July 31, 2006

Understatement of the week

It's official - we've hit 100 degrees for the first time in 11 years. Can it be over now? I'm tired of stepping foot outside and instantly sweating! I'd take 40 below any day of the week.

But honestly, I should really have something better to talk about than the weather, but I don't. Life is pretty good right now. The house is going well. Recovery is going well. Have been getting back to the gym lately, too.

Oh, but for drama - a buddy of mine called me on Saturday asking me to take him to the emergency room. A couple of hours later he was lying on the hospital bed, short one apendix. It was unpleasant for me, but I'm sure a little more so for him.

Met with a sponsee after work this evening. He started his 4th step ... "a searching a fearless moral inventory." Sound intimidating? It is.

Later in the night met with a friend who is moving to Oregon in a couple of weeks to begin a two year inductment process on his way to becoming a Jesuit Priest. Noble to the max - I cannot imagine what a life must be like having to make a vow of chastity, poverty, and obedience. I suppose it makes for a simple one if nothing else. And contentness can arise from simplicity, no? I think he's got the right idea.

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September 05, 2005

Your new matches!

I always get a kick out of my daily (weekdays only) email from Match.com showing me my newest matches. On occasion friends will show up on there. I've been matched up with Mighty before and now Aaron, too! How fun :-)

So here's to Aaron:

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August 28, 2005

My friend Richard

My friend Richard H passed away 8 days ago. He was 55 and died, unexpectedly, of a heart attack. I knew Richard for only about a year's time, but within that short window he affected my life in great ways.

He examplified what humbleness means. He practiced anonymous generosity on a daily basis. He was a man of much means, yet took the time to listen to everyone he met.

Richard invited some friends and I to his house for Easter Dinner this year. I had never visited his house, but upon entering the 5,000 square foot piece of modern architecture, I was in complete awe. His art collection consisted of original Warhols. I mean really, who has an original Warhol in their home? He had a female manequin dressed in a flowing peach-colored gown and matching hat, looking down on us from an interior balcony on the second floor. But I'm rambling. His posessions were not what defined him. The truth is he had 20 friends over and prepared a five course meal for all of his, on his own. It was spectacular.

About four weeks back he asked a friend and I if we'd like to join him and a few friends for dinner and a show at the new Varsity Theater in Dinkytown. We obliged and met him at the restaurant before the show. Much to my surprise, it wasn't just "a few friends" he had invited, but roughly 30 people from the gym we both held memberships at. Richard quiety paid for both dinner and the theater tickets.

Such wisdom, intelligence, compassion, generosity, sweetness, and most of all, love. All of these things eminated from him as freely as one breathes the air.

Upon hearing the news, and the following days, I couldn't help but think that Richard wasn't done living. He had so much more to do. How sad that he left us so early. I also had never lost a friend. My grandfather, grandmother, and great grandmother had all died when I was a child, but they didn't affect me like Richard's death did. I didn't know how to deal.

On Tuesday evening, Leo G put it into perspective in a marvelous way. He said that we can be sad, but this isn't about us - it's about Richard. And Richard lived wonderfully.

Goodbye, Richard, and thank you for all of the gifts you gave us all.

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August 20, 2005

Business and friends don't mix

Recently a friend approached me about doing a project for him. I was honored that he thought enough of me to ask. Shortly after we sat down together, outlined the work that needed to be done, and kicked off the project. A few days later I got an email saying that he wanted to pull out and cancel.

I was perplexed, stunned, shocked - it was the last thing I thougth would happen. I asked him about it and he said that I offended him. I feel very badly about this, but don't know how else I could have handled the situation.

Losing the project was a bummer, because I was really looking forward to it for the fun factor more than anything. But more importantly, I feel like the friendship has suffered.

I guess it's sort of like living with someone. You may be the best of friends, but after moving in together you find that you really aren't a good match.

Or when you're friends with somebody and one night you have sex. The entire dynamic around your relationship with that friend and mutual friends changes.

Well, shit happens. I guess all I can do at this point is know that I apologized and continue to try to be a good friend.

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August 17, 2005

I'm no Photoshop pro ...

... but I sure had a lot of fun putting these together for a friend's going away party.

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July 31, 2005

Mr. and Mrs. Alex Ellis

Alex and Missy got married last night. It was a beautiful ceremony at the St. Paul Hotel. Beautiful day, a little warm, but sunny with a slight breeze. The ceremony itself was nice and short. Leah, Missy's sister, was the maid of honor. Alex's best friend, Ezra, the best man. Other close friends filled out the rest of the wedding party.

The reception afterwards was much fun. Our table in particular had the best lookers, in my humble opinion. I was happy to be there ;-)

Unfortunately we got 5 minutes from the hotel when I realized that I had forgotton the good camera. Thanksfully the roommate had grabbed the pocket cam - but it's only ya 2 megapixel. At least we have some photos.

Here are a few photos, with the rest in the gallery.

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July 30, 2005

High School bartime

I feel lucky to still keep in touch with a few friends from high school. A handfull go as far back as kindergarden. How awesome is it to have friends for 20 years? Even though I see them only rarely, these folks are the people who you'll always think back to a time in your childhood and remember.

Missy is getting married tonight. Alex is from Iowa and a great find - cute, smart, stable - all of the things you'd want in a spouse. I'm really happy for them. They're both good people and deserve each other and I'm sure they've got many good years together ahead of them.

Makes me wonder if I'll ever find a match like Missy and Alex have found. Will I grow old with someone? Will I find that happiness?

More photos of tonight's festivities are sure to come, but in the meantime I met up with some folks last night at the hangout south of the river in the Twin Cities metro area - Champps in Bursnville. While the decor, menu, atmosphere, and everything else you'd want in a bar / restaurant may be lacking, it sure made up for it with HOT college-aged guys.

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July 16, 2005

Ode to Michelle

Rarely would I spend the time to dedicate an entire post to an individual, but I just got the Saturday paper and found my friend Michelle plastered all over the Variety section. She deserves the A section, but I guess you can't always have it all.

Michelle and I used to work together at a previous agency. She'd always be the entertainment at happy hour or a company party - picking up the microphone and seducing us with her sultry voice and antics. She could mesmorize even this gay man with even her casual performances.

About a year passed and Michelle decided to give up a promising career in advertising and follow her dreams. She's now Nadine Dubois, the emcee at Lili's Burlesque Revue, entertaining for the masses and enjoying every second of it.

Continue reading for the full story, copied from the strib because their pages eventually expire - and I want to remember this one for a while ;-)

Photos copied from startribune.com, (C) Tom Wallace

Hot stuff: Burlesque is back in Minneapolis

By Kay Miller, Star Tribune Staff
July 16, 2005 LI

Most patrons have a drink or two in them by 10 p.m., when emcee "Nadine Dubois" steps onstage to wild applause at Lili's Burlesque Revue. Scott "Frenchy" Fremont at the drums pounds out a sultry beat.

Dubois -- aka Michelle Langner, 30 -- is draped in a low-cut scarlet gown, the spotlight catching her glitter-dusted cleavage. Her voice is a husky come-hither.

"Clap if you're virgins to burlesque," she says, with a playfully lascivious look. Dubois came late to the role of bawdy temptress, having sung in a Christian rock band after studying theater and opera at Gustavus Adolphus College.

There are maybe 40 people in the audience, most in their 20s or 30s. But Dubois picks Nate, the blond onetime farmer from Fargo sitting in the front row, as the evening's foil after he admits he's a burlesque neophyte.

"I promise we'll deflower you gently," she coos.

Lili's is one of Minneapolis' subcultural gems. On this Friday night, it houses patrons from as far away as New York, North Carolina and Seattle. Audiences are treated to a mix of exotic dancers, bullwhip artists, singers, comics, jugglers, fire twirlers and Frenchy's Big Bang Burlesque Band.

With a pool of 40 artists and a bent toward improvisation, the lineup is different every Friday and Saturday night.

Tonight's show is laced with surprises. A dancer's pasties -- those strategically placed nipple cones -- accidentally pop off. Fire spinner Kristin Doll caps one routine in a back-bend, spewing fire into the air. A ballerina in a black tutu dances on pointe, tossing blossoms until she's topless but for two little flowers.

"Burlesque is not about being naked or hot or sexy," says singer Karen "Chanteuse" Paurus, 39. "It's about allowing somebody to watch you in this very playful, sensual and often really silly circumstance where you're taking off your clothes. Even then, you still don't get to see a naked body. There is always something left to the imagination."

Dubois and Paurus are among the core group of six performers who furnished the room from their own pockets and run the club, auditioning singers, hiring servers, even meeting with the fire marshal. Yet their $15 to $60 a night earnings make day jobs an imperative.

Dubois is a server at the Local Irish Pub and Paurus is an online editor for startribune.com. But Lili's larger cadre of performers includes an English teacher, an art gallery manager, a massage therapist, an actor, a toy company president and a doctoral student in religion ("This is my dirty little secret," says Doll).

For performers, Lili's is a labor of love. For patrons, it's a step back 60 years to Vaudeville's coy sexual tease. Lacy panties, stockings and corsets draped over a clothesline at the window and passion-red walls set the evening's tone: naughty but never nasty. Here, women are in charge.

"Tonight I invite you to strip yourselves of your Minnesota skins," Dubois says. "We want you to hoot, holler, clap, bang on the tables. Around here we call that encouragement. Because if you don't do that, they may not take it off. And that will be a little embarrassing for all of us."

And bless all you dears who buy Dubois a cocktail or drop a little monetary "love" in her tip purse.

Beautiful in their skin

An hour before the show, Liana "GiGi Larue" Jacquet, 23, stands before the crowded backstage mirrors in black panties, pressing hot pink pasties to her bare breasts. Finding the best adhesive is a story in itself. Larue opts for spirit gum, letting it dry to a tacky ring before applying pasties.

"They're like little Shriner's hats with tassels on them," says "CoCo Dupree," a k a Sarah Levorson, 36. The longer the tassel, the better the twirl, says Dupree, who makes pasties while watching daytime TV. She sells them to show patrons for $20 a pair.

"There's nothing better than knowing you helped a 70-year-old woman find a whole new appreciation for her boobs," Dupree says.

Medical adhesive is the most reliable fixant, Dupree says. Still, wardrobe malfunctions are a hazard of the trade and the women delight in describing how they covered themselves with the flick of a fan, feather boa or hat.

Around them, female performers in all shapes and sizes arrive in the crowded backstage dressing room pooped from their day jobs, reviving as they slip into their alter egos.

"We basically make enough here to support our expensive habits -- the feathers, the beads, the costumes, the shoes and stockings that get ripped," Dubois said.

So why do they do this?

"I have power when I'm onstage," said Lady Luck. "Yeah, it's sexual power, but I'm in control. I look at the audience and see people with their mouths open. It's wonderful to be desired."

The work is fun. The talented cast is close. And Dubois has found she's a master at engaging the audience. Her zaftig body is far from perfect. Yet feeling beautiful in her own skin has been surprisingly liberating.

"I wasn't even a girl who would wear a swimsuit in public. Now I feel confident the way I am, not that I have to change into some skinny little thing."

Dubois recalled one woman who came to the show with her emotionally abusive boyfriend. For years he had berated her as ugly and undesirable. In the middle of the show she turned to him and said, "I am so dumping you. None of the women up there is perfect but they're stunning. And I'm that person."

All the right moves

Clothes come off slowly as dancers warm up the Minnesota crowd. Sinewy CoCo Dupree, the embodiment of what the Harlem Renaissance must have been, is a pro at the steamy side glance and excruciatingly slow move.

Soon she'll strip to pasties and stockings. But for now she toys with the audience, taking a five-minute song to slip out of her dress, stripping no further than a corset.

"That was the G-rated piece," Dubois teases Nate. "I have a lot of experience and I might just have to take you backstage."

A blush spreads from his collar to his hairline. But Nate is a good sport. After several drinks, he catches a boa thrown from the stage, smiles goofily when Dubois perches on his lap, buys her a tequila and lopes up onstage to drape the boa around her. Finally he slips a tip into her purse.

"Thank you, Nate. I'm glad you got it that I'm not going to bend over for it," Dubois says.

Nate is the first to shout out naughty words to Dubois's fill-in-the-blank burlesque song.

"I could end the song there but I think you guys deserve more," she says. Nate's eyes bug out as Dubois finally opens her black peignoir, revealing black garters and stockings. She drops the gown. With shoulders moving she gets the sequined pasties spinning in opposite directions.

Suddenly she motions for Frenchy to still his drum.

"Let's talk," she says solemnly. "Let's talk about a few months ago when my parents called and said, 'Honey, we're coming up to see your musical show.' "

The audience gasps.

"No, no, you don't understand. My conservative, Republican parents from South Dakota came. And I forgot to tell them I was stripping." Her parents sat in the front row as Dubois maintained her professional, er, demeanor.

Afterward her mother asked, "Oh, my God, where did you learn to twirl those things like that?" Her father tapped her on the shoulder and said, "Oh, honey, I've changed her diapers. I've seen a lot worse than that."

Kay Miller is at kmiller@startribune.com

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July 06, 2005

The Fourth of Joooly

Two years ago I couldn't wait until the 4th of July hit. Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde was coming to theatres! The trailer, which turned out to be just as good as the movie, but you wasted less time, featured Jennifer Coolidge touting, "You look like the Fourth of July! Makes me want a hotdog, reeeeal bad." I repeated that line for weeks, much to the agitation of my friends.

This year I was sick all weekend and missed the Gay Rodeo that Aaron attended. After three days spent on the couch watching sappy Lifetime movies I forced myself to venture out for the 4th. Jim and I hit three parties:

I'm getting kicked outta Spyhouse now, so gotta run. Go check out the galleries for the full she-bang.

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May 28, 2005

Running For AIDS

Fellow internet addict, Andrew, is running for AIDS. Please read about it and donate to the cause if you can. I did.

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January 10, 2005

Bloggers Unite(d)!

Today I learned how to play scrabble! You might be asking yourself, "Why does a 25 year-old need to learn how to play scrabble - doesn't everyone know how to play scrabble?" Well, I'm living proof that not every 25 year-old knows, but perhaps now all of them do, since I learned!

And who had the patience to teach me (but then totally kick my ass in the scoring)? My fellow bloggers! We had our first blogger-get-together at Aaron's house. We snapped a few photos, to prove to anyone who cares, how real we are.

It was a good time. I'd met some of them before, but some were new. Very normal group of people. And Aaron has a couple of really cute dogs, but I didn't get any pictures of them.

Mighty, Mike, Jim, Wanda, Eric, and Chris were mysteriously absent and still have yet to prove themselves real.

More photos in the gallery.

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September 29, 2004

How ironical

The ironicy of it all! What are the chances that my wallet would get stolen and my roommate's car get broken into in the same day? Well it hapenned yesterday! He only had cash taken at least - they left his Prada loafers & bag, and Burberry umbrella in the backseat - they obviously weren't stylish thieves.

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August 13, 2004

High School Friends

My friend Kate arrived in town yesterday and a bunch of us met her out for drinks. I have known Kate since kindergarten. I remember her as one of 3 kids in class who came to school already knowing how to read, so an hour each day she got taken away to do some advanced stuff. Even though I haven't seen her since ... shit, I think it may have been over a year, I still consider her one of those special people - I hope I never lose touch.

Kate, flanked by Megan and Missy, the morning after our 5 year HS reunion :-)
The group included 6 or so of us from high school, my roommate, and various boyfriends (I was the only guy). We met at Bar Abilene around 11:00, after my usual Tuesday night AA gig of a meeting, dinner and coffee. They were already pretty toasted, which makes it somewhat easier to be around, because I can see how silly they're being, and I don't necessarily want a drink as bad.

They were all curious about what was going on. Some of them had found the website by chance, or even google in one case, but they still wanted to know what had happened from me. We talked, reminisced, made fun of my old neighbor, Charmaine, 'the crack whore next door,' and had a good time laughing until around 1:00am.

I had a great time. Didn't have any urges at all, but did have a slight feeling of not belonging, sipping on my diet coke, and not vodka-redbulls. I can't really put my finger on it. I'm hopeful that feeling will dissipate with time.

I hadn't been to Bar A in a while - can you believe they took down that John Wayne poster above the urinal in favor of one of those new 'interactive urinal displays'?!?!?! He was a classic! My friends and I used to plan how we were going to sneak that thing out of there. We got one or two screws, of six, out of the frame, and others got all but one screw the last time I saw it. And now they took it down!!!! ARGH!

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July 08, 2004

Bloggers unite?

I think I might try to go to the Wilde Roaste tonight - anyone wanna meet up?

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Speaking of hobos ...

... I spotted a multi-tasking hobo the other day! He was quite clever. His cardboard sign must have been made out of a refrigerator box, given it's size. Jim pointed out that he probably also used the sign as his house. They sure are getting clever these days!

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July 04, 2004

Gay Rodeo!

Had another FABULOUS day! Got up, went to coffee at Spyhouse for my blueberry muffin and light rost. Went to the gay rodeo, run by the NSGRA, in Hugo - about 30 minutes north of downtown minneapolis. The rodeo was just a blast, and I got tons of photos - go check them out in the gallery. Here's a teaser:

Here's another shot with my friend Tommy and I (I'm on the left). He participated in a couple of the events and has a HUGE belt buckle! Anyhow, I'm off for the night to see if I can go lasso in anymore cowboys!

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July 02, 2004

OpenDoors

My blogging-buddy Aaron just relaunched his site under a new name: OpenDoors - go check it out. He seems cool so far, but he spends far too much time at the Wilde Roast Cafe on his Mac.

Anyhow, just got home from Spiderman2 and I've got to get to bed. TGIF!

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July 01, 2004

Wanda's released a new spot!

Go check out Wanda's site - she just released a new spot!

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June 22, 2004

Busy Bee

Good gawd things are busy these days. Work is nuts. I like being busy, though :-) Provides stability. Just wish there were more hours in the day to provide time to relax.

I hope to work on some updates to the site here soon, but it's probably going to be a while until I get a chance as I'm going to be working all weekend at Pride selling tea and I have to get to the gym so I can look good while doing it!

... in the meantime, go check out my new Blogger friend's site at
www.wandawisdom.com - make sure to check out the videos and tell her Sparkles sent yah.

"And she looked ... just ... like ... THIS!" (points for anyone who
can tell me what movie I took that from)

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June 18, 2004

Props for blogger peeps

I added a few people to my site template under the 'friends' list on your right.

Thanks to Andy at eleventh avenue south who put together a list of queer bloggers in the Minneapolis area and listed me!

Dunner invited me to get a gmail account seems super cool, but since friendster is so flaky we can't seem to be friends yet :-(

And of course Jimbo, the first person to email me after I put up my blog. He's a bundle of energy and super nice.

Anyway, I'm going to finish up transfering my blog to a different server (I'm consolidating down to one!) and head to Wilde Roast while the transfer finishes up. Todd makes the best deserts in town!

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June 08, 2004

Carol Channing

If you ever want to feel your heart skip a beat, watch The Tony Awards with a room full of homos when Carol Channing walks on stage. Dear Gawd!

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June 05, 2004

okay, alright already!

I've had a friend bother me for not mentioning his name yet, so here it is:

Hello, Gabian!

In all honesty, Sister Hoffner has been a good friend to me since shortly after my sobriety began. He's set a great example for me as to how to live your life without the booze and dope that Broadway doesn't go for. He's introduced me to the Legion of Decency - a sisterhood of saints who live their lives preaching to those with less than ideal morals. And of course he's been a great person to
know for his vast network of sober friends, and seemingly endless list of cute boys. Other hoorays should go to Johnny H, Dave D, a host of other friends, and of course, my sponsor, Sister G, whose guidance, exemplary lifestyle, perfect manners, and gorgeous good-looks I couldn't have survived to this day without.

Ahhh, gotta run - I think I hear a fax coming in!

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