True BFFs!!

It's Friday and Friday is a time for friends. I love my friends so much. So much that I cry sometimes when I think about them being in my life. I'm so lucky to have them. They truly are my BFFAEAEAE (Best Friends Forever And Ever And Ever And Ever)

Eric, The Roommate and I have been friends since the 5th grade. After college we lived together in LA for two years and we're still roommates here in NYC. He is the closest thing I've ever had to a brother. We're pretty inseparable and despite his crossed legs and baby blue V-Neck shirt- he's straight. If any women reading this blog really dig fit Jewish vegetarian musicians- Eric's your guy.

This is us when we lived in LA with Matt (our other best friend who we've known since Junior high and who is also a musician and yes- straight.) Schook, a few friends down, lived next to us and referred to us as "My Three Jews," as if we lived in a sitcom, which much of our life happened to be.

Gwen is another best friend of mine and my first official gay role model. Gwen came out at 14, when we were in the 9th grade by writing a courageous article in the school newspaper demanding acceptance and tolerance for gay and lesbian students. I didn't come out until 18 but she was a definite catalyst in my decision to do so. She has an intimidating intelligence, a great sense of dark humor and is a favorite drinking buddy- she knows more than anyone else that when I've had one too many, instead of getting rowdy, I get smoochy- she's always a target.

Gruber is yet another best friend of mine from childhood. We've been friends since we were 5! He is also a brainiac- responsible for creating some very popular and widely used virtual worlds and knows everything from books to film to hip hop. His first name is Eric, so yes, that makes three best friends all named Eric who all happen to be Jewish. I'm the only rainbow flavored one though. He's seen here trying to kiss Gwen's girlfriend- the always stellar, Nikki.

Eyal and I have been friends since Palm Springs White Party 2002 when I noticed a Star of David dangling from his towering 6'7" body frame and bonded over being, quite possibly, the youngest guys there. I was only 20 and he was just 24! We've been friends since- from Palm Springs to New York to LA and back to New York. Eyal is the founder and CEO of BoyButter Lubes. He's seen here smiling his face off (as always) with boyfriend Brendan.

Schook is a more recent best friend. We met in 2004 when we were just piss-on Production Assistants on Paris Hilton's "The Simple Life" reality TV show. He was and still is my go-to for a dry and witty sense of humor and the latest in hot-poppin' sneakers.

Rrrriot! and I happen share a brain and there's more to it than simply being queer 1st cousins. Thanks to that side of the family we're almost identical in silly-obnoxious humor, taste in movies, music, people and taking our shirts off. We can make each other laugh for hours. She's my sidekick, my cuddle-buddy, my partner in crime and my favorite person to cruise guys with. After meeting and hanging with so many of my friends she's a self identified queer-female bear lover! Every Sunday we set out in an aimless direction and get brunch at any new restaurant we stumble upon. Mostly we find ourselves in the West Village and almost always end up at the Christopher St. Pier, whether it's winter or summer, where wrestle and roll around in the grass like mentally challenged maniacs. My mother refers to us as yenta 1 and yenta 2 and she's drop. dead. GORGEOUS!

Wayne. Wayne has become more than just a great friend he's become an influence, a mentor and a motivator. Since meeting Wayne my views on so many things- from activism to literature to gay culture to sex to history have all changed for the better. I first met Wayne by picking up his novel "Hard" at Barnes and Noble. "Hard" is a fictional novel about the struggle for liberation during the NYC based sex wars of the 1990's told through the eyes of a sex positive Jewish bear-cub. I read the book in a matter of days and googled Wayne with hopes of sending him an email to tell him how much I enjoyed it. A few months later I was making my way across town to the Dugout where Wayne was holding a book signing. As he signed my copy I called him Mr. Hoffman and told him how much I appreciated his book and how courageous he was to write on the topic. I had no idea that months he'd become an incredibly close and important friend. He's adorable and has one of the biggest hearts I've ever known. Here he is reading at Rapture Cafe.

I have to go and wipe the tears from my keyboard now. :)

Big Apple Dodgeball: Game 3

In the third week of the Big Apple Dodgeball league all teams showed up confident and ready to kick ass. Balls were being thrown harder than ever, teams disputed with refs and cheers and boos were heard louder than ever before. Yup, "the game" has finally begun.

As of last week, my team The Spread Eagles, were tied for third with the OB-GYM's. This week, after our 4-to-2 win against The Splashtastics and The Manhattan Catastrophes, we may still only be in third. Check here for last week's standings. They are updated every Thursday.

Last night, first place team Big Booty Ballers, may have slipped into second place as the Butter Balls reigned terror on them and Barton's Ball Busters . The first official injury of the season occurred last night too with the broken pinky finger of Eyal Feldman. Whatcha gonna do next week, big man? BRING IT!

As is becoming tradition many of the players headed to Gym Sports Bar in Chelsea to share pitchers and pizza while getting into several rowdy games of Flip Cup.

UPDATE: According to the BAD website official standings, The Spread Eagles are in 2nd place. holla.

Mark, the official organizer and hottie Referee for Big Apple Dodgeball












Refs dispute with The Spreads: "NO throwing balls at someone's head!!!"












Post game flip cup madness

Weekends

Friday evening Nick was in town from Los Angeles and we caught up over dinner at some Hell's Kitchen joint called HK. There was lots of concrete and lights in the floor and straight lines and lagging service. Nick and I spit the details of our latest life back and forth and traded stories of our days in LA. It was nice to catch up, he's a good friend, it almost covered up the lackluster service and mediocre food. I got the bacon cheeseburger and while the presentation was good the meat didn't hit home. Craving something sweet and wanting to get the hell out of HK we hopped a cab downtown to Billy's Bakery. Billy's is an explosion of yellow and icing. Just smelling the place can give you a cavity. Everything is moist and soft and caked with I-just-gotta-lick-it frosting. Nick got a slice of the Red Velvet cake and I the blueberry cheesecake. Needless to say, five minutes later we were sitting outside, stomach bloated spitting sugar out of our teeth and I dying for a cigarette. We remained there for awhile before Nick was meeting a friend at the Eagle. I escorted him there had a beer and split. The cheesecake had done me in.

Saturday I woke up and grabbed brunch with Eric the roommate and Randee at a new Italian/Mexican fusion restaurant across the street from my apartment. This place serves a brunch like no other. It's not your typical omelet and French toast fare. In fact, New York Time's Magazine says, "What do you get when a Tuscan chef marries a Mexican one? In the case of Matilda, a quirky new Alphabet City restaurant, you get wood-burning-oven-baked focaccia with your guacamole, prosciutto and basil in your quesadilla, and filet mignon alla Fiorentina in your tacos.." The brunch menu alone had so many interesting choices that it became the first time in a long time I had tothink further than eggs or pancakes. Check this place out.
Afterward Eric went home and I Randee and I jumped to Mud Cafe to say hi to Brooklyn and borrow her long board. Soon enough Randee and I were thrashing our way over to the West side where we spend many weekend afternoons. The weather was gorgeous and we took our time heading over and up. We started at 9th st. and 2nd Ave. Headed up 5th to 20th and skated over to 8th where our friend Sasha just moved in. We stopped by, met her parents, wished her luck on unpacking and headed back out to the West Side Highway bike path and down to the Christopher St. Pier. The sun was just hitting that early autumn 4pm peak giving way to a golden-pink sunset and a breeze which made us feel sedate. We went out on the pier skating a few yards in and spotted a fur patch of friends. Frank, Tony, Danny, and Andy greeted us with smiles and made room for us on their sheet. Something about those piers, the weather, Jersey City sparking across the river and probably the feeling of soft green grass under my toes makes me incredibly energetic and I pounced on my friends like a kitten to cat nip. Soon enough we were all rolling around, throwing grass and piggy-backs at each other. We enjoyed ourselves and the particularly odd warm weather until the sun grew tired and Randee and I hungry. The gang split apart, Randee and I jumping on our boards once again and eventually finding dinner of nachos and fajitas with Eyal and Brendan. It was just the perfect cap for a Saturday so filled with warmth.









Sunday started off pretty lazy. I didn't get up until noon and started answering some questions Michael Crawford a contributor from Bilerico.com had asked me after taking an interest in my HIV/AIDS Public Service Announcement. They were questions based primarily on my experiences in the community as a young gay man, what influences motivated me to be outspoken and whether or not I have any answers to solving the HIV-still-matters issue and the generation non-communication gap. I had fun answering his questions. I answered in complete honesty and really reached within myself to find the root causes of why I care. Can it be simply that I just do? It's hard for me to conceptualize the idea that some people don't. I finished half the questions and got ready to head out, after all it is New York Leather Fest. I strapped on a Sam Brown, picked up Randee and we jetted to the West Village to check out the leather fest, not because I'm particularly even into leather, but because I care that events like these continue having the right to exist. Randee and I got there and I introduced her to my posse and other fellow tribesmen. I met up with Alex, one of my fiercest buddies, who was assigned the role of Leather Weekend Photographer and we bought some drinks and enjoyed the leather strapped, snap, crack and whap exhibitions. The crowd was mostly tame, easy going and the street wasn't even packed but it still ended up being fun day in the sun. A new reason to just get together with friends and people once again before the autumn officially begins. Before late, low and behold, the Dugout was packed to the walls with men enjoying themselves. Randee grew tired of being a delicate seashell in the ocean of men and retired to her board and a peaceful night. I ran off with Alex, uptown to the Eagle to finish off another night and another week.

Joan Rivers Stand Up

Last night Eyal, Brendan and I went to see Joan Rivers at The Cutting Room in Chelsea for some classic stand up. This was my second time seeing Joan after winning tickets last year at Lesbian Bingo at Mo Pitkins.
Joan was a bawdy, lewd and crass with her below the belt humor and humorously shallow views on life. She joked on everything from NYC tourists, to Jews, to Gays, to 9/11, to celebrities, and even including a snippet about her "awfully stupid Grandson." She told some of her jokes from last year but remodeled under a new format. She told my favorite joke though: The one where she admits to believing Anne Frank would have sold more books if she acted like any other Jewish Girl and gotten a nose Job. heh. heh.
The tickets were about $25 bucks a pop and the show just under an hour but it was well worth it considering her age and comedic legacy.

Commercial Shoot

A slippery way to make $$$$

So I'm not completely unemployed. Between jobs I often find impromptu ways in which I can make money. From painting houses in Fire Island to Producing my friend's commercial I stay, just barely, above the surface.
Eyal, founder and President of Boy Butter Lubes hired me to produce his first commercial shoot. Having an affinity for Billy Mays and OxiClean I gladly accepted the offer. Eyal and I scouted locations and ended up filming at a mutual friend's house. The shoot went well, Eyal is becoming an in-front of camera pro, and I found money in my wallet.