Queer Sailing in NYC - First time on the water in 2012!

Yesterday, my sisterwife Daisy Shaver and I hopped the PATH train, met Static, our Captain, at the Newport Marina, and took our first sail of the season.  When we arrived at the marina there was still a bit of fog, so we worked on getting the ship in shape and hoisted the jib sail into position.  In the pic above you can see Static teaching me a new knot, the bowline, a skill I know I'll use quite often!  Finally the fog lifted mid-afternoon and we gave the jib a shakedown run in the harbor.  The Sonadora was the only sailboat in sight and one of the few vessels on the water, which was really serene and special! 

I lived all my life in my home state of Kansas until I moved to NYC in 2004.  Naturally, I knew almost nothing about boats and had hardly been on them, until sailing with Static last Summer caused a whole new area of geeky enthusiasm to bloom in my heart!  I've already learned a ton, including that sailing is mostly the domain of middle class white people, and even the gay sailors in NYC are pretty damn straight-laced and staid.  They don't know quite what to think of our crew, but that's okay, because honestly I wouldn't feel like myself if I wasn't scandalizing somebody.  I'm so looking forward to another year of learning more knots, racing around the harbor, and rocking the boat with our crew of radical faeries!  Sometimes I think I'm the luckiest boy in NYC.

After the break, a pic of Daisy with the growing Freedom Tower in the background, along with a snap of yours truly attempting to strike a pose, even in boring, early-Spring sailing clothes.  Stay tuned for more...

The Meeting with Justin Sayre - A benefit for the Ali Forney Center

Hey all you beautiful queers, I want to clue you in on an exciting show that's happening next Monday, June 13, 2011, at 7:00pm, at Joe's Pub.  Justin Sayre is one of my best friends in NYC.  He is an hilarious and incredibly talented writer for stage and screen, and produces his own monthly variety show called The Meeting (of the International Order of Sodomites), at the Duplex in Sheridan Square.  Get tickets.

I always wish I had recordings of my conversations with Justin.  Few people are as erudite, insightful, and beautifully gay as Mr. Sayre.  He's making waves in the downtown performance scene and broadening the reach of his rapier wit.  This Summer he'll be guest hosting radio shows and producing special editions of The Meeting on Fire Island.  Catch any of his shows; you'll be amazed.

For his special June edition of The Meeting, Justin is hosting his second annual benefit for the Ali Forney Center.  If you don't know AFC and you're a New Yorker, you've been hiding out somewhere and perhaps you can comment on this post so we can send in a therapist to coax you back out into the real world.  AFC is the nation's largest and most comprehensive organization dedicated to homeless LGBT youth.  AFC's goal is to provide homeless LGBT youths, aged 16-24, with the support and services they need to escape the streets and begin to live healthy and independent lives.  There is no queer group of people more in need of our help, in my humble opinion.

Justin's lineup of performers includes JACKIE HOFFMAN (The Addams Family, Hairspray), PAUL IACONO (MTV’s “The Hard Times of RJ Berger,” Fame), DAISY EAGAN (The Secret Garden), COLE ESCOLA (Logo TV's “Jeffery & Cole Casserole”), GAY MARSHALL (Jacques Brel Is Alive…), RYAN O'CONNOR (“Oprah’s Search for the Next TV Star”), EMILY BERGL (“Desperate Housewives,” “Men In Trees”), NATALIE JOY JOHNSON (Legally Blonde, But I’m A Cheerleader), RANDY RAINBOW “(“Randy Rainbow is Dating Mel Gibson”), LADY RIZO (Grammy \-winning singer and chanteuse), JEFF HILLER (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, “30 Rock”), ERIN MARKEY (Puppy Love: A Stripper’s Tail at PS 122), KIM SMITH (Bistro Award for “Outstanding Performer on the Rise”), SUMMER & EVE (the folk-musical comedy band featuring NADIA QUINN of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson), MICHAEL LONGORIA (Jersey Boys), JACK FERVER (Rumble Ghost at PS 122, SWAN!), LARRY HAMILTON, and JAMAAL WILSON.

For $25, that lineup is a steal, and when you consider your money is benefiting the Ali Forney Center, it'd be downright silly to miss it.  I hope to see you there!

Drag Race Season 3 - Meet the Queens

Last night I attended the RuPaul's Drag Race Season 3 Series Finale with QNY contributors Bill and Darling, along with Miguel and Tony P., our camera crew and retinue.  The press event beforehand, during which we interviewed seven of the Season 3 Queens, was one of the highlights of my year so far.  Bill did a great job of reporting the details, so after the jump I'll have the luxury of giving my impressions and random thoughts about the girls and the event.  (Spoiler warning, I do mention who won.)

I was so nervous going into this event!  Celebrity is one of the few phenomena that can truly make me tongue tied.  I was never one of the popular, pretty people growing up, and sometimes the social anxiety I experience when thrown into a room of beautiful people can be intense.

These days I get through nervous times by letting my freak flag fly high!

(All photos by Miguel Dominguez.)

Book Review: Grail and the Jacob's Ladder Trilogy by Elizabeth Bear

Grail, by Elizabeth Bear, is the concluding book in her trilogy about the Jacob's Ladder, a generation spaceship traveling to colonize a world around a distant star.  I became interested in Bear when I picked up Dust, the first book of the series.  Dust amazed me with its unusual depictions of high technology, genderqueer characters, and epic queer romance set at an action-adventure pace.  Chill suffered only slightly from middle book syndrome, delivering solid plot progress and character development with plenty of suspense and conflict to keep the reader engaged.  With Grail, Bear wraps up the story well, while providing a fascinating outsider's view of the generation ship's crew and characters.

Review: MIX Fest Opening Night

by riot

Last night I attended the opening event of MIX 23 (mixnyc.org), the annual New York queer experimental film festival.  This year's festival is being held at Theater for the New City, which is a venue that works very well for this event.  After the jump I'll give a brief review of last night's festivities.  I highly recommend checking out some or all of MIX's programs!

Quick Queer Coffee Review - City Girl Cafe

Is it my imagination or does the Times run an article every six months to a year about how New York City is finally getting good coffee?

The latest iteration of this theme includes a long list of "The Best Coffee Places in Manhattan and Brooklyn."  I was pleased to find my favorite coffeehouse, Cafe Grumpy, again listed among the best.  If you're in Chelsea, stop in and see them at 224 West 20th Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues.

I am a creature of habit and having found Grumpy, I rarely venture elsewhere for a special cup or bag of beans.  After all, only at Grumpy have I actually tasted the alleged flavor notes that every bean claims.  The first time I sipped an espresso that actually tasted like blueberries, I nearly fell out of my chair in amazement and delight.  Why mess with success?

The Times list had me wondering, however, if perhaps I was missing something by confining my epicurean coffee enjoyment to one place.  I had an appointment with my tattoo artist in Soho after work, so I scanned through the Times's list and found City Girl Cafe.

Priests, Queers, and Bridges

Last week, as I stewed in a sticky, stinking, sad hospital bed at St. Vincent's Hospital, a priest appeared and broke through my morphine haze.

"Would you like to receive the sacraments of communion or healing?" the priest asked.

"No honey, I'm gay."

"I can still offer you an anointment for healing."

"No, thanks."

"I will keep your health and recovery in my prayers," he said, pityingly, then checked a box on his clipboard and retreated to the nurses' station.

Quick Queer Book Review - Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem

Posted by Riot

I loved Jonathan Lethem's Motherless Brooklyn, so I was very excited to get my hands on his latest novel, Chronic City.  Alas, I was disappointed.

Chronic City follows the life of a former child sitcom star, now an adult, and his friendship with a former Rolling Stone rock music critic, his romantic affair with a ghost writer, and his oblivious employment by the City of New York.