Archive for November, 2008
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008
The American Music Awards were apparently not a whole lot of fun to watch on television this year (if I’m to trust my friends’ twitter sentiments) but it was a lot of fun to be there! I agree that some of the performances were so-so, but then we got hit with Ne-Yo – who I don’t even really like, but you can’t deny that his performance was really great – and then effing Beyonce who blew the entire building apart without an inkling of a set. She was so good we were all standing as soon as she hit the stage and the beat started. We sat through the Fray and the Jonas Brothers and all these elaborate sets with pyrotechnics to mask sort of mediocre performing, and then Beyonce came out and basically said “eat me” and shut that shit down. Pink and Christina and Natasha Bedingfield sounded great, too.
Christian did some red carpet commentary for the official pre-show on ABC with Carrie Ann Inaba and Nicole Scherzinger from the Pussycat Dolls, so we were basically all just hanging out while everyone walked the red carpet. He dressed Nicole and the rest of the dolls, too, in his spring collection. Nicole was in a special new dress that I think looked so good on her. She was so sweet, I really liked her. Christina Aguilera, Chris Brown, and Sarah Silverman were particularly nice. Rihanna… well, she was there too. The fans behind the ropes were deafening when the Jo Bros, Miley, and Taylor Swift came through at different times. Paris couldn’t stop texting through the entire show, and I watched Tommy Lee ask for a picture with Demi Lovato. New Kids did “The Right Stuff” dance and then sang “Please Don’t Go Girl” and I threw up poop and turned inside out.
It’s almost Thanksgiving, so there’s more travel in the near future. Hooray! But then we come back and spend the weekend here in New York taking lots of new photos for the book, and his sister Shannon is coming! I need a very long nap and then a good Christmas movie. Any suggestions?
Monday, November 24th, 2008
I’m currently several miles above the Earth using internet on the plane. We’re literally flying first class, up in the sky, popping champagne, and living the life. Though apparently “the life” also includes triple screenings of Wall-E. We are heading home from LA and the AMAs, but first I’m going to do a little recap of the pageant I judged before that.
Lovely Mackenzie Davis asked me to be a judge for the Miss Maine USA and Miss Maine Teen USA pageants to determine who in 2009 would go on to Miss USA in Vegas and possibly Miss Universe. I’ve never done anything like that before, but of course I said yes. Big time pageant judging? You don’t decline this sort of offer. It was so much fun, and I think we picked the right people. My friend Nancy Schuster (PR girl extraordinaire) was also a judge, so I had some good company!
Nancy and I flew in to Portland, ME on Friday and proceeded to stick out like sore thumbs for two and a half days. We made friends with Amy Diaz, 2008’s Miss Rhode Island USA, who too was a judge. Love her. We had a really great time, and it was actually really hard work. There were many walks, personal one-on-one interviews with every single contestant for both pageants, excessive note taking and difficult decisions. We ended up choosing Ashley Underwood for Miss Maine USA 2009 and Jordan Shiers for Miss Maine Teen USA 2009. Ashley’s a current school nurse and former pro Swiss basketball player. She was so great to talk to, very smart and comfortable, beautiful and driven, I really think it was the right choice. Jordan was the perfect teen-y type to go on to Miss Teen USA, also very nice to talk to and smart. But there were a lot of really great contenders, so it was difficult to have to choose just one for each contest.
I was skeptical going in, but it turned out to be a really cool experience! There were certainly some classic stereotypical “pageant” moments — including some colorful mothers and some literally colorful contestants — and I think the family of one bottom contestant called me obscene names on my walk through the hall post-show. I would definitely do it again. It’s another world.
Wednesday, November 19th, 2008
Christian’s birthday party at Citrine was really great last night, lots of our friends came out and everyone had a good time. Andy Cohen brought the fan favorites: Real Housewives NeNe and Vicky. Christian made my shirt (of course!) and his own, and he dressed our friends Lisa, Geneva, and Leigh. Everyone was dancing, eating cupcakes, drinking… just having fun. I thought it was perfect.
Thank you so much to everybody who helped make last night so much fun: Claudine Gumbel, Geneva Simms, The Misshapes, Ultragrrrl, 42Below, Evian, and of course Citrine! Lots more pictures at Getty, Last Night’s Party, and Patrick McMullan!
Monday, November 17th, 2008
My head hurts and I haven’t slept enough but that’s okay because we got to do some really fun stuff this weekend. We flew to Florida because Christian had an event in Orlando, and an event & signing in Boca Raton, and then we went to the Victoria’s Secret fashion show in Miami. Stuff happened, the best of which I think was Martha Stewart taking photos Bronques-style for her blog, which I think should be relocated to LastNightsMarthaDigitalSnake dot com.
Then last night we flew home to New York and presented an award at the Paper Magazine Nightlife Awards at Mansion. It was really fun because we were with Lisa and Geneva and Sarah, but it was one of the least organized things I’ve ever been to. Needed about three times the staff, I think. We did our thing and went home early. Lisa got bitchy with some random crustie on my behalf on the way out. The girl is a pit bull. In lipstick. Like Sarah Palin.
Wednesday, November 12th, 2008
Love Brigade is a trio of designers whose store at 230 Grand Street in Williamsburg sells their own and other local designers’ pieces. Their “Viva La Future” collection for spring is really cool stuff and the presentation during fashion week was really cool; you can see it on their website. I did some photos of them in their store.
Tomorrow I’m off with Christian to Orlando; he’s doing some event there. Then Friday we go to Boca Raton for something else, and then Saturday we go to Miami for the Victoria’s Secret fashion show, and then we are returning to New York on Sunday to present one of the Paper Magazine Nightlife Awards. Tuesday is Christian’s big birthday party, then Friday I go to Portland to judge Miss Maine, and I go from Maine to LA that following Sunday for the American Music Awards. That’s what’s up. I need some new suits. And a Klonopin.
Monday, November 10th, 2008
I need to cook more often. We eat every meal out, every day. This weekend I made something great, and since everyone cares what bloggers eat (nope), I’m going to make a list. I filled a big bowl with black beans, zucchini, mushrooms, sweet corn, roasted tomatoes, onions, green and red peppers, garlic, chili spices, vegan “meat,” two cheeses, and crumbled corn chips; then mixed it all up and baked it; and served it with sour cream. It was worth the price of basically being a prescription to spend some quality time in the bathroom. And then I made a stack of perfect pancakes. We spent the weekend mostly indoors, making home homier and having Geneva and some other friends over.
I’m already thinking about Christmas, though I haven’t cracked open any decorations or played any Christmas songs. I’m the worst. Holding out, though. I have, however, been doing some Christmas shopping here and there. There are a few bags of gifts unwrapped in my closets at the moment.
Sunday, November 9th, 2008
Friday, November 7th, 2008
I haven’t responded to the comments left on yesterday’s post because I don’t really feel like moderating, reinforcing, arguing, any of that. My mom has tried to convince me that there are people in my family who would be on my side, more than I realize. It’s difficult for me to imagine that, based on the things a lot of them have said in front of me, or the things they have chosen to avoid discussing. But I suppose it could be true; I haven’t been very close to them in a long time.
There have been some inventive and inspiring responses to the situation. It sounds funny to say, but I’m grateful for people like Melissa Etheridge, Ellen Degeneres, and many others; people who have the balls that they do. Life could be very comfortable for them. They have the money and the power to separate themselves from the rest of the world, not cause a stir, and just receive checks and live luxurious lives. But they continue put everything they have on the line, risking that this is their final stand that turns the public off to them and jeopardizes their future. Rosie O’Donnell has seen the world turn on her. You speak up just a little too much and everyone decides you don’t deserve it any more. People complain that celebrities should entertain and do nothing more. That they shouldn’t express their political opinions, because who are they? I think they have more of an opportunity than the rest of us to be heard by millions, and that if they think they can and want to make a positive difference with that power of being heard, then they should… even if I don’t agree with what they are saying.
It’s often transparent whether someone’s political pushes are based on wanting to help people, or wanting to secure themselves by handicapping others. I can, for example, appreciate somebody wanting to outlaw abortion because they truly believe that it is the murder of cognizant children. I disagree, but I understand that they are motivated to do what they believe is for human welfare. But the cellophane and easily dismantled excuses that people use to ban gay marriage – including that it is a gateway to more perverse unions – are very clearly based in prejudice and fear, not altruistic morality. They are a thin cover-up for the fact that same-sex marriage just doesn’t feel right to them. But many of the things that just didn’t feel right to the populace that we have since come to accept as primitive and wrong (prejudices against women, people of color, people of religious minorities) should serve as reasons why a simple “gut feeling” of any kind of human inequality is never correct. The human failure here is not in the desire for same-sex marriage, it is in the assertion that there are other humans who do not deserve equal rights.
Thursday, November 6th, 2008
I wanted Obama to win, and I voted for him. But on election night I was not in a crowd of people, and I was not able to see the moment he won. I had a bad evening. I soon read some seriously bitter and rude things written by some of my friends about Obama’s win, and then gay marriage was not only rescinded but banned by straight people in Calfornia. Last night friends of mine protested in the streets of Los Angeles and were pushed and herded by police. Arkansas now officially prohibits gay couples from adopting. So I’m not feeling the hope for America as strongly as a lot of others at this time. A victory for one minority came with a heartbreaking defeat for mine.
For the first time in my life, marriage was an option. Legally, and personally. The possibility was even discussed. The fact that “heterosexuals removed, denied, and banned equal rights for gay citizens in four states” is really just too depressing to think seriously about. It makes me not want to see my family at Christmas. I know that I have aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, and friends who say they love me but would go out of their way to vote against allowing me – me, personally – to get married. Gay marriage wasn’t up for a vote in Ohio this election, but I know that had it been, most of my family back home would have gone into a booth and checked a box prohibiting me from being allowed to get married and partake in all the rights that accompany that. Members of my family currently living in Florida probably did participate in the vote to pre-emptively ban gay marriage in that state. My mom would vote in my favor in Ohio, that I know. But why should she ever have to?
Why should there ever be occasion for a straight majority to choose for a gay minority which basic rights they are allowed to share? Similarly, why should a congress of men ever have the audacity to try and decide what all women are allowed and not allowed to do with their bodies (and I’m not just talking about abortion)? A collection of white people decided for blacks that they would only be allowed to stand, sit, eat, drink, learn, and shop where they were expressly told they could. Was that right? Is it right today for anyone to tell me that they should be allowed the tax, visitation, and personal freedoms that marriage brings, but I shouldn’t? Yet I still am not sure I could count on my extended family to vote in my favor, and they’re not even religious.
I don’t want to marry a dog. I don’t want to marry my brother, or a nine year old, or a pineapple. I’m not even saying I want to marry Christian. But I want the option to live my life as freely as everyone else’s. People in my family have been married two, three times. I don’t even get one. They were allowed to make mistakes. They are still making mistakes.
I’m not so selfish that I can’t see Obama’s victory as a good thing. I don’t need him to have my personal interests at heart to admire him and know that he will bring real change and be beneficial to many people who have been struggling. But he’s been elected as the leader of America, and America has simultaneously decided that I am a person of lesser value. It’s difficult to get behind that.
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
My high school experience was, as is for most gay kids (and most kids in general, perhaps), not very much fun. I went on scholarship to an all-boys, uniformed, vaguely religious private school in the middle of the woods in Ohio. My time at the school saw a fraudulent “doctor” resign, multiple lewd student-teacher relationships resulting in resignations, lawsuits brought against the school for mistreatment, the headmaster getting a DUI, and half a graduating class receiving suspensions and expulsions for basically having a gay playday in the middle of the night on school grounds. Not to mention the day-to-day bigotry, racism, and religious bullshit that was thrown around.
I had some homophobic professors who spent entire class periods telling me that being gay was gross and unnatural. Plenty of rich kids made relentless fun of me for not being rich. I’m a little bit darker than white, so I was often asked what country I was from and “what are you?” It was not as bad as it could have been, but it was certainly no picnic, and I don’t feel that I owe them anything. Everything strong and creative about me flourished despite the shaping of my high school, not because of it.
Since the day I graduated they have been ferociously trying to get money out of me. I have not gone to any reunions or meet-ups, and I have no interest in giving them money. But I regularly receive e-mails from Jeff Starrett, an alumni hound for the school. At first I regularly wrote back – politely – that I did not wish to receive these e-mails, and to please take me off his list. But he doesn’t seem to want to remove me. I have replied to his e-mails thusly three times this month alone, to no avail. I’ve even gone into the school’s website and manually removed my information from their alumni database, but I’m still getting their e-mails and mailings. So now I’m writing here.
Maybe when Google tells Jeff Starrett that I’m becoming daily more annoyed by him (Jeff Starrett), and that I have no intention of ever giving University School in Hunting Valley, Ohio a penny of my money or second of my time, then maybe he (Jeff Starrett) will cease harassing me on behalf of University School in Hunting Valley, Ohio. Because as far as I’m concerned, their man-building principles in the late 90s went against pretty much everything I stand for these days, and I would not recommend any parent enroll their child there unless his biggest personal goal amounts to “closeted lacrosse enthusiast.”
