“You got those Caravaggio moves”

I did try working on several viewing orders for my website but I was undermined at nearly every level by formatting issues. There’s a certain way that I like to work and it simply isn’t made easy by WordPress or the theme I went with, and it’s too late to turn back now. So that was unsatisfying. I ended up uploading a dozen LGBTQ+ movie reviews, which inspired me in passing to revisit Derek Jarman’s “Caravaggio”, which I was shocked to learn that I didn’t own. I quickly acquired a copy and re-watched it, enjoying my time with the movie.

I was very tired. All day I was tired and nearly slept. When it came time for bed I slept without taking any drugs, but I didn’t stay asleep. I had eaten a bit more than I should have yesterday and I had acid reflux, which thankfully doesn’t happen often. I’d had many vivid dreams in the few hours that I slept, involving theme parks and oral sex. Upon waking, I was reminded of my first visit to a theme park, Cedar Point in 1985 – and how my PTSD relationship to food first presented to the world as an eating disorder and how much this shamed me. I didn’t eat anything all day save a small box of Nerds – the cherry & orange variety that later went away for some reason. I later learned that I did not have an eating disorder, though I definitely suffered from disordered eating. I had to do an interview on the topic in 2013 to qualify for a surgical procedure. Finding anyplace that would do this interview was very difficult because they generally only saw women, but eventually a found a sympathetic center that made an exception for me. The interview was very thorough and very painful – which is a quote from Terry Hatcher from an interview with her on Inside The Actors Studio, which has always felt like an apt description of my experience and so I’ve used it every time I describe it – but this is the first I’ve ever explained the origin of my expression. She was talking about reporting sexual abuse, and essentially, this is what I was doing as well. In some ways it was liberating, but mostly, it was just horrible. The woman who interviewed me was sympathetic and supportive. I don’t know her name but I’ll always be grateful for her tact. She was amazing.

I briefly traded texts with Michael Eisinger, who I hadn’t spoken to in a long while. He had gone for a long walk, more than 6 miles. It was 70 degrees out and he was loving the beautiful weather – I believe he lives in Maryland? Meanwhile, I was indoors all day. It wasn’t quite 70 degrees in New York.

We did not go to Aaron’s pool game. He had told me early in the day that he wasn’t going, which disappointed me, but by the time the gametime rolled around, I could barely keep my eyes open, and so I likely wouldn’t have gone anyways.

I have two Star Wars: Maul episodes to watch, but like last week, I don’t feel like it right now. I might save them for next week and just binge the last 4 episodes of the season, but I’m not married to that idea. If I feel like watching them at some point, I will. It’s that simple.

“As You Cry Out in the Night”

I didn’t get to sleep until after 4am this morning. I tried. But it just wasn’t happening. Eventually I needed to have a snack and I also gave in and took an Ambien, because I didn’t think I’d get to sleep until tonight otherwise. That’s just how my brain works sometimes, and that’s why I have sleeping pills in the first place.

I slept until noon, so about 8 hours. I didn’t really wake feeling rested. It was raining and though I didn’t have a migraine, I could still feel the storm and it had me a little on edge. I tried to distract myself with more work on my website. I started working on three different pages but quickly realized I wouldn’t be finishing any of them today so they’re just drafts – which is fine, but when I publish something there’s a sense of satisfaction that I’ve completed something, and I didn’t get that today.

I have kidney stones. I mean, I’ve passed 7 or 8 of them in my life and I’ve had a stone in each of my kidneys for at least 3 years. Every now and again one of them moves and there’s a lot of pain and a lot of being on edge – and that is also happening today. I’m taking the medication I was given for these events and I’m drinking way more fluid than I usually do (because fluids can make it difficult for me to keep anything down), but that definitely isn’t helping with my mood.

What has helped is that my friend Nicole did a deep dive on my site and gave me some meaningful feedback. I didn’t expect her to delve into the photo section but not only did she take a look, she looked at a lot and had very positive things to say. And again, I didn’t expect any of that. Creating this site has been wonderful for my mental health, but it has also been a challenge because I’m used to telling my family what I’m working on and I think they might take issue with me having what I see as an artistic expression, but which could honestly also be described as pornographic. I mean, there are a lot of photos of me fucking, and it takes a certain level of detachment to see that and celebrate it as a personal victory rather than a cause of gossip and concern? One of my dear, straight male friends once looked through my photo galleries on my old website while he was on the phone with me and had a perfectly wonderful conversation with me about this or that thing and not only do I (clearly) still remember the talk, I cherish it to this day.


I listened to Cutting Crew’s “The Broadcast” album the other day. I don’t really connect overly much with any of their songs, despite liking them a lot; they just don’t seem to be singing about anything that really matters. But emotionally, the songs matter a great deal to me because this is one of the musical gifts that I got from my sister Janice. She would often give me music themed gifts for Christmas and my birthdays as it was something we both loved. I would mention in passing that I liked this or that song and she would listen, remember and get me what I wanted. And it was always a surprise. I never dropped hints to get those gifts, I was just being honest in the moment. Anyways, I was just singing the title song in the shower so that’s today’s jam.

I hope the weather improves soon. I would really like to get out more this week, which won’t be difficult as I barely left the apartment in the week ending today.

I need to request refills for a couple of medications. I should message Nicole back. And then I’m not sure what I’m going to do. I might try to sleep tonight because I’m already very tired, but that might not be the easiest thing given what happened last night / this morning. I should definitely keep drinking water though. I should have had a smoothie earlier.

Oh. They released the first teaser trailer for the penultimate season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Season 4 will air weekly from July 23 – September 24. Season 5, the 6 episode final season of the series will likely air sometime next year, along with the 10 episode final season of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. And after that, well, it doesn’t seem likely that we’ll have Star Trek back on streaming / television in the near future. There is a film in development, but who knows how long that might take or what the story might entail? Not me.

error: Content is protected !!