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SONGS FOR THE FORGOTTEN: Finding Grace in a Dementia Ward
Read more: SONGS FOR THE FORGOTTEN: Finding Grace in a Dementia WardOn my way to the memory care wing of mother’s assisted living facility, I stopped my truck, pulled back into my driveway, and returned to grab my portable Bose speaker. Despite Alzheimer’s, my ninety-two-year-old mother still remembers lyrics to countless Broadway and Standard songs. She could have been a great singer had anyone bothered to…
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MOUNTAINSIDE CAMPGROUND: A Refreshing Alternative to Traditional Gay Weekend Getaways
Read more: MOUNTAINSIDE CAMPGROUND: A Refreshing Alternative to Traditional Gay Weekend GetawaysBy Jed Wolf Two hours from Boston, MA, and New Haven, CT, just across the Massachusetts border in the heart of New England, Mountainside Campground offers a unique retreat for gay men. Minutes from artsy Brattleboro, VT, and Vermont’s famed Rock River swimming holes, this pastoral mountain setting provides both wilderness access and comfortable amenities.…
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THE HUNGER CYCLE: Finding Freedom from Food Addiction
Read more: THE HUNGER CYCLE: Finding Freedom from Food AddictionI have an addictive personality. Like water flowing downhill, I’ve always found the quickest path to relief from my dark moods. Most friends know about my struggles—the cigarettes at age ten, followed by alcohol and drugs. What I’ve only recently come to understand is that the pattern started even earlier, with secret binges on candy,…
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PRETTY BOYS
Read more: PRETTY BOYSPretty BoysOur two Ragdoll cats—brothers Pablo and Prince (nicknamed “Wince” for his tendency to moan about peculiar things)—have a way of charming even the most stoic of visitors. When contractors come to work on our house, these gorgeous felines demand attention, making it nearly impossible for anyone to focus. They flirt, rub, chirp, and coo…
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Tips for an Aging Zeus
Read more: Tips for an Aging ZeusI have an audition this Tuesday at 7:00 PM for the lead in a local musical, and I’m freaking out. Any of you with magical powers—assuming I haven’t alienated you all—please aim them toward Fairfield, CT, around 7:45 to 8:30 PM. I’ll be the one arriving un-anxiously late, possibly wearing black jeans and cowboy boots……
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The Pencil Solution
Read more: The Pencil SolutionCultural controversy has me tangled in knots of artistic responsibility. While wrestling with questions of creative freedom versus cultural sensitivity, my friend called with his own solution to world suffering: “I’m going to wear black until the world stops suffering.” The quote—borrowed from Johnny Cash’s earnest declaration twenty years ago—struck me as absurdly funny now.…
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BOARDING SCHOOL
Read more: BOARDING SCHOOLDuring my years at a progressive boarding school in the bucolic Taconic Hills of New York State —originally named “Viewpoint School” with bitter irony—faculty members befriended, sexually abused and emotionally exploited students. The majority of neglected kids welcomed the attention alcohol, drugs, and manipulation, and everyone’s redemption somehow seemed connected to the expansive views. Today,…
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SANDUSKY
Read more: SANDUSKYThe news about Jerry Sandusky, the convicted serial child molester and retired college football coach, denying his abuse of 10 boys over 15 years triggers memories I can’t escape. I received my first “secret gift” from a babysitter at age five. The perpetrators may not understand what drives them to abuse children, but I understand…
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