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About this blog

The musings of me

Entries in this blog

I'd Like To Buy The World A Coke- Mad Men's Finale

The iconic show about advertising ended with the most iconic commercial of the 20th century. In honor of the finale...check out the single version of Seriously though, I'm thrilled Mad Men referenced that ad. I think it's such a brilliant piece of advertising with a message that still resonates today- share a Coke with a friend and make a bond for a little while regardless of who they are. Here's the real origin story behind the ad- Bill Backer was on a flight layover, and noticed that the

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methodwriter85

The Broken Beautiful Boy

I posted this on Reddit, in a sub that talks about pleasant encounters you've had with people that left a good impression on you. Here's a tale of an platonic stranger encounter I had when I was 21...   *** When I was in high school, I was a hormonal gay teenager who had two minute crushes on any cute guy that crossed my path. There was this one guy, I can't even remember his name now, who was a senior when I was a freshmen. He was an artistic type, with auburn hair with sideburns that framed

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methodwriter85

"openly Straight" By Bill Koenigsberg- When A Book Really Hits Home

Hey, I came across this Young Adult book that Adam Phillips recommended to me a year or two ago, called Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg. I was in Barnes and Nobles, and I basically devoured the book in about two hours. I honestly loved the story. It's the story of a guy, named Rafe, who after being Mr. Openly Gay Guy, decides to get a new fresh start by going off to boarding school and just being regular. Because of his resemblance to a very former popular student, he's embraced by the jock

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methodwriter85

Youtube Turns 10

YouTube is celebrating its 10th anniversary this month, and to celebrate, I thought I'd post my favorite 10 videos from YouTube. What are yours?   10. by Jenna Marbles, 2010  I love how Jenna Marbles packs insightful social commentary into a dumb blonde persona. Well-done.   9. " , 2008  Twilight brought much laughter during its run, least of all the many, many spoofs that existed.   8. , 2007  For context: Britney Spears 2007 VMA's   7. "Oakland!", 2009 (A Tourism Guide)  

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20th Anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing

Today is the 20th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, which is the largest domestic terrorist attack that has happened in the U.S. On April 19th, 1995, 168 people died when Timothy McVeigh parked a van in front of a federal building filled with explosives. Bill Clinton, who was president when the attack happened, lead the memorial ceremony today. 20th Anniversary of Oklahoma City Bombing Remembered   I was 2nd grade when this happened, and its the first big tragedy that I remem

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"I Had A Fantasy That I Kidnapped You And Kept You Forever."

I have this close friend, Jack, who relayed to me a pretty terrifying tale of something that happened to his friend a long time ago. My mentor, Jack, is now a retired former HR community college guy in his mid- 60's.   Thirty years ago, however, Jack was working as a bartender in a bar in Portland's gay community. That's how Jack met Randy. Randy was a good-looking, well-spoken customer in his mid-20's...pretty attractive 80's preppy type. Randy lived close to Jack, and the two went on a coupl

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methodwriter85

Forgotten Oldies: "Alive and Kicking" by Simple Minds

Everybody knows Simple Minds for their big single, "Don't You Forget About Me" from the Breakfast Club, but did you know they had another hit single and were not actually one-hit wonders? Yup, they had a tune released in the fall of 1985 and it was a hit- not as big as their signature tune, but still successful. It's been largely forgotten, but I heard this tune many years ago on a show called Glory Daze, which was set in 1986 and followed guys pledging a frat. I heard a snippet on the show, bu

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methodwriter85

Music Memories: "Sweet Jane" by Cowboy Junkies

So I thought I'd try something a little different than my "music playlist" stuff. I thought it might be interesting to highlight a particular song that brings back a very vivid memory. So first up...   "Sweet Jane" by the Cowboy Junkies     It's mid-March, 2012. I'm 26 years old. I'm in some non-descript, beat up car from the 1990's(I think blue, maybe black), traveling with two or three other guys as we were coming back from our Spring Break. We had spent the week in Tennessee, build

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methodwriter85

Top Baseball Prospect Lives in A Van Down by the Ocean

I came across this pretty neat story about a Blue Jays prospect, who despite having a 2 million dollar signing bonus, lives in a van at a Florida Wal-Mart and leads a spartan lifestyle by choice.   The Man in the Van by Eli Saslow   I really do admire people who live such free, minimalist lifestyles like that. I find the guy a throwback to the 1970's, when some people rejected the materialism of American society and went off to try and live off the land in nature. He's not quite doing that,

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methodwriter85

An Unfortunate Sidetrack: 2nd Update

Hey, for those of you that were interesting in following the story about my friend Tim who got arrested during an Unfortunate Sidetrack, I talked to him on Facebook recently.   Tim is generally doing okay. He told me that Nassau County (New York) is still dragging their feet on giving him a plea bargain so he can avoid being charged with a misdemeanor, but he can put things off for awhile now. Tim's still hopeful they'll give him the plea bargain, and he doesn't think this will go to trial- mo

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methodwriter85

2nd Student Loan Paid Off; Many More to Go

I've now paid off two of the four private student loans I took out from a Lehman's Brothers-based company called Campus Door (which eventually got bought out by Wells Fargo)...many more federal loans to go after that, but it's always a small little victory when I see a loan balance of zero. I made the decision to make postponements on my federal loans so I could focus on the private ones because they often have a higher interest rate and they are able to make rules that federal one can't. Namely

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methodwriter85

The Class of '05 Rides Again. (200th Entry- Wow-hoo!)

I just got invited to my 10-year high school reunion. Oh my god, I can't believe it went by that fast. 19 just feels a couple of years ago. Does this mean I'll be 39 before I know it?   Anyway, here are four tunes I associate with my senior prom. (We're actually having our reunion at the same place, apparently. That'll be a trip.)   "Time of My Life" from Dirty Dancing   Prom theme. 80's nostalgia was riding high in 2005. They played this on the fake red carpet they set up in front of my s

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methodwriter85

My Favorite 10 SNL Skits

In honor of SNL's 40th anniversary, I thought I'd post my favorite 10 sketches.   10.) To Love, Honor, and Stalk: The Gillian Woodward Story   Senator John McCain kills it as the "personal space infringer" in this 2002 skit of Lifetime movie parodies.   It is such a dead-on parody of Lifetime movies. I've watched plenty of those.   9.) Schmitt's Gay   Two guys get the best (gay) surprise of their life when they house-sit.   This one made me tingle in ways I didn't quite understand a

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Sappy Love Tunes 2015 Mix List

So in honor of Valentine's Day...here's my mix of sappy love tunes...   Love Tunes 2015 Mix List   1.) "Everything I Do" (I Do It For You) by Bryan Adams   2.) (Yeah, I didn't go for the obvious one here.)    4.)   5.)   6.)   7.)   8.)   9.)   10.)   11.)   12.)   13.)   14.)   15.)   The bulk of these tunes are from the 80's. They were definitely great at sappy love tunes that decade.

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methodwriter85

My "Heart" Songs Playlist

These tunes are basically what I'd consider the core of my heart. They're tunes I can't ever get sick of. Check 'em out.   "Heart Songs"   1.   2.   3.   4.   5. (1997 live version)  6. "   7.   8.   9.   10.   The mass bulk of these songs are from the 1990's. Shocker. LOL   I've never come across a song that depicts youth in it's pure, beautiful form better than "1979" does. God, I can't tell you how much I love that song.

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methodwriter85

#ThrowbackThursday- Time Travelin' to the '90s

There's a new t.v. show on VH1 called Hindsight, . It's a pretty cute, charming show if you're into fluffy romantic comedies, and ESPECIALLY if you're into 90's nostalgia.  Anyway, this is the theme song.     I'm enjoying the hell out of the soundtrack. The 1993-1996 era of music was so damn good. Anybody remember this tune? I had totally forgotten it, but yet it sounded so familiar when I heard it.   Anyway...if you were given a time machine and traveled back in time, is there anyt

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methodwriter85

TLC Airs Special Called "My Husband's Not Gay"

There are no words.       It makes me think of a former gay erotica author who decided to "become" straight and dumped a really great guy in order to run screaming back into his closet.   But at the very least the women are going into this knowing that they're marrying guys "struggling" with same-sex attractions. That's progress, as opposed to the Baby Boomers who faked being straight because they really had no other choice unless they wanted to be outcasts.   I like to think that tw

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methodwriter85

Ansel Elgort for Town & Country

Fault in Our Stars actor Ansel Elgort posed for the cover of Town and Country Magazine. Check out his photos and the accompanying write-up!   He just seems like such a down-to-Earth guy despite his rich New York City upbringing and his bourgeoning fame. I love how tall the guy is as well.   It's interesting to see just how fast this guy's fame has come on- Divergent and the Fault in Our Stars were literally his second and third IMDB credits. I actually think he has a pretty good shot

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methodwriter85

Transitions

My mother found out today that her long-time companion, who lives with us, is going to die of leukemia in a few weeks. He's 83, and he's had awful health problems for the last two years, so more than anything, I feel relief for him that he's going to be released from the constant pain he's had.   I just feel bad for my mother,. It's going to be hard for her. She really did depend on him. When I said it was going to be alright, she cried, "But I wanted him to live long enough to pay off his car

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methodwriter85

Reflecting on 2014

It's a new year, so I guess it's time to look back on the old one.   For me, the dominant theme was my continued grief process into accepting Steve's death. It wasn't every day, like the end of 2013 was, but there were moments where things would just flare up every month or every two/three months. I still don't feel like the same guy I was when Steve died, and I haven't quite let go of the idea that I was supposed to have met up one day with Steve in our 50's, at our old favorite college b

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methodwriter85

My 2014 Playlist

So these were the tunes that I enjoyed in 2014- give it a listen!   Methodwriter85's 2014 Playlist   1.   2.   3.   4.   5.   6. " by the Chainsmokers (This kinda felt like a modern-day take on Valley Girl by Frank Zappa.)  7.   8.   9. "   10.   11. " (I enjoyed it before it got played a million times)  12. "   13.   14.   15. 16. 17.   18."     20.   21."   22. "   23.   The homage to Rob

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methodwriter85

True Crime: The Houston Mass Murders

David Brooks, an accomplice in the Houston Mass Murders of the early 1970's, is up for parole. A teenager at the time, he and fellow Houston teen Elmer Wayne Henley lured 28 teenage boys to home of Dean Corll, who raped, tortured, and murder them. At the time, it was the largest victim toll for serial killers in history.   I think it's a pretty fascinating case, because it said a lot about class politics and the mindset of the time period- all these kids were just written off as runaways, a

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methodwriter85

A Year Later and 29th Birthday

It's been a weird couple of days. I turned 29 yesterday, and on November 29th, I commemorated the 1st year anniversary of my close friend Steve's death. Basically, I drove over to where Steve's old dorm where he was an R.A. and I spent a shit ton of time with him, and I got out a small candle and the prayer card that I got from Steve's memorial. It was actually kind of funny- I cried on my way there, but when I actually got to the dorm, I was pretty calm.   I didn't really do much for my bi

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methodwriter85

ACLU: Charter Schools Causing Resegregation

The ACLU filed a lawsuit with U.S. Department of Education in Civil Rights, ACLU: Charter schools causing resegregation         ACLU: Charter schools causing resegregation The ACLU argues charters are causing resegregation and discrimination against minorities. View on www.delawareonline... Preview by Yahoo   It's been complained about since I went to high school that Charter School of Wilmin

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