Reverie On A Summer's Slumber

The end of summer, well actually there are 3 weeks left & I will take them. Still, I feel the first smart stinging sorrow that comes over me at summer’s end. August is my favorite month, with 31 days & no holidays. Good bye, August.

Last Sunday our new friends- Peter & Nancy joined us for brunch. The husband, who is the cook in this family, provided a very summer-ish meal of 2 varieties of bruschetta: heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil, & guacamole, & one with grilled asparagus & goat cheese both drizzled with a balsamic reduction. My contribution was a white wine & apricot puree punch. A summer Sunday in the Boys’ Fort with new friends & Portland came through with 64 degrees & rain!

I love that the blue polish on the Husband's toes matches the blue of the hydrangea. Larry the canine concurs.

Nancy remarked that Post Apocalyptic Bohemia suggested & had the sense of a beach bungalow with its rocks & beach glass, boardwalks & grasses, stacks of books, dogs, & barefoot men. We live close enough to the Pacific Ocean that we get cool, salty marine air in the mornings. We are just blocks away from the mighty Columbia River & the north flowing Willamette River, which provides us with visits from gulls, eagles & the occasional beachcomber.

Do you feel like you are at the beach?

Labor Day Weekend may spell the end of summer, but September has always felt like the start of the year, perhaps because I lived a big chunk of my life in academia. The melancholy that comes with summer’s sleep is balanced with the thrill of new pencils, Pee Chee folders, & jockstraps.

How Gay Is My Emmy?

Over the weekend, I was swinging between a rattled repugnance while watching coverage of the Glenn Beck & Tea Baggers Concert at the Lincoln Memorial, & a state of sublime sentimentality & sanguine satisfaction while viewing the most gay-friendly Emmy Awards in history. I think the Emmys are now as gay as the Tony Awards. This country moves a little forward & a big step backwards on the issues surrounding acceptance of gay people & their civil rights. What better way to have a positive presence than in the world of TV, watched by nearly every household in the USA & seen by much of the rest of the world, thanks to the internet. I can’t help but reflect on how much has changed for those of us that chose to open that closet door.




A huge favorite at Post Apocalyptic Bohemia, no matter the project, out actor- Jane Lynch won for best supporting actress in a comedy for her role as coach Sue Sylvester on Glee. She kissed her wife upon hearing her name & thanked her & her "lord and creator," openly gay series creator producer Ryan Murphy. Cutie Murphy won for directing Glee, while Paris Barclay ( who’s brother Neil was one of my best friends in college), who is also out, was nominated in the same category. Murphy thanked "my great partner, Dick Miller", & stated: "Glee is about the importance of arts education, so I would like to dedicate this to all of my teachers, who taught me to sing & finger-paint." He also thanked Tom Ford for the tux. I would liked to have been a fly on the wall for that fitting.

Ryan Murphy in a Tom Ford Tux with Leah Michele... now that is gay!

Eric Stonestreet won for best supporting actor in a comedy for portraying half of a gay couple on my favorite new show- Modern Family; openly gay actors Jesse Tyler Ferguson ( the other half of the couple ) & Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother ) were also nominated. (Harris, who was also a presenter, did win an Emmy for his guest-starring role on Glee.) Modern Family went on to win Best Comedy Series for its 1st year run. Mad Men, which to me is the very definition of why TV is better than Film for artful, thoughtful entertainment, deservedly won for Best Drama. Now, if Mad Men could find a place for more storyline about closeted advertising Art Director- Sal, the greatest show on TV could be made even a bit greater.

Glee’s Lynch & Chris Colfer, who is openly gay, were part of the opening sequence featuring funny & cute host Jimmy Fallon & other TV regulars singing & dancing to Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run. Also, during his tribute to the series that had ended- 24, Law & Order & Lost, Fallon dressed as Sir Elton John & sang his own take of Candle in the Wind for 24.


Sexy Alexander Skarsgard, bisexual-Anna Paquin & Stephen Moyer, the stars of the pansexual True Blood presented an award (Paquin recently married Moyer.)  What a very hot 3some that would be!


This season on TV continues to feature gay story lines, out gay actors, straight actors playing gay, gay actors playing straight, a weekly show packed full of musical numbers, & a weekly dose of Jon Hamm. Progress. Baby Steps. Quality & comedy can help make this a better gay world.


Take a look at my friend- Bob’s fashion wrap up of last night’s awards. He always has an interesting take on all sorts of issues.

I think that Sofía Vergara is the most beautiful woman on TV, & she is wicked funny... a winning combo. After Modern Family won for Best Comedy Series there was one question on everyone's mind: When is Sofia Vergara going to run naked down Sunset Boulevard if her show won, as she promised on the red carpet before the show?

Born On This Day- August 29th... Mr. Blackwell

Mr. Blackwell: “Madonna is a bare-bottomed bore from Babylon". Richard Blackwell, of the Mr. Blackwell’s worst-dressed list, made a name for himself not with his own creations but by going after celebrities on the red carpet. Blackwell said that Camilla Parker Bowles as "the Duchess of Dowdy" & put the newly married Diana, Princess of Wales, at the top of his list in 1982.

But, his regular targets were usually celebrities like Zsa Zsa Gabor & Britney Spears, who he felt had sense of style or glamour. He said his criticism had nothing to do with talent & stated that Meryl Streep: "looked like a gypsy abandoned by a caravan."


Richard Sylvan Selzer, of Brooklyn, started out as an actor but switched to fashion in 1958 when his career was going nowhere.He became famous with the publication of his 1st list in 1960. Although he often admitted he was uncomfortable about appearing so publicly mean, Blackwell also said that he poked fun at celebrity style because fashion designers were not doing their job: they failed to make women look beautiful. While his original intention was to act as a sort of fashion watchdog, Blackwell & his list became a dreaded Hollywood institution. The annual list, released on the 2nd Tuesday in January, became its own kind of fashion moment. I wonder what he would have said about me when I saunter up to the stage to accept my Emmy Award for Best Guest Actor for my turn on Mad Men as Don Draper’s male lover?

Born On This Day- August 27th... Paul Reubens

Last year on this day, I posted the following:


I have missed him so much. I can not articulate how much happiness he has brought to my life. I would tape his Saturday morning show- Pee Wee's Playhouse (remember VHS?) every week & his 2 movies had repeat viewings with my family. His absurd arrest for child porn, based on kitchy work from decades past (plus Rob Lowe's sex tape) would be eventually be dismissed, but his career never recovered. Don't you think it is time for some more Pee Wee? He is needed more than ever.


Well just ask Jambi & your wish might come true. Paul Reubens is joining fellow gay actors Neil Patrick Harris & Alan Cumming in the 3D-live action-animated-CGI-invisible Smurfs movie. Reubens will play Jokey Smurf, the one who's always happy & playing tricks on the other blue people.


If this wasn’t enough good news during these difficult times, a new Pee Wee Herman film, produced by Judd Apatow has been announced


Apatow:"Let's face it, the world needs more Pee-wee Herman, I am so excited to be working with Paul Reubens, who is an extraordinary & ground-breaking actor & writer. It's so great to watch him return with such relevance."


The partnership came about after Apatow saw Reubens' recent Pee-wee Herman Show revival at the Nokia Theater in L.A., where it played to packed houses in January & February. Reubens said he was incredibly gratified by Apatow's interest in collaborating on a pic. Reubens: "There is no one like Judd in our business,he loves comedy with emotion & heart, & he sees what we do as art.I can't believe I'm getting this opportunity to be working with him."


The Pee-wee Herman Show will arrive on Broadway this fall! Paul Reubens will reprise his role as Pee-wee at NYC’s Stephen Sondheim Theater after a successful run in L.A. The show will center on Pee-wee’s hopes to fly like Pterri (a pterodactyl). Other Playhouse friends, including Cowboy Curtis, Chairry, Miss Yvonne & Jambi will come along for the fun.




Oh, how I would love to be there! We needed you, Pee Wee, & you came back just in the nick of time.

Born On This Day- August 27th... Designer & Stephen's Secret Lover- Tom Ford

Not only am I inspired by people who, along with real talent, are able to "brand" themselves, but I want to follow in the footsteps of past blog posts: Martha Stewart, Andy Warhol & Keith Haring. Tom Ford has not only made himself a part of his own product, but he is his own muse. Every time I have come upon a print ad for Tom Ford, who is truly talented & designs beautiful clothing; I have earmarked the magazine ad & said to the Husband- "wow, can you believe how beautiful & hot he is? Plus... the clothing & accessories are amazing". The Husband concurred. Today is Tom Ford's birthday. I would be very pleased to be snowed-in at a mountain cabin for a few days with Tom Ford. I would try my best to leave him inspired. He is Daniel Craig's designer of choice, & that is all the endorsement I need. I love you, Tom Ford.... but alas, he has has been with partner Richard Buckley (14 years his senior) for 23 years. At least he needs a "daddy".

I am grateful to Mr. Ford for his 1st film- A Single Man. It was, for me, a masterful directorial debut. Happy Birthday, Tom. Have your people call my people.

New Music- Robbie Williams' Shame

I am a Robbie Williams fan & have been since 1990's It Only Takes A Minute by Take That. Here he is with Gary Barlow, his mate from Take That. I really dig the song & the Brokeback Mountain homage. From Robbie's In & Out Of Consciousness-Greatest Hits 1990-2010.

Born On This Day... August 26th- Writer Christopher Isherwood

It is the summer of 1971 & I am doing summer stock in Coeur D' Alene, Idaho. Lucky me, at 17 years old, I am doing my 1st professional theatre & I am having a smokin' hot affair with a fellow actor who was much older than I was. Ron was 24 years old & was an actual college graduate! I had a hard time wrapping my mind around someone being finished with college & still being my peer... & he lived in San Fransisco (I would visit several times in the next few years)! The movie of Cabaret was to open that fall, & loving the Broadway Cast Album, I was looking forward to the movie. Ron was well aware of my excitement for the film & he gave me a gift of the source material- The Berlin Stories by Christopher Isherwood.

Through the decades, I would read many books by & about Isherwood, including his diaries & my favorites- A Single Man & Christopher & His Kind. Last summer, I purchased a new annotated re-issue of Berlin Stories. I have always been in awe of & fascinated by his long life together with artist Don Bachardy, whom he met on the beach in Santa Monica in 1953, when Don was just a teenager. They were together until Isherwood's death in 1986. The story is told in a first rate documentary- Chris & Don: A Love Story. Today marks the birthday of Christopher Isherwood.

Left to Right.

Baboon, Baboonpossumrat, smoking baboon, marker, foot

One Man's Garbage...

The sweet, sexy, surprising summer evening of the Husband’s house change had its roots on a perfect summer weekend 3 weeks ago. The husband & I were off to the country to see the Barn Boys Big Event.


The Barn Boys hold a huge flea market in the fields & barn of their beautiful farm in Southwest Washington State. The Barn Boys open up their farm twice a year for the greatest flea market ever, & we were going to be there.

The Barn Boys Themselves... I of course have a crush.

A Barn Boy with the Husband in the middle background

We traveled to the event with our good friend Little Jake & his new, hot boyfriend- Special K. As we were close to the Barn Boys’ Farm, there was a major detour, which caused us city boys to get lost. No need to worry, Specials K’s I-Phone had GPS & actually talked us to farm. I was quite impressed & K commenced to showing off his aps.


I had mentioned that I was impressed with the ap that could recognize music & tell you a song & artist of any song. To demonstrate, Little Jake La, La La-ed his way through a tune & the I-phone recognized it as Lady Gaga’s Alejandro. The I-Phone was handed to me, & I sang Cole Porter’s Anything Goes, chorus & verse, perfectly in tune & worthy of a standing ovation, except that we were riding in an SUV. The I-Phone ap’s voice announced- “This song is not recognizable.” I wanted to throttle & stomp on Special K’s phone, but he is a new friend, & the Husband had already begged me to behave.


The Barn Boys’ Barn House Flea Market was a dream come true, & we had much fun on a perfect summer day. Nothing makes me as satisfied as spending some money on some old stuff. Among my treasures was an exquisite vintage garbage can. It was my intention to plant the thing & place it in the garden, but the Husband decided it would become a table. This decision had a domino affect that resulted in a whole bunch of changes at Post Apocalyptic Bohemia. Here is the garbage can table in the reconfigured front room:

The garbage can that started it all

God Only Knows

"God hates faggots. Any sentence that begins 'God hates'… is automatically wrong, isn't it?"
Stephen Fry

Born On This Day- August 24th... British Writer & Actor Stephen Fry

Comedian, successful novelist, star of the silver screen, raconteur & wit are all part of the dazzling resume of Stephen Fry.

He recently played The Cheshire Cat in Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland. I have really enjoyed the work of funny actor/writer Stephen Fry since I first spotted him in the very enjoyable Jeeves & Wooster with Hugh Laurie (he has appeared on Laurie’s series- Bones), based on the books by P.G. Wodehouse’s Jeeves books, which I had read in early college. At the time, I felt that I would make a very good Jeeves, who is an improbably well informed & talented valet in 1920s England. Mr. Fry was fabulous in this role. I have been following & enjoying his work since this series stopped airing in the early 90s. The openly gay actor has stated, when asked about his coming out- "I suppose it all began when I came out of the womb. I looked back up at my mother & thought to myself, 'That's the last time I'm going up one of those.'”

I thought he was hysterical as King Charles l in Black Adder. He is good personal friends with Prince Charles & his horsey 2nd wife, even though his performance in Black Adder was a parody of Elizabeth 2’s son. Other favorite performances: Oscar Wilde in Wilde with Jude Law (“a role that I was fated to play”) & 2 of my all time favorite films- Gosford Park & Cold Comfort Farm. I understand that he appears in something called the Harry Potter series of films. I have also enjoyed his books- The Liar, Making History, The Hippopotamus & The Star’s Tennis Balls. Fry lives in London with his husband- Daniel Cohen. He famously drives a black TX4 London cab. Mr. Fry has & maintains a nifty blog- The New Adventures Of Mr. Stephen Fry.

Perfection

I am a Fred Astaire guy & the Husband comes down in the Gene Kelly camp. It doesn’t really matter. Gene Kelly’s dance artistry, masculinity & his taut, supple buttocks are perfection, & he could tap dance on rollerskates. Really. I have seen it… tap dancing on roller skates! Today is the 98th anniversary of his birth.

Burning Down The House

It started as it has started 100 times in the past 30 years. My Friday night & I wish to do some serious relaxing, The Husband & I have a couple of cocktails & smoke just a tiny bit of Mary Jane while we listen to one of my  terrific custom mix CDs. At Post Apocalyptic Bohemia we believe in flattering light, & the Husband is the master. He was looking particularly handsome & even after 3 decades. I was feeling the love.

I have every reason to believe that he was catching my vibe, because he started in on the old tried & true romance routine: flattering light, cocktails, music… & major changes in the look & layout of the house, That is how the Husband gets his freak on. Nothing makes me as horny as a new look at the house.

That’s right, the Husband moved furniture from room to room, changed out pillows & bedding, re-hung the well hung art & mirrors & even painted. The process always scares me, but the result always puts me “in the mood”. This is what the Husband does best, design, & romance. Here is what he did last night, before we got in the hot tub. It worked for me. This is what happened to our tiny dining room:

Tossing the Beaver.

So anyway, I have an item to cross off the old bucket list you guys. It may not be the most refined of tasks to do before I die, but nonetheless, it can't be overlooked. Bucket list is a bucket list. See, what happened is that I poked a dead thing with a stick. A real live dead thing: a beaver, in fact. Poking a dead thing with a stick is one of those rights of passage that just never happened to me. And now I had my chance, it had washed up on the beach at my brother, *Ree and his lovely wife, *Joyston's beautiful swimming spot on the river that runs through their property. Oh sure, I'd consumed a couplefew wobbly pops before hand, but that's not important. A little cider is good for mostly everyone. Fruit group.

It started when my brother exclaimed ever so happily that he had, in fact, spotted the poor beast, belly up on some rocks upstream from the swimming area. *squeaaaaal* The conversation in my head went as follows:


Self: Don't blow this, Self... this is your chance... This is really happening!!1!
Self: Yes, we've been waiting for an opportunity like this all of our life...
Self: Yep, it hasn't even been dead long- no flies.....
Self: AND you're surrounded by family witnesses, so nobody can say that you didn't poke a dead beaver with a stick!
Self: It's true, Self, and look- A wiener stick!
Self: Totally! That's totally a wiener stick! Dude, the stars are all aligning for us!
Self: Let's do this thang!
Self: Don't say, "thang" it sounds so dumb.
Self: Well I only said it to us
Self: Fine, but mayhap it shall be the last time we say, "thang"
Self: Fine... Wait! someone else is going up to it.... Quick! Quick! Push them over so you can poke it first!!
Out loud: OUTTA MY WAY, I HAVE A STICK AND I MEAN TO POKE SOME DEAD BEAVER WITH IT!
Brother: We heard everything you just said to yourself, Michelle.
Self: HOLY. CRAP. He can read our thoughts, Self.
Self: Shhhhhh
Brother: You're still talking out loud.
Self: That's amazing, Ree! Can you also tell the future?

WELL I gave that beaver 3 good pokes with that stick. It was pretty satisfying, you guys. I got all my pokes in and high fived Neil. I felt great. I'd poked a dead thing with a stick before the age of (inaudible). Everyone was pretty impressed, I think... except Joyston. She had to steal my bucket list thunder. She raised the bar. She picked it up with her bare hands, gave it a discus champion whirl and tossed it, in all its dead, stinky, yellow toothed beaver glory toward us. WELL. I was impressed and maybe a little jealous since I've never tossed a dead thing at anyone before (except maybe a fish, but that doesn't count. Dead fish are practically everywhere. Big hairy deal). I hadn't even thought of putting, "Throw a dead thing at your relatives" on my bucket list. Good thing I carry a pen.

See? Beaver. Toss.

Well Joyston missed everyone, but she's diligent. Nobody wants a dead beaver secreting its death upstream from their swimmin' hole. Kids play there, after all. You have to be practical. So naturally she picked it up by the leg as my brother backed up the trailer so that he could drive it away to a better final resting place (downstream near that bear we saw). She missed again, but our brave Joyston knew she had to carry on. So she picked that beaver up, gave it a good swing and flopped it into the trailer bed. SHLUCK, is the sound that made. Why would you pick it up and place it in the trailer, when you have a perfectly good opportunity to perfect your dead beaver tossing aim from 10 feet? You never know when that kind of skill will come in handy. Weddings, boring family reunions, geek shows..... You never know what life is going to throw your way. No, I didn't mean to make that pun. Yes, I'm sorry.

I want you to stop, take a cleansing breath now, think of a fresh, clean spring day. Now try to think of the smell of laundered sheets, directly from the clothesline, baking bread and strawberry soap. Are you good? K, now imagine the aroma. Really imagine what a dead beaver, which has been soaking in the muddy river for a while might smell like after being flung around a beach. Of course beavers, as I'm sure most of you know if you've ever been to the otter exhibit at your local zoo, already smell like fishy, wet dogs. Dead ones are especially aromatic. My other sister in law, um... *Fonda and I had to struggle with laughing and gagging simultaneously.

It was quite an experience. Not everyone can get tickets to see a Joyston Beaver show (what.). Kudos to her for doing what had to be done, but also kudos to me for poking at it with a stick you guys. Kudos to ME.

*names changed to protect their identities

Born On This Day- August 22nd... American Wit- Dorothy Parker

"One more drink and I'd have been under the host."
Long ago, in a galaxy far away (Spokane), I played a wonderful character named- Banjo (based on Harpo Marx) in a play – The Man Who Came To Dinner, that was based on a real life incident in the life of Algonquin Round Table regular- Alexander Woollcott. As I tended to over research my character work as an actor, I was sent into an Algonquin Round table jag that lasted for decades. I read everything I could by & about these interesting, talented & witty friends & colleagues during one of NYC’s richest periods. I have books about & by Woollcott, Edna Ferber, Robert Benchley, Ira Gershwin, George S. Kauffman, Herbert Ross & S.J. Perelman, but Dorothy Parker was the personality that engaged me the most. I believe I read everything by her by the time I was 21."You can't teach an old dogma new tricks."

When I lived in NYC in the 1970s, my handsome, sexy, neurotic, born in NYC boyfriend- Stephen Rosenblatt (he looked like young Frank Langellla. I wonder if he now looks like present day Langella?) took me on a Dorothy Parker NYC tour one autumn day, with stops at her girlhood home on the Upper West Side, the Algonquin Hotel (of course), Woollcott’s home- Wits End, the Waldorf- Astoria, the old offices of the New Yorker, & “21”. She led an interesting & difficult life with a troubled childhood, 3 marriages ( 2 to the same man & one to a homosexual), & several suicide attempts, but her her caustic wit, talent, wisecracks & sharp eye for urban sophisticates & their foibles endure. She has been portrayed on film and television by Dolores Sutton in F. Scott Fitzgerald in Hollywood (1976), Rosemary Murphy in Julia (1977), Bebe Neuwirth in Dash and Lilly (1999) & most interstingly by Jennifer Jason Leigh in Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994). Neuwirth was nominated for an Emmy Award for her performance & Leigh received a number of awards & nominations, including a Golden Globe nomination. Parker was an early defender of human & civil rights. She left here estate to the NAACP, where her ashes are buried at that organization’s Baltimore Headquarters. She had suggested that her epitaph read- “Excuse my dust”."You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think."

Happy Birthday to Jackie DeShannon!

A really perfect sentiment for these demented times.

The extremely talented, prolific & versatile Jackie DeShannon was one of the first successful female singer/songwriters on the music scene back in the 1960s. DeShannon has done music in such diverse genres as folk, orchestral pop, gospel, country and rock'n'roll. Born Sharon Lee Myers on this day in 1944 in Kentucky to show business parents. At age 6, DeShannon was singing country music on the radio &, at 11, she was hosting her own radio show. The British rock group- The Searchers, scored big hits with their covers of DeShannon's Needles & Pins & When You Walk in the Room. Jackie performed with The Beatles during their 1st US tour. In the fall of 1964, DeShannon went to London, England & recorded songs with Jimmy Page which included the rousing Don't Turn Your Back on Me. DeShannon wrote the hit song Come & Stay With Me for Marianne Faithfull.



Ironically she scored her 1st major breakthrough hit with a song written by someone else- What the World Needs Now Is Love, written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. Jackie had another substantial success with Put A Little Love in Your Heart, (check out the Annie Lennox & Al Green duet version). Kim Carnes scored a massive #1 hit with Bette Davis Eyes, which Jackie co-wrote with Donna Weiss. After the song Bette Davis Eyes became a hit single, Bette Davis wrote letters to singer Kim Carnes, Donna Weiss & DeShannon & asked how did they know so much about her. One of the reasons Davis loved the Grammy winning song is that her granddaughter heard it & thought her grandmother was "cool" for having a hit song written about her. DeShannon was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 17, 2010. Love her!

Born On This Day- August 19th... Gustave Caillebotte

I don’t post much about my job. I supervise, hire, train & counsel a staff of 12 young people at a well known upscale, deluxe food-to-go store. I also have the difficult task of buying the wine, beer & chocolate for all 3 of our stores. In this capacity I came upon today’s Birthday Gay. A favorite chocolate company- TCHO, out of San Francisco, has a series of bars with beautiful labels featuring Impressionist paintings from the de Young Museum’s Masterpieces from the Musee d’ Orsay exhibit. As I unloaded them from the shipping box, I came upon an image that held my interest in no small way. It is from an astonishing painting of 2 shirtless, muscled men planing a wood floor. The artist was someone that I was not familiar with, & I was on the hunt to learn all about him. The Husband pointed out the same image was the cover of a book of 19th century gay erotica, a gift from him 20 years ago. Hmm… maybe I just dove right into reading that book & not studying the cover. In the Summer of 2010, I became fascinated with painter- Gustave Caillebotte.


Gustave Caillebotte used to be dismissed as a minor outsider of French Impressionism. He was much younger than the main gang. He was personally very rich, & collected & supported their work. He was an excellent curator, & arranged many of their exhibitions. He paintings were rather somewhat non-impressionistic. He was modest about his talents. In his latter years, he painted less, devoting his time to gardening & boating. But from his 1st participation in an Impressionist exhibition, with paintings of modern Parisian life, he showed an entirely singular vein of invention: painting male nudes & producing work with an overt gay sensibility. For all his adult life he feared he would die young, & did, for no clear reason, at age 45.


Caillebotte stands apart among the Impressionists. His paintings depict working-class men in an urban context in full transformation. Caillebotte also used very innovative perspectives. His paintings are rather personal, autobiographical. You feel as if you were spying on a very private man, whose short life remains a mystery. He was an artist who was an Impressionist by association rather than by style or temperament.

His career as an artist feels unresolved. Certainly it was short. He stopped painting in a focused way in his 30s. By the 1890s he had become a semi-recluse at his estate- Petit-Gennevilliers, a property on the banks of the Seine near Argenteuil. He ceased showing his work at age 34 & devoted himself to gardening & to building & racing yachts, & with his friend Renoir, who often came to stay at Petit-Gennevilliers, they would have discussions on art, politics, literature, & philosophy. Caillebotte died there.

Self Portrait of the artist

His paintings & drawings are full of male bodies, often with a concealed face, often setting the bourgeois with the working class.The painting that grabbed me is The Floor Scrapers (Les raboteurs de parquet). It shows men at work, shirtless, showing their muscular bodies. His row men also produce erotic feelings. In the Self-Portrait at the Easel (Autoportrait au chevalet), the artist is painting in his studio, while in the background a man, the bottom half of his face concealed by the painter's arm, reads on a coach. A through line of melancholy flows from the paintings... & a definitive homoeroticism.

Self Portrait... he seems to have been a beautiful man

I knew nothing of you before, but I had a great summer researching your enigmatic life. I know that you never married or seemed to have any relationship with a woman, spending your time gardening, rowing,& befriending & painting interesting, handsome men. I think I get the picture. I am a gay man in the 21st century, reaching back to the 19th century to find you. Happy Birthday, Monsiuer Caillebotte.

This is the image from the chocolate. It started a summer of research about the painter.