Beautiful Bodacious Babe- Portia de Rossi Has A Birthday

There is something very engaging about a beautiful woman with great comic chops. She was born Amanda Rogers in Geelong Australia. When she was just a 15 years old lesbian, she reinvented herself as Portia de Rossi, choosing the name from her love of Shakespeare & all things Italian. She was cast in the Australian film- Sirens, & then it was off to Hollywood. I first took note of her funny work as lawyer-Nell Porter on Ally McBeal.She was slyly hilarious in the much missed Arrested Development, & is the comic glue on the underrated & canceled Better Off Ted.


She feared she would jeopardize her career if she came out of the closet. When she finally did come out of the closet, many people didn't believe she was gay. She told the Advocate, "I had a hell of a time convincing people I was gay…which was so annoying! First of all, you live with the fear people might find out. Then you actually have the courage to tell people and they go, 'I don't think you are gay.'"

Besides being beautiful & funny, she was able to grab the attention of some woman named Ellen. Portia says when she first saw Ellen, she took her breath away. "That had never happened to me in my life, where I saw somebody & experienced all of those things you hear about in songs & read about in poetry. My knees were weak." Portia left Countess Francesca McKnight Donatella Romana Gregorini di Savignano di Romagna (Ringo Starr’s step-daughter) to be with & eventually marry Ellen DeGeneres (who had a birthday earlier this week).

They were married in August 2008 in a small ceremony attended by family & a few close friends. Her wedding to DeGeneres was the cover story of People, which also featured page after page of photos with breathless captions detailing their clothes, the food, & the flowers, just like any straight celebrity wedding.  That is real progress! Oprah Winfrey spent an entire hour showcasing their relationship in an episode pointedly titled Ellen DeGeneres & Her Wife, Portia de Rossi.  The De Rossi- DeGeneres' live in L.A. with their dogs. 

After All The Foolish Things That We've Been Through

You & I

Tempted by the promise of a different life

Time has fled

There's a constant battle running through my head

I don't know what to do

Because I still believe

After all the foolish things that we've been through

I will always be a man who's open to

Persuasion

Blind romance

There'll be no half measures given half the chance

But we never learn

Trusting in the fire while the cruel flame burns

& we need to rebuild

What was never there

What got left behind

After all the foolish things that we've been through

I can always make a start on something new

& I'll always be a man who's open to.....

Persuasion

& it's written in my heart

So that everybody could see it

& it's written in my soul

& I still believe it

I still believe it

I still believe it

I still believe

I don't know what to do

Because I still believe

After all the foolish things you put me through

I can always make a start on something new

& I'll always be a man who's open to

Persuasion

I've Got A Goal Again, I've Got The Drive Again, I'm Gonna Feel My Heart Coming Alive Again, Before The Parade Passes By

It was one of my most favorite musicals growing up. I had the Original Broadway Cast album of Hello, Dolly! with today’s birthday girl, & I augmented my collection with cast recordings with Pearl Bailey, Ethel Merman, & the Japanese & Finnish casts, plus the London cast featuring Mary Martin as Dolly Levi. But nothing was better than the original with Carol Channing.

In 1921, Albert Einstein was explaining his new Theory of Relativity, Charlie Chaplin's movie The Kid was released, Babe Ruth became the home run champ, Turkey made peace with Armenia, President Harding dedicated the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington Cemetery, Eugene O'Neill's Anna Christie received its premiere on Broadway, & in Seattle, on January 31^st, living legend Carol Channing was born.

Channing is a singing, dancing, acting force of nature & one of our biggest stars, but even with her fabulous talent, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what Channing’s appeal is. Her face & voice are instantly recognizable, yet in her long career, she has worked in only 5 movies including the LSD comedy Skidoo (1968), often cited as one of the worst movie ever. Channing was nominated for an Oscar & won the Golden Globe for her work in Thoroughly Modern Milley. Her triumphs were always been on the Broadway stage.

Channing is a true original. She was never a bombshell, & she is rather demented without being risqué or grotesque. And she's a belter along the like Ethel Merman, but without being brassy. She has been often cast been cast as a gold digger while there is nothing seductive about her persona.


Channing’s contradictions made a little more sense when I read her engaging autobiography- Just Lucky I Guess: A Memoir of Sort. She speaks candidly about her messy break up with her husband of 41 years, Charles Lowe. Carol disclosed that she & Lowe had only ever had sex "once or twice in our 41-year marriage & that was 41 years ago.”  She stuck to her wedding vows the whole time & didn't have sex with anyone else. What opportunities did she pass up?  Lowe had spent most of her hard earned fortune, & to make matters more bizarre, the scandal reached its anti-climax when Channing broke the news that the hubby was a homo.  A camp icon with a gay husband isn’t as shocking as the 41 year dry spell.  After 31 years, even the Husband & I manage to knock one out every month or so. The memoir also reveals that her grandfather was African-American.

Even with her resilient image, Channing has had her hardships. She triumphed on Broadway as fortune hunting Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, but Hollywood cast Marilyn Monroe in the film version. Monroe saw the show over & over, & borrowed Channing’s best bits. Channing really owned the role of Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly!, she was the first & most famous in the role on even followed by such talents as Ethel Merman, Phyllis Diller, & Pearl Bailey. But director Gene Kelly thought casting her was too risky & gave the role to Barbra Streisand who was decades too young for the role (Streisand would be perfect now).

I love her so much in Thoroughly Modern Millie, playing a rich, madcap matron Muzzy Van Hossmere, who makes her entrance flying in a biplane, quaffing champagne. She blew my little13 year old gay mind with her 2 big musical numbers- Jazz Baby where she tap dances on a xylophone, & Do It Again which begins with Channing being shot out of a cannon.

Channing has played Dolly Levi in over 4,000 times to packed-houses around the globe without ever missing a performance. Hello, Dolly! was the first Broadway musical to play China.

In May 2003, she married her 4^th husband, Harry Kullijian, her junior high school sweetheart, who reunited with her after she mentioned him fondly in her memoir.  They renamed the school's auditorium The Carol Channing Theatre in her honor. The city of San Francisco proclaimed a Carol Channing Day, for her advocacy of gay rights & her appearances as the host of the Gay Pride events around the country.

Kullijian: "Carol & I are looking at all the children in the United States. We often say, ‘Those children are our children. They're all Americans.' They have to be uplifted. They have to experience music, literature, poetry, theater, sculpture & paintings. It's a crime that these things are falling to the wayside. Art is the mainstay of our souls. I believe that Carol Channing is the one person in this country who can say ‘Come on folks, let’s get together with one voice & make this happen because the future of this country is at stake."

Carol Channing turns an astonishing 90 years old today. Happy Birthday!

Note To Self: Pencil In The Gay Exorcism For Wednesday Night, Be Sure To DVR Modern Family

I had a lazy Sunday. The only task was assigned to me by the Husband: " I need for you to deal with your gigantic pile of magazines!" I spent the afternoon tearing out images from 6 months+ worth of the 12 magazines that I subscribe to. The pictures will be added to my inspiration wall. I hereby vow to never keep a magazine longer than its publication month. Really, dear Husband.

& The Actor Goes To... Stephen for Steve:Portrait Of A Slut, The Final Chapter

I love award shows & I remain open to winning any award being handed out from any guild, union or critics’ group. The SAG awards are a favorite. The Screen Actors’ Guild Awards is actors honoring actors while they have been drinking cocktails. The SAG awards are special at Post Apocalyptic Bohemia because I am a voting member of the Guild. It is a bit thrilling to watch the broadcast & know that I played an important role in how things played out with this award show.

I am very shallow. I often vote for who I think is the hottest. By that criteria, I would be handing the Best Film Leading Actor, Male to my current crush: soap opera star, grad student, filmmaker, poet, novelist, actor, lover extraordinary- James Franco. I wanted to vote for Jesse Eisenberg, because to me, that was the performance of the year. Yet, I voted for Colin Firth, who I  admire, & find sexy, because he should have won last year for A Single Man.


Attractive hot actors nominated tonight: Jeremy Renner, the very yummy Mark Ruffalo, Dennis Quaid, Patrick Stewart, Jon Hamm, & Alec Baldwin.

Which gentleman do you vote for as Hottest SAG Man?

The nominees are listed, my vote is in bold. I admit to not seeing every nominee’s work. For instance, I saw none of the nominees for TV Movie Actor, female. I voted for Catherine O’Hara, simply because I like her alot. For TV Series Actor, Male, I was stymied because Portland’s own Ty Burrell of Modern Family is my favorite character on TV right now, but I voted for Chris Colfer from Glee!, because he is, well, Chris Coofer & he is gay. I felt the same way about the super talented Jane Lynch. A vote was cast for Patrick Stewart because I think that he is hot & his vehicle was Shakespeare. My bad.


FILM


Male Actor, Leading


Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Robert Duvall, Get Low
Jesse Eisenberg
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
James Franco, 127 hours


Female Actor, Leading


Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Hilary Swank, Conviction


Male Actor, Supporting


Christian Bale, The Fighter
Jon Hawkes, Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech


Female Actor, Supporting


Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
Mila Kunis, Black Swan
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Hailey Steinfeld, True Grit


Cast in a Motion Picture


Black Swan
The Fighter
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech
The Social Network


TV


Male Actor, TV Movie or Miniseries


John Goodman, You Don’t Know Jack
Al Pacino, You Don’t Know Jack
Dennis Quaid, The Special Relationship
Edgar Ramirez, Carlos
Patrick Stewart, Macbeth: Great Performances


Female Actor, TV Movie or Miniseries


Claire Danes, Temple Grandin
Catherin O’Hara, Temple Grandin
Julia Ormond, Temple Grandin
Winona Ryder, When Love Is Not Enough
Susan Sarandon, You Don’t Know Jack


Male Actor, Drama Series


Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie, House


Female Actor, Drama Series


Glenn Close, Damages
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU
Julianna Marguiles, The Good Wife
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer


Male Actor, Comedy Series


Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Steve Carell, The Office
Chris Colfer, Glee
Ed O’Neill, Modern Famil

Female Actor, Comedy Series

Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Jane Lynch, Glee
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
Betty White, Hot in Cleveland


Ensemble, Drama Series

Boardwalk Empire
The Closer
Dexter
The Good Wife
Mad Men


Ensemble, Comedy Series


30 Rock
The Office
Glee
Hot in Cleveland
Modern Family

Born On This Day... January 29th- Olympic Champion Gregory Efthimios Louganis

 It takes real tenacity to keep having a crush on someone for 34 years, but here I am, still dreamy over Louganis, who continues to be devastatingly handsome as he turns 51 years old .He spends his mornings in a spin class, followed by 90 minutes of yoga. He takes daily naps. His afternoons are devoted to his true passion, training dogs in obedience & agility. Louganis lives in Malibu with 2 Jack Russell terriers, & a border collie.

The Husband & I caught Oprah last week on what was actually advertised as her “gayest show ever'. Oprah & Gayle’s Yosemite camping adventure was darn gay, but not as gay as 25 years of clips from shows on LGBTXYZ issues. This special show about her 25 years of supporting the gay community brought back some of her most memorable guests, including the Olympic gold medalist diver Greg Louganis who came out as an HIV+ gay man way back in 1995.

Louganis is the greatest diver in US history . He broke onto the Olympic scene when he won a silver medal at the age of 16 in the Montreal games of 1976. He went on to win 2 back to back double Olympic gold medals & multiple world championships.

We watched in horror as it happened & it was shocking because Louganis was true diving perfection. We love watching Olympic sports & the Husband had just said- "I just love to watch Louganis. He just pierces the water like a dart.” Louganis’s greatest moments came, ironically, after his worst dive. Seeking another gold medal in the Seoul Olympics of 1988, Louganis attempted a very difficult reverse 2 1/2 pike dive in the preliminary round. During the dive, he struck his head on the board, & suffered a large laceration on his head. Amazingly, despite his concussion, he finished the preliminary round & repeated the dive in the finals, receiving record-setting scores on the way to another gold medal. The performance earned him the ABC Sports’ Athlete of the Year in 1988. . Louganis described the embarrassment & fear that he felt after the aborted dive. "I knew I had a responsibility to tell the doctor about my HIV status as he sewed my head up."


In 1994 Louganis announced to the world that he was gay. In Breaking The Surface, published in the year 1995, detailed a relationship of domestic abuse & rape. His partner threatened to blackmail him if he tried to leave. "I boxed myself into the relationship with my feelings about my HIV status. I thought, `who will touch me?' But I knew that to survive, I had to get out. It was a big step for me to build the self-esteem I needed to have the confidence to leave." It was in that book that he disclosed to the world that he was HIV positive, having been diagnosed a few months before the Seoul Games. Most of his corporate sponsors dropped him as a client when they heard the news of his HIV status. Swimsuit manufacturer Speedo was the only exception & retained him as an endorser of their swimwear until 2007.

Louganis tours the country speaking about issues that affected him throughout his life: HIV, chronic depression, learning disabilities & diversity (he is Samoan & Nordic). Louganis also travels around with other athletes including Peggy Fleming, Bruce Jenner & Jackie Joyner-Kersee as they discuss living with long term illnesses. Louganis says he wants to be remembered as more than an athlete. “I want to be remembered as a strong& graceful diver, but as a person, I want to be remembered as someone who made a difference.”

Ah, Ah. Ah... Don't Stop! I'm Cumming!

The Husband & I caught the film- The Party the other evening, while channel surfing & we decided to stay with it, although we had rented it years ago. One of the stars is Kevin Kline, one of the great loves of my life. But I kept having a mind riff on the career & personality of Alan Cumming. I was first aware of Cumming in 1998 through his Tony winning turn as the emcee in the Sam Mendes-Rob Marshall revival of Cabaret. He certainly seemed to be a very arresting figure when I saw him on the Tony Awards.

Cumming has played his share of classical roles in an extremely eclectic career, including a very well received Hamlet in London, his main image seems to be: naughty scamp, a persona that holds my interest. Cumming has done nothing to discourage this, playing a variety of louche characters: Dionysus, Mack the Knife, the Devil, in theater & film. He wrote a semiautobiographical novel-Tommy's Tale, about a sex obsessed, drug ridden bisexual; & starring in a provocative campaign promoting the fragrance line that bears his last name.

I'll Know That Moment Divine

Along with anecdotes from my life, Post Apocalyptic Bohemian is intended to be a celebration of accomplished & gifted gay people on the day of their birth. We live in a great big world, full of people of different shades, sexualities, sizes, shapes, & suppositions. On rare occasions, I am moved & absorbed by the great works of non-gay individuals.


Music is a driving force in my life & my tastes are all over the map. While organizing my CDs, I chuckled as I noted that The Clash & Rosemary Clooney are side by side. I wish that The Clash had done a cover of Come On-A My House.

From childhood, I have a had a passion for The Great American Songbook- popular music from the first 6 decades of the 20th century. I own a large library of books by & about composers & lyricists, & I have done birthday posts on the musical greats- straight & gay. All right, I gave a bit more attention to Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Lorenz Hart, Kander & Ebb, & Jerry Herman, but the gay spin that informs their work is evident & speaks to me.



Today's birthday guest is the decidedly heterosexual Jerome Kern.  He wrote the music to some of the most stunning songs of the last century. In 1915 with bookwriter Guy Bolton, he began a series of intimate musicals for the 299 seat Princess Theatre. Among Kern's songs for these charming shows were They Didn’t Believe Me (1914), which I consider the first modern ballad, & Look For the Silver Lining (1920)


In 1927, Kern teamed with Oscar Hammerstein II & they adapted lesbian Edna Ferber’s novel into one of the greatest of all American musicals: Show Boat. Show Boat pioneered the concept of the fully integrated musical, with all aspects of the show working together toward a single artistic unity. Among the songs introduced in Show Boat were Ol' Man River, Bill, Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man, Make Believe, & Why Do I Love You?


After Show Boat, Kern continued to write for Broadway, contributing such classic songs as The Song Is You, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, & Yesterdays, all from 1933's Roberta with lyrics by Otto Harbach.


In 1935, Kern went to Hollywood, where he spent most of the rest of his career, writing some of his very best music. For the 1935 film of Roberta he wrote I Won't Dance. For Swing Time (1936), he wrote A Fine Romance & The Way You Look Tonight, with lyrics by Dorothy Fields. He was nominated for 9 Oscars & won 2.

On the occasion of our 10th anniversary of being a couple, after a swell party thrown by our neighbors & dear friends- R & M, I found myself alone with the man who would eventually be my husband. He presented me with a piece of his art, a marvelous & meaningful collage, just for the occasion.

I had planned this moment... yet I doubted that it could be pulled off without interruption, giggling, dog barking or humiliation. I stood facing him in our little Seattle cottage, I looked him in the eye & without flinching, in what I have to admit is my pretty amazing, if uncommon singing voice, I performed Jerome Kern’s- All The Things You Are, verse & chorus. I was more nervous than any stage performance. I finished- I'll know that moment divine, when all the things you are are mine". The Husband had teared up. Then he said: “beautiful… how come you never sing to me? I love to hear you sing”. He kissed me.

Attractive Female Stars of 2010 in Hollywood

Camilla Belle (Actress)

 The list of "Beautiful and Attractive Stars 2010 (Hollywood)" included celebrities of show business: music, film and fashion, more images after the break...

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Latest stills of illeana

Latest stills of illeana from her upcoming movie Nenu Naa Rakshashi with Daggubati Rana under Puri Jaganath. More images after the break...

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Top 10 Most Beautiful Female Athletes of the World

10. Miesha Tate, MMA

We all know that female athletes always appear to be hotter just because they are able to do the things that many of us are not able to do. Here is count down list of world’s top ten most beautiful women athletes. 09 More after the break...

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Rome Hotel Built of Beach Garbage

Rome is known as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, with unforgettable architecture and an atmosphere that can’t be found anywhere else. Lately, though, it’s become a real dump. German artist Ha Schult constructed a temporary hotel in the city to highlight the sad state of Europe’s beaches. The hotel, part of Corona’s Save the Beach campaign, is constructed of garbage collected from the shoreline. More after the break...

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What is forbidden in Iran

Gmail

Pork and dogs, I can understand, because Islam does not favor them.
But why Batman? Consider the compilation of the things that are forbidden in Iran. More after the break...

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Perfection

Born on this day, January 26th....

2 Great Looking People Over 50 Share A Birthday!

"I never really have a plan. My point is, by the time I was your age, I thought I knew who I was. But I had no idea. Like for example, when I was your age, I was dating men.... So, what I'm saying is, when you're older, most of you will be gay! .... The way I ended up on this path, was from a very tragic event. I was, maybe, 19, & my girlfriend at the time died in a car accident. & I passed the accident, & I didn't know it was her, & I kept going.... I started this path of stand-up, & it was successful, & it was great but it was hard because I was trying to please everybody, & I had this secret that I was keeping that I was gay. & I thought that if people found out they wouldn't like me, they wouldn't laugh at me.... Really, when I look back on it, I wouldn't change a thing. I mean, it was so important for me to lose everything because I found out what the most important thing was it to be true to yourself.''

From a commencement speech delivered by Ellen DeGeneres at Tulane University, in her hometown of New Orleans.

15 years ago, DeGeneres was on a fast track with a popular sitcom, club appearances, dipping her toes into feature films, & then came the Oprah confession (Winfrey would go on to play her therapist when DeGeneres came out herself in an episode of her own show), & the public was drawn to the drama of a Hollywood celebrity coming out, a revelation that was not as common or acceptable then as it is now. Her coming out ignited a storm of controversy, prompting ABC to place a parental advisory at the beginning of each episode of the show & then show took a dive in the ratings, & Ellen was cancelled in 1998. Pop culture pundits suggested that her public coming out, her heartfelt admission of her homosexuality on The Oprah Winfrey Show, had killed her career.


DeGeneres returned to standup &, in 2001, rebounded in prime time with The Ellen Show, a sitcom where she portrayed a lesbian. The show lasted only a year, & many dismissed it as a good try, but conservative middle America probably just wasn't ready for a loud & proud lesbian TV star. But, times did start to change, & sexuality became somewhat less of an issue in Show Biz.


In 2003,with the closet door wide open door, DeGeneres stepped out as the host of crisp new daytime talk show. The Ellen DeGeneres Show is not only a ratings winner but it has turned the comedienne into a beloved mainstream star. I adore the way she mentions her wife as a toss off. She never pushes.

These days it seems that everybody loves DeGeneres. Her distinctive hip populism cuts across divergent demographics without dividing. As an interviewer, she is sweet & naturally funny, a perfect host who just happens to be a lesbian. Middle America, to my surprise, embraced her uniqueness & today, DeGeneres has a bunch of Emmys, & represents American Express & Cover Girl in commercial campaigns. She hosted the Oscars, the 1st openly gay person to do so.

Degeneres' has given passionate, persuasive & poignant voice to the position of gay people, especially gay youth.of the show's appeal, of course, is that DeGeneres does not apologize or shy about being gay, joking & sharing details about her life with Portia de Rossi. They legally married in a ceremony at their Beverly Hills home in 2008.

I have always found DeGeneres to be funny & original, & think that she is a true hero to gay people. She looks smashingly good on her 53rd birthday! I guess lots of money, a hit show, awards, a personal trainer & a beautiful spouse is the secret to looking good after 50.

MGC circa 1974

Still sexy in his 50s

DeGeneres shares her birthday with someone special in my life. MGC has been my friend for 35+ years. We met when we were both undergrads at Loyola Marymount University in L.A. We attended 2 universities at the same time & we have lived in 3 different cities at the same time, not because of each other & without consulting each other; we kept ending up at the same spot. We worked on, in various capacities, several theatre projects together.

MGC has never been close to being my best friend, but we are good friends & honest friends. We lived together once & we have known each other for more than 3 decades, & we have never had a fight, a fuss, or an intrigue. We once had a flirtation, & that didn't even dent our friendship. We have gone a few years without seeing each other, but we always seem to find our way back again. When we are with each other, I enjoy his company so much that I always ask myself- "Why is it that I don't spend more time with this handsome, smart, strong, spiritual, sweet man?"

I asked Ellen DeGeneres to call MGC on their shared birthday. I hope she takes time out of her busy day to wish MGC a special "Happy Birthday!"

Portland Is A Place Where Young People Go To Retire

May I share just a few photographs of some of my favorite sights around zany Portland?

The historic Kenton Firehouse in my neighborhood. I pass by it on dog walks & on my way to the MAX train. Built in 1912 & once housing horse-drawn fire wagons,  it was boarded up in 1959. Neighbors persuaded the city to let them restore the firehouse. They raised $500,000 & reinforced the brickwork, painted & added a new roof & kitchen. They reopened the firehouse for events in 1977. The top floor is the home of the a City of Portland Neighborhood services office. I really like the firehouse a bunch.

From the Max Train in Old Town/Chinatown

Portland has a wealth of vintage neon. I love a good dive bar. This one is in Southeast Portland, close to my company's HQ.

Downtown, close to what used to be the gay area- Vaseline Alley.

2 blocks from my work, They also offer malt liquor & porn.

A block away from work at the Start of the South Park Blocks

A block from Post Apocalyptic Bohemia. This spot recently went out of business, appearently from the lack of crowds on Wens.

I Will Take Dowdy British Authors Of The 20th Century, Born On January 25th for $1000, Alex

"At a dinner party one should eat wisely but not too well, & talk well but not too wisely."

Although W. Somerset Maugham rarely spoke publicly about his sexuality, he has been embraced as one of the most renowned gay authors of all time. Maugham: "I was a 1/4 normal & 3/4 queer, but I tried to persuade myself it was the other way round. That was my greatest mistake."


Maintaining the habit of writing for several hours each morning, Maugham produced 30 plays, 24 novels, & more than 100 magazine articles. With his cynical wit & straightforward style, he was more popular among masses than the literary set, & he always felt like an outsider to the establishment. Although Maugham's highly acclaimed works – including Of Human Bondage (1915), The Constant Wife (1927), & The Razor's Edge (1944) made him the most famous & wealthiest author of his day, he never received the honor of knighthood.


There are over 50 film & TV adaptations of Maugham's work, even into the new century with The Painted Veil (2006), Being Julia (2004), Up at the Villa (2000). Try 1934's Of Human Bondage with Bette Davis & Rain (1932) with Joan Crawford.

____________________________

The moment I put down Michael Cunningham’s The Hours, I picked up Mrs. Dalloway to follow the connection, It was the 1st time in decades that I had read any Virginia Woolf, but in my early 20s, I went on a serious Bloomsbury Group jag, reading everything by & about this remarkable group.

The Bloomsbury Group has gone down in history for the many contributions its members made to literature & art. The group's intellectual core was Virginia Stephen, who became Virginia Woolf when she married in 1912. Today she is recognized as one of the great modernist novelists. She & her husband, Leonard, founded Hogarth Press, a publishing house that brought some of the most significant literature of the era into print including T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland.

The group was also interesting because they demonstrated a sexual freedom that was very ahead of their time. Beginning in 1925, Virginia Woolf had a passionate affair with the dashing Vita Sackville-West. In the first flush of romance, Woolf wrote what has become a classic of gay fiction, the experimental fantasy Orlando (1927), which argued that love & passion ignore gender, & that gender itself is fluid.

Others in the Bloomsbury group gravitated to new ways of looking at love. Although Vanessa Stephen married Clive Bell, the great love of her life was Duncan Grant, who was gay & had been sexually involved with her brother Adrian. During World War I, they lived together at a country estate with David "Bunny" Garnett, who was a lover of both.

3 way relationships with a gay twist were common within the Bloomsbury circle. Strachey was gay, but in the early days of Bloomsbury, he proposed marriage to Virginia. In the 1920s, he lived in platonically with painter Dora Carrington. When they both fell in love with the same man, Carrington married the object of their mutual desire, & the 3 set up housekeeping together. The cross dressing Carrington had affairs with women, confiding to a friend that she had "more ecstasy" with female lovers than with men - "& with no shame."

Virginia Woolf was the center, the gravity & the soul of the group, which unraveled after she drowned herself in the spring of 1941.

"I read the book of Job last night, I don't think God comes out well in it."

My Strays, Part 1 Of A Series

I really aspire to be profoundly selfish. I could easily relish & revel in a rather reclusive life, unaccompanied by the problems of other people.

I never wished to counsel or console those in need. Tests taken when I was young, to determine career paths & personality assessments, never pointed me to social work. Indeed, it was clear from the beginning that my gift to humanity would be offered with my singing, dancing, & telling jokes to the huddled masses yearning to be free. I wanted to brighten the world by being… me.

Why then, have I had a life filled with “strays”? Why do I continue to always have at least one orphan, lost soul, hard luck story, or stray? My dogs are even “rescue” dogs.

Several times in our 50+ years of friendship, I have picked up my friend Stanley, dusted him off, consoled, clothed, cared for, harbored & housed him.

The Cowboy is from Wyoming & a real naïf. He was really only just a bit of an acquaintance of ours, yet when I heard the harrowing tale of his living situation, sharing a house with another male couple with a penchant for punching the shit out of each other, I invited him to stay with us… briefly. The Cowboy moved in to our home on January 1st 2008 (the Husband moved him because no one else could/would). I stated that he could find temporary refuge at Post Apocalyptic Bohemia, on the condition that he get a job & his own apartment by Memorial Day. Instead, The Cowboy chose to infuse & invest in an abusive relationship of his very own, fueled by a daily meth habit.


The Cowboy lived in a little room that the Husband built for him in our basement. I needed to pass by it to get to my changing room, & his space was a chamber of chilling horrors, a complete disaster of locker room smells & poppers odor. Kevin had chosen to decorate his space with 1000s of wads of Kleenex, & a monstrous mélange of sex toys, open lube containers, drug paraphernalia, hunting knives, nails, & assorted mystery objects too freighting for me to figure out. I took to thinking of him as “the thing that lives under the stairs.”


The Cowboy’s extended stay exacerbated the beginning of a tear in the relationship with the Husband. The Husband felt that I was not being fair or showing enough patience & charity to The Cowboy. The Cowboy's presence in my house had me very, very unhappy. I self medicated. The penultimate moment with The Cowboy involved using & then fucking up my computer, after I had ordered him not to touch it ever. I was infuriated in a manner that I had never experienced. The Cowboy ended up in tears, sitting in his truck in front of the house.


I did what I knew I had to do, no matter how unpopular it would be. I kicked The Cowboy out. He was gone by Labor Day, unfortunately moving in with the insane, insolent & insulting object of his affections. Unusual for me, I actually felt guilty.


The Husband & my arguments about life with The Cowboy, had left our marriage in shambles. The Husband’s infinite trust in other people & his huge capacity for charity could not defeat my decision. The Cowboy tried to navigate his way into staying longer at our house by eluding me & pleading with the Husband. After he moved, he still continued to see & text the Husband.


The Cowboy showed up at our door about every12 weeks for the next 3 years, whenever his increasingly abusive boyfriend had taken things too far or kicked The Cowboy out of his house. CB: “The relationship was over… this time for sure. Really. I ain’t never going back to that crazy fucker.” I would capitulate on the subject of his staying with us, because of my life long belief in 2nd chances. We gave up after 30 second chances with The Cowboy.


The Cowboy did eventually leave the monster meth head boyfriend. Right before Christmas 2010, he stayed for a week (I had told him 3 days) as he gathered himself together. He went to Eastern Washington, where there are plenty of cowboys. He is staying with an ex who seems determined to help get him clean. I hope he finds a way to live his life.


The Cowboy texted the Husband at Christmas: “Thank you guys for all you did & all you put up with. I would probably been dead by now if it wasn’t for both of you.”

State of Transportation is Weak

Washington (CNN) -- As President Obama is set to take stock of the nation during his State of the Union address Tuesday, a civil engineers group gives the U.S. transportation system low grades.

For example, the nation's bridges. Most of us don't think much about bridges until one we need is closed or is damaged or collapses, as the I-35W one did in Minneapolis in 2007, killing 13 people.

Yet engineers all over the country who really know about such things say we ought to be thinking about bridges a lot more.

And here is something we should consider: One in four of our bridges is either in need of repair or obsolete in terms of handling modern traffic and loads.

That startling fact comes from the American Society of Civil Engineers, which every few years consults with dozens of the nation's experts on all sorts of infrastructure matters. The society gives U.S. bridges a grade of C.

And bridges aren't the only problem in what we could call the State of the Union's Infrastructure. Roads, airports, water supplies, railways, dams, schools and on and on it goes; all are, according to the engineers' latest report in 2009, in pretty dire shape.

The amount of air travel in the U.S. increased by 7% last year, but an overhaul of the air travel infrastructure is long overdue, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers. The group gave the nation's aviation system a grade of D.

Compared with trucks, railways are much more efficient for moving goods: using about 20% less energy per mile if used properly. But comparatively little has been invested in expanding U.S. railroad capacity. Rail gets a C minus.

With Your Blessing, I Would Like To Start Year 3...

During a spat 3 years ago, the Husband stated: “for 27 years, you hardly ever said a word, & now you won’t shut up!”

Post Apocalyptic Bohemia began as a birthday challenge in 2009. Every January 3rd, I ask of myself to try & do something in my new year that would be difficult, but still possible for me to achieve.

I had poked the world of blogs after discovering my first one after a Google search in 2008- American Irish (which I still read) & I became a daily reader of about 20 blogs.

The idea jumped at me out of the blue, & on my birthday- 2009; I challenged myself to have my own blog & to do a post every single day. It took me a while to get going as I studied the templates & options, & attempted to make my choices for a name for my site & a point of view.

My first post was 2 years ago today. As I looked at that original post today, I realize what a naïf I was at the time. But, I did eventually find my voice; I related anecdotes from my life, weighed in with my opinions, & celebrated the lives of famous gay people, throughout history, on their birthdays.

I named my little spot on the Internet- Post Apocalyptic Bohemia because I share a structure with my husband of 31+ years & our 2 canines, which appears to be a squatter’s shack claimed after a cataclysmic event, & because we are all 4, decidedly Bohemian.

The best part of blogging for the past 24 months:

Having a relationship & sometimes daring to call them friends, 50 other bloggers & readers. I have met some in person, & although I was at first intimidated, I am thankful to have spent time with Mark, Will, Arnie & Blair. I have been blessed to have readers that don’t have their own websites… Glenn in L.A., thank for your many comments, compliments & for cleaning up my vintage photos. I have discovered that I have readers that never comment, & I am very grateful to them also.

I am the only son of an only son, the end of the line. I am in deep late-middle age. I feel that Post Apocalyptic Bohemia is my legacy, my story, written down & on the record. I think of it as my memoir, a record that I would be too lazy to write down in anything other form than these small installments with instant feedback.

I have always longed to be the center of attention & in the spotlight. Thank you, readers, for allowing me. As of today: 1,100 posts, 4,213 comments, 147 followers, 170,000 hits, 500-1000 views per day. I have received comments from post subjects: one of Robert Rauschenberg’s lovers, writer Peter Cameron, singer Karla De Vito, & thrillingly- Larry Kramer! 2 years ago today I never would have dared to believe. Much love & thank you to the Husband. He does not crave attention, & is an unwitting foil in all this. He is also a fine editor.

Thanks for stopping by my little place on the Internet. You mean the world to me, & if it is OK with you, I would like to renew my option for another year.

My own personal favorite post:
http://nopoboho.blogspot.com/2009/09/my-life-is-david-lynch-movie.html