Category Archives: General

It’s almost time… and even though this may be more apropos for Christmas, you’re getting it today. Cause, you know, Turkey.

It’s not something I put up here often, but in my daily life I give thanks quite a bit, and I am very much aware of how lucky I am. Gratitude has been ever-present in my life, and when you live as charmed a life as I do, that’s how it should be. This particular post is my small way of showing how grateful I am for my online family (I’ll be with my real family all day).

Thanks to everyone who visits this site, even if it’s just to see the Hunk of the Day or what silliness I may have slapped on my back this week. Whatever your reason for taking a moment to stop by, thank you. Now go and give thanks to someone else who needs to hear it. We’ll rendezvous later with tales of holiday fun…

In this period of relative ennui with worldly possessions, there’s not much that I’ve been hankering for of late, which makes a Christmas wish list, as requested by family, a bit of a dilemma. Not that I’ve ever been that hard-pressed to come up with things that I want. With that in mind, and for the ease of those wonderful people who are good enough to grant me gifts, here are a few items I wouldn’t kick out of bed.

I remain enraptured by the elusive  Jeremy Scott Adidas Wings 3.0 “Gold”, Size 10. This is one that would require an extensive eBay search, and since I’ve been asking for it for over a year it looks unlikely to happen now, but it will remain on the top of my list until it becomes available. (These are not to be mistaken for similar wing-tips that Mr. Scott has produced – these are the ADIDAS JEREMY SCOTT WINGS 3.0 GOLD SNEAKERS.)

Fragrance is always a welcome addition to my accessory roster, and while there is no new Tom Ford Private Blend available right now, there are several by Byredo Parfums that are worth a spritz. First up is the spicy Bal D’Afrique, which carries an incense-like accent that would keep things smoky and warm through the winter.

I also fell in love with Perfume 11 by BLK DNM the last time I was in New York. It’s a lighter, fresher scent than those I usually favor at this time of the year, but come January it will be a welcome change. It’s also proving difficult to find online, and may only be available in some New York City stores. (I found it in the gift shop at the Standard High Line.)

{Gift certificates to Barneys or Neiman Marcus would cover additional cologne desires.}

These Alexander McQueen floral loafers  – in Size 43 (US 10) – are dream-shoes that would take me to Oz and back.

Florals are big in my life right now, as evidenced by my infatuation with these floral sweatpants for lounging (and more) by Bonobos. Officially christened ‘Nomad French Terry Sweatpants’, their rose motif is a gorgeous twist for a pair of sweatpants. Size Medium, please.

When the rains come back in the spring, this beautiful blue Brooks Brothers Black Fleece raincoat would be ideal, in size BB1. (It’s on a big sale right now to boot.)

As for more practical concerns, the condo needs a new air conditioner,  a new set of bedding (Queen), and a new pillow or two (20 x 20 or 26 x 26).

{And if all else fails, there’s always Amazon.}

A jam-packed weekend that included the Beaujolais Wine Celebration and an evening of ‘Queen of the Night’ in NYC will, if all goes according to schedule, have come to a close last night, and this post is being programmed while I’m in the midst of a killer cold that knocked me way behind in everything that was going so smoothly. This is how life checks you when you’re doing a little too much. On with the recap of the previous week…

It began, as it usually does, with a Hunk of the Day: Brent Van Sant.

My week-long bout with sickness left a number of silly posts, such as this purely GIF-fueled one and this no-brainer that consisted solely of a new Adele song, When We Were Young. Not to mention this brief snippet of holiday times to come.

Luckily, I often write in advance of posting times, so I got to enjoy the fruits of this labor-of-love post on poet (and future Hunk of the Day) Ben Kline.

David Beckham was named the Sexiest Man Alive for 2015, probably ten years after the fact, but better late than never.

One of the most special Hunks of the Day was re-crowned, and teased with this look at other important HODs.

Zakh Michael was the first Hunk of the Day whose story was big enough to merit two parts.

NYC – what is is about you?

Getting nude in a hotel room.

The Delusional Grandeur Tour: Last Stand of a Rock Star concludes its incendiary ‘Rock Star Addict’ section, right before they cart me off to rehab.

More Hunks rounded out the week, including Charles Melton, Canelo Alvarez and Austin Victoria.

And capping off Sunday with a bulge-tastic flourish was this Speedo post.

A hotel in New York, the street sounds buffered and muted but always there. A comforting drone, white noise accented by horns and the occasional boom or crash. The messy bed, even when occupied by only one. A luxury when they have to change all the sheets for the next guest anyway. A life made up of hotel nights, a vagabond nomad existence. A world contained in a carry-all.

A tour transforms, much like a hotel, and in the same way it’s very temporary, fleeting. A tour exists on its own, as an entity. Like a hotel, it is a structure. A vehicle for transformation even if the concept itself is stationary, even if the blueprint never changes. It is the background and the atmosphere and the blank canvass for An Experience. The setting and the scenery for What Is About To Happen. The skeleton of The Show. And all the skin and sparkle we hang on it is no more than window-dressing and gauze.

Yes, I have already started my holiday shopping, and in earnest. I’m not one of those who does it in one fell-swoop, nor do I particularly enjoy spacing it out over ten months either. I’m somewhere in-between, with designated spurts of gift-buying that become events in and of themselves. When you love shopping as much as I do, this is something that should be savored, not dreaded. At this time of the year, it’s also a welcome harbinger of the season, when the notion of the Christmas holiday is still fresh and new (but not October-new; in fact, anything prior to Veteran’s Day should not have anything to do with Christmas).

By now, however, it’s impossible to fight it, and we seem to have moved the celebration up a few weeks. It used to be after Thanksgiving, but no one wants to wait that long, and I’m fine with extending the celebratory good-will a little longer. For me, the real kick-off is the Beaujolais Nouveau Wine Celebration as put on by the Alliance for Positive Health. Since that is happening this Friday, we’re practically there. The anticipation is in the air. The excitement is building. The outfit is ready.

Most importantly, my Holiday Wish List is in the making… and I’ve been a very good boy.

(Until then, my Amazon wish list is still up-to-date… [wink-wink/hint-hint])

While I’m under-the-weather it’s going to be a light day here, so pass the maxi and enjoy these cool GIFs that will either mesmerize you or give you a splitting headache. Welcome to my world, suckas.

Stricken by another cold, this weekend in Boston was a trying one, but I rallied for old-friends’ sake, and my own enjoyment. The Delusional Grandeur Tour must go on! To that end, our usual Monday morning recap, while I recuperate.

The F-word, and I don’t mean ‘fuck.’

The fight song, and I don’t mean this fight song.

Some Confessions are still good even a decade later.

Everything’s gonna be all right.

Everybody needs somebody, you’re not the only one.

Shirtless men like Sergey Shubenkov and Troy Pes kept the Hunk of the Day feature kicking, while Andy Brown, Taylor Frey an Tom Sandoval kept things hot.

Might as well face it…

The Delusional Grandeur Tour hits its first deep moment. (This was a telling one.)

A holly Jolley hunk.

A Disclaimer:

This is where the Tour Book turns a little darker, and every time I go dark people tend to get a little concerned. It’s done out of love, it’s done out of care, and blah, blah, blah… This time, however, the blinders are off and my sight is clear. This time, I’m afraid, it’s all about the art. If you can’t handle that, and if you choose to not believe, come back when it’s all over. Otherwise, hold on… the roller coaster is nearing its apex.

As for logistical matters, the Delusional Grandeur Tour hits Boston this weekend, beginning with a dinner with my dear friend Alissa (who will soon be departing these shores) followed by a dinner and show with another dear friend JoAnn (who is taking me to the Carole King musical ‘Beautiful’ as a 40th birthday gift). Meeting friends that I’ve had for over seventeen years is the main impetus for every tour I’ve undertaken.

But that’s the real-time tour schedule. That’s what will happen in real life. The Tour Book is another story… and it is just that: a story. The next chapter? Rock Star Addict.

For some reason, a November rain always feels like the most brutal rain. Surely there are greater gusts with the late spring/early summer storms, as well as October hurricane remnants, but the rain in November is somehow more cruel and cutting. It takes the last of the leaves off the trees, stripping them bare for the rest of the winter. It dampens the grass heads gone to seed, and darkens the bark of the tree limbs. It is, in short, a very sad sort of rain. No wonder Mother Nature soon takes her slumber. I wouldn’t want to stay up for any of this, and it’s only going to get worse before it gets better.

Thanks to the tricks of the internet, however, we can pause and go back for a moment. Back to the time when the leaves were still bright and dry, held aloft in the bluest of skies, as they were on this Coral Bark Maple. They hung on into late October, but even that was late for them. This is the sort of show I will miss until spring returns

Tsk, tsk, tsk… brisk, brisk, brisk. It’s a bad sign when one starts channeling laundry detergent commercial jingles from the 80’s, and so soon in the week. No matter, the schedule is about to get very busy, and the holidays are right around the corner, so anticipation is in the air. There’s nothing I like better. Upcoming tour stops include Boston this weekend, followed by New York the following weekend, and then it will be Thanksgiving. I’ve already taken out the recipe for candied yams. (This year I’m adding orange zest – eek!!!) On with the recap before charging ahead.

The advent of the holidays means more time coming up in Amsterdam, where this delicious dinner was held.

It also means more time with these twins. (And more opportunities for dress-up.)

Laying low when the moon is high (and full).

A Hunk by the name of Zack Hartwanger needs no other introduction.

Vintage nakedness, always in season.

Blue sky, blue hair, red leaves.

Male model Dustin McNeer stole the Hunk of the Day show.

A lazy post.

Immaculate iconographer Troy Gua makes good face.

Jess Vill got his second crowning as Hunk of the Day, as did Gregory Nalbone.

Finally, no matter how brisk, some still got their naked bits and bobs out.

This patch of colorful Boston ivy runs the expanse of a brick-backed building in downtown Albany. In the spring the leaves start out in a bright chartreuse green, the kind that looks phenomenal against a red brick façade bordered by a blue sky. As summer arrives, those leaves deepen into a thick and glossy evergreen shade, dark and lush and still set off to gorgeous effect by the earthy brick. Now, those leaves are putting on their finest show, in an undulating spectrum of color which, when taken as a whole, looks like some beautiful topographical map (I see Greenland). Nestled between buildings, this is one of those hidden gems that most Capital Region folks will not have the pleasure of witnessing in person, and my sad iPhone photo scarcely does it justice, but hopefully you get the idea. There is beauty all around us if we look closely enough.

Some people, myself once included, give up when the first hard frosts fell the tender foliage and flowers, but I’ve since learned that micro-climates save some precious flowers (we’ve had roses in the snow before), and certain flowers have the hardiness to weather a few frosts (the Lenten Rose and the furry-leaved sage are two such performers). In other words, there will be secret surprises that could feasibly push into December if we are lucky to continue in this vein of kind weather.

“Do you know how sometimes you see a man, and you’re not sure if you want to get in his pants or if you want to cry? Not because you can’t have him; maybe you can. But you see right away something in him beyond having. You can’t screw your way into it, any more than you can get at the golden egg by slitting the goose. So you want to cry, not like a child, but like an exile who is reminded of his homeland.” – Mark Merlis

And sometimes you have to recycle quotes and photographs because you’re simply too spent from shooting, editing, ordering, and writing holiday cards, holiday invitations, and holiday gift books. ‘Tis the freakin’ season.

This bloody Super Moon from a few weeks ago was kind enough to pause as it changed from a ghostly white to a reddish Mars-like hue. It still just appears as a tiny speck, but I caught it as it was beginning to turn into this shade of red, like some blood cell as seen through a microscope. The camera, and my unsteady hand, don’t always manage to get a decent moon shot (other than my over-exposed ass) so this is the best we could both muster. You get the idea.

Around such full moons, I tend to lay low, if possible. There is too much charged air to ruffle feathers than can normally take it, and far less room for mayhem if you keep still and quiet. I learned long ago that it’s sometimes better to hold your tongue than unleash it, particularly at the wrong time. There is power in silence, and power in peace, even when there’s blood on the moon.