Were they? Were there not?

I posted about a month ago about my love for Cary Grant and touched his rather complicated relationship with Randolph Scott. Grant and Scott lived together for most of the 1930s and tended to be rather open that they were more than friends. However, Michael Musto did a column showcasing some of fan photos! Even in the naive 30s, they must have raised a few eyebrows.

My, that's a big brain you have....

Some people say the most important sex organ is the brain. While I'm not completely sure about that, I know I think it's sexy when someone I like actually acts like he has a brain. Really, charm is only charming for about 15 minutes, then you need to actually know something. For a change of pace, I thought I would list some of my favorite hotties who would stimulate your brain as well. In no particular order:

1) Ari Shapiro

When I said in no particular order, I admit I was lying a little because Ari is definitely number one. Besides being the White Correspondent for NPR and an openly gay man, Ari also moonlights as a singer for the group Pink Martini. He does serious news stories but also doesn't shy away from doing pieces about and beneficial to the gay community. He can also be fabulous when needed, as everyone saw when NPR spoofed Lady Gaga's Telephone. Ari is indeed, darn near perfect. *sigh*

2) Gavin Newsom

I think many a gay man has a crush on Gavin Newsom. The mayor of San Francisco, Newsom is currently running as Lieutenant Governor of California. Newsom become well-known for taking openly flouting the gay marriage ban in California, and marrying people in City Hall. Newsom has actually made gay rights an important platform to his candidacy, despite being "openly straight" (not that we hold it against him). It's always nice to have a good-looking face attached to your cause.

3) Andrew Ross Sorkin

Unless you tend to be an avid watcher of news shows, you may have never heard of Andrew Ross Sorkin. He's a reporter for the New York Times and wrote the widely popular Too Big to Fail, about the situations that led up to the Wall Street bailouts. I think he's got a nerdy-hot thing going and he's appeared on both The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, which totally ramps up his cache. When I googled his name to find this picture, the related searches they listed were "Andrew Ross Sorkin wife" and "Andrew Ross Sorkin shirtless" so I must not be the only person who thinks he's sexy.

4) Jay Brannan

Jay Brannan has made a cult following of fans by singing angst-ridden ballads usually associated with women's folk music. Brannan is also well-known for his appearance in the movie Shortbus, a John Cameron Mitchell movie. He's as talented as he is hot. I recently saw him for the first time in concert and was really impressed. He literally made me a fan overnight.

5) Anderson Cooper

You can't do a list of brainy hotties and not mention AC. He's practically the poster boy. He is smart, and travels to the third world countries to cover disasters and also fights injustice with his CNN show. And to the top it all off, he looks totally hot doing it. What's left to say?

I'll give you a moment to wipe the drool off your keyboard...

Clarissa Explains it All

Unless you were an avid watcher of the Food Network between 1999-2003, you have probably never heard of Clarissa Dickson Wright, one half of the duo known as the Two Fat Ladies, stars of a cult cooking series by the same name. On the show, Clarissa and her partner in crime, Jennifer Paterson would travel around England cooking for in various locales. It was very funny and very British.



One of their signatures was making this hideous British food ladened with enough butter and cream to clog a canal. In the clip above for instance, they make kedgeree, a weird combo of fish, curry, rice and cream that was popular for breakfast (yes I said breakfast!) in imperial India. Sadly, Jennifer Paterson died rather unexpectedly in 2000 and the series was canceled.

I finally was able to get a copy of Spilling the Beans, Clarissa's memoir that came out a few years back. Even if you have never heard the name Clarissa Dickson Wright, the book is a fascinating read. Clarissa was born into an affluent family of power and money but was plagued by an abusive father. She became a barrister (a form of lawyer) just to spite her surgeon father. When her mother died suddenly, she took solace in alcohol and drank away a promising career and a large inheritance. After the life of her life died unexpectedly, she finally managed to sober up and worked as a domestic for various households (many less affluent than the one she grew up in). Cooking for a living brought her back to life, and created the second act of her life as a well-known cook and television personality.

To give you some idea how much Clarissa drank, years after she got sober she was diagnosed with ailments related to quinine poisoning. The quinine poisoning came from drinking tonic water, mixed with her gin. To get quinine poisoning from tonic water, you would have to drink gallons of it for years on end.

Clarissa doesn't pull any punches, she's mostly upfront about her issues. She's a little diplomatic with The Two Fat Ladies years and her relationship with Jennifer Paterson but that's seems to be the norm in these memoirs. Many people I think are afraid to "break the magic." Other than that, definitely worth a read, especially if you enjoyed the Ladies as I did.

End of the Summer

Today is Labor Day, traditionally the end of summer season. I tried to create a little end-of-summer reading list for myself about a month ago. While I am always reading something, I thought I would try to do something a little more formal this time around. My life has been in major upheaval lately (I had to move unexpectedly and still don't have a permanent place to live), so I fell a little short of my reading goals. Here's a little breakdown of what I read and did not read:

Sellevision (Augusten Burroughs): I've mentioned in a recent post about my love of Burroughs, yet I had never read his only published novel. I had very mixed reviews of the book and was not sure what to expect. However, I was so drawn in I read the book in 2 sittings. The novel is about various characters who are hosts on a TV shopping channel called Sellevision. I think some of my love for the novel stemmed from a brief fascination I had with HSN and QVC as a young teenager (That was painful to admit, by the way!). There's a lot of sarcastic and dark humor that pervades the novel, making it a clever take on consumerist culture.

Magical Thinking (Burroughs): This was actually a reread. I think this is one of Burrough's most underrated books. It's a collection of essays which draws from more from Burroughs as an adult than as a child, unlike many of his previous books. My favorite essay is "Mark the Shrink," about his relationship with a therapist.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (Mark Haddon): I have a small confession to make: I am actually still reading this book. I had heard about this book and several people had recommended it to me, but I did not know that much about it. However, now that I am reading it, I understand why people like it. This novel tells the story of Christopher, a severely autistic teenager who is accused of killing his neighbor's dog. The book is told exclusively from Christopher's perspective, and gives some interesting insights about autism. I love when I can learn about a topic I know very little about through a novel or a movie and this one fits that criteria.

Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand): I thought I would have more time than I did when I borrowed my mother's copy of Atlas, hoping to fill a knowledge gap of never having read a word of Rand. Unfortunately, a whole host of events in my life and the intimidating size of tome caused me to never open the book. I am taking classes this fall, as well as teaching a new class, so I am not sure I will get to it any time soon.

Gorey-ness

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. Life has been a little out of control lately. However, I did have a moment this weekend to take in the new Edward Gorey exhibit at the Orlando Museum of Art. Before I went, I knew very little about Gorey, other than his popular works such as The Doubtful Guest and The Gashlycrumb Tinies. I went with a friend of mine and several of his artist friends, which always fun for me. I love getting the opinions of people with a more technical eye for art, music, or whatever, as they usually pick up on things I overlook. One person in our group knew a lot about Gorey, so I got some extra insight on the man himself.

Many people tend to think of Gorey's work as dark and Gothic, but I could not help but notice a certain whimsy in what he did. I like that his work never takes itself too seriously. It's not heavy, but there is a certain gravity to it. The exhibits often included the books, so the illustrations had context. Another thing everyone marveled at was Gorey's ability to do the detail in his drawings. His drawings are so small, and all the work looks so fine and delicate. The other interesting thing about the outing was learning more about Gorey himself. To say he was eccentric was to put it mildly. Some interesting facts about Gorey:

*He was a voracious reader. When he died, his house in Cape Cod was filled with volume upon volume of books he had read over the years.

*He was a major recluse, as well as single his entire adult life. Once when asked who/what was the great love of his life, he replied "cats." He always owned cats, and even did illustrations for a volume of T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.

*He did the costumes and scenery for the 1977 Broadway production of Dracula.

*He was obsessed with the ballet, and attended every production of the New York City ballet while he lived there.

Sedaris vs. Burroughs

I was having a conversation with friends about going to see David Sedaris when he comes to town to speak next year. I casually mentioned that I wasn't sure I wanted to go, and added I much prefer Augusten Burroughs. My friends basically replied to me that Augusten Burroughs wrote one fabulous book and several terrible ones. Au contraire, I said! This got me thinking about the merits and demerits of both authors.

Sedaris: Now I will give Sedaris credit for basically being the first commercial writer in contemporary times to write these confessional essays/ novels. I think, as a society, we've become more confessional, and his books came out just as we made that leap. Sedaris' work is consistently good. While many people hold up Naked or Me Talk Pretty One Day as his best works, pretty much all his work is on par. However, I think his work can be too staid sometimes. He is very mainstream because he is confessional but it doesn't really offend. I don't think Sedaris really pushes the boundaries often.

Burroughs: Okay, everyone knows Running with Scissors was wonderful (However, don't watch the movie!). I will agree with my friends the point that nothing Burroughs wrote so far has stood up to Running. However, I have to disagree that nothing else he wrote was notable. My second favorite by him is Magical Thinking, which is more a collection of essays than a memoir. I also enjoyed Dry but that may have been because I read it first, before Running. I think that is the biggest problem with Burroughs: he released his best book first, so everything pales in comparison.

One thing I do appreciate about Burroughs is his ability to take some horrific events and writes about them in a such a way that shows the humor in them. He can be macabre, but I think for the most part, it works well. Sometimes his quality does fluctuate (I just barely got through Wolf at the Table), but I think overall his genius separates him from Sedaris.

I know I am in the minority on this, so feel free to leave a comment and respond.

Drama on the Potomac

I have been waiting for the arrival of The Real Housewives of DC every since the crashing of the White House state dinner. I mean, seriously, the other Housewives have had drama, but so far this is first show to cause an incident where the Secret Service got involved. I thought I would watch last night's episode and get reeled in enough to keep watching. However, I didn't know I would get hooked from the first episode! So here's my opinions so far:

Mary: I can't say I have a favorite yet, but I think odds are my favorite DC housewife will be Mary. She's equal parts socialite and super mom, and manages to look fabulous doing it all. She had some funny moments last night, including getting drunk at her own birthday and going on to Stacie about integrating salons! She should be fun to watch.

Stacie: Stacie seems cool, but I didn't get a good read on her role in the show. I like Stacie so far, but I don't know if that will last.

Cat: Cat, the newcomer to DC, did not come across very well her first episode. He acted snooty at the polo tournament, and bashed Obama (also her husband's boss) to a room of black people. Also, some of her stories didn't quite add up: her husband is supposed to be close to her husband, yet he didn't RSVP to her wedding? Also, why was she so insistent about her opinion about Tyra Banks to a man who had worked for her? So far, I don't like Cat.

Lynda: Like Stacie, I am on the fence about Lynda. On the one hand, I can appreciate her love for large black men (like Lisa Lampanelli!) and she did have the funniest line of the show: "I wouldn't show my face at that goat rodeo!" On the other hand, she acted a little snooty in places and seemed overly insistent about another housewife's eating disorder. Which brings me to:

Michaele: I think many people who watched the show last night where curious just to see the antics of Michaele Salahi AKA the woman who crashed a White House state dinner. The rumor is she did it simply to ensure her spot on the show. Just when I thought Bravo had served up crazy in all forms, Michaele seems to be a whole new form of it! Not only was she hugging everyone who came in contact with her, she told more than one person "I love you," including her stylist. In a preview clip, she laments at the White House dinner that she can't hug the president. She's very adamant about not having an eating disorder, despite never really saying what she does eat. The weird thing is I usually cringe while watching the crazies, but I actually like Michaele.

We'll see how the season goes! Should be juicy!