This Is Why I Am Single - Craft Night 2019 - The Cards

This Is Why I Am Single; I would prefer to stay in on a Saturday and craft Valentines for nobody with friends, than go out and look for love (And somebody to give a Valentine to.)

I think I've been doing Craft Night for 13 years and it's grown into a lovely tradition for many folk and I'm glad to do it.  Aside from the therapeutic elements, like cutting out shapes and exercising the creative part of our brains, it is a great opportunity to see friends, catch up and laugh.  Unfortunately, the actual event can get a bit crowded and I get busy playing host and making sure that everyone is taken care of with materials, drink & stuff, so I don't get to actually craft much during.  I sometimes craft a little before, if I'm set up early and I always craft for a few days after, as I slowly tear down the set up.  That said, sometimes I'm struck with inspiration and I must sit down next to a pal and knock one out.  Once in a while I'll make a naughty card, but lately I've been trying to craft clean, because if I do actually send out a card, it'll be to my Ma- and she don't need no naughty card. 

This year, I was fairly clean:

Those aren't really suited for my Ma, so I went with one I made last year:

It's clean & simple, mayhaps a little elegant?

Anyway, while I have been moving toward cleaning up mu act, it seems everyone else has taken the challenge of seeing how naughty they can get!  The naughty ranges from a little innuendo to straight on pornographic.  ...so much so, I wonder if I can actually post them here...

What do you think?

 Jared 

 Dudley

 Kevin

 Mike

 Barbara

 I'm not Sure

 Mike

 Glenn

 Dudley

 Natalie

 Mine

 Dudley

You can see the much naughtier ones here

This Is Why I Am Single - Craft Night 2019 - The Guests

Yes, it's that time of year; the time when couples rub singles' faces into the poop of their own loneliness, Valentine's Day!!  Of course, I had my annual  Craft Night, we I invite a bunch of friends over, we talk, drink, snack and craft Valentine's for people unknown.  This year there was a big rain, so I had a lot of cancellations- but, it was still a great time because with fewer people there than usual, I had more time to actually sit and visit with friends.  Please understand that this event has gone from six people sitting around my dining room table in 2006 to some 60 invited guests darting in and out between 4 pm and 11 pm at my larger dining table, plus two other tables crammed into my living room.  It's tight, but cozy and people usually have a nice time.  Like I said, this year was a little lighter, so I was able to participate, rather than host, more than usual.  I got to make a few Valentines with everyone else, like this one:

 

This Is Why I Am Single: I probably don't invite the guy who's gonna be my husband!  But there's so many people on the guest list already!

I invite so many people because I'd hate to hurt anyone's feelings, or make them think that they were judged lacking in crafting skills and weren't invited back because of it.  It's not true.  It's just that my place is not large and a few moments last year, we almost got to the point where someone had no place to sit.  I thought about creating an annex in my bedroom, but that has since become the photo op place.  take a look:

This isn't everybody who showed, but it's a fair representation...

Anyway, I'm trying to find a solution to my quandary over how to manage my invite list. 

Space wasn't an issue this year, but I can't count on heavy rain in the future. I'm sure I'll figure it out. meanwhile, I'm grateful to have this problem, because while I may be single, I'm not alone...

This last photo features the delicious Bryan Thompson and the sabroso Paolo Andino, 

notable because Paolo is marking his 10 year anniversary return to Craft Night.

His Previous visit was in 2009 as a guest of muh DAB, Dennis Hensley!  This year, he had his very own invite!

Welcome back Paolo!

2009 FLASHBACK:

Gay of A Certain Age - Something To Look Forward To This Year

For those of you who were concerned about my monthly drama, you know, the fear of flipping the page of my hot nekked man calendar and seeing a dead porn star, (as experienced many a time with Colt Men calendars, ) I have mostly good news!  I am happy to report that all through 2018 I flipped 12 months and not one dead porn star!!  In that aspect, Raging Stallion did not let me down.  Where I have a quibble with Raging Stallion is that along with the large picture of the hot nekked man, the days of the month are listed at the bottom of the page, vertically, like little strips of paper on a flyer nailed to a utility post on the sidewalk advertising guitar lessons from Ramon.  Call me crazy, but in a calendar, the days should be featured a little bit more.  As you can see here in my favorite month of 2018, March, featuring Bruno Bernal, there along the bottom are the days that in no way help me determine how many Fridays there are in a month with just a glance. especially when my glance is distracted by his seahorse.

Bruno Bernal

Here's where part of this is my own fault, I don't like to preview.  I prefer to flip the page not knowing who's going to be on the page for the month.  It's an exciting little mystery that makes the passage of time a little less like a stab in the heart.  Because I do that, I can't look at the calendar page to see if the days are presented in a grid or in little phone number slips on the bottom.  So, hoping for a grid, I left Raging Stallion and moved to Hot House.  As you can see from the top photo, Austin Wolf is on the cover of the calendar... He's both one of my favorites and alive, so we're off to a good start. 

Unfortunately, as you can see from the January page, it's a Call Ramon For Lessons situation.

Arad Winwin

I'll deal with it.  It helps that Mr. January is another current favorite, Arad Winwin!  While I may not be able to determine what day it is right away, this month will always remind me of the day I got to actually cozy up wth Arad...

Me (Reba Areba), Arad Winwin

Speaking of calendars, the last time I got to touch this nice hottie, we were shooting the 

Best In Drag Show 2019 Pin up Calendar!

I told you about Best In Drag Show, right?

Anyway, I got to hang around these hotties for hours, creating the visions that people would be seeing for months at a time in 2019.

Alam Wernik, Arad Winwin,  me, Remy Cruz

Arad Winwin, Alam Wernik, Remy Cruz

Me (Reba Areba), Alam Wernik

My month partner was Alam Wernik and I think we did our month proud!

If you've neglected to get your 2019 Calendar and the men of Hot House are too racy with their cocks out, but seeing cute man tushy is as naughty as you wanna get, you can get your BIDS 2019 Pin up Calendar HERE

Physical calendars may seem obsolete, what with fancy computers and their Outlook programs and such, but as a Gay of A Certain Age, I know that a friendly face & cock along with a daily confirmation can make the days passing a more pleasant reminder that we're one day closer to death.

From The Interwebs - So Cher Has Said, So Let It Be Done

Going Down in the New Year

It happened again this year.  I put up my Christmas tree and no one, besides myself, saw it.  I had no friends over, no overnight guests, or even quickie hour guests...  Even I didn't have much time to enjoy it, what with my busy schedule, running off to El Paso for a few days of the holiday, then dog sitting the moment I got back.  It's quite alright, I enjoyed the evening I put it up; with holiday songs playing, candles lit, and me sipping super-creamy coffee and reminiscing over some of my travel ornaments.  Besides, it wasn't my best tree decorating job...
Also, on the few nights I got to spend a little time alone at home, it was a nice, warm addition to my home.  I don't know if it was that lovely warmth, with the colorful lights and fun ornaments, or just cleverly disguised laziness, but I was considering leaving the tree up all year 'round and changing the ornaments & lights to suit the individual holiday!
...Then I pictured myself talking to it and actually carrying on conversations with it.
Crap, if I'm gonna have full on conversations with inanimate objects, it's gonna be that hunky mannequin I saw on Amazon... You know, it'd stand in the corner, all handsome-like, set up in different poses and wearing clothing to fit the season or holiday, I'd name him something fun like Otto or Kleeg...

No, on second thought, a tree for a few weeks in December is fine.  I'd hate for Kleeg to feel lonely or be jealous of my terribly busy schedule.

P.S.  It is an appropriate time to take down your tree, or holiday decor. Do it!

Happy New Year - 2019!

So, this year, I left the pajamas at home and joined my friends for a turn at playing You Don't Know My Life, (you know that game my friends, Dennis Hensley & Jeb Stevens invented) for the last few hours of 2018.  It was a very nice time and I got out of the house!  The only regretful part of the night was following uo the game with a hot fudge sundae at Bob's Big Boy.  It was delicious, but probably not something I needed at 2:30AM.

I started up the new year with a repeat of last year's first activity, the pajama brunch at Stella Barra!
I had a breakfast pizza-all by myself!  We followed up the brunch with a movie- SECOND ACT starring Jennifer Lopez.  We were entertained for all the wrong reasons- while the cast is great, the movie is pretty bad... but we were entertained!  Then, I came home and fell into a mini-coma.
The day was gone and I had no time to ponder what fantastic and life-altering changes I am gonna make in my life for the new year.  All I know for sure is that I need to slow down this huge carousel I'm on and find some time to be me and to make more room for romance, or at least, movies I really wanna see! Can you believe I still haven't seen HALLOWEEN or CRAZY RICH ASIANS??

This Why You Are Single.... New Year's Eve To Do

Say, kids, if you're in the L.A. area and gots no plans, but don't wanna sit at home alone, there's this!
I'll be there giving plenty TMI and sussing out who's the one with the story about goosing Jane Wiedlin of the GoGo's...