Although all official celebrations in Provincetown were cancelled this year due to COVID-19, this coming weekend would be Holly Folly a LGBTQ+ holiday-themed festival. Since I have Ptown on the brain, I thought I’d share this vintage photo of guys posing on the beach in Provincetown. You can barely makeout the Pilgrim monument in the far right of the photo.
I dedicate this weekly post, featuring vintage gay photographs, to the men and women who lived in a more critical time where being true to yourself and loving who you want wasn’t always an option and came at a great price. Do you have a photo you would like to share? Email me at bosguymail@gmail.com.
This week I am featuring the Instagram account of American model, Eric Rutherford. I envy this 50-something’s wavy salt-n-pepper hair and appreciate his classic good looks and assume you will as well.
Many of you may already follow Mr. Rutherford since his Instagram currently has 200,000+ followers but for those of you unfamiliar with this out and proud male model he’s worth checking out and following.
Hard to believe it but at this time last year Sergio and I were traveling through Argentina. It was great to revisit Buenos Aires – one of my favorite cities in the world. Here I am at Parque Thays having fun with a Botero sculpture. Leave a funny caption as a comment for this post, and I’ll approve it for readers to enjoy.
Steven Rowley’s imaginative novel is about James Smale, an unpublished author who learns that his novel about his dysfunctional relationship with his mother is going to be published by Doubleday. Just as he is digesting this news he also learns his editor will be none other than Jacqueline Kennedy Onasis, which according to James she pronounces “somewhere between the French and American pronounciations… JACK-well-in? Zhak-LEEN.”
Jacqueline loves James’ novel but feels the ending is unresolved. Together they forge a professional relationship as he works furiously to finish the manuscript and address her comments which she writes neatly in all capital letters on his manuscripts. Still unfinished and struggling to provide the authentic ending Jacqueline feels the book is missing, she encourages him to go back home to find out what happened to his once strong relationship with his mother. James finally relents and their meeting results in an explosive discovery. Fireworks ensue, which only adds more color to the story.
I enjoyed reading this novel. Rowley brings the relationship between James Smale and his mother, father, partner and of course Jacqueline to life. His sense of humor and wit are sprinkled throughout and had me laughing late at night reading in bed. Below is one such scene about halfway through the book when the author, Smale, is racing to get his latest manuscript to Jacqueline’s office before the Thanksgiving holiday.
When I reached the building, my trailing scarf gets caught in the revolving door, and for a flickering second I imagine suffering the fate of that dancer from the 1920s (what was her name?) whose scarf caught in the open spokes of her car’s rear wheel. I can picture myself crumpled on the floor between revolving glass door partitions, maunscript pages raining down on me like prize money inside the cash booth on Beat the Clock. (Isadora Duncan! That was her name.)
Later today in Boston: The Boston Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and Fenway Health will host a vigil celebrating life and honoring those affected by HIV/AIDS on at 12:00 PM at the AIDS Memorial Tree on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall near Kenmore Square. If you have any questions, please contact the sisters at info@thebostonsisters.org.
This week’s men in kilts post is a question. Who is your favorite? From left to right leave your answer in the blog’s comment section. Is it 1, 2, 3, or 4?
The weather in New England can be cool and rainy in the spring, hot and humid in the summer, dry and comfortable in the fall and downright chilly in the winter. Those changes in the weather influence what I eat and as it gets colder in New England, I’m eating less salads and looking for comfort food like my family recipe for meatballs.
This is very much a “hands on” meal to make so your hands will get messy. As a general rule, I make these one or two days ahead of time because they always taste better the next day. The recipe below should yield you approximately 12 good sized meatballs.
Ingredients include:
1.5 lbs meat (lean ground beef / ground veal / ground pork) 1 cup of sweet onion (chopped) 1 egg 1-2 garlic cloves (minced) 1/2 cup of Italian parsley (chopped) 1/2 cup of bread crumbs (or panko crumbs) 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese 1/2 cup baby portobello mushrooms (chopped) (optional ingredient) 1/4 cup of water 1 tsp of salt, pepper and Italian seasonings
I substitute the ground veal and buy a third of a pound of 93% lean ground beef and a third of a pound of 80% lean ground beef. You can also purchase either spicy or sweet italian sausage for the pork – just remove the casing.
Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350⁰
The directions to make meatballs may be messy but they are easy to follow.
Start by preheating your oven to 350⁰
Place ground beef into large mixing container
Add the other ingredients (I start with the dry ingredients first)
Kneed all the ingredients so everything is thoroughly combined
Let the mixture rest for 10-15 minutes
Hand roll individual meatballs (approx 1.5″ in diameter)
Coat a frying pan with olive oil and when it is hot turn the heat down to medium / medium low (you don’t want hot oil splattering)
Add a few meatballs at a time and roll around for 1-2 minutes to lightly cook – add to a plate with papertowels to absorb excess oil
Add undercooked meatballs to a baking dish that has a light coating of tomato sauce (this helps prevent the meatballs from sticking)
Top the meatballs with a little sauce and cover with aluminum foil
Put into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes
Turn off the oven and take out the meatballs, then sprinkle cheese and more choppped parsley
Put back into the oven (which should be off) uncovered for 5 minutes
These meatballs are great with pasta but also make for a delicious meatball sandwich the next day and can easily be warmed up in the microwave.
ADAM & ANDY is set in the fictional New England town of Woodfield, CT. You can learn more about Adam and Andy and purchase a copy of “the definitive collection of Adam and Andy” by visiting, adamandandy.com.
Each Friday morning I post a riddle to get you to think outside the box and exercise your brain. If you are stumped, share it with a friend or colleague and see if you can figure out the answer together.
I’ll confirm answers in the afternoon so don’t worry if you don’t see your comment posted right away. I want to give everyone a chance to guess.
This week’s brain teaser was shared by Neville Fogarty from Newport News, VA who submitted this to NPR’s Sunday Puzzle. It’s tricky but you can do it.
This week’s brain teaser: What common seven-letter verb is made up of three consecutive musical notes in order?
If you need a hint, email me at bosguymail@gmail.com
A different sort of pandemic will be remembered next week on World AIDS Day, December 1st. The impact of AIDS on the LGBTQ community in the 1980s and 1990s is difficult to put into context but there are many parallels to the current pandemic. In both cases, people felt isolated and afraid. Medical treatment and care was not as readily available to the LGBTQ community nearly as quickly and many died alone. Forty years later, there remains no cure to AIDS / HIV but quality of life continues to get better.
The Boston Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and Fenway Health will host a vigil celebrating life and honoring those affected by HIV/AIDS on Tuesday, December 1, 2020 at 12:00 PM at the AIDS Memorial Tree on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall near Kenmore Square.
Please bring a mask and observe social distancing but the ever resourceful sisters will have on hand PPE to share including masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer for anyone who may need them. A digital version of the vigil will also be posted on social media following the event.
