Without Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, Disney+, or any other streaming service save Amazon Prime, I don’t watch many series or shows. A notable exception, and one of the reasons we still have HBO and MAX, is that I do enjoy ‘The Gilded Age’ – the guilty pleasure that is sort of an American version of ‘Downton Abbey‘ by the same creative team. It’s set to return for a second season on October 29, and I cannot wait. Bring back Bertha already!
This is usually the time of the year when fall finally breaks summer’s back, taking it out for real, with nights that steal into the 30’s and 40’s and days that struggle to push into the 60’s. This pre-populated post won’t make any predictions as to the current weather conditions, but here’s hoping October has a few more sunny and warm days in her. On with the weekly recap…
Dazzling beginnings were made by shirtless male celebrities, and one very naked Harry Styles.
When negligence leads to troublesome beauty.
Decades after ‘Last Tango in Paris’, butter is still getting kinky.
A man in glasses and contemplation.
X most definitely doesn’t mark the spot.
A lion’s paw, hidden in the green tumult of summer, finally reveals itself.
Everyone has their stop-whatever-they’re-doing movie.
Beware! The flippant, innocuous post typically gets the most traction.
The struggle is real, and enlightenment is ever-unattainable for me.
Shirtless male celebrities are always a hit in these parts.
A bit of the blame game, with lots to go around.
Dazzlers of the Day included Jonathan Bennett, Paul Castle, Emma Corrin, Christopher Rice-Thomson, and Gloria Estefan.
When we see our own faults in others, why do we blame and attack them instead of working to improve ourselves?
Gloria Estefan doesn’t get the credit she deserves for creating a body of music that has pervaded pop culture more than any of us realize over the 80’s and 90’s and early 2000’s. She’s kept creating music in the first two decades of this millennium as well, as fans and appreciators know, while pushing forth on endeavors like a Broadway musical and various philanthropic enterprises. She earns this Dazzler of the Day for doing it all with heart and soul, and staying true to herself and her heritage before such things were fashionable.
Meditation has proven to be a saving grace in my life, and I somehow manage to do it every day, but it’s not always easy. Lately I’ve had my own struggles in keeping focused, and not allowing troublesome thoughts and worries to surface during my twenty-minute sessions. It’s been a couple of months of agitation and annoyance with the world, and that has seeped into my meditation – a combination of grief and healing and the rushed passing of time that has resulted in general prickliness, and a vague, troubling sense that I’m no longer the best company. My heart hurts a bit too much to really care, which is another sort of sadness altogether, and so I turn back inward, back to the simplicity of the practice.
As evening descends, sooner and earlier than it ever did in the summer, I find myself sitting lotus-style in the dim living room, the glow of a solitary candle the only light as the sky deepens from blue to a darker shade of the deepest ocean. I go through my usual focal points of meditation, mostly about family, and then, where I would usually start letting my mind wander a bit, I returned to the way I began meditating about four years ago, with a basic counting of numbers that went along with the breathing.
Inhaling slowly, I would focus on the breath, thinking to myself ‘Breathing in one,’ then on a slower exhalation thinking ‘Breathing out one’. On the next inhalation, I would think ‘Breathing in two’, then ‘Breathing out two’. At this point in my practice, my inhalations are about twelve seconds long, and the exhalations are about twenty seconds. That’s about two full breathes per minute, which is why a twenty-minute meditation seems to move along pretty quickly, and I don’t have to count that high before it’s done. That’s a good length to completely calm the brain, and on this day it works. The worries about my niece and nephew not returning my texts, the concern about getting my Mom to schedule her next doctor’s exam, the stress and sadness of finding my own way through grief – they all somehow fall away as the minutes tick by, and the breathing steadies.
The mind is clear by the time I’m on the tenth inhalation or so, a reminder that it’s still possible to achieve that calm and stillness. A reminder that I can still find that quiet.
For your superficial Saturday night viewing pleasure, here’s a brief collection of shirtless male celebrities to see you through the evening and into the morning.
Michael B. Jordan closed out another shirtless post here but he opens these proceedings with two scintillating shots to show that we are serious about shirtlessness right now.
Regé-Jean Page brought heated elegance to ‘Bridgerton’ and this dazzling post.
Troye Sivan is pulling out all the stops and pulling off all the clothing, in support of his latest collection of songs. Worth a listen, and worth a look.
Jason DeRulo is ready for his close-up, and his Dazzler of the Day crowning.
Dan Reynolds usually prefers to perform without a shirt, and who are we to disagree?
Channing Tatum revealed some ass-cheek in this sexy post, and teased a shower shot in this one.
Nick Jonas and the Naked GIFs – sounds like a great band name.
Does Jason Momoa do everything without a shirt on? That’s not a problem, BTW.
Finally, it’s always worth revisiting Ben Cohen, even if he was most recently featured here a few days ago. His work with Snooty Fox Images is a consistent delight.
The flippant, innocuous post gets the most notice and does the most damage. Meanwhile, my passive-aggressive missives from hell, blared from the rooftop of my mind, are barely a blip on anyone’s radar.
{Note: The Madonna Timeline is an ongoing feature, where I put the iPod on shuffle and write a little anecdote on whatever was going on in my life when that Madonna song was released and/or came to prominence in my mind.}
A quintessential fall album, coming out during one of the most indelible falls of my youth, ‘Bedtime Stories‘ was the soundtrack of a pivotal period in my life. This little soft-focus disco ditty was one of the few upbeat moments in a relatively moody atmospheric album, although ‘Don’t Stop’ felt like one of those unremarkable filler tracks designed to puff out a Madonna album so more solid material like ‘Secret‘ or ‘Survival‘ could shine. Hearing it now brings me back to that time period, to that tricky fall when I shared my very first kiss with a man.
Such darkness came with the descent of fall, with its early evenings and frosty mornings – the shock of it after the ease of summer, the way it took one’s breath away – the advent of autumn was still a surprise at that time in my life. The ‘Bedtime Stories’ album set an evocative tone with lush orchestral tracks like ‘Love Tried to Welcome Me’, ‘Forbidden Love‘ and ‘Take A Bow‘, while the hazy atmosphere of ‘Inside of Me’ and ‘Sanctuary’ spoke to the private cocoon I’d wrapped around myself, isolating my daily existence from classmates and people in general. The contradiction of not wanting to be lonely and not wanting to be around people was apparent – I just didn’t find a way to put it into words. In some ways, I was happier bopping about alone in my room to a song like this and imagining being around friends and lovers than actually putting such imagined scenes into action.
You have probably seen him dancing across you phone screen on Tik Tok or Instagram, where his moves have catapulted him to social media popularity, or perhaps you’ve been lucky enough to witness one of his on-stage performances in person – whatever the case, Christopher Rice-Thomson has earned this Dazzler of the Day for his winning way around a theatrical production. His talents run beyond performing, and he is about to open ‘The Little Mermaid‘ at the Franklin Performing Arts Center in the demanding roles of director and choreographer. That show runs from October 13 to 22, and tickets are available here.
There are certain movies that, once you find them playing on television, you stop what you’re doing and watch them through to the end for the cajillionth time.
Like ‘Stand By Me‘.
Much like this surprise bloom from a backyard hydrangea, the lion’s paw flower you see here, in glorious and furry orange, grew to it full four-foot height behind the thick curtains of some fountain grass, a butterfly bush, and the typically-unstoppable Rosa rugosa. Only now, when things have started to die back, and the fountain grass has wilted a bit and parted its curtains, did the lion’s paw reveal itself, appearing as customarily late as they like to be.
Oh little lion, thank you for brightening my day a bit, and my apologies for forgetting you too. Even without an ounce of care this season, you grew and bloomed and welcomed me back into your graces. You are the perfect fall flower – tall and stalwart, with hues to match the fiery season, and some fuzziness to approximate the coziness we will soon be craving.
This Dazzler of the Day hails from across the pond, where they made an indelible impression portraying Diana, Princess of Wales in worldwide sensation ‘The Crown’. Emma Corrin was more noticeably celebrated in these parts thanks to being the first non-binary cover star of ‘Vogue’ back in 2022. They also appeared in ‘My Policeman and ‘Lady Chatterly’s Lover’, and will be featured in the upcoming ‘Deadpool 3’.
Twitter, I mean X, totally sucks now, but I haven’t left it entirely yet because shit-trolling is just too fun.
Out of the corner of my vision, from the vantage of the dining room window, a little cloud of blue caught my attention, and I knew immediately what had happened. This has been a summer where I was largely absent from the garden, and those times when I did make it our back, my mind wandered, unable to focus, unable to keep an internal journal of what was coming into bloom, what needed to be moved, what required watering, etc. Most summers, I’m out there multiple times a day; a gardener’s greatest weapon against trouble is a watchful eye.
As soon as this little blue cloud appeared, however, I knew what it was. I planted several hydrangea shrubs over twenty years ago in the shaded backyard area where this bloom suddenly beckoned. “Don’t forget me!” it seemed to shout in a little voice. “I’m not done yet!”
No, you beautiful thing, you are far from done. Part of me wanted to weep for having missed the journey to this point – so much fun is in the anticipation, the slow development of the mop-head as it first appears in compact and shriveled form, only to gain in size and shade. Right up until the end, we’re never quite sure what color these will take. Maybe there are still enough iron nails acidifying the soil at its base – whatever the case, this is a brilliant color – the very color that made me rush to get these shrubs into the ground during that first summer at our home.
For years – almost decades actually – they didn’t flower much. The past few summers, however, have found them throwing out a decent number of these gorgeous flower-heads. Patience is a virtue that sometimes finds reward.
Artist, author and advocate Paul Castle has lost 90% of his physical vision since being diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa, an untreatable eye disease. I write that he has lost some of his physical vision, because the vision he carries forth in his life and career is something that won’t be stopped or sidelined by his blindness. A visit to his enchanting website will astound anyone with its notable list of accomplishments and artwork, including his children’s book ‘The Pengrooms’. He lives in Seattle with his husband, Matthew, and his guide dog, Mr. Maple. This marks his first crowning as Dazzler of the Day.
