Today is Thursday, September 1st and the summer is winding down to just a measly four days. It’s been an interesting summer at that: beautiful weather, clubbing on Fire Island and the city, hanging out with friends, dinners, lunches, doctors appointments and colonoscopies, etc., etc., etc. I’ve had a great time, mostly, but I think it is finally time to get off this ride…







The Grove with Reet



My good friend and fellow teacher Rita has been asking to go to Cherry Grove for awhile and yesterday was finally the day. She’d never been there before, at least as far as she could remember, and I was only too happy to take her. Ever since the hurricane/tropical storm on Monday, the weather has been picture perfect, almost fall-like, so it was a great day for a visit to the Grove.







There wasn’t a lot of activity over there, I guess because of the recent Irene visit, but you could sense the slowly building re-population leading up to the big weekend. Damage was really non-existent as far as we could tell. The only signs that Irene had come through were the buried fences around the sand dunes and a boarded up Jumping Jacks. Other than that and the small crowd, you’d never have known a hurricane had passed.







Rita and I had a nice day, walking around, having lunch, and of course having a drink or two at Cherry’s. Margarita’s was the drink of choice. Yum! In all, we spent about four hours in the sun, and really enjoyed a lazy, relaxing day in a beautiful place!







Time to get off this ride



Last night was the last time I would be going to Circus for awhile and in a way I’m glad. I’d planned on partying it up this last week and by the way things worked out last night, I’m going to follow through on those plans, but I definitely need a break after Sunday.



Rita, who’s had a newfound freedom these past couple of weeks, was ready to continue the party by joining me at Circus last night. Ozzie was going to be there as Ozzie, not Ruby, and it turned out he was one of no less than five people I’ve been connected with in recent months. Not a good thing!



I won’t go into the sordid details, but there were plenty of uncomfortable moments and by the time the drag show had ended I was done, mentally exhausted and I couldn’t wait to get home. I’m glad I’m going to Splash tonight because at least there I won’t know anybody…I hope!







Odds N Ends



I want to give a special shout-out to my friend Ivan, who I met in the city the other night for some dancing. Ivan is such a good guy and I’m so happy that he and I have remained friends. I had a blast with him and I hope he did too!



I just got off the phone with my ex, Joe. It’s funny because I was thinking about him a lot yesterday and viola, he called. Every once in awhile I get to missing him and even though our life together was a lifetime ago, I still feel like I need to connect with him sometimes. He’s still a great guy and I do miss having him around in my life, and even though I may not show it to him, I still get a little sad when we talk and I have to hear about his wonderful life with his new partner. Sigh!



I got a call from Arnoldo yesterday. He’s out of the hospital again! Let’s hope this time its permanent.



Writing Wednesday



Well, even though it’s Thursday, I’m going to post “Writing Wednesday” today since I missed it yesterday. Here’s what I’ve been up to…



Gather



Hurricane Irene weakens as it slams New York



New Music Releases for the week of August 29th



Lots of good stuff this week!



Y!CN



Though I missed a paid assignment on this topic for Y!CN, I still put a couple of articles up before, during and after Irene:



Waiting on Irene



A Not So Welcome Irene



The Cleanup



I also posted one assignment:



Twitter for iPhone



Examiner



Fun Stuff on Long Island this Labor Day Weekend





Can anybody say Elton John?



Of course, all of these articles are on top of the great stuff I've written here, lol. I wanted to mention also that I've got a couple of new sponsors for the site. I only choose places that I think are valuable and where I shop, so please feel free to click on any of the links below or anywhere else on this blog for great deals on cool stuff! As always, thanks for reading and have a great day!















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Well, it’s another blazing Monday and the start of a brand new week. I’ve got four weeks left in my first summer off and I just know they’re gonna go by sooooo fast. Normally by the time summer ends I’m ready to go back, but I’m not so sure about this year. I had a really busy weekend, which worked great for distracting me from the issues of my house. Here’s a little recap:



An impromptu barbie and then off to the Grove



Since our friend Rose has been in town for a party, we all decided to go to Cherry Grove on Saturday night. He hadn’t been there in years and so we planned on spending the evening there. I had had a barbecue the night before and I had a lot of leftover food, so I invited Rose, Blanche and Dita over for a pre-Fire Island barbecue. It was a nice start to a really fun night.



We all headed out on the 7:20 from Sayville and got to the Grove a little before 8. The weather wasn’t as nice as it had been in previous weeks, but that was okay. Though we started off at the Ice Palace, we soon headed to Cherry’s because they were hosting a 1971 class reunion of what looked like mostly straight people. They were playing disco music and we were hard pressed to find any guy-guy or girl-girl couples.



I know it brings money to the place, but straight people have enough places to go without invading our territory. It seems that every year the place attracts more and more straight people, and honestly it’s annoying that what’s been our summer playground for years and years is slowly becoming an unrecognizable shadow of its former self.



Fun and Creepers at Cherry’s



In all Saturday was a really fun night. We were joined over there by Eddie’s sister and nephew, who were both very pleasant, and the good company made for an enjoyable evening, despite the rain that came for a short time. My new buddies Lisa and Laurie were there, and eventually they joined our circle of dancing fools. Even Rich, who has two sore feet and doesn’t always like to dance, was wiggling and giggling all night long with the rest of us.



One creepy aside to the evening were these two guys, Alfonse and Billy, who used to be a couple back in the day, but are now best friends who often go out together. I remember Alfonse from back then. He was one of those classically good-looking guys who turned heads wherever he went and his looks haven’t waned. I never caught his eye, or so I thought until Saturday. Apparently he did notice me.



“I had the biggest crush on you twenty years ago,” he whispered in my ear on the dance floor the other night.



“Gee, then why didn’t you ever say so back then,” I thought. Call me cynical, but I’m not so sure I believed him. I found out on Saturday, as did my other friends, that Alfonse is a very forward acting sort of creeper who seems to take whatever he wants without asking. Though he had done so once before a couple of weeks ago, what he did on Saturday was ten times worse. Almost from the moment he said that to me, he started groping and feeling his way around my person like he was feeling for a ripe melon in the produce section at the supermarket.



The groping and kissing and hugging continued as he and Billy came over to our group and Fonzi plied similar moves towards my other friends. What a creeper! I’m actually glad he never told me about his “crush” back in the day!



Dinner and dance therapy in the city



Last night I met my friend Ivan in the city for some dinner and dancing. At first I was planning on just dinner, but dance therapy is still in order, so after a nice Thai dinner and some good conversation, we ended up at Splash. We were supposed to try this place downtown called “Greenhouse,” but we missed the open bar at ten and since it’s really expensive there was no other place we could think of to go to dance. We promised to make a date to go, though, before the end of the summer. I heard it’s hella cool!



Splash was alright, for a Sunday night. We got there during their weekly Amateur Strip Contest, which was okay. A funny thing was that the drag queen hosting the show was the same one from the Sea Tea the week before and this other really strange dude from the ride was there, too. He’s a tall, bearded, leather daddy kind of dude, with sparkling high heeled pumps and green, glittery makeup. Only in New York!



Anyway, once the show was over and a winner had been announced, they opened up the dance floor and Ivan and I danced our asses off for the next hour and a half. Mission complete! All was good and now it’s Monday morning and the distractions are gone. Now it’s time to think…



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Today is Saturday, August 6th, 2011 and it is Lucille Ball’s 100th birthday. Google is honoring the occasion with a really cool logo, so if you’re reading this today, you should definitely check it out. Though Lucy was even before my time, I still grew up watching those hysterical reruns and still get a chuckle whenever I see them. Classic!

Throw Me a Topic

Ah, what to write, what to write? I’ve really wanted to talk more about the situation with my house, but I’ve been distracted from it the past couple of days (in a good way!) and I don’t really want to talk about it until I’m back in that mode, which I know will come soon. I made several phone calls this week and things are being looked at by the bank, so I have no idea where this is going to go, but I know I’ve got to prepare myself mentally. Stay tuned…

Friends and Food

As I mentioned the other day, my friend Eddie (AKA Rose) is here from Florida and I’ve been spending some time with him and Rich and Bobby (Dita and Blanche!). He, Rich and I hit the Good Steer the other night, which is one of those Long Island places that everybody around here knows. They have these delectable fried onion strings that they serve with their delicious burgers and though I don’t get there too often, it’s always reliably fantastic! In fact, I posted the words “Good Steer” on my Facebook page when I got there and several former Long Islanders made yearning comments about the place. For more on the place, check out this article on Y!CN:

Where to Find Great Burgers on Long Island

A Saucy Night at Splash with Oz

After leaving the Good Steer it was off to Splash. This was the third straight time that I’ve gone there with people. First it was Laura Kim and Michael, then it was Paul, and this week I went with Ozzie. Campus Thursdays is one of the club’s most popular nights and this Thursday it was as crowded as I’d ever seen it. Not only was the place packed in, but many of the patrons were a little wild, to say the least.

I’m starting to learn that Mr. Oz is one popular dude! We ran into a lot of people he knew, all from Long Island, of course, including Julian, the guy who won the Mr. Gay LI at Circus the other night. That dude I met at Ozzie’s house last week, Jeremy, also showed up and boy was he a grouch! All in all it was a great time, despite the naughty groping by the wild crowd. The deejay was rocking and before you knew it, Ozzie and I were heading out the door at 4:30 AM. I walked in the door to my house at 6… Am I getting too old for this…..nah!

Grove Party Tonight!

I don’t know what’s been happening lately, and I actually think I’m starting to miss going out alone, but we four friends are going to Cherry Grove together this evening. It’s been like forever since Rose has been there and I know several people who are also going, so I am very excited!!!! Stay tuned…

In honor of Lucille Ball’s 100th Birthday, here’s my all time favorite scene from the I Love Lucy Show. It’s an early episode when Lucy thinks Ricky is missing his native Cuba and she tries to make him feel more at home by dressing the place up like Cuba and putting on a side-splitting imitation of Carmen Miranda, of course with the help of Ethel, her partner in crime. So funny!



So thanks for reading and enjoy your weekend!

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Happy August! Today’s Monday, August 1st and summer is just about half over…I feel like I’ve been busier so far this summer being off than I am during the school year. I think I may just have to start looking forward to going back soon, but not just yet. There’s still some summer to do! Here are some snippets of my so-called life these past few days…



Inside the bar at Cherry's

Foot in Mouth Disease

“Wow, just when you've had it with everything, somebody does something to surprise you!”

Yep, I have it! That disease, you know the one, when you tend to say things you shouldn’t have said. I put this as my status on Facebook late Friday night and rather than take it down I just left it there. Any normal person might’ve just not even have put it there or at least removed it after they realized they shouldn’t have written it, but I admit, I’m no normal person. Besides we all make mistakes, and I don’t think that we should ever pretend that we didn’t….we just accept our actions, learn from them and move on…

A couple of friends asked what the surprise was and it’s too long a story to answer there, but I’m going to share a little of it here cause that’s just how I do. You see, for the past few months I’ve been talking to this guy, his name is Scott, online. Scott lives in Philadelphia and being that he comes to Long Island for work sometimes he was perusing guys here and found me. It’s not normally how I do things, but I’d say that I’ve spent quite a few hours chatting with him over the past few months, and though I have no idea what he looks like, I was kinda sorta liking him…a lot!

I never really put any stock into anything with him…he lives so far away, after all, but I really have been hoping to meet him one of these days and last week he told me he’d probably be coming to LI this past Friday. He’s had my number for awhile and he said he’d give me a call on Sunday and we’d take it from there. He really wanted to go to Fire Island and of course meet me finally.

Well, by Thursday I hadn’t heard from him and pretty much wrote the whole thing off. I ended up spending Friday with my new bud Ozzie and didn’t even really think about Scott, until he im’d me late Friday night. Scott was being his usual joking self, but during our conversation he was being kinda cryptic, almost to the point of making me think he was actually here on Long Island. He was asking about the ferry times and such, and I don’t know, I just had a feeling he was going to surprise me at Cherry Grove on Saturday night. Thus the FB status.

To make a long story short, Scott wasn’t here after all, at least I don’t think he was. I haven’t heard from him since that Friday night conversation and I’m back to being mentally where I was on Thursday, at least concerning him. Grrrrrrrr….

The White Party

Cherry’s on the Bay was having a White Party on Saturday night and with the whole Scott thing, I was kind of excited about going, that is, until the night actually happened. I guess there’s always a night or two where things don’t go as you would expect them to, and Saturday night sucked all the way around. Now I go there often enough that I always know people there. Even though I usually go it alone, I’m hardly ever alone while I’m there, but on Saturday there was no one I knew, not even my fellow regulars.

My friend Michael works on Fire Island and he wasn’t there. My lesbian friends had a barbecue so they weren’t there either. Even my regular buddy at Cherry Grove Pizza was off on Saturday. It was very weird. In fact the only person that I saw that I knew was my friend Paul, who I had just gone to the city with on Thursday, and even though he said hello, he pretty much ignored me all night long. It was just one of those nights!

Memories with Mac…

The only enjoyment I got out of Saturday night was hanging with an old buddy of mine. His name is Mac and he’s one of the bouncers at the Ice Palace. He’s a very large black man, kind of looks like he could’ve been a pro football player, and I’ve known him since I first came out way back in the early to mid 80’s. Back then Mac was a bouncer at Thunders, one of LI’s best-ever bars, and he used to kind of look out for me. Even he, Joe and I used to shoot the shit together all the time back in the day. Mac’s an awesome person!

Anyway, through my frustration of the night, I decided to walk over to the Ice Palace and say hi to my old buddy. We ended up chatting for a long, long time, reminiscing about the old days and catching up. I bought him a shot of SoCo, which we did together….that was always Mac’s thing….and I truly had an awesome time with my old buddy. Thanks Mac!

Sunday Night Sea Tea

Last night me and my pals Blanche and Dita went into the city to catch the Sea Tea, which is a summertime Sunday night party boat cruise in NY Harbor. We usually go a couple of times a year, but we hadn’t gone this summer until last night. It was a beautiful summer evening and I was really looking forward to it.

Now one of these days I will surely write more on the Sea Tea…there have been some really good and some really strange times there over the past few years that we’ve gone, but last night’s experience left me full from the whole experience. You see, when you go on the Sea Tea, it’s a four-hour experience that you cannot escape from if it’s not good. The crowd and the deejay always dictate how it will go, and last night the crowd was okay, some of the usual crazies and some cuties, too, but the deejay totally sucked!

Anyone who knows me knows how much I like to dance (just see today’s “Song of the Day”), and last night’s set was total house, which is okay sometimes, but to me not really for that setting. I think there were maybe three songs he played that I knew, and the versions he played were just okay. Of course I danced some anyway, but it definitely wasn’t as good as I had hoped it would be. I’m starting to think I’ve had my fill of the whole thing.







Ex’s on the brain

Another part of my evening was one that I didn’t even really mention to my friends. It began on the ride to the Sea Tea and soon transformed into something entirely different later on. You see, the Sea Tea is located at the Christopher Street Pier on the West Side, and we get there by going down the FDR, around the Battery and then back up the West Side Highway. It’s much faster than simply going across town.

For the first time since January, I think, we passed by the place where ‘he’ lives, not far from the Brooklyn Bridge. I started thinking about it as soon as we hit the FDR, and of course I couldn’t help but glance over towards where he lives as we passed it. I mentioned it in the car and Blanche actually said, “Oh God, are you gonna write about this now?”

Hehe, I said I wasn’t, but here I am. It was no big deal, really. Within a few minutes, whatever thoughts that came into my brain had passed, but strangely enough that was when suddenly Joe popped into my head. I don’t know, there’s something about the city that conjures up all sorts of feelings within me. A couple of years ago, I had gone into the city with Rich and we just hung around, having dinner and then a little bar hopping, and Joe had been on my brain that day, too.

I remember on the ride home thinking about it. He and I had lived so many memories together in the city. We even talked about moving there once. I had realized during that ride home that most all of my city memories were with Joe and I was actually moved to tears about it. I felt so alone at that moment…but that was a long time ago and I’m in a much better place these days.

Still, for some reason I had Joe on the brain for most of the night last night. I pictured him smiling and dancing and laughing and joking around like he used to. When we first started going on the Sea Tea, he and I were still together, so being there was what conjured him up. I don’t really know why. I’ve been there since and it never happened before, but maybe it was just passing ‘his’ place that brought the happier memories of Joe into my brain.

Now I don’t miss being with Joe, mind you, breaking up with him was definitely the right thing for both of us, but I do miss him. He was not only my lover, but he was also my best friend for 20 years, and I just guess I get a little nostalgic every once in awhile.

Another Busy Week

Wow, when I began this blog post I really didn’t expect it to go this far. I’ve got another busy week ahead of me, with lots more plans. Tonight I’m having dinner with an old friend that I’m just a little nervous about. At one time, he and I kinda sorta courted, but I don’t feel that way about him anymore. I’m pretty sure he does, so I need to be very careful with what I say and how I act tonight. He’s one of those guys that I’d love to be friends with, but I’ve always been afraid that attraction gets in the way like it does so often with guys…we’ll see!

Tomorrow’s work and then the doctor’s appointment I’m actually looking forward to, and then lunch with Laura Kim on Wednesday before she heads off to Alaska, Circus Wednesday night with Ruby, and possibly Splash on Thursday before our pal Eddie, AKA Rose, comes in for the weekend from Florida. We’re all going to the Grove together on Saturday so that’s something I’m really looking forward to and as I mentioned earlier, I may be going to see Britney in Jersey on Friday.

Well, now that I’ve given you so much reading to do, I’m going to sign off now, at least for a little while. I hope to get my “M” entry in sometime today, so be on the lookout for that. In the meantime, have a great and beautiful Monday, and as always, thanks for reading!


I Love It!
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It’s late Sunday night, or early Monday morning, depending on which way you look at it. I’m tired and I’ve been laboring all weekend on writing, though it hasn’t been as fruitful as I would have liked (I told you about the Amy Winehouse fiasco yesterday!), but there are a few things I wanted to talk about before I get overwhelmed with too much to write about, so here I go…

Amy, Amy, Amy

I do not intend to beat a dead horse with the Amy Winehouse story (excuse the pun!). Regardless of being a writer and wanting to get the story out yesterday in a big way, I am still a big fan whose really sorry for her loss and I don’t want to make anyone sick of her because Lord knows there will be enough out there in the coming weeks that’ll do the trick.

Through yesterday’s fiasco, I still wanted to do a piece on her, one that of course talked about her music and my connection to it. I call the piece “Amy’s Legacy,” because that’s just what her music is, of course, her legacy. If you like Amy’s music, but may not even know it all, take a look at it by clicking the picture below. I put links to the songs I talk about so you can listen for yourself at see what a talent she really was.


I'm placing the audio here for you to listen to of a song called "Amy, Amy, Amy" that I simply love. It's very jazzy and very sexy and of course since it's got her name three times in the title, it's probably the one song of hers that I've had in my head the most this weekend. Enjoy...





A Busy/Lazy Kind of Weekend

I think I’d be in real trouble if I ever became a writer full time. With the Amy Winehouse story happening in the middle of the day yesterday, I had to drop and then revisit articles that I was already working on. I really should have been finished, but when I’m home, in front of my pc, with no specific place to be, I tend to lose my discipline and waste a lot of time. It’s definitely becoming a problem because I’m neglecting a lot of other things I should be doing in the name of writing, which I’m not doing as much as I should….whew, that was a mouthful!

Anyway, a few months ago I declared that I was becoming organized, but just like my attempts to quit smoking, I haven’t been doing too good. Well tomorrow’s Monday and Monday is always a great day to start something new, right? So let’s just see where the wind takes us, lol…

Studio 54 at the Grove

Last night Cherry’s was having a “Studio 54 Disco Party.” I wasn’t thrilled about it, but it turned out to be better than I thought it was going to be. I still found myself dancing to the Jacksons “Dancing Machine” (She’s a dance, dance, dance, dance , dancing machine, whatcha get down, whatcha get down…), Kool and the Gang, and Yvonne Elliman’s awesome “If I Can’t Have You.” Of course there were some downsides, like Barry Manilow’s “Copacabana” and Leo Sayer’s “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing,” which I absolutely hate. Disco group Musique was there performing their funky, sexy, “In the Bush,” which was alright. Let’s just say I’m glad it was only one night. Now I think they should do an
80’s night. Now THAT would be cool!

An anticlimactic reunion with an old acquaintance

I should not have been the only one going to the Grove last night. Someone of significance was going to be there and my friend Blanchie should have been there too, but unfortunately he had tickets to a show so I went by myself to see a person from our past, Kenny.

Back in the late 80’s, I used to hang out at the clubs with Blanche a lot, that is, until I met first Marco and then Joe. As I settled in to relationship status, Blanche found a new best friend, Kenny, with whom he would become very close. Kenny and I hung out together here and there, but he and I were never really close at all. I guess maybe there was a jealousy kind of thing going on…I really don’t remember.

Anywho, back in 87 or 88, Blanche and Kenny had a falling out and haven’t spoken since. Naturally since I was never direct friends with Kenny, it was the last time I ever saw him either, until now. In comes Alfonse and Billy, a former-couple-but-now-best-friends duo who we all kinda sorta knew from back then. I’d seen the two of them here and there since I’ve been single again, and on Memorial Day Weekend, Blanche spoke to them. They’re still good friends with Kenny, who now lives in Miami.

To make a long story even longer, Kenny has been up for a visit and the three of them rented a place at the Grove for the weekend. It would have been the perfect night for the two old friends to reunite even if for a night of reminiscing and catching up. Instead I was the one to get to see Kenny. All I can say is that time really does work magic, as whatever negative feelings I had for the guy back in the day were no longer there. I’m not saying I wanted to make all nicey-nicey with him, but it was actually cool seeing him for the ten minutes that I did. Besides, Kenny’s gained a few (he was always very thin), so… (He smiles!)

Wrap It Up John, Wrap It Up

Okay, so now it's definitely Monday morning as I've been writing this for more than an hour. I've got more to tell, but I'll save that for next time. I need to sleep! As always, thank you so much for reading and we'll see you tomorrow (or today? LOL)!
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Since my night was so long and there is so much to tell, I felt it was better to do this one in two parts. Just take a look at the previous post for the first part.

So the lesbians left me just before 11:30. That was okay, though, because I do alright by myself. Besides, there were a lot of cute guys in Cherry’s and the music was pretty good. Though I tried to take a break from Cherry’s by going to the Ice Palace, once I found out they were charging ten bucks to get in (a joke, really!), I just went back to where I started.


My friend Michael trying to catch a few more z's before the ferry

Late Night Cherry’s and an Uh Oh Moment

It seems that the men come out late at Cherry’s and though there were still plenty of lesbians in the bar, there were an ample amount of dudes to go around. I saw my friends Michael and Christian, whom I later found out were both really named Michael (They were joking with me the first time we all talked.), and we danced for a bit. All in all, it was a good time, but around ten to one I figured I’d had enough and went to catch the ferry. I was about a minute too late! At least there is a 2:00 ferry on Saturday nights.

I headed back to Cherry’s once again for a little more dancing. I danced with a whole group of cute guys for about a half-hour and then decided to go for some pizza and head for the ferry. I went over to Cherry Grove Pizza and ordered two slices to go. When I got outside the two Michaels were sitting at a table and I asked if I could join them. We chatted and chatted like old friends and before you knew it, one of them asked what time it was. I looked at my watch and answered “quarter to.” I dunno, something told me to check the time on my phone, too, and when I did it said 2:09. Uh oh!

The other Michael checked his and it said 2:12. Big uh-oh’s!!! The three of us booked it outta there and headed over to the dock. There was no line. There was no ferry. At first I didn’t think anything of it, figuring we could just chip in and take a water taxi. None of us panicked, and I looked on my phone for a number for the water taxi. I dialed and asked the question…”how much?’ The answer was not what I was hoping for: $225.

Just as this happened, the workers from the pizza place were walking by towards their own boat for home. A little excitement ensued, but it lasted for just a split second as these two girls hocked their last two spots on the boat even before we could ask. The unthinkable became reality: we were going to have to spend the night. The next ferry would be at 8:30, a mere six hours away!

Docks were not meant for sleeping!

One of the Michael’s picked a spot for us to sleep in. It was towards the beginning of the dock, right next to Cherry’s, and it was covered. The three of us huddled down for a rough night. It was hard to sleep, as you can imagine. The music and revelry was still going on at Cherry’s and did I mention the wood was quite uncomfortable?


Our first shelter

After a little bit one of the Michaels took off, leaving the other one a little pissed. The two of them used to be a couple and now they’re like best friends, so I don’t know if that had anything to do with it. He didn’t say where he was going and so the two of us were left to try and sleep. It was absolutely freezing!

We caught some zzz’s for about two hours before stirring to find Michael still missing. The one I was with tried calling him, but he didn’t answer his cell. We took off in search of him and to waste a little more time, as the sleep did not come easy. As we walked, the missing Michael texted the other Michael to say he was on the beach, which was precisely where we were headed. On the way I finally got to see what goes on after hours in this gayest of gay places, and it’s a little too X-rated for me to explain here. Just use your imagination…Needless to say it wasn’t pretty!

Anyway, after a couple of unpleasant calls between the two Michaels, we never saw him and went back to our spot to get some more sleep. By then it was around 4:30AM. A few stragglers from the bars were mulling about and one in particular knew Michael.

“Hola chica, I haven’t seen you in like forever! How you been?”

They exchanged hugs and this one Hispanic guy was as loud and irritating as one could be. I could see how he might be fun at any other time, but I was in no mood for his loud, queeny plays on words, especially at that moment. After what seemed like forever, he took off into the night and the two of us finally headed back to our spot.

The proverbial tip of the iceberg

Michael and I nuzzled down together once again for warmth and sleep. As I said before it was absolutely freezing and I was shivering the whole time. Here and again, people would walk by towards the water, barely noticing our strewn bodies on the floor, but their voices just added to the restlessness of trying to catch some shut eye. I know now how homeless people in the city must feel all the time. At one point, these two guys walked right near us and were chatting away, not even knowing we were there.

Then the ultimate incident to the whole evening happened. One of the guys decided to dump his drink over his shoulder, right on the floor next to me. My whole body got splashed with vodka and some kind of juice. I couldn’t help but laugh and Michael joined in. We decided to move…

Finally, a nice place to relax

We walked across the boardwalk to the restaurant that’s right against the ferry dock, I forget its name. Its outdoor seating area is semi-protected and so it was already warmer than the other spot. Michael grabbed a tablecloth from one of the tables and we had our blanket. Finally, we could both get some sleep. Every bone in my body ached from the boards beneath me and against my head, but at least I was able to some z’s. Around 5:30, the other Michael returned and joined us. The sun had already risen in the Sunday morning sky.


Our second and final resting place


An empty and quiet Cherry's in the morning

At around seven, I couldn’t take it anymore. I went in search of a cup of coffee and a seating spot in the warm morning sun. The two Michaels eventually joined me, as did these three girls who had also been in the same predicament as us. Before long, the Hispanic guy from earlier came down, still bubbly and loud, but at least he was more pleasant in the morning. The seven of us sat and chatted, actually feeling better that the ferry was almost here. Finally, around 8:20, our moment came. We saw the ferry on the horizon, heading our way.


Our ship coming in

The boat docked and we all boarded, the happy end to our long night. Back in Sayville, the three of us parted ways and once again we forgot to exchange numbers. Oh well, we’ll see each other again, I’m sure, only next time we’re all gonna be more mindful of the clock, that’s for sure. In the meantime, I’m starting to think that I should change the name of this blog to “The Misadventures of John, a Lovable, Strange, and Sometimes Funny Type of Guy.” What do you think?
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I always wanted to spend one whole night on Fire Island, but not this way. It all started innocently enough, but in the blink of an eye I found myself facing six and a half extra hours on the Island of Fire. It was the fitting end to one of the strangest nights yet in Cherry Grove…

Lesbians at the Terminal

I pulled into the ferry terminal about ten after eight. Before I even reached the ticket booth, my friend Laurie called me over. I almost gave her a call earlier in the day to see if she wanted to go, but I never got around to it, so I was glad she was there. At least I’d have someone close to hang with if I needed. She was with Lisa and another girl named Laura and they were soon joined by about six or seven other women.

“I hope it’s not ladies night,” I joked to Laura, chuckling as I said it. (Even though I said it jokingly, I was really hoping it wasn’t so.) She laughed as we boarded the 8:20, me and about 11 lesbians. One of them said that the moon was going to be full and from all of the buzz around the terminal, I had a feeling it was going to be somewhat of a wild night.

New Friends, A Punch-Drunk Weirdo and a Photographer

Once we got over to the Grove we all headed out to Cherry’s, which was pretty packed. I went off on my own here and there, dancing as I usually do and meeting new people. As usual, the majority of the crowd was women, some of them straight, and a lot of them gay. I danced a lot with this young girl who reminded me a little of Lady Gaga. Her outfit was a sequined bikini top and a black skirt, with a denim jacket over it. She was hella cool!

Of course I had my usual share of strange admirers. Most notable was this really strange older woman who was fascinated with punching me. Yeah, that’s right, I said punching!

She was a light-skinned black woman who had to be in her 60’s. She had white hair and I couldn’t tell if she was straight or gay, but as I was dancing she just came up to me and started punching me in the stomach like she was Mohammed Ali getting a workout with a punching bag. She punched me in the stomach, then the back, and even the sides. For about two hours I couldn’t shake her. Everywhere I turned she was right there punching away and every time she did so I moved away from her. I‘d like to say I have to learn how to just call these people out and tell em’ to leave me alone, but who am I kidding? I’m 46 and I don’t think things are going to change now…



I did a Google image search for "punchy lesbian" and this is what came up, lol.

I also met two women, one of their names was Tonya on the side of the dance floor. Her friend, I forget her name, was straight and although I think Laurie took a liking to her, she was clearly eyeing me. That’s when I hightailed it away from them. It’s too bad because Tonya was really cool and I think that maybe we could’ve hung out sometime.

Then there was this photographer, a black dude in a matching red outfit. I was dancing shirtless in the corner of the dance floor and he was sitting at one of the tables near the water. I had noticed him earlier, but when I saw him this time he had a professional camera in his hands and it was pointing right at me. For the next ten minutes or so he kept taking pictures of me dancing. I asked Laurie if I should go and say something, but by the time that happened, he packed up his bag and left the bar. I followed him, but quickly lost him in the crowd. I’m a little afraid of what’s gonna come with those pictures.


This is pretty much what I saw...

Lesbian Drama

One thing that lesbians are known for in gay circles is drama, and I got my first taste of it last night. I don’t want to get into details, but let’s just say that there was a three-way love interest involved, periods of silence amongst the lesbians, and lots of drunken moments. I did my fair share of trying to patch things up and smoothing them over, but they all left on the 11:30 and I don’t know how it all ended. And that was just the beginning of this strangest of nights! To be continued…
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Happy Monday! Not to tease you or anything, but it’s so nice not to have to worry about what day it is anymore, at least for the summer. Monday, Hump Day…whatever…it’s all the same to me and I love it! Anyway, it’s a beautiful day once again, summer life after another beautiful weekend…



The Grove Saturday

On Saturday evening I ventured back once again to Cherry Grove. After returning to the city during the week it was nice to go somewhere close by, and besides the weather was absolutely perfect! I hopped on the 8:20 ferry and I was off. I stopped for a slice of Cherry Grove pizza before heading to the bars and this really nice dude who works there gave it to me for a buck fifty, just because I had a great smile! It was the beginning of a fun night.

I went to Cherry’s at first and was surprised to see that there were only a handful of people in the bar. It was weird because as I said it was such a beautiful night, but even the ferry wasn’t that crowded. It was strange, but once again I saw my friend Michael and we hung out for a little bit. Apparently the weekly drag show at the Ice Palace had started a little early and that’s was the reason for the small crowd at Cherry’s, which got really busy later on.


The lifeguards all aboard

Lifeguards!

When I had first gotten to the ferry terminal I saw this group of nice-looking guys. I didn't realize it until the ferry started moving that they were Fire Island lifeguards, who were going to the Grove to try and raise money for an upcoming competition in Cape May. One of them got up from his seat upstairs on the ferry and solicited donations for their cause. They were selling lifeguard t-shirts and such and they were going to have a 50/50 raffle in all of the bars.

Of course, with gay people there's always a little naughtyness, and one dude from the boat asked what else he could buy with his money. With that, another lifeguard jumped up from his seat, lifted his shirt and said, "I'll give ya a lap dance."

"Oh my, we've got abs!" I Facebooked right then.

The dude had what looked to be a ten-pack. I couldn't help but smile at how cool these obviously straight guys were. It turned out that I saw them again dancing at Cherry's with each other and pretty much everyone else. I donated my $10.


The lifeguards whooping it up on the dance floor

All in all it was a fun night, with of course a lot of dancing and a lot of sweat. I actually left a little early because Saturday was also the opening night for Alfie’s Bar in Patchogue, which I told you about the other day.



Alfie’s Guys Night Out

Well, I can’t really gauge how the first night at Alfie’s was because I didn’t arrive until 2 A.M. By that time, there weren’t many people left, but from the chatter going on I think the guys were pleased overall with the turnout. I did stay until the wee hours, not really sure if I wanted to reveal my identity to George, the owner, for whom I penned the piece on Examiner. In the end, he never recognized me and I didn’t say who I was. I’m not really sure why, but who knows???

I did meet this nice guy named Ozzie who was very chatty with me. He told me he was a drag queen at several place on the island and I could definitely see that. I forgot his handle, but I know he performs at Circus Wednesdays, so I may hit it one of these days. Ozzie was a character, funny and sweet at the same time. Hopefully I’ll see him again and hopefully I’ll get to Alfie’s earlier so that I can give it an honest review. They’re having a White Party next Saturday so we’ll see…



Cherry Grove in the Daytime

I’d almost forgotten how nice Cherry Grove can be during the day, as well. The place is so beautiful. Being over there at anytime feels like you’re on a vacation even though you’re just a few miles from home, and the daytime has a whole different feel to it that the night. There are no cars and no roads, only boardwalks through a little town of bars, restaurants and gift shops. Then of course there’s the beach…I think that maybe I will hit it the next, or the first, time I make my way to la playa (I need to go...someone told me the other night that I was really white.)

Anyway, yesterday I planned to spend the day with my good buddy Laura Kim, who just turned 40 a couple of weeks ago. She and I hang out every now and again, mostly for a bite and some chit chat, and I wanted to treat her to a meal for her birthday in a special place. We’d been to the Grove together before and so she was up for it as well as I.

I can’t say enough how beautiful the weather was, clear, sunny skies, warm temps and beautiful views. We’d both been really hungry once we got over there on the ferry so we headed to Cherry’s Restaurant, overlooking the Great South Bay. We were seated for Sunday brunch in the cushiest chairs I’ve ever sat in overlooking everything below. Even though breakfast was not on our minds, the breakfast choices on the menu sounded delectable and so that’s what we ordered. LK had poached eggs with crab cakes (not my thing, but they looked good) and I dined on steak and eggs, which were out of this world.


The view from brunch at Cherry's Restaurant

After brunch it was time for one of Laura Kim’s favorite pastimes (mine, too!), shopping. We hit all of the gay shops in the Grove, she trying on a dress or two and I buying a cool muscle shirt. It’s funny but of all the times I’ve ever spent at the Grove I never went shopping. It was obvious, though, that LK has because she knew the guys in the shop at the Ice Palace, who were absolutely giddy when they first saw her.

After a few rounds of window shopping, we had some ice cream, which I’ve been eating too much of lately. I couldn’t resist the “Moose Tracks” with the peanut butter cups inside and LK had some black cherry with Oreo cookies in em’. Yum!


Pina Colada!

Burlesque at Cherry’s on the Bay

By that time I was ready for a cocktail and I suggested we hit Cherry’s. That was where the real fun began! Laura Kim and I chatted, mixed and mingled at Cherry’s for a few hours, having fun all along. At 5 P.M. they had a burlesque show featuring a guy and a girl doing several R-Rated numbers in front of a largely unappreciative crowd.



Me and LK with our cherries

Really, they weren’t very good, although there were moments of fun in their show. The gal did a few comedic renditions of songs like Rebecca Black’s “Friday” and other such camp, stripping layers of (some very cool!) costumes along the way. The dude mostly stripped, in a burlesque sort of way, with some theatrical movements and props helping him out. At one point, Laura Kim mentioned, to my agreement, that we’d seen way too much of his ass. Really, the whole thing was a little over the top and the crowd weren’t enjoying themselves too much. In fact, by the time we’d left, most of them weren’t even paying attention.

The audience participation portions of the show, which I always hate, had one fun spot and another moronic one. The more enjoyable of the two came in the form of a cute twink, whom the dude in the show dubbed as the New Go Go Boy. The poor guy was stripped down to his skivvies and at one point the guy from the show even yanked them down, giving all a quick glimpse of his buns. He took it all in stride, though, and for me at least it was the most enjoyable part of the show.

Next came the beer drinking contest. Two members of the audience, one guy and one gal, were chosen to drink a beer from the crotches of our hosts. It was everything everyone hates about these types of shows, idiotic and stupid, but the worst of all was the last skit we saw.


The beer drinking contest...pretty much the only pic of the show I can share with you...

It was the dude’s turn to entertain (?) and he came out with a large lollipop to the sounds of the song “Candy Man,” by Sammy Davis, Jr. He did his thing, slowly peeling off portions of his costume right down to his g-string underwear, and that’s where it got downright disgusting! During the number, a couple of strippers came into the audience passing out Hershey Kisses, which were a little soft from the sun. As they did so, the dude peeled one and ate it, then grabbing his stomach with a painful looking grimace on his face. That was when he revealed his buttocks once again, spreading his cheeks to reveal the melted chocolate caked all over his crack.

“Let’s go,” I said to Laura Kim.

Without a word, we got up and left, headed for the ferry. It was a disturbing finish to what was otherwise a pleasant day at the Grove. LK and I came home and we made a tray of my world-famous mac and cheese, with spicy pepper jack, filling ourselves happy on what I must say was my best ever.

Well, folks, that’s all the time we have for today. As always, I am forever grateful for your readership and I hope that you enjoy my little space on the Web. Here’s a video of another “Candy Man,” one I like, by the Mary Jane Girls. Enjoy!




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When it rains, it certainly pours, doesn’t it? The past few days have been full of…what can I call it? Drama, I guess. It all started at Cherry Grove on Sunday…

Cherry Grove Sunday

Normally on holiday weekends there’s a whole crew of us that goes to the Grove. The participants vary, but usually it’s at least me, Blanche and Dita. This year, each of them brought a friend, Lydia and Maryann, each of whom know each other and each of whom know Blanchie and Dita separately. I’d met Maryann before…I hung out with her a couple of times with Rich, and she’s pretty cool. I never met Lydia before, but she seemed cool enough.

The four of them had all had dinner together recently and apparently one of the subjects at the dinner table that night was sex, and so on Sunday none of us had to mince our words. We joked about the tricks we’d had over the years and how many we’d see over there, and of course it seemed right from the beginning that I was the Blanche Devereaux of the group. As soon as we got off the ferry I saw one of mine, and so it began. As usually happens when I go over there on a holiday weekend, I run into a lot of people I know, some of them expected and others not, and this Sunday was full of surprises.

Blast from the Past

We had planned on having dinner before hitting the bars, so right when we got there we headed towards the beach, where there’s a restaurant. We walked on the dock to look at the beautiful ocean and almost immediately we saw friends of Rich’s niece Erin, with whom we hung out with at the NYC Pride Parade. Erin’s best bud Steven immediately saw us and began to make his way off the beach to greet us. The others followed…that was when I saw him.

His name is Nick and we kinda sorta dated for a little bit about two years ago. It didn’t really end well back then and I never thought I’d see him again, yet there he was standing right across from me with Erin’s friends. It was madly uncomfortable, to say the least. The two groups soon parted ways, with them heading off to the Ice Palace and us off to dinner, and my strange evening had just begun…

The Mayor

As things turned out, Lydia and Maryann weren’t as fun as I had expected them to be. They were pretty laid back all night long, even though I tried getting them going on the dance floor. Since I hang out there for more than just the holiday weekends, I know a lot of people, and they were all there that night. There was my new/old religion class friend Lisa, my other buddy Laurie, my writing friend Michael, Paul, Christian, my old Chilean buddy Sebastian, the other Michael, and so on. I even saw Katherine, who I had met a couple of weeks back see Lesbian Matchmaker). I was just having my usual fun, dancing around with all of them, spreading joy wherever I could, like I always do. The girls (all four of them, lol) came on and off the dance floor every now and again and at one point Lydia came over, pointed at me and said, “You’re the mayor.”

I guess I took that as a complement. I’m a little different than most people I know, okay, probably a lot different! I never go anywhere with an agenda. I’m not looking to pick up guys or anything like that. I just like to have a good time. I dance with people I don’t know, smiling and singing along to whatever song is playing, and I usually get the same reaction back. It’s all great fun to me, but I’m afraid that when Lydia said that she was thinking that I was something else. I’m afraid that a lot of people just don’t get me…I don’t always get the good reactions from people, even though I mean no harm. I’m not really sure, but whatever…

Drunken Monkeys

After dinner we went by the Ice Palace and we ran into Erin for the first time. She hadn’t been at the beach with her friends earlier because she was wanting to go in the pool at the Palace instead. We could tell that she and her friend Matt were about five sheets to the wind.

Now Erin is one of the funniest people I know. She’s a big girl, and she’s a sweetheart with an intense sense of humor. As we approached she tried to hide behind a measly branch of a tree hanging over the boardwalk and we all laughed at her silliness. Apparently her bartender at the Iced Palace gave her only a splash of juice with her vodka and she was hysterically and intoxicatingly funny, to say the least.

We hung out with the group on the deck at the Ice Palace for awhile. It was crowded and the music was good, so we danced and laughed at all of Erin’s antics, especially when she did the bump n grind on all of us but Rich (he IS family, you know!). Matt was just as bad, speaking drunken truths to us and hugging everybody constantly. This group of friends are great though…they look out for each other and a couple of them especially were trying to take care of the two of them, eventually getting them home on an early ferry. Nick was still with them and it was still uncomfortable.

Cherry’s

Cherry’s was the place where we finished the night, as usual, dancing with all of the lesbians to the great music. Of course there were guys there, even cute ones, and I had my usual good time. Towards the end of the night, I was dancing up on the stage and Nick finally approached me. He asked me if I remembered him. Of course I did! I really liked him at one time. We danced together for about an hour…he was impressed with the way I look these days (which only served to make my head a little bigger, lol!) and we exchanged numbers before I headed off onto the ferry with my buddies.

Of course there’s a lot more to the story of Sunday, which continued on through yesterday. I’ll leave those to your imagination, but I dunno, right now it seems like it’s going to be a crazy, weird summer!

Here are some photos from Fire Island a couple of years ago:



Me, Blanche and Grazyna (feel better sweetie! We missed you!)

Erin and Grazyna

Me and Erin getting down!

Me and Matt

...she's gonna kill me....this one's from the Pride Parade last week...I didn't want to chance putting it up on Facebook, but it shows ya how hysterical Erin can be, lmao...



A Post Script

This morning I received a message on my Twitter account from Long Island Newsday, Long Island’s newspaper. As it seems, they’ve been following my activities on Twitter and they wanted to feature me on their “Featured Long Island Twitterers” page. They called me for an impromptu interview over the phone and they told me to watch for it in the paper. How cool is that?

Here's one of the great songs we danced to on Sunday:

Let me introduce you, to my party people...


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Well it’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything personal on this space. It’s been a busy first week of summer, but I’m ready to get back into the swing of things. The last thing I spoke about was Graduation Day a week ago today. I’m actually not finished yet with graduation as I’ll be going to a party of one of my students this evening. I’d better get ready to use my Spanish! Anyway, here’s what’s happened in the past week, my first week of summer vacation…

Atlantic City

On Tuesday I went to Atlantic City with my mom, my sister and her friend for three days. They’re the ones who first introduced me to the East Coast gambling mecca several years ago and ever since I like to go down there a couple of times a year. This is the first time I’ve gone with them since last summer and though I was apprehensive about it, the trip went well…with them anyway.

The recession has definitely hit AC hard, as evidenced by the appearance of the city itself and the non-payouts they’re sooo not giving away. Just about five short years ago, it seemed like the place was on the cusp of making it better than ever, with a new outlet center adding premiere shopping to its array of activities and building new casinos. The Sands was torn down a few years back and they were going to replace it with an all-new casino called the Pinnacle. For awhile there, billboards heralding the new place were literally everywhere, but since the recession hit hard, plans for the new state-of-the-art place were abandoned as evidenced by the removal of such signs.

Now I like to gamble…it can be fun, but I never go to Atlantic City thinking I’m ever going to win anything big. Of course winning money would be nice, but I’m happy if my losses are kept to a minimum. If I throw $20 into a slot machine and play with it for an hour, I’m satisfied, but it seems these days the casinos are still putting up all the bells and whistles to attract people yet they’re not paying out what they once did. A twenty dollar bill is gone in a flash, before the player ever knew what hit em’. None of us were winning anything for three days and we had to force ourselves to find other things to do to keep away from the “one-armed bandits.”

Looking around, it didn’t seem as if anybody was winning at any of the casinos. Oh sure, there are one or two hundred dollar ‘jackpots’ being paid out, but not much more than that. Of course, all this is being said from my own observations, and I could be wrong, but I do believe it to be true. Even some acquaintances of ours who we met for dinner said the same thing. They were losing fast and big, too. All this did for me was to put off for a long, long time my next trip there.

I mean, really, don’t these jackasses who run the place know that they’ve still gotta make some payouts so the people will come back? Even the comps they used to give out have dwindled to practically nothing. Sure, I still got a free room, but my mom had to pay up the nose for hers, and my so-called ‘cash and comps’ were either expired or close to nothing, and I had just gone there back in April.
Well, that’s enough of a rant about Atlantic City. Like I said, it’ll be a long while before I head back down there again, unless of course I fall into big money somehow, lol…

The Grove

Since I’m going to that graduation party tonight, I figured I’d take a trip to the Grove last night for some 4th of July Weekend fun. A whole crew of us is going tomorrow, but still I just can’t stay at home on a Friday night. Though the ferry schedule had changed and I was a bit confused, there was definitely a festive mood in the air from the moment I arrived at the ferry terminal. Everyone was in a good mood anticipating a fun evening. I paid my ticket and rode the top of the ferry on a gorgeous night, weather-wise.

All in all, it was a great night. Cherry’s was having a burlesque show and even though it was by girls for girls, I thoroughly enjoyed it! There were three pretty chicks doing all sorts of dance-skits to music and it was fun to watch. As always, there weren’t many dudes there, but at least the ones that were there were hot and friendly. There was this one guy, very cute and very tall, that was dancing around with everyone, including me. I learned from dancing with him that dancing with tall people makes me feel awkward, so I must remember that for my future guy-seeking endeavors, lol.

At one point in the evening, I was dancing on the side of the dance floor with a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other, and this really big, kind of adorable dude named Kyle just grabbed me to dance with him. I had a lot of fun with him, dancing and singing along to Taio Cruz, Nicki Minaj and more, but I think he mistook my friendliness for something more. Not wanting to give him the wrong impression, I went off on my own every now and again and at one point he seemed very upset. I’m not sure if it was because I left him or something else, but I kind of think it had something to do with me...

Being the kind of person I am, I felt the need to go back over to him and make him feel better. We danced some more, which made him happy, but then he got a little too touchy-feely. After a couple of songs I knew I had to break away for good. It’s too bad because he was cool and I would’ve liked to maybe make friends, but it seems that when guys like one another they don’t want anything else but… It’s funny, but I couldn’t help but think of 'him' when I was thinking that last night. He said he wanted to remain friends, but I couldn’t handle it and look at where that got me. I guess I’m not that different than everybody else, huh?

And of course, as always I attract the straight women and the lesbians, ugh! There was this one woman who mistook a smile for I don’t know what, and for awhile there she was literally chasing me around the dance floor!

It was a shame the last ferry left so early, though, as Cherry’s was getting really crowded at that time. I don’t know why they would have such an early one (12:40) on a holiday weekend, but they did. Judging by the people who went over there on the same ferry as I, they were all staying for the weekend! Ah, one day!!!!

Well that’s all folks. Hopefully I’ll be posting regularly once again now that summer is officially here and my work has ebbed to a minimum. Now to get back to that Z-A Challenge, lol. As always, thanks for reading!

Here's a little snippet of what I hope will be a full video for J-Lo's song off of her new album "LOVE?" The song's called "Good Hit" and it is just soooo funky!!!!

Got that New York swagger, Miami base
Got my California looks on all up in your face
Midwest pimp type, Texas
Don't you want me to have your baby,
Don't you wish I was your boo



Pick up "LOVE?"...the whole album's slamming!



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