Prove it!

As of midnight last night, it was exactly six years since my first post. It's been a tough thing to keep up with a dayjob and outside activities, and just when I think I might walk away, a valuable connection or interesting opportunity or a kind word comes my way. Thank you all for reading me.

Of whom are you more jealous?

Here are my favorite 100+ posts out of nearly 11,000. Please take some time to read (or re-read!) a couple and tweet or Facebook any you like.

xoxo Matt

The pocket pool championships were intense this year

BOY CULTURE

Boy-crazy

FROM BOY TO MAN: BC B.C. (2007): The entire history of my novell and novel Boy Culture as well as the movie version; might be my ultimate post.

Jonathon Trent & Derek Magyar make an Allan Brocka sandwich

BOY ON FILM (2006): An account of the NYC launch party for Boy Culture as it played the TriBeCa Film Fest.

I was left "Reeling" by the experience

FRIENDS AND "FAMILY" (2006): The movie version of Boy Culture hits Chicago.

No one would've mistaken me for Taylor Lautner

RAPT PUPIL (2006): The final night of Outfest with Boy Culture; I was fat but on the other hand got to meet Bryan Singer.

 

MY ART

 

Construction worker (shot this week) vs. James Dean

GUYDAR (since at least January 17, 2008) & ENDS OF THE WORLD (since at least January 13, 2008): Attractive men of the world—I got your backs. Your fronts, too.

i-i-i (phone)

Not totally built

Unaltered iPhone image that still blows me away

"Your pictures suck" (2008): An art critic attacks me, but not without sustaining some hits in return.

Let's call it a draw

DRAWN TOGETHER (2008): How my desire to draw related to my secret desire. One of my absolute favorite posts.

The shirtless one

LOST ANGELES (2009): My favorite photographic travelogue of L.A.

Even then, New Yorkers feared 9/11 was the beginning of the end

ART IMITATES LIFE (2006): My 9/11 and my distaste for grief tourism.

ME

Death of the party—Jeff in high school, already halfway through his life

BURNING MAN (2007): Tribute to my late high school friend and first romance.

Signed, sealed (eventually) delivered

LOST BOY FOUND (2011): There is a book in here somewhere.

Be Italian

CIAO HOUNDS: OUR TRIP TO ITALY (2011): Finally got José to Europe.

Death becomes here

ILLINOIS DEATH TRIP (2007): Ruminations on death while revisiting a past home, and the past.

Life is short...and meaningful

PASSING BY (2008): Mourning the loss of a person I only met once.

Lots more...

"People will look back on this moment and wonder why it was ever a source of controversy in the first place..."

                                 —President Barack Obama

Smiles all around + "Yes, we did!"

Moments ago, calling it "the right thing to do, period," President Obama signed the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell into law.

After appearing almost speechless at first, the president recounted a touching WWII story of a gay soldier who risked his life to save the life of a fallen comrade. Then, the president thanked Democrats and Republicans who put "conviction before politics" to get this done, name-checking Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Steny Hoyer, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Sen. Joe Lieberman, Sen. Susan Collins, Sen. Carl Levin, Rep. Susan Davis, Rep. Barney Frank and Rep. Patrick Murphy ("a veteran himself who helped lead the way in Congress"), pictured. The mention of Murphy's name earned him a standing O from the packed crowd.

He praised the "courage and wisdom" of Secretary Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen ("who spoke from the heart and said what he believed was right")—Mullen, too, was awarded an O. General James Cartright and William Lind of the Joint Chief and the authors of the Pentagon review were also noted.

I'm all for men expressing emotions, but doesn't anyone else think it's creepy and unsettling that the third person in succession for the presidency (as of '11) would get as drunk-blubbery as incoming Speaker of the House John Boehner does at the drop of a hat? Last night, he was getting choked up repeatedly on 60 Minutes and says he can't even visit schools because simply seeing children makes him cry. (Gee, he'd have been great during Katrina.) How about being an advocate for their well-being and being in favor of programs that would help them achieve the American Dream instead of favoring corporations?

As of midnight tonight, it will be exactly five years since my first post. It's hard to imagine it's been that long, and a lot's changed—the tone and subject matter are different, how often I post, my limits (no nudity in a couple of years due to ad constraints). I've devoted a crazy amount of time and money and energy to this blog for a very small financial return (you couldn't guess low enough), but it's always rewarding to have this forum with which to express myself, keep my writing ability fluid, perhaps influence a couple of people here and there, share obsessions with strangers (in both senses of the word) and learn new things.

Take That's Howard...can you believe this happened onstage at a pop concert?

Here are some of the posts that were most important to Boy Culture's history. For the uninitiated, some of the oldest ones refer to Boy Culture, the movie made of my novel; I started the blog at the time Boy Culture was being filmed as a way to keep people informed of the progress...and it all snowballed from there.

Subtle

Some of these posts are milestones when it comes to the hits they provided but most are filled with original writing and/or photography and video and are just the posts of which I'm proudest. I hope you'll take some time to click on them and send their links around to others—and some time is what you'll need...

MY ART

Boy-crazy

FROM BOY TO MAN: BC B.C. (2007): The entire history of my novella, novel and movie Boy Culture; might be my ultimate post.

From '07, one of my faves. Old iPhones were better because they were worse.

"Your pictures suck" (2008): An art critic attacks me, but not without sustaining some hits in return.

GUYDAR (since at least January 17, 2008) & ENDS OF THE WORLD (since at least January 13, 2008): Attractive men of the world—I got your backs. Your fronts, too.

i-i-i (phone)

TriBeCa is for Boy lovers...

BOY ON FILM (2006): An account of the NYC launch party for Boy Culture as it played the TriBeCa Film Fest.

I was left "Reeling" by the experience

FRIENDS AND "FAMILY" (2006): The movie version of Boy Culture hits Chicago.

RAPT PUPIL (2006): The final night of Outfest with Boy Culture; I was fat but on the other hand got to meet Bryan Singer.

Let's call it a draw

DRAWN TOGETHER (2008): How my desire to draw related to my secret desire. One of my absolute favorite posts.

ME

Death of the party—Jeff in high school, already halfway through his life

BURNING MAN (2007): Tribute to my late high school friend and first romance.

I had the Fever for Jon-Erik Hexum

AN OBSESSION IS BORN (2009): One of my best posts about my obsession with...obsession.

Death becomes here

ILLINOIS DEATH TRIP (2007): Ruminations on death while revisiting a past home, and the past.

Life is short and meaningful

PASSING BY (2008): Mourning the loss of a person I only met once.

I was given the red-carpet treatment

HAVEN'T WE MET? (2010): Celebrating my time with someone I've only met once—Madonna.

Nancy Pelosi...I will miss you. Classy exit interview with Diane Sawyer. No regrets, she says, though I'm sure she has a few. (Impeaching Bush would be a one I regret on her behalf...)

The Associated Press—which has become remarkably, consistently pro-Republican in recent years—is behind a much-talked-out story positing that gays might be sitting out this election or even voting against the Democrats.

Hilariously, HuffingtonPost decided that the opinion of Alan Cumming was worthy of front-page, top-headline treatment. No offense intended to Cumming, a fine actor and intelligent person, but I don't think his opinion holds that much weight with the gay community let alone with a broad cross-section of Democrats. I suppose the importance of his words was weighted by his obscenely hyperbolic statement that Obama has done "diddly squat" for gay rights.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi chimes in with her "It Gets Better" offering. If only it weren't about to get a whole lot worse for her, professionally speaking. Video after the jump...

Harry Reid's been the least effective among President Obama and Speaker Pelosi, yet I'd be pretty sickened if he were to lose his Senate seat to the likes of Sharron Angle, who thinks the color black is "of the devil." 

One thing that I think will help him is if he does bring DADT (within the defense-spending bill) up for a vote next week, as I'm hearing he intends to do. Plus he can finally return Lt. Dan Choi's ring.

Defeating DADT would jazz the Democratic base at a time when the base needs jazzing. Polls are beginning to reflect that the Dems may have bottomed out and be on an upswing as we head toward November. How much of an upswing? I'm not looking for miracles, but there's a big difference between losing the House and barely keeping it, and if the latter is our fate, I'll take it.

This has been reported as if Nancy Pelosi vowed or promised that Don't Ask, Don't Tell would be history by Christmas, but what she really says is:

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell—I feel quite certain—will be a memory come Christmas."

Either way, she's an amazing woman and a very smart and skillful politician. In the same forum (for Harvey Milk Day), she explains why she's for marriage equality—and why all Americans should be—and points out that ENDA has been a bill for 16 years and is long overdue for passage.

Howard Dean made a surprise visit to GetEQUAL's latest shout-OUT against DADT in front of the White House. Along with Nancy Pelosi's aggressive demand that the military institute a moratorium on DADT expulsions, it feels like momentum, with or without the White House.

*****

President Obama visited the oil disaster today, which I certainly don't begrudge him. I do wish he'd never caved to "drill, baby, drill!" in the first place—his hands would be much cleaner than they already are on that issue. But it's fucking annoying that righties want the BP disaster to be his Katrina. Big disaster, yes. An entire city destroyed with dead bodies left unattended while Bush ignored it? Not comparable.