A 21st Century Renaissance: The Resurrection Tour returns to Boston this weekend as Andy and I take care of some wedding details.

While we’re away, here are a few excerpts from the Tour Book – these are from the surreal transition, with photos taken in Ogunquit and Provincetown.

Who can say where and when inspiration will strike? Mine tends to ebb and flow – sometimes it will surface and propel me through weeks and months of creative fire – other times it goes dormant for extended periods of ennui and stagnation. In recent months I’ve been kept creatively consumed by wedding plans (wait until you see the invitations) and the New Tour ( more excerpts from the tour book to be posted in the coming days). Those two events will take up the rest of my year for the most part, but my eye is already on what comes after… and 2011 will be surreal, will be fantastical, and will be written.

The sun has finally been coming out in the last few days, and the afternoons have been lighting up the house and its various dim corners. This is the last sliver of sunlight on a cheap old lamp shade in the dining room. It is a hopeful sign of the Spring to come.

This Thursday, Andy and I will be making a trip to Boston for some wedding preparation, and I can’t wait. Our officiant Chris has also sent in his application to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, so we are on our way. Finally, to close off a week of wedding plans, our invitations will be sent out on Thursday as well. Things are getting exciting…

Apparently I have a predilection for dreaming about guys whom I don’t find the least bit attractive. It’s happened before with Robert Pattinson, and last night it happened with Apolo Ohno. (For those not living on this planet, he’s an Olympic Speedskater – and the only reason I know this is because I follow figure skating, and he had races betwixt the triple axels.)

In last night’s dream, I was at my parent’s pool in the summer. Luckily I was standing on the deck when a huge manta ray/shark creature in black swam quickly through the water. It was horrifying (and one of my nightmares come true as I always predicted it would). The creature darted into the shallow end then emerged. The face was covered all in black cloth, but then the mask came off and it was Apolo Ohno, apparently trying to disguise himself (and quite successfully so). He was then all smiles and charm and he and my brother went back in the pool while I ran inside to get the camera. We took a few photos because he’s famous and that was that. I love it when a surreal dream ends happily (or at least without any bloody carnage).

(I didn’t think there were photos of a naked Apolo Ohno, but once again I was wrong, so for those who find something thrilling in that, here it is. Personally, I hate when they muck up someone’s erotic masturbation fantasy image with this sort of message, but since Apolo does nothing for me it doesn’t much matter in this case.)

It’s not often that I get to use the term ‘codpiece’, so for that alone I guess I am grateful to Adam Lambert. Now, in his defense, from what I understand these were taken at Mardi Gras in Sydney, Australia – which is about the only place that this is acceptable attire (well, I know of some other ones, but we won’t mention them in polite company). It’s not the codpiece that I mind, as much as the total, umm, package.

There’s just too much spandex, too much body harnessing, too much (and this is the first time I have ever uttered this) glitter… And at the same time I’m strangely proud of the boy for having the balls – leather-bound and all – to do this, Mardi Gras or not.

But as a whole… no.

This past week, the aquarium finally completed its nitrogen cycle. Nitrites had at last begun to decline, and when they went down to zero and stayed there it was time to stock the tank. I decided to begin with a group of gold zebra danios, for their hardiness and ease of keeping, as well as their lively and animated nature. They have been wildly exploring their new environs, darting to and fro among the plants and rocks and driftwood, and they must be comfortable enough already as they don’t even show signs of schooling behavior (which was sort of what I wanted to see) but as long as they’re happy I’ll deal.

I also picked up three cory catfish, who have been much less active, keeping to the bottom and themselves while the danios wreak havoc in the rest of the tank. They strike a nice balance.

As is evident here, fish are hard to photograph. I need to work on this a bit more, but for the fast-moving danios you may never see a clear photo. For now, here’s a look at their new home, and a brief, blurred glimpse at some on the inhabitants.

Sometimes you just want to say to the world, “Fuck you!!” and “Suck it!!” And sometimes you can say it all in a single picture.

Is there anything more glorious than a fresh fruit tart?

My parents, Dr. & Mrs. Ilagan

Randy

Tim

Matt, Scott, and tech-savvy Bill

Wayne

Next month’s Featured Artist, John Connors

Amanda and Ryan

Tim (who can’t “Remove Tag” from my website – this ain’t FaceBook!)

Kevin, Scott, and Wayne

Scott and Zach

Ben, Ross (May’s Featured Artist), and Kevin

Ben and Zach