Gay of a Certain Age - WeHo Pride 2025 - Day 1

 Gay Pride in WeHo came in two days: the first day being the last day of May!

As a Gay of a Certain Age, especially in the time which inspired me to come up with the moto, "Be More Gay!" I know the importance of gathering and creating joy wherever and whenever we can.  It also didn't hurt that muh DABs, Dudley and Mark Gaddis invited me to join them in a little pre-parade reveling. 

We kicked off the day at Mother Lode, a favorite haunt of ours.  We met up with our friends Anthony & Chris and enjoyed the view of Pride happenings and folks around us.

  Like this fella sporting his crown as many of us did (will) over the weekend.    

Directly in front of the bar, in the street, we watched the hot MISTR men inform people about Prep, Pep and hotness options.

When it came time to move on, we stepped out of the bar and into the street where I could get a pic with the hotties from the booth next to Mistr.

We also popped in to say "Hi" to Mr. Crown himself, Andrew Russell, who makes these fabulous crowns. I have three of my own and have gifted one or two...

Of course, I captured a few man on the street pics, notably inspired by this guy.

We headed east, in the direction of the La Cienega entrance of the festivities, just to be sure we hit everything from top to bottom.  Along the way we enjoyed all the people in the blocked off street,

along with the booths lining the curb, with people handing out stuff.

My favorites were the guys offering free sun block spray

I think Dudley liked them, too...

Exhausted from our two or three block jaunt, we found ourselves in front of Schmitty's!

Of course, we had to stop in say, "hi", grab a drink and open ourselves up to the possibility of meeting someone to be a parade escort.  I was delighted to see DJ Bruce Daniels as soon as I walked in.  He's a sweetheart and I wish only super great things for him. 

I think it's easy to say we had a fun time

We certainly had a nice view of perspective beaus...

When it was time to move on again, I tried one last ditch effort and offered a proposal of marriage, but he declined, letting me down easy.

"No. But thank you, kindly, for the offer."

As soon as we stepped onto the street, a Ferris wheel was in view!  

Of course, we hopped on board and took in the sights!

I was barely tall enough to get on the ride!

Once we dismounted, we made our way back toward Mother Lode, to make sure we didn't miss anything/one. On the way back we saw more friendly faces,

More people,

More people I know,

Jeffrey Drew

More people in booths,

a DJ playing for people dancing in the street,

People dancing in the street,

Go-Go dancers dancing near the street,

And a bar called 33 Taps.  We stopped in for a drink and that is where my fancy camera ran out of battery power.  So, here is a pic from 33 Taps and a little show of other Pre-Parade revelers in the street!

Remember, I've got a thing for bartenders...

Finally, a revisit to the man of my dreams (that night)!

Next up, WeHo Pride 2025 - Day 2, the parade!

Stay tuned!

Singledom - Hear how Die Alone With Me started

 How do I manage my singledomness?

Check out my stint as a guest on Queer Onda El Paso's podcast:
Ep. 29 - Party of One

Click Here

Getting Out - Ex-A-Sketch

Back in May, muh DAB, Dennis Hensley, invited me to join him for XX-A-Sketch, a drink & draw kinda thing at The Bullet bar in Burbank.  You know my instinct was to say, "No, thank you, I think I'm separating laundry and matching socks that afternoon."  I fought it because I know, that if I'm claiming that I'm open to finding/being in a relationship, I have to GET OUT.  I'll admit that the idea of staring at a scantily clad fella for a few hours was a big factor in my saying yes.  Also, I'm thanking Dennis, right here and now, for finding all of these great activities that aren't run of the mill get out of the house stuff and inviting me!  

So, we get there and we're joined by our friend, Ron.  They have supplies there for sketching/drawing our tasty model, but Dennis had gone ahead and brought some of his own materials.

It was a lovely afternoon, the bar was occupied by a good number of potential targets, and the staff was nice, friendly and cuh-ute!

There were a few fellas there I had torrid affairs with in my mind, or simply thought, he looks nice and I'd like to be neked with him.

Then, our model stepped out.  He started out with fun bunny ears on, because it was so close to Easter.  When those came off, he still had this cool, retro vibe about him that I was digging, quite groovily.

Did I mention I'm not much of an artist when it comes to drawing/sketching?  My eyes were so full of man, I didn't know where to start.  I tried starting at the top, with the idea of working my way down.  I didn't stop to correct stuff; I just kept going. When I got this far, I realized I'd make the worst police sketch artist in the world.  Based on my sketch of this guy's face, a number of innocent Latino men would be spending a lot of time in line-ups because this looks nothing like the model, but, admittedly, if WIERD SCIENCE was real, I'd pop my sketch right in there along with a body shot of Joe Manganiello.

Before I could start drawing my way down to his neck & chest, the model changed positions.  I was a bit thrown off.  I didn't realize I would have just a few short minutes to sketch the model in the position he was in.  Sure, when I thought about it, it made sense that they wouldn't make this guy stay in the same position for hours, while we sketched, sipped and flirted.  That'd be so painful for him!  So, I had to adjust my artistic expectations and get into quick sketch mode and attempt a full-body drawing.

I got so into the drawing rapidly, that I almost forgot to keep an eye out for future husbands amongst the shifting crowd. ...Almost.  I'm fairly talented when it comes to scoping the guys.  For example, I'd totally let this guy make me an omelet.

I felt like I let myself get too distracted, because before I knew it, our guy was in a new position!

I tried to concentrate. I thought I would make proportion my main priority and let details fall to the wayside.  That is until I let myself get distracted by the staff.  I don't know why it is, but I've always had a thing for bartenders and waiters.  I think it's the wonderful idea of a hot, sexy man, bringing me food in bed. ...Naked.

Anyway, the afternoon slipped into night and before I knew it, our time with the hot retro-vibe model man was done.  Turns out, I had a great time.  I didn't even get close to meeting anyone for romantical exploration, but I got to hang out with Dennis & Ron, feast my eyes on tasty mens and exercise my slight drawing muscles for a few hours. Granted, my sketches wouldn't be hung up at a Tate Gallery (Maybe a T'aint Gallery), but that's not what the exercise was about for me.  However, if you wish to purchase my sketches for a moderate fortune, here is a sample of the goods.  Oh, yes, of course I'll sign these before sending them to you!

(At least the face is a little closer to looking like his.  I'n't it?)

So, if you're dying alone, but feel like you're open to not, please, take every opportunity to get out, be among people and take your chances at meeting your future partner.  At the very least, cherish you time with friends and hot guys.

I thank our model, Brandon, very much for his modeling (Don't worry, I tipped via Venmo the day of) and leave you with two more lovely poses from him.

GET OUT!