Charlie

When I was a kid, we used to get the Star Ledger delivered on Sundays, but all I ever read was the comics.

I do get full e-access as well.

Since I have had a few private inquiries about this opera singer escort, I should point out that this experience took place back in the pre-Internet age when escorts/"models" advertised in gay print publications, with no photos nor the kind of info that would lead them to being publicly exposed in the way they would if they tried to advertise today. The singer, a very attractive young man in his late 20s, had just debuted at the Met in a secondary role, and still needed to escort to make ends meet. His escort ads soon disappeared, and he had a reasonably successful career as a singer for several years (I saw him perform several times), but he eventually succumbed to AIDS.

Our local paper, The Desert Sun, is not a great paper, but it does focus on local stories, and does excellent investigative journalism, which has had some serious practical effects on local governments. It costs $67/mo for daily delivery. I would rather read it for my local news than watch the pap on local TV news stations.

When I said "I once hired," I was referring to a hire almost four decades ago. I think he is probably long retired from both of his careers. And, no, he didn't sing to me, though I thought of requesting something from Barbiere di Siviglia.

I once hired a baritone whom I had seen onstage at the Met. He was pretty kinky (he had a barber's chair in his bedroom).

The voicemail on my landline is set to pick up after six rings. Most robocallers hang up after five, so I don't have to put up with a lot of unwanted voicemails.

Leather is, of course, technically dead [cow].

My landline identifies the caller, and if it is not someone I know and want to talk to, I simply don't answer it.

Kelvin is not that unusual a name. William Thomson, a famous 19th century Scottish scientist, was ennobled by Queen Victoria as Baron Kelvin, for the Kelvin River which flowed near his home, after which he always used that name. A kelvin is the name of a standard thermodynamic unit that he described. In my youth, a popular brand of refrigerator was called a Kelvinator. I think I also remember an NFL player whose first name was Kelvin. Addendum: I just checked, and Kelvin Beachum plays for the NY Jets.

I knew that one!

Oh, no, no no! I can't imagine Kevin doing anything kinky or piggy. He is much too sweet.

It is about her real life husbands, not about "darling Murray."

Another handsome young actor who appeared in Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Wagon Train and The Virginian was James MacArthur, who later became a regular on Hawaii-5-0. Years later, a friend of mine became his last wife. His first wife recently wrote a book about her four husbands, which I bought yesterday and am looking forward to reading.

I wish I had been invited to his New Year's Eve party.

The other day I listened to my 40 year old recording of Adriana, with Scotto and Domingo, and decided that it was more fun than I remembered.

I usually leave my iPhone turned off, because the only calls I have received when I wasn't waiting for a specific call were wrong numbers.

I think there has been commentary before that he reads this site, and as soon as he gets a negative mention here, he removes his ad. It is already gone from rent.men.

We are having a real cold snap in PS, including frost warnings. Yesterday morning it was 29 F. when I woke up, and it only got into the fifties by midday, even with bright sunshine and no wind. I hope this won't last very long, because I can't find my gloves.

I almost never log out, unless I am going to be away from the site for a long vacation, so this old trick wouldn't have done what I wanted, but thanks for the reminder.

In the old form, there was something I could click on in a thread I had already read that would take me directly to the first post in the thread that I had not read. I don't see anything like that now. Am I missing it?

I happen to fully agree with both of these quotes, but I don't find them comforting.

At the end of every year, I write an annual letter which I include with holiday cards to old friends and relations whom I haven't had contact with during the year. Each year more of them come back to me marked "undeliverable" because the recipient no longer has a forwarding address on the Earth. Last month I called an old friend to congratulate him on his 88th birthday; I asked how he was doing, and his only comment was, "I'm slowly dying." I have already lived longer than my father did, and have outlived most of my cousins, not to mention many friends and lovers. I think a lot about growing old at this time of year. Russell's comments offer the consolation to individuals that although their own lives will end, they will merge into the the everlasting stream of humanity. It's a nice idea, but it takes for granted that humankind and the earth on which it exists is eternally stable. What if homo sapiens goes extinct, or evolves into a being that we would no longer recognize as resembling us? What if the Earth which has been our only home is no longer habitable for us? It is no wonder that so many in their old age turn to religions that promise immortality for the individual in some spiritual realm.

My links are blue and underlined, but when I put the cursor on them, they turn red.

As most regulars here know, I generally dislike changes in technology (I got my first iPhone a couple of months ago, and I still have sent only two texts and taken three photos; I don't understand how to use most of the functions, and don't care to learn.) I feared that I would be very frustrated by the changes here, but in fact I have so far found it very easy to adjust to them, even though I have just logged on. I especially like the new "rate" options, and the info that is immediately available about the poster.