Chad Richter - The Homeboy King of Gay South Florida

and I cannot live with out Kiehl's Under Eye Depuffer.

In this issue of South Florida Gay News

Miami Beach

Friday, Bass Art Museum, Miami Beach, Winter Party, with JoeMyGod.

EGRIFTA

I was moved by being in the company of men who have been the HIV gladiators of my lifetime.

The Midlife Calm of Gregory Kabel

I was delighted when he said that he used to be the one who had to respond to letters from old ladies enclosing photos of their cute grandchildren hoping to be the next Doublemint Twins. Gregory Kabel.

Queer Money

Or, the lack thereof.

In Fred's Classroom, the Wallpaper is Vintage Gay

I was astounded by how much I didn't know about the history of gay Florida. My interview with author Fred Fejes.

Fashion Fun in Miami Beach

Yes, I've been lazy, but I'll be back to regular prattling really soon. Meanwhile:

John Allen and Island House: Almost Perfect. Never Normal.

Can't wait to return. Here's the story in this week's South Florida Gay News online.

Today at the Beach

Today on the beach a man squatted by my chair and said "Ah luuuv Eye-talians."I didn't reply, but he kept looking at me as if I were obliged to respond. Very slowly I said "I am half Latvian and half Creole. All my uncles have been executed by various governments for the crime of murder. We're an unrepentant lot. All I need to do is just look at a boat and it will sink."

He then said "I once had me an Eye-talian boyfriend. Wouldn't eat nothin but tofu and sprouts. Took me five years to get him to eat some dessert. Now he'll eat thet. I got him a puppy and I said 'Now Tommy don't you make this puppy eat none of thet junk. Well I went over there on Christmas and that puppy had broke its paw in two places and I said 'Tommy ah'm givin this dawg ice cream.'"

After an hour, I said "Please let your name be Lusitania, and if it isn't, please Jesus, let my name be Lusitania and let me see my reflection in your sunglasses."

In 2011, Let's Plan For The Past!?

"You are the only young man that I know of who ignores the fact that the future becomes the present, the present the past, and the past turns into everlasting regret if you don't plan for it!"

-- Amanda Wingfield to her son, in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie.

Happy 2011!

(photo by JoeMyGod)

My first year at SFGN

Oh the people I've met!

A Cattelayan Showgirl

I went to an orchid show earlier today at Fort Lauderdale's Bonnet Park where I acquired this gorgeous creature from among a crowd of almost irresistible offerings. At noon I attended a lecture about the care and repotting of orchids. I learned that it is preferable to collect orchids that are locally grown. The ones in Hawaii are tempting and inexpensive but they are grown thousands of feet above sea level and need much time to get used to their new homes. This means they may not bloom for a few years causing their adoptive parents much anxiety. A New York window is a fine place for many types of orchids. Be sure to read up on the light, moisture, growing mix and temperatures each variety prefers. (I love the true blue of the vandas, but they require more direct sun than I can give them.) If it's your first, start with the rugged phaleonopsis that will take much abuse and still rebloom more than once a year. Cymbidiums are also fairly easy to manage, but their sprays of tiny flowers don't thrill me like this showgirl.

World AIDS Day

From my friend Mark King:

A Bad Wall Resolved

The masonry wall of the kitchen was in bad shape where we removed the old cabinets. I decided to paint it with hopes that its imperfections might be muddled if I chose the right paint. In another house, we had used a Ralph Lauren paint called "Ambassador Silver" that worked well with stainless steel. Several coats later - and although this picture is charitable - the imperfections were even more pronounced in the areas close to the ceiling and the other walls.

This is a difficult paint. Home Depot is about to discontinue carrying this line. The color is good but my husband less than diplomatically suggested that perhaps we should have hired someone more skilled at plaster repair before we applied the paint. I had to think of a solution to what was being chalked up to the results of my own impatience, and I did. I suggested a perforated metal covering. Once again, it helps to have a husband in the biz. He designed a soffit covering that would be mounted about an inch off the wall. We played with a sample piece to determine exactly how far away from the wall it ought to stand to allow the right amount of light filtering. He made a support beam and applied the sheet of metal that he had cut and bent to fit exactly. (He had made the measurements himself because I tend to say things like "It's 87 inches and just two of those tiny lines.")

S hooks from The Container Store fit perfectly through the perforations (The ones from Home Depot were too fat.) I used those common spring clips that everyone has in desk drawers to hang the pot lids.

Some things don't become apparent when you design these kinds of things on the fly, like the fact that the support beam was unhappily visible through the perforated metal. To hide this - and also to soften the overly industrial effect of this installation - we added an oversized strip of oak egg and dart molding painted with the same Ambassador Silver. I was glad I had refrained from throwing out the little bit I had left of this annoying paint.

Feeling almost done with the kitchen, I announced that it was time to "trick it out" with some stuff we had in storage, like these industrial brackets from an old factory in Waterbury, Connecticut. A vintage washing machine agitator stamped with the endearing phrase "Spiral Dasher". Three white McCoy vases that I had kept in a box for twenty years. A Michael Aram trivet. A Bosch coffepot designed by Porsche.

We just about done with the kitchen.

Next up: that narrow tunnel of an entrance hall.

Meanwhile, in Fort Lauderdale

My husband took this photo yesterday.

The Waldorf Salad

Happy Thanksgiving!

A good day to introduce you to two wonderful men of Fort Lauderdale, James and Jared of Sanctuary House.

metal radiators

Turning to the eat-in part of the kitchen, I decided to refinish the built-in metal radiator. There is also another one nearby that got the same treatment. I don't think they are original to the building (1926) but I didn't see any reason to  replace them. I doubt they were originally just polished metal but I didn't think I wanted them to be repainted. I removed many coats of heavy old paint. The Baad Lamb took the removable covers to his shop where he blasted them and clear coated them. I used an old issue of Details to cover the heating parts and I sprayed a glossy clear coat on the fixed parts and damn if they don't look swell in a butch kinda WW2 way.

Skip My Crash Course - Take Mike's Master Class

Even if you don't live in south Florida, Mike Minutillo give us some good advice in my interview in the current issue of SFGN.