Charles Alexander
Parting Glances: Our Art of Creativity
As an artist, I'm fascinated with the mental phenomenon known as channeling. In the mid '90s channeling was a cultural fad with many fans. Channelers brought forth purported messages form ages-old entities, other twilight-zone dimensions, previous [...]
Parting Glances: Not a full deck
I've been going to Chicago regularly since 1960. It's my Second City, with lots of wonderful memories. Museums. Restaurants. Friends. Lovers. Gay bars. The Lawson Y. (Youth gone for good with the Lakeshore wind.) During disco years I went by Amtrak [...]
Parting Glances: Who's behind the Times?
Time magazine's cover a week ago must have fascinated Bible fundamentalist readers of the "Left Behind," $60 million grossing, "end times" religious sci-fi series. (Indeed, how gross.) These biblical fundygelicals are convinced the pope is CEO to [...]
Parting Glances: Pitwool, Tommy is 7
He lives with his mommy, Jean-Rose. His daddy, Darnell Prince Pitwool. And a dog named Spot. Tommy's home schooled. Living in Topelulu, Ala., famed sin-free domain of Lou "Lulu" Seldom's Fracas in the Family Foundation. An America-First town noted [...]
Parting Glances: Teabagboys.com
Curiosity got the best of me and I went with a new acquaintance to a lecture, "Wide-Stance Christians: New Horizons for Tea Room Ministries." My friend, "Mr. XXII," and I hooked up on Facebook. He saw a piece of my confabulated art that stirred up [...]
Parting Glances:Takes two to dream tango
I was five years old when I had my first vivid dream, still vividly recalled today. Imagery was induced by counting to 10, drifting off to dreamland, as ether was applied drop by drop to a mask placed over my unsuspecting little nose for a routine [...]
Parting Glances: Ex-Straights Anonymous
I've just returned – a little bit out of breath – my gay persona still intact – from an Ex-Straights Anonymous retreat. Usually I would never under any circumstances attend a biased, sex-bigoted group of any kind. It would be 10 seconds of aversion [...]
Parting Glances: As syllable from sound
The human brain's often called "the 3-pound universe." (Take hope! Albert Einstein's brain weighed in at 2 pounds, 11 ounces.) There are a hundred billion neurons (nerve cells), allowing for more connections among these busy, busy, busy [...]
Parting Glances: And sign it with a kiss?
There's a guy named Eric Sprague, age 37, whom you're not likely – thankfully – to meet up with in a bar, restaurant, or church. To begin with he's straight. (Don't get me wrong: some of my best friends are straight – and act it.) Secondly, Eric's, [...]
Parting Glances: Coop, Crisco, Big HZ
Contrary to SPCA. rumors, I do love cats and dogs. Unfortunately, I'm allergic to dander, and keeping my favorite religious breed of choice, a St. Bernard – with or without traditional collar-and-keg rescue service – is outside the pet parameters [...]
Parting Glances: Humpty Dumpty's glibido
'Twas brillig on the slithy toves did smog at brunch and talkathon …" This mixmaster of poem "Jabberwocky" and movie "Alice Doesn't Live Here Any More" (at least not in L.A.) contains six snarky species of word-welding, grammatically called [...]
Parting Glances: Ex-Southpaw Journal
For six months now I've been using my right hand only. See the block lettering in this journal. Some parts illegible. My p's look like q's. My i's blend into my u's. Scribbles. Got to get a laptop. I'm left-handed. Supposedly. Or, so I've foolishly [...]