Charlie

I should have been more specific in my reference to my gay friend: they are actually half-brothers, same father but different mothers, yet raised in the same household. Which complicates the nature/nurture question even more.

I am assuming that one of the several members whom I am friendly with outside of this site will be aware of my death, and will post something about my demise. My computer is a different problem. If I can anticipate my ending, I will try to clean my hard drive myself; if I go suddenly, what will be will be. In any event, I have already written a completely frank autobiography, which along with my daily journals will be archived at an academic institution, where they will be available to future scholars who may find them of interest. Luckily, I have no family who will give a damn about my reputation, and I will be somewhere where it won't matter.

"Dear Sir".....well, that is not the same thing as just plain "Sir." I do think it is probably an attempt by the prospective client to intimate that he wishes to be sexually submissive. However, if he is younger/smaller than you are (and from your photo it is obvious that you are not a twink), it may be simply a natural tribute to you from a younger/less powerful male. I am frequently called "sir" by people of both genders simply because of my obviously venerable age. I use "sir" verbally only when I am trying to attract the attention of a mature male stranger for information or to let him know that he has has done something inattentively, like dropping his wallet on the street or left his fly unzipped.

Look at those twin pecs--I mean, peaks!

You would not deal with a serious medical problem without professional help; likewise, you should not deal with a serious legal problem without professional legal help. Consult a lawyer before even talking with your ex.

Well, perhaps one consolation is that you hadn't yet purchased the new home in which you two were going to start married life together. But I do feel for you, because it was a lovely fantasy.

I spent a very pleasant evening with a new hire once, with lots of great conversation afterward. The next morning I happened to run into him on a city street corner, and when I said hello, he looked startled, barely acknowledged my greeting, and quickly walked in the opposite direction. The most awkward situation, however, was when I hired someone who I thought was new, and when he opened his door, I recognized him as someone I had hired before. When I said so, he insisted we had never met. A couple of years later, in another city, it happened again, so this time I pretended I didn't recognize him, and he did the same. The sex was outstanding.

When we looked to retire in California, we ended up in the desert because housing was ridiculously expensive on the coast. We thought we would take advantage of the cultural activities in LA, but the hassle of getting there and back soon discouraged us. When we want to experience an urban vibe, we find it easier to just drive to San Diego, where hotel rooms downtown and near the water are much less expensive than those in LA.

Nature or nurture? As with other characteristics, it is usually a combination of factors. It is also worth remembering that being "gay" is a relatively recent phenomenon: it is not the same thing as being sexually attracted to--or having sexual relations with--members of the same sex. Then there is the complication of bisexuality, in both orientation and activity, which is not being considered. We are all reporting mostly our impressions of other family members, which may not be accurate. For instance, I mentioned my spouse's three nieces, all around 40 and physically attractive, who to my knowledge have never been romantically involved with anyone, male or female, yet in truth I know nothing about their inner life. Two of them live in a house they own together like a couple: incestuous lesbians? How would I know?! If my father had been asked this question, he would have said that there was no one in his family, yet his favorite male cousin, who lived his whole life with his mother, had a special male "friend," who was treated like one of the family, and I would have counted him as one of my "gay" relations based on my impression.

In my spouse's family, it is the two older brothers who are gay, and the two younger brothers who are straight, which doesn't fit that pattern.

I'm an only child; I had 16 first cousins, only one of them gay to my knowledge. My spouse has three younger brothers, one of them also gay and married to his longtime partner. Three of his four nieces are unmarried, close to middle age, and have never had boyfriends to our knowledge, but if they are lesbians, they have never come out to either of their openly gay uncles and their husbands.

Seattle

She was certainly aware that her physical appearance simply was not suited to some roles that required at least a resemblance to the dramatic character, or that required realistic movement, e.g., she didn't perform a staged Carmen. She knew that people came to hear her, not to watch her, so she was most comfortable on a concert stage, but discovered she couldn't make a profitable career out of concerts, so she tried to choose operatic stagings in which she could be relatively static physically. She also preferred concerts because she liked to sing music that was rarely staged. I think she would have been bored with a career of singing the same roles over and over. Like you, I was also surprised that the voice was beautiful but not as overwhelming as one might have expected from her physique, much like the late Rita Hunter.

"No sex and no anal penetration"? Doesn't he know the literal meaning of "stud"?

I ran an AIDS information hotline in the 1980s. The callers' ignorance, not only about medical matters but about sex in general, was often mind-blowing. Younger people nowadays think they are much more sophisticated, but most of them probably still believe the self-consoling myths that people have always adopted to justify whatever it is that they do.

An alternative form is "to the manor born," which is slightly more appropriate to the situation you mention.

Before Hooboy started the review site twenty years ago, there was nothing comparable online (although there were a few escort reviews available in a little pamphlet that was published every so often, the name of which I can no longer remember). Without the reviews, this message board wouldn't have existed; it started as an addendum to the review site, because Hooboy was interested in discussion as well as reviews. The review section was what brought in the money to support the whole site. I wrote reviews before I discovered the message section, and there have always been reviewers and readers who were unaware of or uninterested in the message board. Because of the recent changes in the laws, it became prudent to separate the functions into two separate sites, which happen to be operated by the same person. I stopped hiring years ago, so I hardly read the review site unless there is discussion here about a reviewed escort. I don't know whether fewer reviews are submitted these days because of the limitations that FOSTA regulation has put on what they can contain, or because clients are no longer interested in writing about their hires, or because they put all their trust in the rent.men reviews (good grief!). I do know that if the review site can't be self-supporting financially, this site will probably disappear, too, without substantial financial input from those of us who value it for its own virtues, apart from its heritage as part of a site about hiring escorts.

The first is Romeo and Juliet, the last is The Merchant of Venice. I am drawing a blank on the middle one, except that the song from Hair! that starts with that line keeps running through my brain.

I meant correct according to my high school English teacher (she was from Vermont).

I was surprised when I first learned that the hw sound was correct, because I had always used only the w sound in all the wh words, and to my ear, that was how everyone I knew (no k sound) pronounced the wh words. I have to be very self-conscious (sc pronounced sh) to remember to aspirate before the w. (Native of northern New Jersey)

Great thread!!!

I never heard of this person before the posts here about his death.

Is there any significance to the fact that every man except the one on the right has his arms crossed, but he seems to be using his hands to shield his genitals?

Testosterone is not illegal, but it is a controlled drug that has to be prescribed by a doctor. It is not unusual for a doctor to prescribe it for someone whose regular clinical tests indicate his testosterone level is low, because that does have health implications. I am using it now, in gel form, at my doctor's advice.

Yes.