Pride

Well, it’s a milestone for me and Gay Pride celebrations everywhere. This weekend was the grandaddy of them all, right here in San Diego. People from all over the world come to be part of this celebration. It is the single largest festival of the year in San Diego. There are some events that are bigger, … Read more

The Beach

I just spent my third straight day at the beach. No, not full days, but certainly a few hours each of the last 3. It’s been three days that make you say, ‘I love San Diego!’ Incredible blue overhead that get’s darker and deeper the higher you gaze; Blue black Pacific turning emerald near the … Read more

How to Write Good

Michael O’Donaghue instigated our modern notion of humor. His was dark, sometimes almost nasty and always pushing the edges. He was a founding writer and eventual editor of National Lampoon and was instrumental in the launch and early success for Saturday Night Live. This piece was originally published in the 11th issue of NatLam, in … Read more

BoyVenture

One It was summer: that blinding slow kind of summer that dominates the Southeast between June and September. Mornings started steamy as rain from the day before baked off the lawn. By 10, the breeze was gone and the sunlight was so intense that you had to squint when you went outside. The air was … Read more

Proudly Pee-ing on Your Program

People who know me well tell me I’m a waffler. They don’t mean it as a condemnation of me but just as a statement of fact: one of those inevitable flaws that we accept, understand and (when we need to) exploit. I often flip-flop on issues, questions, points-of-view, opinions, courses of action . . . … Read more

Bad Words

I called my friend Dot a douche bag. It was a long time ago, like 15 years or something. We were on a business trip from Atlanta to Savannah in her maroon Volvo. We’d already had a couple of great pretend fights, the most recent over music. She insisted that she needed to hear the … Read more

Hormones

‘You oughta get yourself some hormones, honey!’ — said Jessica Tandy’s character in ‘Fried Green Tomatos’, Ninny Threadgood. My hormones are all outa wack. I know: that’s something a woman would say. Women are allowed to have screwy hormones. Us guys are supposed to drift through life on a constant testosterone high. I assure you, … Read more

Athens, Georgia

1985 So Atlanta is about 90 minutes from Athens, home of the University of Georgia and some of the most interesting  people you ever could meet . . . anywhere. I used to go there quite a bit, especially in the late 70s when my friend Jorma lived there. Jorma was an amazing woman. I met … Read more

Marriage

So this is the year of the gay wedding. Bravo. The gender-bias of our marriage code has been one of the greatest inconsistencies of the American journey in recent years. So some day soon there won’t be a schism between ‘You should marry who you love,’ and ‘Marriage means one man and one woman.’ Some … Read more