Beauty Shot

Two beautiful dogs stand before me, but I only have one photo, and this photo represents the dog who is America's Next Top Dog Model.

The dog whose name I do not call must pack up his bones and go back to the doghouse.

America's Next Top Dog Model is ... revealed, now and forever at Randy Boyd's Blocks.

New Love for Old Glory

Now I get it! All those white people were right!

I have officially deleted all my skepticism about the United States of America and its great democratic experiment.

America is the greatest country on earth!

Anyone can rise up and become president of the United States! A man born five months before me, President Obama, is living proof!

—from Black Man Confesses: I Love America!

Tongue-tied at an Undisclosed Location

“To Seattle we go for highlights of the AFC Championship game earlier today. The skies were ... who cares! The wind chill ... forgetaboutit! This time, Jim Kelly and the 13-4 Buffalo Bills were forced to go west, and battle Yeager-meister and the 15-2 Seahawks in the comfy confines of their concrete dome that was rocking like a nuclear reactor, powered by 65,000 white towels waving their beloved franchise onward. A win today means the team reaches the Super Bowl for the first time in history, in this or any other universe.”

“And, Jake, if you look at how Seattle got gypped last year with the frozen tongue in Buffalo--you knew they weren’t taking any chances this time.”

“Rumor has it, the Buffalo sideline guy was held tongue-tied at an undisclosed location the entire weekend.”

“Ouch ... and yes, there were Bills fans at the Kingdome, dreaming of yet another Buffalo shuffle to the Super Bowl—but do they truly wanna risk yet another Super Disappointment?”

The Day Camelot Was Born

Fifty years ago today, January 20, 1961, John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as the 35th President of the United States. The next 1,000 days would later come to be known as Camelot.

The babies born in American during that mythical time were too young to grasp the significance of the country's first Catholic president, or the tragic events in Dallas in 1963; but those babies would grow to learn of an America forever changed by a man named John.

We were the little cheeks he kissed and welcomed into the world. We were the newborn children he referenced in his words and dreams for the future of a nation. His nation. We were born in his America. We are now running America. We are the Kennedy babies.

"One of the most bizarre finishes in football annals."

“To Buffalo we go for highlights of the first playoff matchup earlier today. The skies were blustery and the wind chill five below--not the most ideal circumstances for the Indoor Seahawks, but a win today on the frozen tundra of Rich Stadium would put Seattle in next week’s AFC Championship for only the second time in franchise history and the first time in over a decade.”

“And, Jake, if you take a look at the way this Seattle ball club has risen in only two years under quarterback Walt Yeager--you knew they weren’t going to be rattled by snowballs from the stands. This is a team that went 13-3 in the regular season—”

“Yeah, but only 6-2 since the release of Yeager-meister Ice Cream.”

“Ouch ... there you see the meister throwing before the game, trying to keep his hands warm--look! Someone in the stands was also warming up! A snowball barely misses the QB. Does he flinch? Not this gunslinger. He’s got his own flava! And dare I say, some of that Joe Namath swagger?”

Long Beach: California's Best Place to Trikke?

Once again, the city of Long Beach provided So Cal trikkers with beautiful weather, beautiful coastal scenery and a picture-perfect beach day for a group Trikke ride, this time in the middle of winter.

The occasion was the first-ever MLK, Jr., Trikke Ride of Long Beach, held on Saturday, January 15, 2011, and sponsored by SouthBay Trikke, Southern California's largest and leading local Trikke dealer.

“After the success of the Labor Day Ride, it was time for another major ride here," said Jeri Thompson, co-founder of Long Beach Trikkers, the local club that co-sponsored the MLK Ride. "This time, we wanted to acknowledge Dr. King's dream. Trikkers at our events come in all colors. We're celebrating that diversity, as well as giving back.”

"Trikkers ... speeding down the spiral slopes like giddy school kids on a roller coaster."

To that end, the entry fee for MLK riders was a canned food item to be donated to the Good Provider Food Bank of Southern California. “We chose the food bank because of whom they most serve, mainly children,” said Thompson.

For the first So Cal group ride of 2011, 21 riders--20 of whom were trikkers--descended upon Shoreline Village in Long Beach, canned goods in hand, Trikkes ready to rock and roll. While the Labor Day Ride was 10 miles round-trip, the MLK Ride route expanded to 13 miles to include a lap around Rainbow Lagoon, aka the Pond, a jaunt past the Ferris wheel at the Pike, and a trek to the Long Beach Harbor Lighthouse.

With the famous Queen Mary sitting across the bay and serving as the backdrop, trikkers ascended the spiral hill up to the Lighthouse, took a break for gorgeous photo ops, then descended the hill en masse, speeding down the spiral slopes like giddy school kids on a roller coaster.

"For the MLK Ride, the love affair between trikkers and Long Beach only got better."

From there, the group rocked and rolled through Shoreline Village back to the path along the marina. Then it was one long carving cruise down the long, beach path adjacent to the long beach that is ... Long Beach.

During the Labor Day Ride, trikkers from elsewhere fell in love with the Long Beach Trikke Track (more commonly known as the bike path). For the MLK Ride, the love affair between trikkers and Long Beach only got better. Great comments abounded from out-of-towners. "This is the best ride we've gone on, as far as scenery is concerned," said one traveling trikker.

Perhaps the best part about the beach path of Long Beach: it's rarely crowded, especially compared to other beach paths in LA County. Then there's the separate lane for walkers, something most beach paths in the county lack.

Add to that the unmatched coastal scenery and great California weather and it's easy to see why Long Beach is fast becoming a favorite for trikkers.

The weeks leading up the MLK Ride were fraught with cold, cloudy days, many of them wet and sunless. It were almost as if Southern California forgot it was supposed to be Southern California.

But that's the thing about living in the southern half of the Golden State. Sooner or later, and usually sooner than later, cold and cloudy morphs into warm and sunny, which leads to perfect trikking days, just like the one given to trikkers for the first-ever MLK Ride of Long Beach.

• See photos of the MLK Ride 2011 on Facebook

Randy Who?

Randy Boyd is the author of four novels, several short stories and many essays, all from the unique point of view of a black man who has been living with HIV/AIDS for more than half his life.

His novels have been nominated for five Lambda Literary Awards, including his latest release, Walt Loves the Bearcat, a Lambda Literary Award finalist for Best Romance.

Born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, Randy graduated from UCLA in 1985 and has been writing professionally his entire adult life.

His fiction has appeared in Blackfire magazine, as well as the following anthologies: Certain Voices (Alyson Books); Flesh and the Word 2 (Plume); Sojourner: Black Gay Voices in the Age of AIDS (Other Countries); Flashpoint: Gay Male Sexual Writing (Masquerade Books), MA-KA: Diasporic Juks (Sister Vision); and Freedom in this Village: Black Gay Men's Writing 1969 to the Present (Carroll & Graf).

His nonfiction has been featured in the Indiana Word, Frontiers, Au Courant, The Washington Blade, The James White Review, The Gay and Lesbian Review, The Lambda Book Report, BeyondChron.com and the anthology Friends and Lovers: Gay Men Write About the Families They Create (Dutton). Randy has also been a contributor to Outsports.com and the publications of the Black AIDS Institute.

An avid sportsman and fan of his hometown Indiana Pacers, Randy lives in Southern California and has a dog named Boomer, named after the Pacers mascot. Boomer is the inspiration for When In Doubt, Pet the Dog, a periodic blog column.

Meet the Kids

As a child, I imagined books and movies about someone like me. Rarely did I see images of people who thought like me, acted like me and with whom I could identify. And that was just in real life! On television, in novels and in the movies, I simply didn't exist.

Makes a brutha feel like Hollywood and the book world can't imagine someone like me being worthy of a plot.

Fortunately, they don't have to. I'm imagining it for them. Here now, my four novels to date. They're like my kids. I'm happy with the way they turned out.

A young black man living with HIV/AIDS dreams of an alternate life where he is HIV-negative and lovers with pro football's greatest quarterback. Or is that, a young black man who is HIV-negative dreams of an alternate life where he's living with HIV/AIDS and never meets pro football's greatest QB? Your ticket is your imagination. Walt Loves the Bearcat, a Lambda Literary Finalist for Best Romance.

A famous but closeted black pop singer tests positive for HIV and plots to assassinate a homophobic US Senator, while a straight white FBI agent goes undercover, as a gay activist, to stop him. Which side will you be on? Uprising, a two-time Lambda Literary Finalist for Best Mystery and Best Small Press Title.

An HIV-positive, black gay businessman must save his business and a friend's life by uncovering a sinister plot to demonize all homosexuals. The mind is a terrible thing to fuck with. The Devil Inside. A Lambda Literary Award Finalist for Best Science Fiction, Horror, Fantasy, and a Gaylactic Spectrum Awards nominee for Best Science Fiction Novel.

A young black man tests positive for HIV, then escapes to Cancun, Mexico, where he meets two white teenage brothers who idolize him, not knowing he is living with HIV/AIDS. It's a friendship that will change all their lives forever. Bridge Across the Ocean, a Lambda Literary Finalist for Best Small Title.

Welcome to my world.

Welcome to College, Nigger

Thirty years ago circa this moment in time, I was finishing up my first semester as a USC freshman.

I was also beginning my first Pac-10 basketball season as a USC yell leader, the first of my four years as a college cheerleader.

Even though I'd only been an SC Trojan for four months, I knew I wasn't going to be an SC Trojan for life.

Why? Let's just say I learned that I was more public school material than private school material. My lesson began before I ever stepped foot in a college classroom, when USC's Sigma Chi's Called Me Nigger.

America: Take Thi$ Deal!

Because it is my civic duty and moral obligation to my fellow Americans, I offer this very quick and very easy, 3-step solution to ending America's financial meltdown.

I don't even want credit, just for America to buy my books, nominated for five Lambda Literary Awards and available wherever books are sold (click on the book covers in the right sidebar to purchase them at Amazon.com!) ...

But I digress. Here's the deal, America, take it, and we can all party like it's 1945-2000. What deal? The one with three quick fixes to end America's financial crisis.

Why Criminals Smoke Cigarettes

What makes an innocent little baby turn into a sweet playful kid who turns into a shy and quiet preteen who turns into a wayward youth who turns into one of the criminals on the long running TV show Cops?

Cigarettes, the real gateway drug to a life of crime and unproductive behavior: lying, cheating, stealing, the kind of shit lands you in handcuffs.

Most kids learn very early on that smoking is bad, as in not acceptable to authority, the law, your lungs. After all, if smoking were so universally righteous, we'd all be doing it everywhere all the time, like we do breathing, drinking water, eating veggies.

"No matter their crime, the criminals on Cops just gotta take a drag off their cigarettes."

Even if one's parents smoke, that's no out. All babies grow up in a world that doesn't let you smoke where you want, when you want. Otherwise, daycare workers would be doling out nap mats and cig breaks.

Black Boy Bowled Over by Bowl Season

It wouldn't be college football bowl season on the Blocks without a nostalgic look back at a certain black college cheerleader who cheered his heart out for both USC and UCLA in three January 1st bowl games in the early 1980s. Ah, those college daze.

One month into his freshman year, the young black boy became a USC yell leader. Some time later, he would be a USC Yell Leader with a Love Hangover at the Fiesta Bowl.

Then the young man had the audacity to transfer to their crosstown rival. Yep, the Bruins. Find out why, and see how he, who is me, became a UCLA Cheerleader Sacked by the Rose Bowl. It's college bowling like you never imagined, now and forever on Randy Boyd's Blocks.