Of Men and Earrings

My 22-year-old cousin wears an earring. His grandmother asked him why.

“I dunno,” was his response.

Why, men wear earrings to feel pretty, I could have told him.

In the latter part of the last century, women began taking more control over their lives and men began doing things previously reserved for young ladies out to catch a man: earrings, getting one’s hair-did, fancy jells and perfumes, excuse me, colognes.

Cover boys acting like Covergirls. Fashion statements that state: somebody declared this fashionable and I’m into fashion! Don’t I look pretty? Don’t I smell pretty?

Men who are man enough to admit to having sex with other men need to come up with new terms to describe themselves because heterosexual-identified men who wear earrings and cover up the scent of a man with fancy concoctions in a bottle have given new meaning to words like “gay” and “queer.”

Yes, you all look pretty. Very, very pretty.

The Emperor Has No Debt Crisis

What if this summer’s blockbuster event—the Debt Ceiling Debate—was the crisis that wasn’t? What if the threat of weapons of mass debt are just as non-existent as Saddam's weapons of mass destruction?

Why do most economists say another stimulus is needed, not spending cuts? Makes you wonder, especially after checking out two stories from Time Magazine and the PBS Newshour.

The Five-Year Plan

When my dog Boomer turned ten years of age in 2008, we made a deal.

Negotiations were tough but fair. We both had demands; we both made concessions. It was all about finding common ground, focusing on the things we agreed on, our similarities rather than our differences.

When it was all over, a deal was struck between myself and the golden mutt I’d raised since he was a six-month-old puppy.

The deal was rather simple: Been together ten years, so far. Another five years, then we’ll re-access and re-up our relationship, providing, of course, we can come to terms again.

Most likely, those future negotiations will once again focus on the type of food I feed him (mine vs. his), the amount of treats he gets, and the number of times “it’s playtime!”

Those are the things that cause our differences of opinion and therefore, stress in our relationship. Mind you, that stress in minimal, compared to the rest of our lives; but the experts say: communication is the most crucial thing in a relationship.

Which is exactly why we came up with the five-year plan. It helps us know where we’re going, where we’ve been, and best of all, it helps us realize: although we may not be around one another forever, we’ve still got a few more years together, as long as we stick to the plan.

The White Stuff

Confused by today's political rhetoric? Check out the New American Dictionary for Angry White People.

Keeping Up with Randy Boyd's Blocks

If you love Randy Boyd's Blocks like I do, you'll want to make sure you read every single post.

To do that, you can get the Blocks via email, or you can subscribe in your favorite news reader.

Or you can just keep on coming back to Randy Boyd's Blocks every day for the rest of your life. Your choice. I'm cool like that. :)

Rule No. 26

Attention, fans of Randy Boyd’s novels, all five or six of you, lol:

My fifth novel is still a work-in-progress, but rest assured, I intend to continue the saga of two boys dreaming in a sandbox, as first dreamt in my fourth novel, Walt Loves the Bearcat, a story of love, football and some very potent daydreams, as well as a Lambda Literary Finalist for Best Romance.

A story I dreamt up nearly 30 years ago while in college, Walt Loves the Bearcat is a 700-page epic that pretty much represents Randy @ 21-42, give or take.

It’s also a dream that spawned another dream: my next novel, The Bearcat Boyz on the Road of Life.

Who are the Bearcat Boyz? What are they all about? Find out in the latter third of Walt Loves the Bearcat.

What happens to the Bearcat Boyz in their own four-book series? Find out when I finish the blessed thing. What happens at the end of Road of Life, aka Book One? As a gift to my patient readers, all five or six of you, I now present: a slice of the next dream I’m dreaming.

In Book One, the Bearcat Boyz learn the rules on the Road of Life. There’s 26 of them, just like the number of letters in the alphabet; and although all 26 rules are very important, the last rule, Rule No. 26, is perhaps the most important, that is, if you want your deepest dreams to come true.

Why, Rule No. 26 is so good, if by chance you happened to forget the other 25 rules, you still have a shot at all your dreams coming true, if and only if, you remember and abide by Rule No. 26.

It takes the Bearcat Boyz seemingly a lifetime to learn Rule No. 26. After all, they are teenagers, and if they learned all the rules right away, I'd have no story to tell. However, since the five or six fans of my books have been waiting so long, I hereby present Rule No. 26 on the Road of Life:

The more you’re at your best,
The better your odds of success.

Thank you for your patience.
Sincerely,
Randy Boyd