Brian’s Reflection: Wednesday, August 17, 2011

He who hesitates is a damned fool.

I always say, keep a diary and someday it'll keep you.

I like a man who's good, but not too good –
for the good die young, and I hate a dead one.

I speak two languages, Body and English.

I've been in more laps than a napkin.

It's not the men in my life that count, it's the life in my men.

Marriage is a great institution, but I'm not ready for an institution.

You Know Who; she was born
on this date, 1893, in Brooklyn


Hey! It’s Laugh Wednesday!! And who better but …..Mae West. What a character! Last time I wrote a Reflection about Mae, a friend gave me a marvelous collage. On the left is Mae, in a skin-tight silver-satin dress and fabulous fluffy boa, long blond hair cascading. On the right, above her signature (anyone want to make a bid???) are three pictures: her in a tight dark floor-length dress and long-trained feather coat, surrounded by four men in tuxes; her and two tuxed men kissing her cheeks; and her in high white father turban surrounded by eight buffed muscled men in bathing suits ….. very 40’s! Very Mae!

Marlene Dietrich’s daughter once told me that, when Mae had a dressing room across from her mother and her mother was away, Mae would steel the flowers that had been left! Good for her! I would have too.

Remember George Burns in “Oh God”? That movie was great, because it reminded us that laughs and humour are part of the character of the “Gods” we humans imagine ….. and that’s as it should be. God is Life - and Life would be sorely diminished without laughter. One of the things I have always loved about Gay men is their camp humour! They can make even death from AIDS funny ….. and it’s healing. I remember someone being trained as an AIDS buddy asking one of our trainers how to deal with a person who was really nasty. Bob, with an arching of the eyebrow, prefaced his remarks with, “Remember honey; asshole before AIDS, asshole after Aids!”. We cracked up ….. and compassion shined.

God we humans are funny! I’m going to look for that today, in myself and in others.

Brian+