Tag Archives: BosGuy

Laissez les bons temps roulez

Posted on April 6, 2010 | 3 comments

On Friday six guys are converging on a house we’ve rented in the French Quarter to celebrate a 40th birthday. I think it sounds like great fun and I am trying to get extra sleep so I’ll be able to keep up.

Fortunately the forecast for New Orleans looks like it will be beautiful.  Since we will be descending from places like Boston, NYC and SF we should feel comfortable with these temperatures, although I wouldn’t mind seeing mid 70s and low 80s.  I’ll just have to keep my fingers crossed.  I’m not sure where we are planning the big birthday dinner on Saturday night, but I’m not concerned in a city like New Orleans where excellent dining can be found on nearly every corner. I do plan on swinging by the Michalopoulos Gallery.  For years George Michalopoulos had a gallery on Newbury Street and when I first lived in Boston in the BackBay, I had a beautiful print that I loved.  I have no idea what to expect this weekend but I’m staying focused and counting down the hours ’til I board my Friday morning Jet Blue flight.

3 Comments

Posted in Friends

Tagged , ,

Recruiters are reading your Facebook page

Posted on April 6, 2010 | 2 comments
A report compiled by Microsoft in late 2009 reports that 79% of hiring managers and job recruiters surveyed in the US reviewed online information about job applicants last year and a large majority said that what they find online impacts their hiring considerations. 70% of hiring managers in the study indicated that they had rejected candidates based on what they had found.  To this I say, “Oy-vey”. You can download and read through the nearly 90 slide global study from Microsoft by linking here.

2 Comments

Posted in Work

Tagged ,

Myth busting: Boston gay scene

Posted on April 5, 2010 | 3 comments
Lately a few bloggers I’ve been reading have been trashing Boston as an unfriendly place with guys who are beyond unapproachable.  While I understand that my hometown is not likely to win a congeniality award and many guys in this town could use a serious attitude adjustment, I also know a lot of really great people who are quick to smile and easy to talk to.  So last week I conducted an unscientific social experiment by heading into Club Cafe on a Thursday night (all by myself).  Club Cafe has a reputation for being one of Boston’s most popular gay bars and also one of its most reviled.  There are actually movies (All the rage) and videos on YouTube that make jokes about how unfriendly Club Cafe can be (Fresh Fruit – Ptown). Walking into the bar last Thursday I could actually hear the opening lyrics of “Ptown” in particular playing through my head “Boys in this town will tear your self-esteem down in Beantown…”

Having my blackberry as a distraction and tweeting about my experiences helped me feel like I’d have a bit of a security blanket so I would not be staring into space like a crazy person if there was nobody to say “hello” to when I walked in the front door. However, my trepidation proved unfounded because my experience was not what I read or hear people bemoan.  There were definitely the guys who had no time or interest in talking to me, but by and large I found most everyone more friendly than I would have suspected.  If I smiled, people (mostly) smiled back and even a few guys started to chat me up a bit which I took as a compliment and proof that this reputation while rooted in reality might well also be a bit blown out of proportion.  I will also admit that it probably helped that the weather was beautiful that day so nearly everyone was in a cheery mood.  I’m not sure there would have been as many smiles if we’d just received a foot of snow or if it was freezing cold, but I plan to do my own version of myth busting by trying this out at another venue or two and see where it gets me.

And lest those nay-sayers suggest I already knew people – through the entire night I only saw one person who I knew by name.  However, by the end of the night I’d met and had nice conversations with 2 really nice guys; separately. Okay… if you’ve read everything I wrote you are welcome to share your thoughts and tell me I’m crazy, wrong or deluded, but I’m just sharing what one night in Boston was like for me going out without any friends by my side and without knowing anyone at the bar.

3 Comments

Tagged , , ,

Then there was Matty

Posted on April 5, 2010 | 3 comments

Lately life has been all work and no play, but this weekend with a good friend’s 40th birthday celebration planned for both Friday and Saturday and family time logged for an Easter brunch, I knew that I was not going to be thinking much of work. 

I ended up going to Club Cafe both Friday and Saturday night with my friend P.G. Friday was sort of a prelude for the next night when we had plans for dinner at Sophia’s Grotto in Roslindale before heading into Boston for a full night of cocktaling. Although I have no regrets about the back-to-back evenings out, my body ached on Sunday morning as I drove up to my parent’s place in NH.

Somehow I rallied and caught my second wind. As I was driving back to Boston with little brother and girlfriend asleep in the back seat of the car I even entertained thoughts of possibly heading to the gym or flipping open the laptop to get some work done.  However T.P.’s innocent suggestion that we enjoy the remaining sun and warmth was all I needed to ditch said plans and opt to find space on a patio on Tremont Street.  One drink turned into another and an hour+ later we decided to order dinner rather than call it an evening.

While we were sipping our beverages, I noticed a young guy making eye contact with me.  Keeping true to my 2010 New Years resolution to continue to smile at strangers and say “hello”, we started to strike up a conversation.  Within minutes, this young, handsome guy says to me, “Are you BosGuy?”  Turns out Matty reads my blog. Who knew I had such a handsome readership? I know family and a few friends read my ramblings, and I correspond with a couple of bloggers regularly, but meeting Matty has inspired me to up my game and try to give my blog more attention.

Thanks Matty for saying hello and best of luck to you on Patriot’s Day when you run your first marathon.  You made my day.

3 Comments

Posted in Friends

Tagged ,

Tik Tok parody

Posted on March 30, 2010 | 2 comments
Last year I posted a video I first saw on WGB in my entry, The gays love their close-ups.  Well the adorable guy who writhed on the sand lip synching to the catchy Backstreet Boy’s tune, “I want it that way” has quite a few videos on his Youtube profile as it turns out. You can see the full list here – Linsbrothers.

In the video below, Ben Lins teams up with his buddy, Jimmy Culotta, in a Tik Tok parody.  The pop song is annoying in that once you hear it you can not seem to get it out of your head for the rest of the day, but it is still fun to watch.

2 Comments

Posted in Music, Video

Tagged ,

Stepping out of the closet and ‘back from that ledge’

Posted on March 28, 2010 | 3 comments
Earlier today I heard the song Jumper by Third Eye Blind and it brought me back to when I first moved to Boston from Atlanta. At the time, I was still closeted and trying to come to terms with my sexuality. Having the benefit of hindsight, I can see now that I was sort of a ticking time bomb. No wonder I always related to the chorus of the song. 

Wish you would step back from that ledge, my friend
You could cut ties with all the lies that you’ve been living in
And if you do not want to see me again
I would understand, I would understand

How strange is it that lyrics written by another and meant for someone else can become so intensely personal? I can remember feeling like the chorus was an existential conversation I was having with myself. When I heard the song today, many memories (both happy and sad) flooded back, and I thought I’d write about it before the feeling of de ja vu faded.   

Full lyrics on elyrics.net
About Third Eye Blind

3 Comments

Posted in Music, Video

Tagged , ,

Posted on March 27, 2010 | Leave a comment

On Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 8:30 p.m. local time, Earth Hour will once again cascade around the globe.  Last year, 80 million Americans and 318 U.S. cities officially voted for action with their light switch, joining iconic landmarks from around the world that went dark for Earth Hour. 

Leave a comment

Tagged , ,

Entertaining Mr. Sloane

Posted on March 27, 2010 | Leave a comment
Tonight I’m off to see my first show of the year, Entertaining Mr. Sloane at the Boston Center for the Arts. The play was written by the English playwright Joe Orton back in 1964. 

About the show:
The charming, enigmatic Mr. Sloane arrives to rent a room from Kath, a lonely, delusional landlady, in the junkyard house she shares with her declining father. A handsome opportunist, Sloane quickly ingratiates himself, entering into seductions offered by both Kath, and her estranged brother Ed, who soon employs Sloane as his driver.  Sloane’s past misdeeds and dueling affections within the family soon collide, leading to a desperate act that proves the limit of his charms, and reveals the ruthless and cunning strategies that Sloane’s ‘victims’ will engage in to preserve their unique arrangement.

Should be interesting and I’m hoping it will prove to distract me from the work which has dominated my attention now for too long.  I hope you have a nice weekend filled with pleasant distractions too.

Leave a comment

Tagged , ,

Acne Drug Keeps HIV Dormant

Posted on March 25, 2010 | Leave a comment
Not sure how new this news is, but I had not heard about a breakthrough in AIDS research which found that a common acne drug first used in the 1970s can keep HIV dormant.  I first read about this in Brenton’s popular blog, Aussielicious this morning.  And after a bit of searching on Google, I found that this study was actively being discussed back in 2008 at the XVII International AIDS Conference.

As Brenton says in his blog, any advancement that can help prevent the spread of or help improve the quality of life of those impacted by this virus is good news. If you’d like to learn more there is a brief (1 minute) video of Dr. Janice Clements explaining what the acne drug minocycline does to the virus here.

Leave a comment

Tagged , , ,

Words to live by, "You need pro caulk"

Posted on March 25, 2010 | 1 comment

I’ll be the first to admit that my sense of humor is not appreciated by everyone, but this mini-infomercial stopped me dead in my tracks when I heard it last year and it had the same effect when I heard it earlier tonight.  Do the makers of “Pro-Caulk” realize what they are saying?   Check out the video. I was almost in tears listening to the enthusiastic voice practically shout “You need Pro-Caulk!” 

Just in case you think this is a farce, you can visit the official “Caulk” site as I like to refer to it by linking here. No worries unlike many “caulk” sites on the web this is totally safe to view from work. It might even inject some much needed humor into your day.

1 Comment

Posted in People say the funniest things, Video

Tagged ,

How television networks should really market themselves

Posted on March 24, 2010 | 1 comment
Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe wrote an interestingly funny article back in November that I forgot to post until today.  In his article, Matthew writes, what if the networks and cable channels promoted themselves as they really are? He surmised that their names, slogans, and mission descriptions might look something like this. I’ve chosen a couple of my favorites.

NBC =  SDTV: Self-Destructive TV
We dig ourselves deeper into the hole!
At SDTV, we don’t fool around when it comes to ruining our network. By placing our future in the hands of personalities such as Howie Mandel, Donald Trump, and Jay Leno, we pretty much guarantee our own failure.

Bravo = GLBTv
For Grace and her favorite Will
Need some fabulous fashion advice? Want a lesson in trendy lingo? We know absolutely everything about clothes, real estate, and hair. Plus, we have Kathy Griffin. Let us be your gay best friend.

Fox News = Fox “News’’
Who cares if it’s true?
In our shop, we believe that too much value is placed on facts. We’d rather just go after anything that moves in that unbalanced, unfair, democratic, liberal, commie kind of way. You know what we mean. If you like screeds, we’ll be there for you.

You can read the full article here.

1 Comment

Posted in People say the funniest things

Tagged , , ,

No news here – I’m progressive

Posted on March 22, 2010 | 1 comment
It has been awhile since I’ve posted a quiz, but I saw this on a blog I read called Iced Tea & Sarcasm, and I thought I’d share it as well. I suppose for those who know me and my philosophical leanings, this is not surprising. I’ll be frank and say I’m not exactly sure how ‘scientific’ this is, but I’ve always enjoyed these sort of things and thought I’d share it.  It took me less than 5 minutes to complete the questions. Take the online poll if you like by linking here.

No shock that my focus on issues pertaining to social justice and human rights seem to not only skew my political ideology but also put me out of sync with most of my fellow Americans.  It is frustrating because I always feel like I’m either considered naive or some sort of lunatic.

1 Comment

Tagged , ,

ABC pilot filming in South End: Boston’s Finest

Posted on March 22, 2010 | Leave a comment
An ABC pilot show called Boston’s Finest is shooting scenes outside of my neighborhood cafe, The South End Buttery.  The catering trucks currently line Washington Street and the corner of Shawmut Ave and Union Park are blocked off.  The inside of the Buttery has been turned into a sort of holding pen for many of the extras and some of the wardrobe.  While I was ordering my lunch I did happen to see New England native,Treat Williams, walk by, which was sort of cool.  I was told that the filming for the pilot concludes today so I will be able to get my lunch and afternoon coffee without competing for space with all the extras who were essentially just sitting still and taking up space.

Leave a comment

Tagged , , ,

Posted on March 20, 2010 | 3 comments
Am I the only one who thinks this is funny?

3 Comments

Posted in Barack Obama

Tagged ,

Personalized medicine

Posted on March 19, 2010 | Leave a comment

If you can get smarter by surrounding yourself with really intelligent people, then my IQ jumped a few points today.  Yesterday evening a few well respected doctors flew into Boston to attend a meeting my team hosted today to talk about a new and interesting area in medicine referred to as Personalized Medicine.  If people have heard the term before, they are most likely inclined to think of medical/testing products that can be purchased at a pharmacy (i.e. pregnancy tests). But P.M. is so much more. A popular definition is medicine that incorporates genetic profiles for the prevention, detection, and treatment of disease by taking into account a person’s unique genetic profile. 

These ‘thought leaders’ shared stories about what they are seeing and their insights were extremely interesting. While some of the stories sounded a bit like something more suited for a science fiction movie the reality is that this is more real than fiction.  How our government and governments around the world react (either encouraging more development through investment or discouraging it by creating impediments) is yet to be seen.  The Human Genome project which started in 1990 and mapped the genetic make-up of humans has helped unlock significant opportunities for defining new treatments (medical, nutritional and behavioral) for keeping a person healthier longer. This international public/private scientific research project is what I mean by governments ‘encouraging more development’.

Imagine being able to customize preventitive strategies so women with a genetic predisposition to develop breast cancer can have mamograms more frequently than the general public so they can increase their chance of an early detection? Imagine an individual likely to suffer from Diabetes Type II being ‘prescribed’ work out sessions with a trainer and sessions with a nutritionist to avoid this chronic disease, which now afflicts an estimated 20 million Americans? These are just some of the opportunities that exist as advances in personalized medicine are realized – pretty cool.

Leave a comment

Posted in Work

Tagged ,