Non-Vanilla Ice Ice Baby

While it’s certainly cold enough for it, it’s not as wet as most winters tend to be, and I’m not mad about it. Kira and I were loosely tossing around the idea of going skiing this year (at her insistence), and decided we would look into some resorts. (After my first, and last, skiing fiasco in the late 80’s, I’ve rather gone off the sport – but that’s another Suzie cruelty story that will need to be told another time, and not in the flimsy mid-day post.) I promised Kira I would support her 100%, from the cozy perch of a fireside lounge, with a Manhattan in my hand and a cashmere scarf around my neck.

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The Shortest Month, So Hurry Along

Oh February, you wretched thing, please have some happy surprises stored in your cold heart. And I don’t mean Valentine’s Day either (though I will update my Amazon Wish list for those looking to appease my romantic nature, ahem). It’s time to get those doilies out and make out some Valentine’s Day cards. It’s also time to hunker down and make some soup. On this first day of the month, I offer a messy post of miscellany for Februarys past.

Random shit like jockstraps, Superbowls, Shameless movies, Beckham’s bulge and oh so much more. Narcissus, nests, nudity, & new bedding. More incongruous stuff like male models, Tibetan singing bowls, and manic Mondays. (I can’t even talk about all the zaniness of February 2015, and neither should you.) But do revisit last year’s February mayhem, with some Naked Madonna, ruinous beauty, Anderson Cooper and brotherly love.

PS – February is National Bird Feeding Month. How ridiculous.

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Wintering/Slumbering

We live for the spring and the fall, and those first few weeks of summer. The rest we merely tolerate, but a winter is necessary in order for us to appreciate those beautiful days when they return. Such is the dreary state of a winter slumber in Boston. Even when the weather is not horrid, it’s still dull and brown and dirty until the freshness of spring comes back to paint the world green again.

For now, winter allows for a stark and barren landscape, which is better for revealing the architectural details of bare trees or buildings unobscured by leafy canopies. Things are more defined, and there is a different kind of beauty at work – a cold beauty, a hard beauty.

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The Terrible Teens

Earlier this month, and completely forgotten by me, we celebrated (or rather didn’t celebrate) the unheralded 14th anniversary of this website. ALANILAGAN.com premiered in January of 2003, which makes it one of the oldest personal blogs out there. If we compute the age of blogs in the same manner in which we compute the human age of dogs, this little space would be a whopping 98 years old, which, given my stiff neck, feels about right. I take a small bit of pride in the fact that I’ve been doing this for far longer than most other bloggers, but it’s just a bit. The truth is that this is a labor of love, an outlet of creative expression that takes the place of a diary, a project, and an artistic gambit all at once. I’d be doing this with or without an audience, but from the responses I get, I’m very thankful we’re on this road together.

It’s so much friendlier with two.”

There’s not much fanfare traditionally made over 14 years, and I’m fine with that. Perhaps next year we’ll do something bigger. For now, it will be enough to get through this morning post without boring myself to tears. If I think back to my own fourteen-year-old moment, we’re in for a wild and wonderful ride.

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The Last Day of January 2017

It arrives tomorrow, but here’s a quick look back at another January or four before this one departs. (I don’t know anyone who’s sorry to see it go.)

January 2012 found a mixed bag of familiar places and faces, including Madonna, New York City, and straight allies.

January 2013 brought us to Washington, DC (long before the swamp moved in), family and friends, some nakedness, and some more Madonna.

January 2014 lifted us out of a kitchen renovation, thanks to Andy and some other friends.

January 2015 displayed an onslaught of Hunks, trickery, and Tom Ford.

And last January took us back to Boston, candlelight, and beauty.

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Dull-De-Dull-Dull Recap

Ho-hum, tweedle-dee-dum, it’s another damn Monday, and another damn weekly recap, mostly because who wants to face the start of another work week when we can look back for a moment and I’ve in the glorious past? I don’t give a hoot, you’re getting a recap regardless. See, when I’m tired and uninspired, I get silly and stupid. Deal with it, or move on. On with the doings of the past week!

Tyson Beckford got naked in motion, because there’s nothing better than a nude male GIF.

I got naked on Instagram because I like a big… following.

I also had a big stiff one that lasted way longer than necessary.

Poof! Be gone.

Music for mobsters.

A visitor in the night.

Back on the road, and naked again.

You broke the boy in me, but you won’t break the man.

Flower Bomb Balm: Part Three, Part Four, and Part Five.

Fill in the missing Hunk.

Acts of love and defiance.

The Hunks of the Day took a trip around the globe, including such luminaries as Adam Rippon, Paolo Amores, Gabriel Loureiro, Anatoly Goncharov, Dylan Sprayberry, & Ryan Stack.

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Missing Hunks

Making up for the missing Hunk of Yesterday, here is a brief collection of previous Hunks striking brand new poses. Hey, it’s Sunday, a time for shirtlessness and laziness – and a time to come home. Enjoy the guy candy/eye candy/man candy/David Gandy moment.

Chris Pratt got naked the last time he appeared here, and prior to that he was also a Hunk of the Day.

Simon Dunn is always a joy to behold, as evidenced by this post. Or this post. Or this post. Well, you get the idea.

Austin Armacost has made a career off his ass alone, and here’s why. You want another one? Bam.

Tom Daley is such a hit here that he has his own category. Click it and flick it.

Ashley Parker Angel has certainly been sent from above; his body is simply heavenly. (Sorry, but hotness precedes cheesiness.)

And finally, Adam Gumula is even better when doubled.

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The DG Tour: Flower Bomb Balm ~ Part 4

We have come close to the end. It has not been a full circle. Most great journeys never are. Even if we end up in the same place where we began, we are different. I like things to be neater than that; I’ve spent my life reconciling myself to the fact that they aren’t. Yet if we haven’t reached our happy ending, there remains good reason to rejoice. We have survived. We are here. I have written this, and you are reading it. Now we share something. There is beauty in that.

The blossoms you see here have long since withered and died. Yet here they are, documented and saved for many years to come. We have managed to still time; we have captured a bit of beauty. Though it’s in the past, I can describe to you the way these blossoms looked in the sunny light of summer, on a beautiful morning in late June when the birds were chirping and the day held all sorts of secrets and promises. I can tell you about the trajectory the sun made as it slowly moved across the sky, and how its warmth grew and expanded, how it drove us into the pool, and how we laughed and splashed. I can describe the pretty scents that surrounded us then – the richness of a rose or the sweet perfume of a mockorange or the mineral-like tang of water – and how those scents ebbed and flowed as the day went on. I can explain the form of a flower, in all its intricate scientific splendor and technical detail, but for that it’s better to simply look.

 

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The DG Tour: Flower Bomb Balm ~ Part 3

After all that we’ve been through, after all the ugliness this world has thrown in our way, we have arrived at a moment of calm. The resolution may be fleeting, but for this one moment let there be beauty, and let it resound with the heart-bursting joy that only beauty can bring. From the perilous heights of a soaring zephyr, to the depths of the deepest ocean, let us plummet in glorious exhilaration to a single point of prettiness.

In the form of a flower lies all the world. Contained in a single bloom is the wonder of the entire universe.

This beauty, as perfect as it may seem, is not everlasting. Such prettiness never is. That doesn’t mean we cannot long for it to remain, or strive to be in its presence.

“People say I’m extravagant because I want to be surrounded by beauty. But tell me, who wants to be surrounded by garbage?” ~ Imelda Marcos

 

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Man in Motion

The opening synth salvo of the theme from ‘St. Elmo’s Fire’ blares over the stereo. The remnants of salty, wet dirt are trampled by tires and kicked back up behind the car. Already soiled from winter, the roads are messy but not yet destroyed. The video from Alanis Morisette’s ‘Ironic’ comes to mind, but that’s a different song. This goes further back than that, all the way to the 80’s.

GROWING UP, YOU DON’T SEE THE WRITING ON THE WALL

PASSING BY, MOVING STRAIGHT AHEAD YOU KNEW IT ALL

BUT MAYBE SOMETIME IF YOU FEEL THE PAIN

YOU’LL FIND YOU’RE ALL ALONE, EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED…

PLAY THE GAME, YOU KNOW YOU CAN’T QUIT UNTIL IT’S WON

SOLDIER ON, ONLY YOU CAN DO WHAT MUST BE DONE

YOU KNOW IN SOME WAY YOU’RE A LOT LIKE ME

YOU’RE JUST A PRISONER AND YOU’RE TRYING TO BREAK FREE.

It’s a theme of empowerment, an anthem of self-belief.

It embodies a destiny defined by determination and drive.

It’s one of those songs that comes on and changes the air, that lifts you up and allows you to feel like a hero, even if it’s just for a moment.

And it’s as catchy as it is cheesy. The ultimate in 80’s excess.

BURNING UP, DON’T KNOW JUST HOW FAR THAT I CAN GO

SOON BE HOME, ONLY JUST A FEW MILES DOWN THE ROAD

I CAN MAKE IT, I KNOW I CAN

YOU BROKE THE BOY IN ME, BUT YOU WON’T BREAK THE MAN.

I don’t have any specific memories attached to this song, at least not when it first came out. I was a bit too young to recall the initial splash it made, but I remember how it made for a great road song. My tour resumes today and I’m itching to head out again. This is the sort of music that’s best for such an endeavor. A little dramatic, a little over-the-top, and a little boost for getting my sea legs again. This weekend, we ride…

JUST ONCE IN HIS LIFE

A MAN HAS HIS TIME

AND MY TIME IS NOW,

I’M COMING ALIVE…

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Returning to the Road: All My Delusions

The Delusional Grandeur Tour resumes this weekend with a trip to Boston, and the posting of the Tour Book will continue with tomorrow’s entries. For now, a linky look back at what’s already been posted. We’ve come a long way, but we’re not quite out of the woods…

THE DELUSIONAL GRANDEUR TOUR: LAST STAND OF A ROCK STAR

01)  Intro/Curtain – Part One, Part Two, Part Three

02)  Sunset Pool – Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five

03)  On The Road Hotel – Part One, Part Two, Part Three

04)  Rock Star Addict – Part One, Part Two, Part Three

05)  Animal Demons – Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five

06)  Steam Punk Birdcage – Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four

07) Red Riding Wood – Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five

08) Winter Top Hat – Part One, Part Two

09) Warrior Retribution – Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven, Part Eight

10) Cologne Glamour Fashion – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

11) Samsara Healing Water – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

12) Spring Thaw Salvation – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

13) Flower Bomb Balm – Part 1, Part 2

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A Mysterious Visitor in the Night

The footprints led away from our front door, then down the path to the driveway. A fresh coat of snow allowed for them to be seen clearly, and the impressions were strange, as each ‘finger’ was clearly delineated, and longer than that of a cat or a squirrel. An opossum perhaps? Maybe one of those bandits – a raccoon?

I don’t know, but it’s both a comfort and a terror to think of what goes on here after I’m asleep.

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A Winter Song for the Mobsters

LOOK ON DOWN FROM THE BRIDGE

THER’S STILL FOUNTAINS DOWN THERE

LOOK ON DOWN FROM THE BRIDGE

IT’S STILL RAINING UP HERE…

Mazzy Star wrote one of my favorite winter songs, and while I’m in the process of being sucked into ‘The Sopranos’, one of their other songs played over the end credits of an early episode. It’s taken a number of years for Andy to convince me to watch, but since he was a good sport in watching (and enjoying) the entire DVD set of ‘Downton Abbey’, I can at least indulge him in this. The good thing is I may be starting to enjoy it.

EVERYBODY SEEMS SO FAR AWAY FROM ME

EVERYBODY JUST WANTS TO BE FREE

LOOK AWAY FROM THE SKY

IT’S NO DIFFERENT WHEN YOU’RE LEAVING HOME

I CAN’T BE THE SAME THING TO YOU NOW

I’M JUST GONE, JUST GONE

HOW COULD I SAY GOODBYE?

HOW COULD I SAY GOODBYE?

GOODBYE…

I had been looking for that zen-moment, the sense of peace and calm and introspection that comes with the greatest television series and movies – ‘Mad Men‘, ‘Lord of the Rings’, ‘Star Wars’, ‘Downton Abbey’ – and that keeps me hooked. No matter what else may be happening ~ wars in the space of future, battles over Middle Earth, or brutal mob slayings ~ if there’s that zen-moment that surfaces and carries you hypnotically through, then I can enjoy any number of entertaining hours. ‘The Sopranos’ seems to be hitting a little deeper, with its multi-layered look at family, in every sense of the word. And as this song played over the end of an episode, and a son looked at his father as more than an invincible hero, I discovered that moment.

MAYBE I’LL JUST PLACE MY HANDS OVER YOU

AND CLOSE MY EYES REAL TIGHT

THERE’S A LIGHT IN YOUR EYES

AND YOU KNOW, YEAH, YOU KNOW

LOOK ON DOWN FROM THE BRIDE

I’M STILL WAITING FOR YOU. 

“All happy families are alike;

each unhappy family

is unhappy in its own way.”

~ Leo Tolstoy

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