I never saw this video, uploaded in August, until now. If this were my child, I don't know what I'd do if moving were not an option, but I do know I'd be proud...
Prove it!
As of midnight last night, it was exactly six years since my first post. It's been a tough thing to keep up with a dayjob and outside activities, and just when I think I might walk away, a valuable connection or interesting opportunity or a kind word comes my way. Thank you all for reading me.
Of whom are you more jealous?
Here are my favorite 100+ posts out of nearly 11,000. Please take some time to read (or re-read!) a couple and tweet or Facebook any you like.
xoxo Matt
The pocket pool championships were intense this year
BOY CULTURE
FROM BOY TO MAN: BC B.C. (2007): The entire history of my novell and novel Boy Culture as well as the movie version; might be my ultimate post.
Jonathon Trent & Derek Magyar make an Allan Brocka sandwich
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.
No one would've mistaken me for Taylor Lautner
RAPT PUPIL (2006): The final night of Outfest with Boy Culture; I was fat but on the other hand got to meet Bryan Singer.
MY ART
Construction worker (shot this week) vs. James Dean
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.
Unaltered iPhone image that still blows me away
"Your pictures suck" (2008): An art critic attacks me, but not without sustaining some hits in return.
DRAWN TOGETHER (2008): How my desire to draw related to my secret desire. One of my absolute favorite posts.
The shirtless one
LOST ANGELES (2009): My favorite photographic travelogue of L.A.
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.
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.
Signed, sealed (eventually) delivered
LOST BOY FOUND (2011): There is a book in here somewhere.
Be Italian
CIAO HOUNDS: OUR TRIP TO ITALY (2011): Finally got José to Europe.
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.
Lots more...
Via Joe.My.God.: It's a gutting experience to watch the "It Gets Better" video made by young Jamey from Buffalo, New York, who in spite of his awareness that he was born this way, in spite of the inspiration he got from Lady Gaga and from some supportive friends, he still chose to take his own life after years of bullying...
GLAAD has announced its Amplifier Awards winners for achievement in ads inclusive of the LGBT community, and they've picked some great ones. Imagine ads like these on TV even 20 years ago. (You can't.)
Here, Joe Manganiello talks about being bullied as a kid in his It Gets Better video. Just looking at him would have made the teenage Matthew Rettenmund feel that life might get better as an adult.
Meanwhile, plugging True Blood in Poland, Manganiello speaks here of his affinity with monsters as a kid. And apparently, if you pray hard enough, your dreams will come true. (If that panned out, I think a lot of us would be bumping into each other exiting his apartment.)
18 and pregnant with ambition
Eighteen-year-old Kevin Michael Barba is a reality show waiting to happen. He was introduced to the culture via a deliciously catty Gawker item lampooning a letter written on his behalf seeking help in securing a publicist. His goal? To be an out gay role model to teens, a human It Gets Better—even if his privileged upbringing makes him one of those rare It Was Never That Bad To Begin Withs.
Like any good member of the proletariat, I figured he might be a male Paris Hilton and scoffed at his naked desire to be famous. But I was curious, and after some Facebooking, I met with him for lunch at Blue Fin in Times Square. And lo and behold, I found him way more likable than his assistant's letter betrayed—yes, in spite of the fact that he's less than half my age and has an assistant in the first place. In person, he comes across as downright earnest, hoping to do good and at the same time wondering aloud how so many Gawker squawkers could liken his haircut to Justin Bieber's. ("Old people only have one point of reference for 18-year-olds?" I offered.)
Oh, Jackie!
He's also self-aware enough to note that while he hopes to inspire others, he'd also like to earn a Mazel of the Week nod from Andy Cohen someday. His role models sound like ingredients in the image he hopes to convey—Cohen, Jackie O, Bethenny Frankel.
Lest you think I'm just cozying up to him on the off chance he could be persuaded to pay for my first tummy tuck, I paid for lunch over his strident objections. I wanted to preserve my journalistic integrity. So keep an open mind and have a look at how he responded to all my questions—if you watch to the end, you might even get a chic Countess LuAnn de Lesseps reference...
Sen. (for now!) Scott Brown (R-Massachusetts) skipped out on the It Gets Better campaign. As David Mixner points out, it's another sign the Republicans are trying to destroy the entire concept based on its founder like liking Christianity and having a bombastic way of expressing himself. This wouldn't be the first baby Republicans tossed out with what they perceived as bathwater. It's pathetic.
Rise Against has a catchy, hit-bound song in "Make It Stop (September's Children)," and they've partnered with the It Gets Better Project in producing a music video that illustrated the plight of kids who are bullied relentlessly school.
IGB founder Dan Savage says:
"Tim McIlrath has written a powerful song. With the release of 'Make It Stop' and the accompanying video, Rise Against is sending the message to its fan base that the bullying and harassment of LGBT teens needs to stop and that suicide isn't a solution."
The video makes use of messages of hope from real teens as well as a final word from Savage. Rise Against's new album Endgame is available now—it debuted at #2.
A Brazilian take on "It Gets Better" has launched—the first of its kind in the Portuguese language...
Via Towleroad: People.com editor Janet Mock comes forward as a trans person in a frank, touching "It Gets Better" video.
