City Watch: Things Gay Guy Would Love to See More Often

Straight Guy,

The crazy work load and stress continues, so any break feels great these days.

This sign was taped to a lamp post in my neighborhood. It made me smile. My neighborhood is full of quirks, which I often forget to appreciate.

Love the phrase, "I call the maracas." It's my new go-to response to anything annoying. 

--Gay Guy

Gay Card: It's a Fact

Straight Guy,

Like a lot of gay guys, I've always joked about the gay card--the acknowledgment that you're gay enough to be in the club. A card can be revoked or at least questioned, as in: "Can you believe that he has no interest in musical theater. We'll have to take away his gay card."

Today, I learned that the gay card is real.

Click here to take a quiz. I scored 48 the first time, only 40 on the second try. What gives?

--Gay Guy

Gift to Gay Guy: My Daguerreotype Boyfriend


Gay Guy,

I know you love historical photos.

There's a new Tumblr that celebrates "Where early photography meets extreme hotness."

The subjects may be long dead, but one reader notes that "the sexual tension between me and these photos is suffocating."

I won't comment except to say that Daguerreotype is an early photographic method involving silver, iodine, and mercury. (I took Graphics Shop I and II in high school and need to validate that educational experience. I learned a few things -- on and off syllabus -- and silkscreened many questionable t-shirts there.)

Here's the link: My Daguerreotype Boyfriend

--Straight Guy

P.S. See also the blog: Bangable Dudes in History. But don't stay up all night.

Comics Watch: Dagwood's New Charm Bracelet

Gay Guy,

Check out today's Blondie strip. 

Dagwood is in a jewelry shop. "Charm bracelets for men?! No thanks! Not a chance!" But by the final panel he's proudly showing off his new bling. Pinky up and everything.

The joke is a little interesting here. Is it that straight guys are just an easy sales target? Hypocrites? Or that our homophobia fades if we get the chance to truly express ourselves? Or that everyone just needs to be fabulous once in a while?

I'm not much for jewelry. I wear a plain wedding ring and have several wrist options from Timex, Inc. But these do exist, and manly charm options include skulls, guns, swords, and handcuffs(?).

--Straight Guy

Media Watch: Broadway Musical Theater is "Not Just for Gays Anymore"



Gay Guy,

I missed the Tony Awards again this weekend. Sorry about that. But I was informed that the opening number was an effort to recruit heterosexuals like me to the theater. Here's the YouTube version of "It's Not Just for Gays Anymore."

Touché, Gays, Touché. We Straights will have to try harder. The last thing I saw was "Putnam County Spelling Bee" and that was about 10 years ago.  Oh, and you took me to see "Avenue Q" when we were working in Las Vegas. Also good, but quite a while ago.

Can you get any good seats for "Book of Mormon?"

--Straight Guy

Things Straight Guy Hates Immediately: Cufts


Cufts: Attaching the indispensable directly to the disposable. What can go wrong? Hey, do you also have a way to clip my car keys to this banana peel?

Back to the drawing board, Cufts.

(Note: Yes. You can wear them your wrist or ankle, which is smart. But this is how they are marketing it. Dumb.)

--Straight Guy

Viral Video: Gotta Dance! Gotta Dance!



Straight Guy,

This past weekend was Gay Pride here. I was ready to write my annual post about my ambivalence about Pride. Plus last night was the Tony Awards, which is always good for a Pride/Tony Award gay-high-holy-days mash-up post. 


But, so much better, into my lap fell this viral vid. Now THIS is something that gives me pride to the bone.  

Spotlight dancer Robert Jeffrey released this video of himself at age 9 lip synching to Madonna's "Vogue" at a New Hampshire resort. It's hilarious and contagiously joyful.

I thrilled that his parents let him have such great fun at 9 and kept the video intact. My dad would have yanked me off of video shoot and/or burned the evidence. These parents action is the stuff that inspires Pride in me these days. Maybe I'm old and cranky.

Speaking of old and cranky --"Vogue" is 20 years old this year? Impossible.

--Gay Guy

Sunday Circular: He Got Clippy, and I Got Snippy

Straight Guy,

I am slowly reconnecting to my "real" life, following vacation and then jumping into a whirlwind of work. (Readers--SG and I just came off major work drama, which is one more impediment to blogging.) I've steadily been getting chores crossed off the list and thus feeling less out of control. 

One item on the to-do list was "coupons." You know that I love coupons. Clip, sort, save. Actually, I wish that manufacturers would just make stuff that costs less and skip all the consumer head games, but if you want to save me some cash, I'll play along. I try to stay up to date with the clipping, but yesterday I was staring down a sizable stack of Sunday inserts.

Easy, right? 

So, it got interesting: I've been dating this guy for a couple of months, and he was over at my place last evening. He thinks there are too many things on my list. Sweet guy that he is, he volunteered to help me get through the coupons. I wasn't sure that he could be much help, but he thought he had a good handle on what I shop for. After a bad start -- 'someone' made a miscall on whether I might want a L'Oreal mascara wand coupon -- he did fine. Which is to say that he admitted defeat and switched to scanning for expired coupons. 

I'm a brand loyalty guy. He's a "whatever's on sale" guy, which seems very butch to me. 

I guess I'm surprised, because what seemed transactional turned out to be very personal. I like what I like and I just can't turn those decisions over to someone else. I won't compromise or settle in regards to the soaps or shampoos that touch my body. But anything goes when it comes to dishwasher detergent. 

Readers, where will you or won't you compromise in the supermarket?

--Gay Guy

Gay Guy / Straight Guy Archive