT ROTATION (BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK) (2008): My second Broadway Bares was even more bare, if that's possible.
Just take a gander at Michigander Andrew Glaszek
IF YOU LIKED IT THEN YOU SHOULDA PUT A HOTEL ON IT: BROADWAY BARES XX—STRIP-OPOLY (2010): My latest excursion into the meat market.
DEBBIE REYNOLDS: SINGIN' THROUGH THE PAIN (2009): We were half the age of everyone else in the room...and Debbie knew it.
Do I like Equus? Of course, of course.
FULL-FRONTAL GALLOP (2008): I still think Equus got shafted.
My best concert experiences so far were in 2006 at MSG inches from this lady
SUPERWOMAN RETURNS (2006): My first of several reviews of Madonna's Confessions Tour. (Others found here under "Madonna.")
Bern', baby, Bern'!
BERNHARD: WITH A VENGEANCE (2009): Seeing Sandra Bernhard's 20th anniversary Without You I'm Nothing.
The kid stays in the picture (every chance he gets)
AS I AM YOURS, YOU ARE MINE (2008): Assessing Christopher Ciccone's savage memoir about his sister.
A peek at Parting Glances
"IT WAS ALL AT ONCE...EVERY WHICH WAY!" (2007): A review of Parting Glances and of Outfest's event celebrating its restoration.
Golden ticket
INTO AFRICA (2008): The NYC premiere of Madonna's I Am Because We Are.
...and I disliked it!
I DISSED A GIRL (2008): In which Katy Perry's charms elude me.
Gilles Marini had a great, big, juicy part
IT WAS GOOD (FOR ME) (2008): I actually liked the first Sex and the City movie.
The performance was Fein
HOLLYWOOD & FINE (2006): A quirky review of The Little Dog Laughed, co-starring Fran Drescher.
Wrangler's got a dangler
THERE'S A LINE BETWEEN LOVE AND FASCINATION (2008): A review of Wrangler, a documentary about the now deceased porn legend.
Sissies are not always pussies
CLASS IN SESSUMS (2008): My take on the Kevin Sessums memoir Mississippi Sissy.
Granted, Jennifer Hudson's perf was a fluke...
DREAMGIRLS (2006): My favorite film of the year had Beyoncé in it???
Yay, Team Moyet!
AND SHE'S WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO TAKE HER BACK TO WHERE SHE CAME FROM (2008): Yaz, we can!
Farley's footsie role
THE TELL-SOME AUTOBIO (2007): Farley Granger's memoir teases without going all the way.
Women in love
NOTES ON A SCANDAL (2006): A terrific film, and this review brought me to the attention of Joe.My.God.
No photo op...can I forgive them?
THEY WERE ALWAYS ON MY MIND (2009): Meeting and enjoying the Pet Shop Boys.
Nervous titters as I asked her to sign this (these?)
WILL I SEE YOU AGAIN?: PLATINUM BLONDIE IN THE FLESH (2010): Meeting Debbie Harry for the third time.
Homosexuality rocks!
EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW WAVE AGAIN (2008): True Colors was a true delight.
Was that Debra Winger on woodwinds?
WONDER NEVER CEASES (2007): I paid good money to hear Lynda Carter sing.
It didn't have to be this finger-lickin' good, but it is
EATING OUT 2: SLOPPY SECONDS (2006): A review of the film I called an unlikely "guilty treasure."
No appetite for destruction
YOU ARE WHAT YOU DON'T EAT (2009): The day I stopped eating red meat and pork.
Sticky with me, kid
MADONNA: STICKY/SWEET (2008): My first and second impressions of Madonna's most recent tour.
Mama knocked you out
I FOUND GOD IN MYSEL/AND I LOVED HER/LOVED HER FIERCELY: A REVIEW OF PRECIOUS (2009): A hard-to-take movie was easy to choose as one of the year's best.
I pictured this
DO WHAT YOU USED TO DO (2008): Blondie's amazing Parallel Lines Tour.
Does De Palma have Auteurette's Syndrome?
THE BLACK DAHLIA (2006): A review of Brian De Palma's over-the-top, underwhelming film and a laundry list of what I love and hate about the filmmaker.
Madonna-lite years
LIKE-ON: THE DEVIL I DIDN'T KNOW (2009): What happens when a Kylie Minogue hater sees her live show.
Firth and foremost
EVERY SINGLE, SOLITARY THING: A REVIEW OF A SINGLE MAN (2009): A movie that really moved me.
Birthday boy Harold gets to blow out the candles and blow his gift
WHO IS HE? WHO WAS HE? WHO DOES HE HOPE TO BE? (2008): My affection for The Boys in the Band is never on the verge of "turning!"
HARD CANDY REVIEWED: GIVE ME A CHANCE TO GROW AND I'LL TAKE IT (2008): More thought than anyone's given Hard Candy...even Madonna!
Rosie's Barbara-wired defense
THE VIEW HAS TWO FACES (2007): A review of Rosie O'Donnell's Celebrity Detox.
Madonna gets it together
CONFESSIONS ON A DANCE FLOOR BY MADONNA (2005): My track-by-track of Madonna's most recent masterpiece.
EVIL WOMAN (2007): Assessing Debbie Harry's solo CD Necessary Evil...perhaps too kindly. Haven't listened to it since.
Hard magic
DON'T PRETEND YOU'RE NOT HUNGRY: MADONNA AT ROSELAND (2008): The one where I almost killed a girl at a Madonna concert.
INTERVIEWS
I still get clicks from this four-year-old post...can't imagine why?
DREAMBOY: AN INTERVIEW WITH MARCO DAPPER (2006): He now thinks the country is going "Socialist," but he's still nice to look at.
Gay directors don't discriminate between "CUT!" and "UNCUT!"
FAG IN A BLACK LEATHER JACKET: AN INTERVIEW WITH BOY CULTURE DIRECTOR Q. ALLAN BROCKA (2007): My Q&A with the guy responsible for integrating and interpreting my novel for the big screen.
You might wanna borrow Christine O'Donnell's broom and jump over it with Darryl
TOWARD THE SPOTLIGHT: AN INTERVIEW WITH BOY CULTURE'S DARRYL STEPHENS (2007): Quizzing one of the nicest and smartest actors you'll ever meet.
X marks the spot
GETTING THERE: AN INTERVIEW WITH BOY CULTURE'S DEREK MAGYAR (2007): Chatting with "X."
"Joey" to the world
TRUSTING THE FALL: AN INTERVIEW WITH BOY CULTURE'S JONATHON TRENT (2007): Only Jonathon could play both guileless "Joy" in Boy Culture and Andrew Cunanan—as he later did—convincingly.
A flashback to my East Village "date" with Frederick Weller
TAKE ME OUT OF THE CLOSET (2007): Aka, "I used to have Frederick Weller's phone number."
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