Jerry Curl

[ Editor's note ] There are very few gay films I can publicly admit to liking. Most, if not the majority of them are about one of three things: 1) Slutty boys doing slutty things. 2) Campy boys doing campy things. 3) Beautiful boys incomprehensibly falling in love with dorky guys. None of which speak to my experiences as a gay man. (Well, maybe the second one. A little.) But I digress. This week I'd like to recommend a great gay film that breaks with the mold. It's a film with heart; rich in likable characters and beautiful boys. Shelter is about a young guy whose dream of going to art school gets sidelined by family obligations. Zach spends his days working a dead-end job and helping his hot mess of a sister care for her son. He finds great comfort in surfing, drawing, and hanging with his pal Gabe who lives on the wealthy side of town. Gabe's older brother, Shaun, comes home to find solace at the family beachside home after a particularly bad breakup. A successful wr...

Photo caption: A new day at Harpo . @ TheRosieShow now takes top billing. [ Editor's note ] Apologies for not writing this weekend. I'm currently consumed by a home shelving project that's draining me dry. Anyway, without any further adieu, this week I'd like to discuss Rosie O' Donnell's long-awaited return to television tonight. Let me start off by admitting that I've adored RoRo since I was 8 years old. From the very first Betty Ruble giggle to her last day as Harriet's nanny, from the days of her own show to her stint on The View , from her coming out to Diane Sawyer to her coming clean in Celebrity Detox , from "The Queen of Nice" to that haircut , from Kelli to Michelle; I've loved and learned from all of Rosie's incarnations. I even watched the variety show... She's made me laugh, and C R Y !!! , and lose weight (see: Chub Club membership card) . She's taught me all about Broadway, and about the despicable NRA, an...

[ Editor's note ] The following piece will go in one of two ways. You'll either think this is the sweetest thing you've read (in hours) or the creepiest. Twenty-five thousand years ago, when I was young and MySpace was cool, I befriended a cute boy with swoon-inducing dimples. He was smart, liked practically everything I liked, and had a smile that lit up my computer screen. Unfortunately for my imagined future together, this boy of mine already had a cute boy of his own-- matching dimples included. I was crushed, but those are the breaks. I decided then and there to keep tabs on them, you know, in case they broke up and I could sweep in to pick up the pieces. Two social networks and about 6 or 7 years later, I'm begrudgingly happy to report that they're still together. Happily, together. I can also report that my love for the first boy has evolved into a love for the both of them. As anomalies of the gay community, they're happy, loyal, and seemingly drug free...

[ Editor's note ] This was an interesting week for America, to say the least. After 18 years of standard operating procedure, Don't Ask, Don't Tell was finally repealed -- ushering in a new, freedom-filled future for our military. Television also moved progressively forward by having Chaz Bono be the first transgendered contestant to Cha Cha on prime time . Sadly, another gay teenager killed himself for being just who he was. And Troy Davis was killed for being exactly who he was not. Two steps forward, two steps back... Not a very productive track record. I don't know when I started to notice this in my own generation, but America has become a chronically intolerant place. Respecting the differences of others has become a relic of a bygone era. Whether it's the visceral debate over immigration, or gays in the military, or helping the poor-- America is no longer the land of the free and the home of the brave. It's the place where people come to be disrespe...

[ Editor's note ] My sincerest apologies for not writing a column this weekend. It was an uncharacteristically busy weekend in my neck of the woods. Anyway, this weekend’s topic was supposed to be on the fantastic season finale of True Blood but I've since reconsidered. This week I’d like to discuss the more epic re-release of Disney’s The Lion King . Let me start by saying that this film and I go way back. I was 8 years old when The Lion King first came out in 199-blah-blah... and I’ ve treasured it ever since. My love runs so deep that I’ ve committed entire chunks of dialogue to memory; a fact that my 11-year old god daughter both loves and is a little weirded out by. For countless reasons, the Lion King stands as the crowning jewel of Disney Animation. I know many of my Disney- lovin ’ pals would put up a good fight to that distinction, but I believe it to be the absolute truth. It has the most perfect plot, a sensational soundtrack (thanks Elton!), and the most well-d...

[ Editor's note ] All week I've been trying to figure out how I wanted to commemorate the 10th anniversary of September 11th. I wanted to write something profound; something thought-provoking and comforting. Perhaps something about what we've learned, or where we are as a nation, or how far we've come against terrorism... But the truth is, those discussions will invariably lack the emotional aspect of such a day. Conversely, how does one accurately incapsulate the emotions of such a day? I don't know and I won't try. So please accept this weekend's writing as a muted tribute to the good people who lost their lives today. Sometimes it's best to just feel the feelings without trying to make sense of them.

[ Editor's note ] Long-time readers of Jerry Curl can probably attest to the nature of this blog. It is by no means a personal blog-- a fact I've prided myself on since its inception. I don't often write opinion pieces or advice columns because I don't consider myself an authority on anything but myself. More to the point, I'm an intensely private person who'd rather fade behind the stories covered than be a story. But it's recently come to my attention that Jerry Curl has become a little voiceless. That is to say, I'm not writing as much as I could or should be about things that interest me. And Lord knows, I have enough interests to fill a space cruiser. So in an attempt to bring something different and personal to the Curl , I've decided to start a weekend column where I discuss some of the stuff on my mind. It's getting to be quite cluttered up there, so think of this as a rummage sale of sorts. It will be a weekly post, written from th...