Caption This

So what do you think the guy with his eyes covered by his hand is thinking?

Moment of Zen: Prayer and Meditation

Gay Paree

Paris is certainly one of the Top 3 travel destinations in Europe, and for the author of these lines it is the most beautiful one. Considering how many wonderful cities in Europe had been destroyed in the last war and didn't gain their former beauty and fame, yet, after 60 years, Paris is truly a treasure and miracle.

You could stay in Paris for months or visit Paris again and again, and you would still see other beautiful and interesting spots if you explore the city with curiosity and open eyes. Just stroll around a bit and do not only follow the routes in your travel guide book.

If you come to Paris not only to visit the Louvre and other sights but want to dive into the Parisian life then try to avoid August. Many Parisians take their long vacations in August and some companies have even closed completely. In the gay scene even the most popular gay clubs and bars won't be very crowded or will be empty or closed.

The gay center of Paris is the Marais, an old district in the 4th Arrondissement of Paris with adorable, narrow streets breathing centuries-old history. You'll find a lot of gay bars, cafes and shops here, as well as plenty of gay-friendly restaurants, most of them quite close to each other, creating a bit of a ghetto atmosphere.


Gay Parisians can be a bit difficult when it comes to flirting. If you dare to show your interest to somebody in a direct way you could easily be seen as too needy, too easy or too cheap. Our two Euro cents of advice: Don't waste your time with behavior research to understand the rituals and peculiarities of flirting in the gay scene of Paris. Just do it your own way and don't take the Parisian rudeness personally.

Besides, it is often said that Parisian guys come and stick in groups. Exploring Paris with friends can really make a difference, both at day and at night.

Annual gay highlight in the French capital is Paris Gay Pride end of June, called ›Marche des Fiertés LGBT‹ in France.  The only gay pride parade I have ever had the luxury of attending is Paris Gay Pride a few years ago when I was in Paris for a study abroad program.

The Parisian attitude toward sexual preferences is VERY relaxed and very pragmatic. Vending machines for condoms have recently been installed in high schools. You also find condom vending machines at Metro stations. When it comes to Paris nightlife, the Parisian scene abounds with transformist night clubs, and after hours clubs with a predominantly gay flavor. The annual Gay Pride Parade gets bigger and better each year.

Paris’s official tourist office site offers a listing of gay-friendly hotels and suggestions for your stay in the “City of Love.” Here is a city where you can walk hand-in-hand and feel truly at home.

Paris’s Marais district may be considered the epicenter of Paris’s gay community, but you’ll find that this city has plenty to offer gay visitors, especially when it comes to nightlife in various arrondissements, so don’t limit yourself to just one neighborhood. Some of Paris’s hottest night spots are gay-oriented.

To learn more, please check out these two sites:

http://www.patroc.com/paris/

and

http://www.parislogue.com/gay-paris

Patroc Gay Travel Guide Europe 2011 is a wonderful site for gay travel.  I must apologize to this site because I inadvertently forgot to add my sources for this post.  Check out  Patroc Gay Travel Guide Europe 2011 for more information about gay travel in Europe.  I know that I will the next time I head for Europe.

A Moment of Bliss

I was sitting at my desk when he walked up behind me.  He leaned over to ask me a question, placing his right hand on my desk.  His chest was close enough to my right shoulder that I could almost feel its hardness, and I could feel the heat from his body.  Then I smelled his cologne, subtle with a touch of sweetness and manliness.  I turned my head and looked at him as he asked his question.  For a brief moment my body was electrified.  The room was silent, at least in my mind, though I know in reality it was anything but silent.  For a very brief moment, I almost melted in that moment of bliss.  I had to concentrate on what he was asking, but all I could think of at the moment was “What is that cologne you are wearing?”  The moment passed, and I answered his question.  The room returned to normal, the noise and chaos around us resumed, the reality set in, the tingling sensation throughout my body went away.  I returned to my senses. The moment had passed

Ode on a Grecian Urn

THOU still unravish'd bride of quietness,

  Thou foster-child of Silence and slow Time,

Sylvan historian, who canst thus express

  A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:

What leaf-fringed legend haunts about thy shape
        

  Of deities or mortals, or of both,

    In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?

  What men or gods are these? What maidens loth?

What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?

    What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?
 

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard

  Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;

Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear'd,

  Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone:

Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave
 

  Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;

    Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss,

Though winning near the goal—yet, do not grieve;

    She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,

  For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!
 

Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed

  Your leaves, nor ever bid the Spring adieu;

And, happy melodist, unwearièd,

  For ever piping songs for ever new;

More happy love! more happy, happy love!
 

  For ever warm and still to be enjoy'd,

    For ever panting, and for ever young;

All breathing human passion far above,

  That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy'd,

    A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.
 

Who are these coming to the sacrifice?

  To what green altar, O mysterious priest,

Lead'st thou that heifer lowing at the skies,

  And all her silken flanks with garlands drest?

What little town by river or sea-shore,
 

  Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel,

    Is emptied of its folk, this pious morn?

And, little town, thy streets for evermore

  Will silent be; and not a soul, to tell

    Why thou art desolate, can e'er return.
 

O Attic shape! fair attitude! with brede

  Of marble men and maidens overwrought,

With forest branches and the trodden weed;

  Thou, silent form! dost tease us out of thought

As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!
 

  When old age shall this generation waste,

    Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe

  Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st,

'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all

    Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.'

 

John Keats (1795-1821)

• Born: 31 October 1795
  
• Birthplace: Near London, England
  
• Died: 23 February 1821 (tuberculosis)
  
• Place of Death:  Rome, Papal State

John Keats is considered one of the greatest English poets of the 19th century, the author of Romantic classics such as "Endymion" and "Ode to a Nightingale." Keats began his career as a surgeon's apprentice, but gave up medicine for literary pursuits in 1814. With the help of Percy Shelley, Keats published his first collection in 1817. His productive years between 1818 and 1820 yielded some of his best-known poems, including "Lamia," "the Eve of St. Agnes" and "Ode on a Grecian Urn." In 1821 he left England and went to Italy for health reasons, but died a few months later, leaving his epic poem "Hyperion" unfinished. In his short life he influenced many English poets, and his vivid imagery and sensual style later had an impact on the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a group of painters that included Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/john-keats#ixzz1BuooYhgG

2011 Doritos Superbowl Commercial Ad

The guys in the video are really hot, but why do they always have to make gay guys so stereotypical?  It just allows for more people to make fun of us and puts forth the stereotype.

 

Though I have to say, I found this comment on YouTube about the video to be pretty funny.

 

As a gay man this is not offensive, but the cheap ass stereotype of gay ass feminine boys is what is dumb. Why not have one guy be masculine? Doritos chips are fucking sick anyway. But maybe "straight" football guys like twinkie boys. Who knows?

 

And just on a side note, I am sitting here watching the news about the coverage of the Senior Bowl (college football showcase of seniors ready for the draft).  Why did I not get invited to the weigh-in?  All those college guys in their underwear (tight Under Armour underwear) parading across the stage.  Damn!!!!

Moment of Zen: Ice Cream

Something to Tickle Your Funny Bone

My Blackberry Is Not Working!

As someone who has a Blackberry, I found this hilarious.  It may be good reception on Verizon, but it does freeze up a lot because of the low application memory.

Winter Stores by Charlotte Brontë

• Born: 21 April 1816
• Birthplace: Thornton, Yorkshire, England
• Died: 31 March 1855 (complications from pregnancy)

Charlotte is the author of Jane Eyre and a member of the remarkable Brontë family. The sisters Charlotte, Emily and Anne first published their poetry under pseudonyms: Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell was released in 1846, selling only a few copies. Charlotte's novel Jane Eyre was published in 1847, shortly after Emily's Wuthering Heights; the sisters had almost simultaneously written what later became known as two of the great novels of English literature. Jane Eyre was an immediate success and Charlotte went on to publish Shirley (1848) and Villette (1853). She outlived her sisters but still was only 38 when she died in pregnancy.

 

Winter Stores by Charlotte Brontë

(published under her nom de plume, Currer Bell, 1846)

We take from life one little share,
And say that this shall be
A space, redeemed from toil and care,
From tears and sadness free.

And, haply, Death unstrings his bow,
And Sorrow stands apart,
And, for a little while, we know
The sunshine of the heart.

Existence seems a summer eve,
Warm, soft, and full of peace,
Our free, unfettered feelings give
The soul its full release.

A moment, then, it takes the power
To call up thoughts that throw
Around that charmed and hallowed hour,
This life’s divinest glow.

But Time, though viewlessly it flies,
And slowly, will not stay;
Alike, through clear and clouded skies,
It cleaves its silent way.

Alike the bitter cup of grief,
Alike the draught of bliss,
Its progress leaves but moment brief
For baffled lips to kiss

The sparkling draught is dried away,
The hour of rest is gone,
And urgent voices, round us, say,
“'Ho, lingerer, hasten on!”

And has the soul, then, only gained,
From this brief time of ease,
A moment’s rest, when overstrained,
One hurried glimpse of peace?

No; while the sun shone kindly o’er us,
And flowers bloomed round our feet,—
While many a bud of joy before us
Unclosed its petals sweet,—

An unseen work within was plying;
Like honey-seeking bee,
From flower to flower, unwearied, flying,
Laboured one faculty,—

Thoughtful for Winter’s future sorrow,
Its gloom and scarcity;
Prescient to-day, of want to-morrow,
Toiled quiet Memory.

’Tis she that from each transient pleasure
Extracts a lasting good;
’Tis she that finds, in summer, treasure
To serve for winter’s food.

And when Youth’s summer day is vanished,
And Age brings Winter’s stress,
Her stores, with hoarded sweets replenished,
Life’s evening hours will bless.

Word of the Week: Tyromancy

So I am a total geek.  I will admit it.  Usually when I drive, I have my radio on NPR.  Yesterday, I was listening to Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s show, The Splendid Table.  I am also a bit of a foodie.  I can talk food anyplace, anytime.  So for me this is a great show, and I can get some good ideas about cooking.  Well, yesterday’s trivia question was about the word Tyromancy, which I found fascinating.

Tyromancy is divination by cheese – by the interpretation of the signs that appear as the cheese coagulates. Unfortunately, no book written by an enlightened one has appeared to help us read those signs, so we must make it up as we go along, or rely on our intuitive interpretation.  The word tyromancy is derived from the Greek tūros ('cheese') and manteia ('prophecy').

During the Middle Ages, Tyromancy was used to predict the future by looking at the shape, number of holes, pattern of the mold and other characteristics of the cheese. It was also practiced to prognosticate love, money and death.

Tyromancy was also used by young maidens in countryside villages to predict the names of their future husbands. They write the names of their prospective suitors on separate pieces of cheese and the one whose name was on the piece of cheese where molds grew first was believed to be the ideal love mate.

Another method involves writing the possible answers to a question on separate pieces of cheese and placing them in a cage with hungry rodent. The piece that the mouse ate first will be the answer to the question. This form of divination was related to Myomancy.

Omens were also drawn from the patters and designs formed by the coagulation of cheese.

Here's a recipe that might tell us who our future husband will be:

Camembert Divination Toast

• 1 Camembert Cheese
  
• slices of Graham or Boston brown bread or crackers
  
• salt and paprika

1. Remove the crust from a creamy Camembert cheese, spread the cheese thickly on slices of bread or crackers,
   
2. dust with salt and paprika, and bake in a quick oven – 375 degrees F. – from five to eight minutes, or until the surface of the cheese is golden brown.

In Mrs. Allen on cooking, menus, service: 2500 recipes; 1924