I’ve had no energy the last few days. I’ve not left the apartment, though I should try to do so today, if for no other reason than I need some pita bread for the lettuce and hummus that I have. Thrilling, isn’t it?
While indoors, I’ve read quite a bit more of “Magic’s Promise”. This was my least favorite installment of The Last Herald-Mage Trilogy when I was a kid, but it’s grown on me a bit more as I’ve aged. I had been re-reading these books so I’d be ready for the new volume that is set between “Magic’s Promise” & “Magic’s Price”, but the new book, “Vanyel and Vixen”, has been pushed back from November 2026 to August 2027. Ugh. Something similar happened a year or two ago when I started rereading the Wicked Years – as the author released 2 more books (“Elphie” & “Galinda”) in the series, leaving me far less excited to continue on. Oh well. I’ll likely finish this one at least.
Yesterday I watched a queer film I’d never seen before, which I posted a short review for. I also wrote a poem about a dream, right after I woke from it. I don’t even remember writing it, but there it is. Perhaps I’m losing my memory altogether? Perhaps.
I might watch another queer film today. I don’t know. The finale for “VisionQuest” will be released tonight at 9pm. Looking forward to it.
Today’s journal entry song quote is from “Genghis Khan” by Swedish indie pop band Miike Snow from their 2016 third studio album, “iii”. Musically, “Genghis Khan” is an electropop song with funk and R&B influences and lyrics which see the protagonist likening his jealousy to the behavior of the Mongolian emperor.
Friday, October 30. I stayed in. Only leaving the apartment to check about an order which was apparently stolen from our lobby. That happens a lot here. We have Amazon Lockers where items can be placed securely – and we always get things when they’re left there, but if they’re just left in the lobby, they are often stolen, very quickly after arriving. It’s obnoxious. Anyways, I spent the night dancing for hours in my apartment, mostly to Imael Angel’s Extended Mix of “Bad Times”, which was fun, funny, and very me. lol
On Saturday, October 31…on Halloween of 2026 I took the 1 train from 181st Street down to Christopher Street, which is about 18 stops I think. The train was on time and everyone was polite but the train was very crowded due to the holiday. There’s a big Halloween parade in the city but I’d never been to it before. When I got off the train I had to navigate barriers and such, though the streets were mostly clear as it was only about 4pm. I was on my way to the Stonewall Inn to see Aaron perform in a cabaret show with the Stonewall Chorale. They sold raffle tickets and Aaron asked if I could pick the winners for him on stage to which I agreed. The show was fun. As was the raffle. But that wasn’t actually why I was brought on stage. After 15 years together, Aaron proposed to me on Halloween on Christopher Street. He explained that this location was significant because when I was 17, I first cut myself in March of 1992, and I met a woman in the emergency room, who clearly recognized that I was gay and while my family wasn’t speaking to me that night, this stranger told me that someday I would play pool on Christopher Street and that I would find my people. I later understood what she meant, and eventually did play pool on Christopher Street at the Stonewall Inn back in April of 2012.
April 18, 2012.April 18, 2012.April 18, 2012.
I said yes, of course. I had long ago come to the conclusion that Aaron and I would never marry and had come to terms with that informed decision based on my disability, as I’d come to realize that in the end marriage didn’t really matter. We’d stood the test of time, staying happily together through good times and bad. Everyone treated us like we were married, with many people introducing me as Aaron’s husband, but I usually corrected them. It’s not that I felt we were less than a couple that were married; it just didn’t seem accurate to me. I felt we’d forged our own path and I was content. But I now have something I never thought that I would. A fiance. Technically, I’ve been engaged before. Two men have previously asked me to marry them and one of them even gave me a ring – but both of these men quickly betrayed me and honestly, neither of those relationships felt real; I mean, we were dating, but it never felt right that we ere engaged – it felt like a lie. This is different. It feels odd, because it’s quite a change, yet looking back on our relationship, it doesn’t seem like that much of a change at all. I don’t need to be married, not the way that I thought I did years ago, but it’s nice. I love Aaron and everyone knows it. And so we will have a celebration of that love, and that’s what matters I think.
The audience was mostly made up of people that either knew us through the choir, or friends and family of the choir who had at least met us in passing. Many of them, I later learned, were well aware that this was going to happen. Aaron had also gotten my grandmother’s permission and spoke to my sister Janice and my cousin Katie, both of whom I speak to on a daily basis.
After all of that we struggled to get to another show, Heartbeat Opera’s delightful Queeny Todd: The Demon Bottom of Fleet Street, but with all that Halloween traffic, it took us over an hour traverse the relatively short distance (about 7 blocks). The parade route made everything take longer and it was honestly somewhat nightmarish, but I was in such shock that I could barely comprehend what was happening. And being over an hour late for the show, missing the first half, it was very difficult for me to focus on what was happening on stage, despite being in the front row (as I was gifted a VIP ticket by the executive director, a close friend of ours). The show was extremely entertaining and I’m still a bit sad that I wasn’t able to see the entire thing, but even as I thought the night was ending on a slightly disappointing / disconnected note, the creative director announced our engagement from the stage and we were given a standing ovation and many people stopped us to congratulate us. It was really lovely. I was exhausted; I hadn’t eaten anything since about noon and I was still fighting through a series of cluster migraines, but I was able to have fun and it was all very memorable. I generally don’t enjoy surprises at all. I find them almost painful, honestly, but because I knew all these people (or most of them) and I knew that they would be there, that helped make it less intense for me. I was overwhelmed, I was in shock, but I was already prepared to have a good time with people I knew. It was easier than some surprises in the past have been, for which I’m very grateful. And also very grateful to be surrounded by so much love and support. Growing up, I would have expected a very different response.
On Sunday we finally watched another Strange New Worlds episode, Season 4, Episode 8, “Orders of Magnitude”, which was actually quite good. We’ve both struggled with this series in the last couple of seasons, and this one has felt like a really bad patch, but there have been a few good ones as well. We have 2 more left in this season and then there will be a 6 episode final season released at some point next year. If it can end well, that would be a relief. And I do still look forward to someday binging the series when it’s done. I’ve never rewatched any of Seasons 3 or 4, and I’ve not re-watched seasons 1-2 since 3 began.
On Monday I ran some errands, but the migraines continued. I mostly stayed in the dark trying not to take painkiller. I take painkiller all the time and have done for years. I know it’s bad for me, but this is what the alternative is like and I did eventually take some – but I’m trying to take better care of myself. I just don’t know what to do when the pain is so debilitating, but the medication may harm me as well? It was in the mid 60s outside and sort of perfect, and that bit was nice.
I went to bed relatively early – but unexpectedly, woke up with acid reflux. I had forgotten to take my medication until late, due to being distracted by what I had considered an emergency (until I calmed down) and I was now paying the price. Ugh. At least I was able to finally write about all that has happened! lol 🙂
The penultimate episode of VisionQuest will be released tonight (11-30-26). I’ve heard mixed reactions to this one, though I’ve heard that next week’s finale is a banger. I look forward to seeing both.
Today’s journal entry title song quote is from the extended version of “Bad Times”, which I am now learning is a deep house song generated with artificial intelligence (AI) and credited to UK-based Hungarian therapist Bernadett Gango, whose stage name is Imael Angel. The song was self-released on 30 March 2026. Damn. I can’t be upset about it, because I already love it.
I went to bed relatively early last night. We needed to be up very early this morning for Aaron’s appointment – with no time to shave. I got some writing done, a new poem about Sean and a few more fragments. Missing him.
I’m not sure if I mentioned this, but Aaron and I watched some TNG this weekend. We’d been working on watching all of Star Trek in chronological order and had stalled for a bit. I knew he wanted to continue and I had to cancel some plans with him due to my disability – so we watched some TNG instead (S03E11 “The Hunted” & S03E12 “The High Ground”); after this point I know the series much better, having had access to / re-watching the rest of Season 3, Season 4 & Season 5, with much of Seasons 6 & 7 as well. Still, it’s been a long time, decades even since I’ve seen some of them and it should be fun.
Aaron had his show tonight, which I’ll likely see on Saturday. I stayed in and watched the 2 new VisionQuest episodes. I liked them overall, though this is the first week in which I was a bit frustrated with Vision’s reluctance to give Tommy information that he needs and is asking for, and near the end it seemed we were moving past that, until we weren’t. I have a theory about who the mysterious “client” is in the series, but I don’t want to say and possibly spoil it for anyone else. The series continues to have several surprises, some of which are great. The continuity mostly feels on point, but it also sometimes feels forced; like they’re checking off references on a score card or something. I usually love this stuff, so even my reaction to that seems odd. I am slightly worried about how the series might end given that there are only 2 episodes left, 1 a week – but the episodes are the longest of the season, so we essentially have a movie length’s worth of time to go. My hope is that Billy and Tommy and Vision are reunited at the end (with Vision closer to his previous iterations) and that they leave to find Wanda – with a set-up for either “Doomsday” and / or “Secret Wars”.
My head really hurts. Sometimes migraines creep up on me – and this one certainly has.
I need to take some pain killer and get ready for bed.
Today’s journal entry title song quote is from “We Exist” by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire from their 2013 fourth studio album, “Reflektor”. The song was described by Arcade Fire lead singer Win Butler as “about a gay kid talking to his dad” and coming out to his straight father. Introducing the song onstage, Butler also said that “the right to marry anyone you want is a human rights issue.” Andrew Garfield stars in the music video as a transgender woman, shaving her head and getting dressed. She then goes to a small-town local bar where she is harassed and assaulted by some bar patrons. She collapses and enters a “dream-like sequence”, where she dances accompanied by a group of male dancers in matching plaid half-shirts and jean shorts. In the final moments of the video, the protagonist walks through a portal to Arcade Fire’s Coachella concert, where she dances on stage.
On Sunday, October 18, 2026, I marked the 25 year anniversary of the night that I met Sean Mobley. We eventually dated. He struggled with addiction for years, and eventually ended his life in December of 2021. We went for long intervals without contact, but when we did speak he often mentioned that of all the people he dated, that I was the kindest, and based on a smattering of stories he shared, I believed him. He had a lot of bad experiences; a lot of demons, and many horrible things happened to him in those last years. He wasn’t always the easiest person to communicate with, but I always cherished our time together and I miss him.
I tried to not get depressed or lost in past, which is one of my struggles. I tried to eat healthy food that day – and to be kind to myself, with some success at both.
On Monday, October 19, I went with Aaron to his therapy appointment. I’m getting more in the habit of this trip, the route we drive, the pace of the therapy and our trip home after when I drive. In fact, on this day I drove us all the way home, which was a first for me. I’ve never driven in Manhattan like this before, which went really well. I was lucky, because there was far less traffic than there often is, but I was also more skilled in dealing with the stuff that bothers me than I had thought possible, so that was nice.
That afternoon I decided I’d revisit some LGBTQ films I watched during the pandemic, a film project that at the time had kept me sane in lockdown and which grew into a viewing of several hundred queer films – and eventually, many film reviews, but not only didn’t I know that was something that would happen, in the beginning, I just wanted to watch movies and that’s all there was to it, so there are lots of entries that I never really wrote anything about. Now I can. So I re-watched the first entry that I originally watched on March 18, 2020, “Geography Club”, a 2013 adaptation of the 2003 young adult novel by queer American author Brent Hartinger…and I think even that description is more than I originally wrote about it. I’ll try to write the review later today.
I haven’t watched any more Avatar since the other day. I have watched the VisionQuest episodes as they’ve been released (with episodes 3 & 4 released on Tuesday 10-20-26) and I’m loving that. There are so many shows I’d like to get to, but I also don’t want to spend all of my time watching TV.
Speaking of October 20, that day I had a follow-up appointment with my new Primary Care Physician. Technically, I’ve been seeing him for years, but with a different doctor as my PCP, but the the guy I’ve been seeing, is great in many ways, but has failed me a few times now, in ways that have hurt my trust in him. I can always go back and see him in a pinch if I have to, but my new PCP is funny, gay, and most importantly, brilliant. He always asks me questions that the other doesn’t, and puts me on a path that feels productive, responsive and responsible. I feel good about this.
Yesterday, October 21, 2026, was easily the worst day I’ve had in a long time. Everything went wrong. Anything I tried to do, failed. I was planning on working on a photo project because I was going to have the apartment to myself, only Aaron didn’t leave. I love when Aaron is here, but I had specifically made plans based on what he’d told me, so that was disappointing. It wasn’t that big of a deal though. I decided I’d go for a walk, but the outfit I chose wasn’t warm enough; the forecast I’d seen had said it was going to be in the 70s, but it was in the high 50s. I returned home to get a jacket, but the jacket caught on something, injuring me, and spoiling the mood. Again, not a huge deal. I had plenty of things I needed to do on my website, so I changed, and got ready for an afternoon spent at my desk, but then the internet went out. Aaron asked if I’d like to go to his rehearsal that night and I thought about it and decided that I would, and that’s when the migraine kicked in. I took medication, and I ate, but none of it stayed down. I cancelled. I decided I’d stay in and relax and watch some television. I’ve been slowly working my way through Law & Order: Special Victims Unit for years, and when they crossover with other shows, I watch those episodes. The other day I’d finished Season 23 and had started Season 4, which began with a crossover between Organized Crime (Part 1), SVU (Part 2) and the original Law & Order (Part 3) – and I had watched the first 2, so I tried watched the third part, only that season is one that isn’t available on streaming. I tried just skipping to the next SVU, but it kept crashing. I’m not even listing everything. I didn’t cry. But I sometimes felt like crying. It was horrible. Before I slept I was able to keep some toast down, and by then it felt like a huge victory.
I slept well. I woke up early and had a smoothie, then went back to bed, finally finished reading “Magic’s Pawn”, then cuddled with Aaron for a few hours. Today, October 22, 2026, is our 15 year anniversary! He’s working today but we’re planning on doing something on Saturday. I’d like to go to the Brooklyn Boardwalk as I’ve never been there, but Aaron would like to Botanical Gardens. Perhaps we’ll do both? We’ll see. I look forward to reading “Magic’s Promise”, which is the last novel I need to reread before the new entry comes out in December, though there are a few short stories I should probably look back on. I’ll work that out later.
A week ago today, I got a Facebook message from Jeff Adkins, a friendly guy I hooked up with a little over 26 years ago. I do try to stay in touch with everyone I’ve ever dated / hooked up with, which I’m sure must seem weird to some people. It seems weird to me sometimes too, but coming of age during the AIDS crisis, we were encouraged to have contact information for anyone we had sex with, and that has stuck with me. Plus, I just genuinely like talking to people that I know intimately. Anyways, it was good to hear from him; he has a new book coming out that he’s written called “The F#ckboy Recovery Guide” which will be released next month. He wanted me to read it, which I was flattered by, but just like with several other friends who are authors, I had to let him know that I’m an extremely slow reader. I don’t think I conveyed (but should have) that I also have a hard time focusing on any one thing. I start lots of books, with the intention of finishing them, but then I see something shiny and off I go. It’s become far worse as I’ve aged. I would like to read his book. And I encourage others to check it out. Anyways – I figured I wrote about him back in the day, because that’s generally how it goes with me, and I had, so I ported that poem over to this site, and here it is.
I might try to port more poetry over today. I also want to get that review in and I have some other films I’d like to watch. I’m not sure if that will happen today. I’m really very hungry right now so I’ll try to eat and see how that goes, I guess.
Today’s journal entry title song quote is from “Charlotte Sometimes” by English rock band The Cure, from the 2005 deluxe edition of their 1981 third studio album “Faith”. The title and lyrics were based on the 1969 children’s novel “Charlotte Sometimes” by the English writer Penelope Farmer. The Rough Guide to Cult Pop called the song “a goth masterpiece of doomed beauty and ruined elegance”. Agreed.
I accompanied Aaron to his appointment yesterday (Tuesday, 10-13-26), which went well. Driving us home I was supposed to stop somewhere so he could do the driving in the city (which I’ve never done and find terrifying), but I ended up driving us through the Bronx and into Manhattan! It was stressful, but we were able to switch over before things got too nightmarish. I can’t handle when people are double parked on both sides of a street, and there’s always a lot of that.
I took a nap when we got home so I could be awake for “VisionQuest”. I watched another episode of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” (S01E04 “The Warriors of Kyoshi”), which I enjoyed. And later when I saw “VisionQuest”…it took me a little longer to get into it than I was expecting, in part due to its reliance on footage from previous stories, but once it started relying more on new stuff, I was in. I gasped in surprise several times. I laughed and I cried. I found the timeline a bit confusing, but I think what it’s saying is that it is set very late in 2028, later than “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” but before “Avengers: Doomsday”. We’ll see if that’s confirmed.
Late 2023: WandaVision Late 2024: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Late 2026: Agatha All Along Late 2028: VisionQuest
I couldn’t write any of this down last night because I had a visual migraine and had to go to bed, but I slept well. I cuddled with Aaron this morning and then we showered together. I uploaded 6 new pieces to the NSFW Photo Collages.
I actually still have the migraine. It’s been on and off for a few days. But that’s pretty normal for me. What isn’t normal, is this long stretch without them. I’m not complaining! lol It’s just interesting.
Today’s journal entry song quote is from “Hustler” by bisexual Australian singer / songwriter Josef Salvat, from his 2015 debut studio album, “Night Swim”.
I woke up around 2am. I got up, ate (6 veggie tots with chia seeds), read the news and worked on new NSFW Photo Collages for my website. Just as I was going back to bed I noticed a headline that revealed that all of the “VisionQuest” episodes had moved from Wednesday night releases to Tuesdays, meaning the premiere will be tonight, October 13, which relates to events in “WandaVision” which were relayed in “Agatha All Along”. Nice. I went back to bed. My stomach hurt and I was hyped about the show, but I did manage to get back to sleep, for about a minute, when Aaron woke me. He has these night terrors, sleep paralysis, and has learned that if he calls out that I will wake him – just as I’ve learned to wake up completely when I hear him calling. I was glad I was there to help, but was frustrated to be awake. I didn’t think I could fall asleep again, so I got up and had a smoothie. Aaron has a brand of chocolate smoothie which bothers his stomach, so he isn’t using it anymore. I asked him yesterday if he minded if I tried it and he didn’t object, so I made one of those and drank it very quickly…because it was delicious, but this led to me shivering. body shaking for about 10 minutes. I finished a third collage, which means I can add them now (I like to do them in threes) but I might hold off until I can do more. I’ve not decided. I’m not sure I can sleep now, but we have to leave here at 10 and won’t be home until around 3, I think. Which means I’ll probably crash around then – which hopefully wasn’t a bad choice of words, since I’ll be driving today.
This morning’s journal entry song quote is from “Dance Desire”, by the Canadian band Haywire, from their 1987 second album, “Don’t Just Stand There”. I used to watch a Canadian Music Video show in the 80s called “Video Hits”, which played this song. I found a lot of Canadian music fascinating, and I liked a lot of it, but at the time it was very hard to find as many of the ‘hits’ were either not released in the United States or didn’t chart here. Anyways, I’ve only liked this one.
Sunday (10-11-26) there was a huge storm, with flood warnings for much of Manhattan. I was still having trouble eating and I wasn’t sure why. Aaron and I were talking and I remembered that when we watched Season 3 of “Heartstopper” a few months ago, that the disordered eating scenes hit me really hard but I couldn’t remember why. I later looked up what I wrote about it in my blog at the time, and I read that to Aaron. He commented that he loved my writing, which is something he’s told me many times, but it somehow always surprises me. Later, remembering how I would starve as a child until I felt safe, I realized that this was the problem. There’s an ongoing conversation between me as I am now, and my childhood self. It began in 2006, and has continued over the years as it has proven useful to me, but every now and again I lose sight of this, and it always ends badly when I do. I realized I had not fed my childhood self in a long while, which is to say that when I changed my diet this year I had assured him that this wasn’t a problem and that we weren’t excluding foods that made him feel safe, even if I was eating them less often. I let him know I was going to get him some food he could eat and I started relaxing almost instantly – even as the conversation continued. I calmed him down. I got him what he needed. And things improved drastically. I walked through the heavy rainfall to Starbucks for me, and to the grocery store to get him some chips. That probably sounds crazy, but it’s effective. Nobody took notice of him when I was a kid, when I was him, and so I look after him. Aaron says it sounds like I’m parenting him, and I suppose that’s true.
Lately, things have been really rough. A lot of stress has been coming my way. And a lot of different triggers. I think I’ve managed most of these problems successfully. But I’m just noting that things haven’t been this rough in a long time. I’ve started taking Xanax again, a bit more often than I usually do. I used to take it every day, for years. But I learned other coping skills and those are usually enough. I keep a prescription open and I do use it when I need it, but I’ve needed it more lately. I’m glad that I have it and I feel I’m using it responsibly. I just need to pay a bit more attention to what is going on in my life to make this so much more difficult than it had been.
Oh. On Sunday I watched the first episode of “Avatar: Seven Havens”, which I enjoyed. The episode, plus 2 others, were released on Friday. I’ve only seen a few “Avatar: The Last Airbender” episodes, which I started a few years ago, but didn’t stick with it – even though I enjoyed it a lot. I decided to start over and watched the first 3 or 4 episodes, which again, I enjoyed. I’d really like to see more of his universe and I know it would mean a lot to my cousin Katie, who loves it. It’s not that it doesn’t interest me, but I feel like it’s increasingly difficult for me to stay focused on any one thing, which bothers me, but I kind of like the idea of watching the new series as it unfolds, while catching up on the older stuff. Hopefully I can stay focused on it. I mean, even with everything they’ve announced there’s less than 300 installments, and many of those won’t be available in the near future, so I have no excuse really. I’ll try.
I went to bed early, as I’ve been doing lately, and after reading a big chunk of “Magic’s Pawn”, I slept most of the night, getting up with Aaron after we cuddled for about an hour. Later, I realized that my therapy session, which I thought was on Wednesday is actually on tomorrow, when I need to be with Aaron for his therapy, so I had to move the appointment, which brought on more stress. I decided I needed to go for a walk, and it was about 72 degrees out, much warming than the day before, which had been in the high 50s. I walked to Fort Tryon Park, which is my goto, and as I sat on a park bench, “In This Life” by Madonna started playing on my LGBTQ+ Playlist – and this made me laugh as the first line of the song is “Sitting on a park bench”. My life has become a sad 1992 Madonna song. It came out in October too – I remember well, because it was was released around the same time as Anne Rice’s “The Tale of the Body Thief”, which I was reading. I headed home. I took a shower with Aaron and talked through some stuff with him which made us both feel better.
I weighed myself after the shower and I was shocked to see that I’d lost weight, despite wolfing down the chips I got for Little Jason the night before. I’ve basically lost 40 pounds since last year. That’s crazy.
They released the titles of all 8 episodes of VisionQuest today:
I love the the titles. The first is clearly tied to Ultron, who says the line in “Avengers: Age of Ultron”, while the second installment features a reference to the Ship of Theseus, also known as Theseus’s Paradox, which was the crux of an argument made by Hex Vision (in “WandaVision” S01E09 “The Series Finale”) that started White Vision on the journey that we will seemingly finally see in this new series. Very cool. Reviews are out now and while there are people that didn’t like it, they seem to not like it because it’s mired in M.C.U. continuity, but that’s one my favorite things, so I suspect I’ll enjoy it quite a lot. Reviewers who seem to dig the M.C.U. as much as I do seem to have loved it. The episodes are released at 9pm, which might be rough for me. I’ve been going to bed really early. But maybe I’ll get up early so I can watch them – or stay awake. We’ll see.
I’m already tired, and I have the beginnings of what could be a really bad migraine, so I’m going to get away from my computer, and I might take some painkiller. I’ve been hesitant to take any lately as I feel I was taking it too often, when often my pain either doesn’t improve from the meds, or often, if I just wait it out, it improves on its own. This feels different though, so I will treat it accordingly.
Today’s journal entry song quote title is from “Jesus to a Child” by English singer / songwriter (and gay pop culture icon) George Michael, from his 1996 third solo studio album, “Older”. The song is a melancholic tribute to Michael’s late lover, Anselmo Feleppa, who died of AIDS related complications in 1993. George Michael was one one of my rare celebrity crushes and I wept for him when he died on Christmas day, 2016, nearly 10 years ago, at the age of 53. One of the odd vagaries of existence, is that if you live long enough, when others don’t, you can eventually be older than them. When he died I was 42, but next year, if I’m lucky enough to live that long, I too will be 53. It fucks with my head. I mean, if I live to be 54, I will be the one who is OLDER. So weird. So sad.
I stayed in on Monday (10-05-26). I didn’t feel great. Aaron stayed home also, skipping pool, due to his leg injury. I was planning on going with him if he did go, but I was fine staying home.
Tuesday (10-06-26) I needed to get out for a bit and I was hungry. I went to Starbucks and got the spinach feta wrap and stopped at the pharmacy on the way home, only the line was so long and I didn’t need to pick up the prescription that had been filled because I still had some.
Later I got the test results from my anal pap. I had been dreading the news. At my age, as a sexually active bottom, the chances were very high that I had HPV, but I had consoled myself with the knowledge that coming of age during the AIDS crisis, most of my partners had worn condoms. Additionally, most of my lovers weren’t one night stands, but relationships, some of whom likely had never been exposed to the virus (strict tops who less experienced than me) or in some cases, had been vaccinated. Aaron, who has been my central partner for nearly 15 years, was vaccinated before we met. And in that 15 year time (that’s 15 years this month), I’ve slept with 4 other men, 3 of them with Aaron. All of them have used condoms, save one, who didn’t fuck me. And I was also vaccinated several years ago as at the time, they couldn’t find anyone who would test me, and my thinking was that if they couldn’t prove that I had it, then I wanted the very expensive vaccine, which I got, paid out of pocket and have never regretted. All that to say is that while I knew I might have it, there was a good chance that I didn’t. I was told that I’d get 2 results and that the first is often a false positive, so I just waited until I had both. But both were negative. I’m HPV negative. I still can’t quite believe it. And it doesn’t make me any less angry that they didn’t allow men to get the vaccine when I asked for it in my 20s.
Wednesday (10-07-26) I had an early morning appointment at my cardiologist’s office. A hot guy (Roman) performed the test. They listened to and scanned my heart. The results all seem normal, which I suppose is good. There was one oddity, but it wasn’t marked as being an issue, but honestly I don’t really understand the test or the results so I’ll wait for the doc to let me know how I’m doing. I’ve been considerate of my heart health ever since my cousin Michael, who is one month younger than me, had a heart attack a few years ago. Scared the Hell out of me, which I told him when I saw him in the summer of 2025. Tuesday night, Aaron went to choir and I wanted to go with him to see everyone, but we had a grocery order that I needed to wait for so I played some Zelda and watched some SVU. I was a little bummed to see that I had somehow gained 7 pounds. Well, 4 really. I weighed 180 for a single day and then I was hovering around 183 or so. Then today I was 187.
Thursday (10-08-26) I woke up feeling like I wanted to work on my Marvel viewing order, unraveling a particularly continuity heavy knot (events surrounding 2016’s “Captain America: Civil War”) which took most of the day. All of it, really.
I was happy to see that I’d somehow lost 5 pounds. So I’m back to 182.8. I love eating these Veggie Tots (which are delicious treats which count as an entire serving of vegetables), but I’ve noticed they seem to linger in my body for a lot longer than I would expect – and I weigh a lot more with them inside me. The thing is, they ‘depart’ days later, so the weight gain is always short lived, but it keeps me from having them as an every day snack. Food is weird. Especially for me, since I’ve tended to avoid thinking about it most of my life.
As I was unwinding, more Marvel news started pouring in. Partially because VisionQuest (which begins on Wednesday, just 6 days from now) has been released to critics in full, and it’s getting very good reactions so far. And also (and I’m not sure why this slipped my mind) but Marvel TV had a panel at NYCC today, in which they announced and confirmed several fun things. I knew they were having something at NYCC, and I knew it was in October, but my brain had not processed that it was now October and that I should be looking for this news to pop up. lol
2 episodes a week until the final 2 episodes – both of which will more than an hour long. All the episodes are pretty long compared to previous shows. Nice. Again, the full series has been released to critics, and the ones I follow, one of which was NOT excited for this series, are raving about how good it is! The review embargo lifts on Monday, so I’ll have to do my best to avoid spoilers – but it is nice to have something to look forward to.
Avengers: Doomsday has a new poster, which was released last weekend. It features the Latverian Witches that were revealed at SDCC (pictured just above). New rumors seem to indicate these characters won’t actually be a big deal, but I feel like this is a misdirect. If they weren’t important, why tease them so effectively? Why tease their costumes at a fan event where they changed the costume every day with a different color? Maybe they aren’t anything at all. But I think they are. I hope they are. I feel like they’re doing a really great job of keeping spoilers at bay for this film, that, or I’m getting better at avoiding them. But when the costume was originally revealed, I really hoped that the final version would be scarlet, if you know what I mean, but instead they switched the costume to that of Doom. But the more distant witch in the poster certainly seems to be scarlet. <3
Season 2 of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is confirmed for January 13, 2027. It will feature the Alien Costume, Daredevil (Charlie Cox), Doc Oc and Scorpion will return, and we’ll meet Spider-Gwen. I loved the first season so I’m excited for this. Also, it was strange to be working on the placement of the series for hours today, and then have news about Season 2 come pouring in! Season 3 is also in the works and I wonder how many seasons the series will run for? Also, I loved the parallels with the 616 Spider-Man in the first season and I wonder if they’ll continue to toy with that?
Marvel Zombies will return in a series of 2-part Halloween Specials, released in 2027, 2028 & 2029 – with the final special described as a culmination of the whole story (so presumably the ending). The first special, The Winter Soldier, will explain Bucky’s whereabouts in the previous saga and will reportedly be filled with revelations. The second special, The Fist of Khonshu will presumably be about Blade Knight, the badass iteration of Blade / Moon Knight introduced in Season 1 of Marvel Zombies. I have loved the Marvel Zombies since the story was introduced back in Season 1 of “What If…?” (S01E05) back in 2021, and it was my favorite episode of that series overall, so I’m thrilled that the story will continue, but I’m also slightly disappointed that we have to wait until 2029 to see how it ends.
Also, there is a mysterious SECRET live action series coming in 2028 titled “Zodiac”, which they will be casting soon (so rumors are expected) and that will film in 2027 in London. It was mentioned that there are clues in the logo, and it at least implies a connection to S.H.I.E.L.D., but in what capacity? Clark Gregg (aka as Phil Coulson) shared the post about the series. Could this imply that it is a sequel to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.? What does this mean? We’ll see.
X-Men ’97 will return next year for Season 3, which we already knew, but that’s about all we know. I believe a 4th season was also already announced, so expect that in 2028.
The news was welcomed. But I was exhausted and Aaron had made plans for us this morning, so I headed to bed. I believe I fell asleep between 10 & 11. I woke up around 4. I thought I’d be able to get back to sleep but after struggling to do so for 1.5 hours I got up around 5:30, made a smoothie and wrote this. Well, I adjusted it. I had scribbled it down last night before bed, but decided at the time that I’d edit it later as I was just too tired at the time.
Today’s journal entry song quote is from “Kiss Them for Me”, by English goth rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, which was released in 1991 as the first single from the band’s 10th studio album, “Superstition”. According to Wikipedia, upon its release, the single received enthusiastic reviews. “Kiss Them for Me” became their most successful single in the US peaking at number 23 in the Billboard Hot 100. Billboard also ranked it as the second most-played song of the year on American alternative music radio. I couldn’t have told you any of that. I bought their second singles compilation, “Twice Upon a Time – The Singles” in late 1992 because I loved the song “Face to Face” from that year’s “Batman Returns”. I was only vaguely aware of the band at all, and I didn’t really know what to make of them. I ended up loving the entire album, but not having experienced the singles as they were released, I didn’t really grasp the experience of how each song hit and / or when. That was also 2 years before I went to my first club, which is where I heard most of my music, and I was delighted to learn that they were in heavy rotation at such venues, as I’d thought of them a s niche sort of quirky band that I had discovered that nobody else seemed to like. lol The early 90s were such a different time!
I did cuddle with Aaron yesterday morning. Then we showered together. I stayed in. I had been excited to return to Zumba Class this week, but I had a migraine so I didn’t go. I slept pretty well that night though.
This morning I woke up around 5, inspired to work on my website, solving several problems with my Marvel viewing order. I worked on it for hours but I got a lot done. I returned to Aaron around 7 or 7:30 to shower, then went back to working on my site. I took a brief nap at one point. But I was at my computer most of the day. At around 4:30 pm I felt I needed to get outside. I shaved and showered, dressed and did my 2 mile walk to Fort Tryon and back. I passed a film crew at one point but didn’t stop to see what they were working on. I also walked by Nathan, a guy that Aaron and I hooked up with several months ago. We waved, but we didn’t stop. He was walking with someone who I think is his roommate. Part of me thought: I’ve become one of those gays that slightly acknowledges people I’ve been intimate with as we encounter each other, without saying hello. But I was walking, and he didn’t call out or anything, and I don’t know what was going on. I wasn’t bothered, but it was an odd moment.
I was wearing a Concrete Blonde shirt, from the “Bloodletting” album, which I love. I listened to it as I walked. I got a spinach wrap at Starbucks on my way home and also stopped to get some more pita bread from the grocery store. The wrap was delicious. I showered the sweat from the walk off, started listening to “Mexican Moon” (also by Concrete Blonde) and decided to write this.
As I started this, Aaron arrived back home, after having moved the car to a new parking garage that will save us $300 a month. That’s nice. I showed him the new (final) VisionQuest trailer, which he liked – and I loved. I can’t wait to see it!
I’m starting to wind down. I might play some Zelda before bed.
Today’s journal entry song quote is from “Caroline”, a song by American alternative rock band Concrete Blonde from their third studio album, “Bloodletting”, which was released on May 15, 1990. The album features guest appearances by R.E.M.’s Peter Buck and Wall of Voodoo’s Andy Prieboy. “Caroline” was released in September 1990 as the third single and was written by Johnette Napolitano, and produced by Concrete Blonde and Chris Tsangarides. Mike Boehm, writing for the Los Angeles Times, described “Caroline” as “a mysterious, gorgeously evocative song that recalls Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rhiannon’.” In a review of Bloodletting’, Marc D. Allan of The Indianapolis Star wrote, “‘Caroline’ is a good example of the band’s strengths. Napolitano’s lush vocals, combined with Mankey’s eerie guitar, create a subtle but powerful piece of pop.” In a retrospective review, Ned Raggett of AllMusic described the song’s lyrics as “addressing a departed friend”. I don’t recall the song from the time, but when I bought the album several years later it quickly became my favorite track, though I love all of the songs and seldom ever just listen to a single song from it, rather I listen to the whole thing.
On Thursday (August 13) I cuddled with Aaron in the morning but he needed to get up to go into work. Later JP, our Super, stopped by trying to figure out if our apartment was the cause of a leak in the apartment below us. This has happened many times over the years, these impromptu visits, because there has been a leak, off and on in the apartment below us, but they’ve never found anything. They’ve opened up their ceiling and had us run all of our water and there has never been any evidence that it’s coming from us. I wish they had found something so it could be fixed, but it’s been going on now for at least 8 years and although I know that it isn’t, it starts to feel like harassment. The Super is great and he’s frustrated because the neighbors yell at him. We are always kind and cooperative with everyone, even when they stop by at really inopportune moments and inappropriate times, like LATE at night, with no warning in advance. They come in, they see that everything is legit and they leave, frustrated, but thankful for our understanding. It’s starting to wear on me though. So that bothered me all day.
Thursday night, Aaron and I watched the new episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (S04E04 “A Case of Chiaroscuro”), which was a mixed bag. Really, all of Season 3 & Season 4 has been a mixed bag, and while I enjoyed the first 2 seasons, they had their problems also. Sadly, this is not the series that I expected or wanted, which in fairness, they don’t owe me, but it’s pretty disappointing. There are only 12 episodes left, but because they’ve focused on other things, there’s no time now to give me answers about these characters that I wanted from the beginning, and I find that I’m ready for the series to end, because it’s not that good. And I have some hope that once the series is wrapped up, that maybe I can accept it for what it is, rather than what it is not. Also, perhaps it will end well? That could help. The state of the series also lends weight to my ongoing theory that when watching The Kurtzman Era of Trek, that this phase of Trek is best served by watching Discovery last, which gives us a whole bonus season with Pike plus episodes with Spock, Una and the Enterprise that I actually love – feeling like a fantastic surprise, rather than a prologue to this show, which then squanders nearly everything possible. I wish I enjoyed it more, but I don’t. Aaron feels the same.
I went off my sleeping meds Thursday night as I was building a tolerance to them. This happens occasionally. It’s also probably just a healthy thing to do. I actually look forward to it, although it’s harder for me to sleep without them and I struggle with several issues as a result, I always have really intense dreams. These are often nightmares, but I still enjoy them for the vivid imagery and sensations. I don’t remember them now and I didn’t write them down, but I remember they were wild.
On Friday (August 14) I worked on my website. I’ve actually been working on it daily. There are now more than 400 poems on my website, but I have at least 1,000 more. I created a viewing order for American Horror Story. I’ve also uploaded more NSFW Photo Collages – I always try to mix in recent photos, and these included photos from this week. Also, a friend reviewed my site, relaying how much she loved the photos, which was nice to hear.
Later I went for a walk. I also played some Zelda, after not having played in at least a month. It’s strange playing intermittently when I’m used to playing non-stop. The last 6 years have been really weird. But I seem to be bouncing back and I hope that what’s happening now is my new normal. I feel like I’m in better shape than I have been in decades. If this is 52, then I’m not complaining!
I was tired but I stayed up to for the Marvel / Star Wars News from D23, which did not disappoint. I’ve been hyped for VisionQuest for years at this point and it really feels like the Wanda / Vision corner of The Multiverse Saga has been really rewarding. I still have hopes that the new series will lead to a family reunion between Vision, Tommy, Billy, Agatha and Wanda which will then feature in the films and see them all together, happy. That’s what I want. It’s always been what I want. But I’m not sure if any of this will happen in any way at any time.
The new look at Avengers: Doomsday was better than the first. It shows far fewer characters but feels like we’re getting far more story, and that has me more excited. I do feel that they are holding back on details and I like that. I believe there are also various characters in this film that have not been announced. The run time appears to be 2 hours and 45 minutes, based on the showtimes available in theaters. I’m really looking forward to this and I think it will retroactively help a lot of the multiverse films feel far more connected and important. We’ve seen that plenty of characters introduced in those films are coming back here, making them all seem more important, which is great. Going so long without any big crossovers like this, they’ve felt disconnected and that’s been frustrating for everyone, even me.
The live action adventures of Ahsoka Tano which began in The Mandalorian & The Book of Boba Fett continues in Season 2 of her title series. I had mixed reactions to Season 1, but one of my negative reactions was to the cliffhanger ending. This season will resolve that – and hopefully not end on another 1. It looks at least slightly better than Season 1 to me, but I won’t know until I see it. I’ve never rewatched Season 1. I’ve not rewatched much of this era of Star Wars actually, though I’d like to at some point. I’m not crazy excited about this, but I’m happy that it will be available down the line (in January).
I went to bed around 3am on Saturday, August 15. I didn’t look at my phone. I went right to sleep. Waking from drugless dreams of having to live with a one night stand (Joe Lee) who was oddly, a Nazi, and really frustrating. It was like a really dark comedy. I had something resembling a migraine when I woke but it faded quickly. I showed Aaron the new trailers and shared the news and things but then he attended a Stonewall meeting while had a smoothie and started updating my blog.
Today’s journal entry song quote is from “Temple of Love”, a song by the English rock band the Sisters of Mercy, written by the band’s lead singer Andrew Eldritch, which was the fifth (non album) single released by the Sisters of Mercy. Following the release of the band’s third album Vision Thing in 1990, there appeared to be no plans for a new record anytime soon, leading the band’s record label Merciful Release to reissue the band’s early non-album singles and B-sides, which had been out of print at this point, on the compilation Some Girls Wander by Mistake. This included the extended 12-inch version of the original “Temple of Love” recording. In conjunction with this release, the Sisters of Mercy also recorded a new version of “Temple of Love” featuring Israeli singer Ofra Haza, whom Eldritch was a longtime fan of. “Temple of Love (1992)” did not appear on Some Girls Wander by Mistake, but it did appear on the Sisters of Mercy’s greatest hits album A Slight Case of Overbombing, released a year later in 1993.
I’ve always preferred the original version, but it wasn’t the version that was playing when I wrote this, so I’m sharing the 1992 version.
