'COMING OUT'

 
I just learned that it was recently Coming Out day (who designates these days and months dedicated to categories of humans?) ao belatedly here's a cover photo of me at 29 in DC in early 1972 when I 'came out' as gay because calling myself bi-sexual would have spared me a lot of the oppression suffered by gay men in The Gay Liberation Front I became active in at the time, when homosexuality was still considered a mental illness and a crime for which you could be locked up, let alone fired, ostracized, belittled, and attacked.

Plus I felt the term bi-sexual implies there's only two kinds of sexual activity and identity when my experience is that every sexually intimate connection is unique, so the possibilities are incalculable. Later on I used the term 'pansexual' and eventually let all labels go (though I love the term 'fluid' for what I feel). I'm grateful I had the chance to be a part of a movement that made much progress as a result of our activism, though tere's still so much to be done. [SAY IT AGAIN tells the story of how I got to that 'coming out' day] 

MY YOUNGEST

Two favorite photos of my youngest child, Flynn, and me goofing when he was around 5 and 23. He just turned 27 and every day makes me grateful and proud. 

KRIS KRISTOFFERSON R.I.P.

 
Not long after I moved to LA in 1982, I was at a Hollywood party getting a fair amount of attention from people there, until Kris Kristofferson walked in and lit up the room with his charisma. I watched as everyone struggled to resist glomming onto him. I was totally envious, til I was introduced to him and found him just as you would expect, a smart, gifted, beautiful person. That was my only close  encounter with him. Condolences to all who knew and admired him.

SON DAY

 Me and my sons several years ago when I could still shave and stand up straight:

DAUGHTER DAY

Daughter Day is every day since late February of 1968 when Caitlin graced my life with hers. Here we are back then, and in early 2019.

STILL MORE RECENT VISITORS

 
Two of my favorite poets and people came up from Jersey and Long Island to hang out with me recently: Stella Kamakaris (to my right) and Maria Serrano. Note my right middle finger, permanently stuck at FU (which for me means bless you) for several years now. The universe feckin' with me no doubt.

J D SOUTHER R.I.P.

 
I spent many days in the 1980s in and around the pool at Carrie Fisher's house in the Hollywood Hills. We were close friends in those years. One afternoon Carrie invited the great singer/songwriter J D Souther to join us. She thought we'd dig each other. I totally dug him and thought he was the coolest person I'd met in Hollywood. I had no idea who he was at the time, or what he thought of me. But over the years that followed, whenever I encountered him, he was always totally warm and mellow with me, and always the coolest person in the room, to me. Deep condolences to his family, friends, and fans.