This weekend is the Memorial Day weekend here in the USA. Monday is a national holiday which makes this the first 3-day weekend of the 2018 Summer season. Summer doesn’t officially begin until June 21 but most meteorologists recognize this long weekend as the the unofficial beginning of the season of sand, sun and surf. The sunlight is at its zenith and so are the opportunities for sunburn – the skin discomfort as evidenced on the back of the gentleman in the above picture.
Category: health
The Bare Prince
Most of us can recall the 2012 incident where Prince Harry was surreptitiously caught unawares and totally bare (naked, nude) in a hotel room in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. The entire affair saturated the media for almost a week and earned the ginger royal and naked highness a stern, private rebuke from his grandmother, H. M. Queen Elizabeth II. It seems that nudity was not considered appropriate behavior for a person of his rank and stature as a scion of the Windsor Dynasty. However, no one lost their head in the matter and his grandmother is still queen.
Classroom Time!
Last week, as an afterthought, I was sent to the my state’s conference on HIV/AIDS which is held annually throughout the state. It has been a number of years since I’ve attended one and I was anxious to see what, if any, personnel changes had occurred since the last time I was present at one. The convocation was sponsored by the state-wide health department and featured a number of guest presenters from across the southeastern region of the USA.
Earth Day, 2018 Weekend!
By now, almost all of us are familiar with the image of a person hugging a tree representing environmentalists. It is used by many as either a positive identifier or else as a derogatory graphic. As we become better acquainted with the knowledge and effects of global warming, this image also serves as a reminder of the fragile relationship between our environment and humanity. This same picture accurately depicts the primary message of the entire Earth Day movement: This is our world, we all need to work together to protect it.
Friday Footnote: 2018 Flu
Author’s Note: Today’s post is an update to an earlier feature published here last month. To view the previous publication, please click here.
It seems that the news on this year’s flu outbreak isn’t getting better as the season progresses. Although the incidents aren’t proving to be as fatal as once feared, the pesky virus is leaving discomfort and misery with those infected. I know this because I was ill with the flu for most of this winter’s holiday. Trust me on this, it was no picnic! Evidently, I am in excellent company. In the USA, infection numbers are higher than usual.
The Baths
Before anyone goes ballistic, allow me to explain that this post is most definitely not referring to bath-houses but rather the simple practice of taking a leisurely bath, in your own home or his, with the man who you love, or at least are attracted towards. I can also state here that, for the record, I have never visited a gay bath-house and wouldn’t even begin to know how to write about that experience. By the time that I reached adolescence, gay bath-houses had been outlawed in the Commonwealth of Virginia in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
Wednesday of this week, February 7, is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day in the USA. It’s the date, conveniently during the USA’s Black History Month observance, to direct people’s attention to the disproportionate impact the HIV/AIDS pandemic has on the African-American community. Americans of African descent constitute 13% of this country’s population yet represent more than 50% of all categories reported in HIV and AIDS related statistics reported to the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This disparity in infection rates remains a disgrace on the American Public Health system and represents negligence by the both elected officials and leaders.
Workout Mobs!
The month of January, every year, never ceases to amaze me. That’s the one time of the year that my local gym is packed with bodies beyond capacity. People are everywhere they shouldn’t be and the overwhelming majority of them doing things they shouldn’t. I understand that with the start of the new calendar year, my gym membership numbers soar as people try to adhere to their resolutions of weight loss and becoming physically fit. I appreciate their commitment to improve their health but not at my expense!
Challenge Yourself! Try Bare!
People have a remarkable tendency to fear what they haven’t yet experienced and to stress over what may or may not be worth the effort. I don’t know why this happens unless it is just an aversion to the “unknown.” We don’t know the outcome so we approach something with dread and trepidation. Funny, we all came into this world not knowing what our respective lives had in store for us. Did that make us shy away from the birth process? If you’re reading this post, then we all know the answer to that question.
Bad News: The Flu
No matter what our clothing status maybe, bare (naked, nude) or clothed (textile or clothes-wearer), the pesky and troublesome virus known as influenza (flu) often preys on us all. It doesn’t discriminate because of what we do, or don’t, wear. It can, and does, affect all of us, gay (same gender loving), bisexual (dual gender loving) and opposite gender loving (straight) indiscriminately and without mercy. As a health-conscious man, I dutifully received my annual flu shot for this season on December 1, 2017. Less than three weeks later, I was diagnosed with the flu.
ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers! 