TetRefine

I remember the first time I heard this song, somewhere around 3am at Avant Gardner. You could feel the whole vibe turn so loving when this song blasted on.

I remember after the first time I flew as a kid, I became absolutely obsessed with planes, airports, and transportation in general (and it's still one of my main interests to this day). My dad took me to get Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002, bought me a joystick, and I flew endless hours all over the world. I updated in 2004, and got X in 2006. Eventually I stopped playing, and just assumed the franchise was dead. I had no idea there was a new one coming out! Unfortunately I don't have anything compatible to play it on, so I'll just go to YouTube and watch some videos posted there.

I know, lol. Sometimes even I'm surprised when I realize how much has changed. And no, he's no-one from here. I met him actually at a circuit party one weekend while I was up in New York. It started out as a summer fling (among several others), but he was totally different. Tomorrow it'll be two years since we met, and we're now in the process of buying an apartment together.

In my college years and early-mid 20s, it was very much about raw, physical attraction. I was exploring all this newfound freedom I had as a young gay guy in the big city. I had boyfriends too, but looking back I was much more interested in Mr. Right Now and whatever I wanted at that moment. I was a creature of the clubs and bars, and that lifestyle fed into the spur of the moment attitude toward my sexuality that I had. There was also a bit of an ego healing that went with it. I grew up internalizing all sorts of homophobia and hatred for what I was, and suddenly I could gain all this attention and positivity for being animalisticly sexual with all these other guys. It was a weird way of healing, but it also wasn't the healthiest way to overcome all that either. Eventually life changed, I got a little older, a little wiser, and a little more sure of what I wanted. I finally met someone who I really connected with on a level I hadn't experienced before. For the first time in my adult life, I've been monogamous, and happy to be that way. While we definitely still enjoy the sexual side of our relationship, it's much more emotional, and I feel like that is the main spark that keeps it going. Ironically we are still both creatures of the night and spend most weekends going out, but I've re-learned how to enjoy all those late nights without the sexual aspect. In a way, I actually like it more now that it doesn't factor into the equation.

It almost depresses me to look back on my response a year ago and compare it to this year. Before this all happened, we had planned to go to LA for Labor Day weekend to attend Masterbeat. We had a house for the week of Pines Party in Fire Island, but both got cancelled. We figured (back in March) that by September this would all be over and it would be a good time to travel. We planned on going to San Francisco for Folsom, but that too got cancelled. At this point, since we can both work from home, we'll probably keep staying for a good chunk of the summer up here in the country where there is plenty of open space and few people. I don't wanna be holed up in a small apartment in the city through a sweltering summer.

This was the first story I ever read on Gay Authors, waaaay back in 2009. It still remains my all-time GA favorite.

The list of very prominent people she had as investors and board members blew my mind. She was a master con artist.

With all this free time on my hands, I've been reading like crazy the last couple months. And as much as I hate too, I've been buying Kindle e-books because it's so much faster and easier. Kings Of Cocaine: Inside the Medellin Cartel- An Astonishing True Story Of Murder, Money, And International Corruption, by Guy Gugliotta & Jeff Leen- It follows the Medellin Cartel's rise from the late 1970s up until 1988 and how they became the de-facto power in Colombia and the largest drug cartel in history. Bad Blood: Secrets & Lies In A Silicon Valley Startup, by John Carreyrou- The story of Elizabeth Holmes & Theranos' rise and fall due to lies and massive fraud. Conquistador: Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, And The Last Stand Of The Aztecs, by Buddy Levy- Tells the fascinating story of Hernan Cortes and his conquest of the Aztecs in Mexico in the 1500s.

I saw The Inheritance Part I on Broadway last weekend. It dealt a lot with my gay generation (Millennials) and the Boomer gay generation, with a big focus on AIDS. It was hands down the best Broadway show I've ever seen, and every gay man should see it if they are ever in New York. I was in tears at the end, and I almost never cry. I'm going to see Part II next weekend and I'm beyond excited.

http://www.aidsmap.com/about-hiv/prep-and-sexually-transmitted-infections-research-briefing

I can tell you from experience that this drug has been a life-saver to me personally, and (certain parts) of the community. I remember first hearing about PrEP in 2014, and getting on it in 2015. I would bet my life savings I would have ended up positive if I hadn't gotten on it, given my partying ways and promiscuity back then. I took it religiously for the 3 1/2 years I was on it because I knew my health depended on it. I no longer take it because of monogamy now, but thank all that is good that it existed when I really started to become sexually adventurous. For better or worse, it has killed off a lot of condom use and led to a steep rise in other STDs. Condoms are becoming a rare occurrence in hook-ups, and here in New York, getting STDs fairly regularly is the price of getting it on. I know I had to take my fair share of antibiotics and shots to the ass during my heyday. On a positive note, it has led to a new wave of sexual liberation for many gay men, free of the shame, fear, and stigma that developed (understandably) during and after the AIDS crisis. There is a sense of freedom and raw sexual intimacy that PrEP has given many men, and that certainly counts for something.

For sure!

On Wednesday, a fast-moving snow squall turned sunny Manhattan into a dark, blizzard-like nightmare in a matter of minutes. Here's a time-lapse video of about 2 minutes condensed to 30 seconds. I was leaving work right when this was coming in. It was totally sunny when I left my building, and literally a whiteout by the time I reached my train a few minutes later. It was crazy.