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I’ve reconciled myself to not finishing Proust.  It’s not a book so much as it’s a world.  So reading A la recherche du temps perdu is a bit like visiting a great city as a tourist.  Every time I go there it’s a bit more familiar, but there’s always so much I haven’t seen yet.

At the moment I’m rereading Patricia Highsmith. I love noir fiction, especially fond of Raymond Chandler. But there is something about Highsmith. Ignore the movies (Ripley especially) - most of them take the characters, rewrite the book and shift it around to achieve a clearer or more morally coherent narrative. Because she isn’t about narrative/moral clarity, she is the master of suspenseful anxiety. Draws the reader into her strange world, where there is always a crime but you have no idea what’s going to happen. No one is the good or bad guy. There is no necessary linkage between act and consequence. I find that true to life. Her style is deceptively simple, plainer than Hemingway, but not as an affectation, as in H. The voice is authorial but the point of view shifts from character to character. Every time I reread her I am amazed at how subtle her texts are. Always something new.

Oh yes. I remember to this day the first time I was at the Gaiety for the Grand Finale. I had been to the G many times before, but the first time for the GF, O my god! It was like heaven. The beauty of those boys. The joy they seemed to project. I thought I was in heaven. I believed then, and still do, that that night Beauty came down to earth. (And the Gaiety in its physical manifestation was certainly earthy!). One of those rare mystical moments when reality opened to give a sight of What Could Be, of beauty that swept me up and changed my life. What a strange circumstance for a revelation like that, but there it is. Thank you, Denise.

IMHO the problem with the movie is that every character, major and minor, has a following, and so they felt it necessary to create a subplot for each one. Too many moving parts. I think a better way to go would have been to pair up the Dowager Duchess with the Queen for some stiff backbone and upper class quip competition.

I saw a couple of interviews with Lee Child on YouTube in which he was asked about Tom Cruise.  Child was obviously being a team player in his response, scripted even, but he said something interesting.  Namely, that most Hollywood actors are short, so that criticism of Cruise was not significant.  I once saw Cruise in person, and even with shoelifts he was really, really short.  Alan Ritchson is perfectly cast.  The series hews closely to the book.  I thought it, and Ritchson, were terrific.

I saw a couple of interviews with Lee Child on YouTube in which he was asked about Tom Cruise.  Child was obviously being a team player in his response, scripted even, but he said something interesting.  Namely, that most Hollywood actors are short, so that criticism of Cruise was not significant.  I once saw Cruise in person, and even with shoelifts he was really, really short.  Alan Ritchson is perfectly cast.  The series hews closely to the book.  I thought it, and Ritchson, were terrific.

I’ve only seen clips from the production, but I have heard three of the performances from Sirius radio, including the 1/29 matinee. The MET cast this piece quite luxuriously. Quinn Kelsey is a very good Rigoletto with great dramatic instincts and Piotr Beczala is perfect in both his singing and acting the role of the uncaring Duke. He sang in the previous MET production of this opera which was set in 1950’s Las Vegas to excellent reviews, too.
Rosa Feola made her MET debut as Gilda in 2019 in the previous production there, and though she doesn’t take all the high ‘showboat’ notes, her voice is, on the whole, very pure in tone and her acting is impressive in a rather ridiculous role - the librettist’s fault, not the soprano’s!
TruHart1 😎

I was at the Rigoletto live HD on Saturday, Jan. 29.  One of three theaters showing it  in the Coachella Valley, 20+ people at the showing I attended.  Great cast.  Setting it in Weimar in the 20’s worked.  Mild synchronization  issues between audio and video at the beginning which improved with time.  Some audio issues toward the end - the voices seemed a bit muted.  
But a lovely experience overall. 

I was at the Rigoletto live HD on Saturday, Jan. 29.  One of three theaters showing it  in the Coachella Valley, 20+ people at the showing I attended.  Great cast.  Setting it in Weimar in the 20’s worked.  Mild synchronization  issues between audio and video at the beginning which improved with time.  Some audio issues toward the end - the voices seemed a bit muted.  
But a lovely experience overall. 

Of course escorts have the right to select clientele, on many levels and in many areas.  Beginning with only taking clients who can pay and moving on to those whom they can do a good job for, for whatever reason, and then into arenas of personal preference.  But the truth is that escorts with wider acceptance parameters will have a larger client base to appeal to.  The other truth is that among those willing to pay for companionship there are a lot more older, larger, plainer men than there are younger, fitter, handsome men.  So what’s your market opportunity?

Of course escorts have the right to select clientele, on many levels and in many areas.  Beginning with only taking clients who can pay and moving on to those whom they can do a good job for, for whatever reason, and then into arenas of personal preference.  But the truth is that escorts with wider acceptance parameters will have a larger client base to appeal to.  The other truth is that among those willing to pay for companionship there are a lot more older, larger, plainer men than there are younger, fitter, handsome men.  So what’s your market opportunity?

Of course escorts have the right to select clientele, on many levels and in many areas.  Beginning with only taking clients who can pay and moving on to those whom they can do a good job for, for whatever reason, and then into arenas of personal preference.  But the truth is that escorts with wider acceptance parameters will have a larger client base to appeal to.  The other truth is that among those willing to pay for companionship there are a lot more older, larger, plainer men than there are younger, fitter, handsome men.  So what’s your market opportunity?

Of course escorts have the right to select clientele, on many levels and in many areas.  Beginning with only taking clients who can pay and moving on to those whom they can do a good job for, for whatever reason, and then into arenas of personal preference.  But the truth is that escorts with wider acceptance parameters will have a larger client base to appeal to.  The other truth is that among those willing to pay for companionship there are a lot more older, larger, plainer men than there are younger, fitter, handsome men.  So what’s your market opportunity?

Of course escorts have the right to select clientele, on many levels and in many areas.  Beginning with only taking clients who can pay and moving on to those whom they can do a good job for, for whatever reason, and then into arenas of personal preference.  But the truth is that escorts with wider acceptance parameters will have a larger client base to appeal to.  The other truth is that among those willing to pay for companionship there are a lot more older, larger, plainer men than there are younger, fitter, handsome men.  So what’s your market opportunity?

Of course escorts have the right to select clientele, on many levels and in many areas.  Beginning with only taking clients who can pay and moving on to those whom they can do a good job for, for whatever reason, and then into arenas of personal preference.  But the truth is that escorts with wider acceptance parameters will have a larger client base to appeal to.  The other truth is that among those willing to pay for companionship there are a lot more older, larger, plainer men than there are younger, fitter, handsome men.  So what’s your market opportunity?

Of course escorts have the right to select clientele, on many levels and in many areas.  Beginning with only taking clients who can pay and moving on to those whom they can do a good job for, for whatever reason, and then into arenas of personal preference.  But the truth is that escorts with wider acceptance parameters will have a larger client base to appeal to.  The other truth is that among those willing to pay for companionship there are a lot more older, larger, plainer men than there are younger, fitter, handsome men.  So what’s your market opportunity?

(Apologies in advance for the long winded one…it’s the end of the night and who knows when I’ll get on here next…)
Well…..a perfect time for me to actually inject myself into this conversation! Like a bad family dinner that just changes moods INSTANTLY when you start talking about the black sheep in the family…! The COVID conversation is never going to be a fun one, on ANY side of the fence. 
A wiser escort once told me…never vent your true feelings about politics or any of their derivatives on this forum…because you’ll immediately ostracize half(or more) of the people who regularly post. In addition, he said the best posture was to assume that everyone here is better educated, and has more diverse life experiences then you. 
Well, he was absolutely correct on the latter- I find that the average person I’ve connected with from here is a standout, on virtually any rubric you use. On the former…he broke his own rule of wisdom and promptly got himself banned for clashing with the previous forum owner. 
So anyhow….now that we’ve got that little ‘aside’ about politics and it’s ugly stepchild Coronavirus out of the way(I’ll comment once on it by saying it forcibly changed my life…but probably for the better, in the long run), I’d like to just give a tremendous ‘Thank You’ to all of those who commented for me ‘in absentia’, by keeping my little memories alive and well. 
Physically- I feel I’m in great shape; having a more grounded life and the ability to control your meals makes for a huge difference. Negatively offsetting a lot of these physical ‘gains’, is clearly the fact that I’ve drank to a far larger amount during COVID, then prior. Coping mechanism. However, I’d like to think I have it under control; as I have to function 5-6 days a week as a well driller / installer; and then a night or two dancing. Factor in 1-3 clients if I’m able to accommodate….and it’s a life. Not a great life; but tons of potential for a future in the company(owned by one of my best friends, a fucking stud himself IMO). He’s nearly doubled his numbers since  I came onboard, while also lowering his advertising budget- because the repeat work from his past 7 years is snowballing with momentum. Each year will get progressively better, as long as we stay sharp. 
For those of you around the country who’ve wanted to see me…trust me…I want to see you too. I wish I could be traveling around like I used to; but those days are most likely behind me. I may detach out a two 3 or 4 day jaunts a month to the larger areas, like San Fran, LA, Chicago, Florida, Chicago, or DC. Or, if those of you out there are able to get to NYC or Boston, I can come down with little to no problem, if you can host. Alternatively, if you are able to take the train to Hartford or have a car, you’re welcome at my house….if you can contend with two 12 lb. balls of fluff. Brave that gauntlet, and I’ll gladly entertain you with tons of free time, and a meal…nobody leaves this house without eating…
Will try to find the time to get on here more….the web domain had seemed to shift, and I didn’t follow it as aggressively as I should have. 
Am back now- will certainly try to stay current! Much love to all of you for keeping this hobby as alive as possible. ❤️

Ten years ago today I hired for the last time. I hadn't planned it that way, so I didn't recognize it as a milestone until much later.
I had been hiring for over three decades, sometimes as often as a dozen times per year in the early years, but my hires had become much less frequent, since I no longer lived in a major escort hub and I was doing less traveling than when I was younger. It was not a "bad experience" in the typical sense. He was a mature, reputable professional, and the meeting took place in his room at a nice hotel in LA. However, after about twenty minutes, what started out as a hot sex scene transitioned unexpectedly into me holding and comforting an emotionally distraught man who could not maintain the pretense that he was enjoying what he was doing, and eventually I put him to bed and left. He called me the next day to apologize, and offered me a free appointment to make up for it, but I gently declined the offer. I didn't realize that meant I had passed the milestone.
My attitude toward sex was always that it was a kind of sport. (The spiritually or romantically inclined probably would not agree with me on that.) Hiring an escort was kind of like hiring a pro to play one-on-one. But for that to be satisfying, the pro had to at least pretend that it was serious competition. I was finding it harder and harder to pretend to myself that I was still a player, and at some place in my psyche that experience had finally flipped a switch that was ready to turn. I'm still attracted to many of the pros on sites like Rent.men, but I no longer feel a need to actually have sex with them.
Of course, I am still interested in escorts and clients, and wish them well, but I am cheering in the stands, rather than rushing onto the court to join them in the scrum.

I’m confused.  I thought this conversation was about the lovely Joey, with all his aka identities.  I had an awful moment when I read Lazarus’s post, thinking that Joey had died.  Please assure me that Jersey etc. is not Joey, roided up and tatted to the nth degree, but that this unfortunately deceased individual is someone entirely different. 

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0ejWY1bW988/YCfRSv6QLDI/AAAAAAAAPbI/UP9IwMX5hUUdQsNXRcUO8_aC8JIG0Rr1gCLcBGAsYHQ/s750/http%253A%252F%252F41.media.tumblr.com%252Fc49dc19caa9c17b50fc6a90534a545a2%252Ftumblr_o2eus7wtyl1s6uxlao1_500.jpg

Apologies if needed for resurrecting this thread after so many years, but it is the only one that named the TH’s superlative pianist Rick Unterberg.
I learned today that Rick died of the Covid-19 virus on April 23.  The TH will be holding a tribute to him on Tues., Sept. 28.  I am afraid I cannot be there in person, but will be holding him in my heart.  

Apologies if needed for resurrecting this thread after so many years, but it is the only one that named the TH’s superlative pianist Rick Unterberg.
I learned today that Rick died of the Covid-19 virus on April 23.  The TH will be holding a tribute to him on Tues., Sept. 28.  I am afraid I cannot be there in person, but will be holding him in my heart.  

I’ve reconciled myself to not finishing Proust.  It’s not a book so much as it’s a world.  So reading A la recherche du temps perdu is a bit like visiting a great city as a tourist.  Every time I go there it’s a bit more familiar, but there’s always so much I haven’t seen yet.

I’ve reconciled myself to not finishing Proust.  It’s not a book so much as it’s a world.  So reading A la recherche du temps perdu is a bit like visiting a great city as a tourist.  Every time I go there it’s a bit more familiar, but there’s always so much I haven’t seen yet.