Every person needs a little push every now and then. New Year Resolutions offer excellent opportunities for self-improvement. And what person doesn’t want to function at his best? Here’s a list of 10 Things You Can Live Without for a healthier, more fulfilling 2010.

10. Reality TV.Dude. It’s killing your brain. Just admit it. Cut out as much reality TV as you can in 2010 and you’ll be happier for it in the end. Need something to do? Read a book. Remember those?

9. Self pity.No explanation needed.

8. Celebrity Gossip.How many hours did you spend last year surfing empty, socially irresponsible gossip sites? Think about what Celebrity Gossip contributed to your life 2009 and you’ll quickly realize how much of a sucker you’ve been for drinking the Kool-Aid. Kate Gosselin mania? Is that the best you can do? You’re such a smart, gorgeous man — resolve to fill your brain with information worthy of you in 2010.

7. Facebook.Resolve to spend more time living in the real world, instead of settling for a virtual life of poking, liking, and uncreative commenting. Cutting down on “social networking” means your productivity will increase at work, which means your boss will like you more, which means you’ll be happier and healthier when end of year bonus time comes around. Wasting time online doesn’t really make for a good CV bullet point, you know?

6. Sugars and High Fructose Corn Syrup.Read the label of any processed product you purchase regularly, and cut out anything containing HFCS including Heinz Ketchup, Cool Whip, PowerBars, and Nutri-Grain Granola Bars. Here’s a longer list that will shock you. The jury is still out on whether HFCS is more dangerous than Sugar, but we don’t care. Here’s some advice: consume less of both and you’ll definitely lose weight. Done and done.

5. Factory Farmed Meat.Here’s some advice, read Michael Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and his follow-up “Food Rules.” The overarching theme is simple: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Easy right? Well it turns out that eating locally grown/farmed foods is not only good for you, it is also more humane to the animals and overall better for the environment. Trust us, you don’t need the growth hormones, food coloring, and moral questioning in that farm-fished salmon or $1 cheeseburger. Spend more money on your food now, and save money on doctor visits later.

4. Drunk Dialing/Texting.And you know who you are. Lucky for you there’s an app for that. iPhone offers two services “The Bad Decision Blocker” and “Don’t Dial” that will ban “trouble” contacts before a night of going out. You won’t be able to call the numbers during the time they are blocked, even if you delete the applications. That’s how secure they are. If you don’t’ own an iPhone, just delete that trick’s number. He’ll never now.

3. Bourgeois Coffee Drinks.Spending $4+ on fancy coffee drinks, multiple times a day is not only financially irresponsible, it’s borderline unhealthy. Guess what? Your body doesn’t need to be pumped full of over-priced, socially irresponsible caffeine every 4 hours. Try making your own fair-trade coffee at home or at work and then switch to Green or White tea in the afternoon. Your sleep will improve and your anxiety will decrease. A win-win

2. Bar Hook-Ups. Ask yourself this question. How many times did that guy you picked up at Mr. Black on Saturday night stick around long enough to form a healthy, long-term, fulfilling sexual romantic relationship with you? Exactly. Time to change your dating strategy or else you’ll end up being that lonely old man-child at the bar sipping cheap whisky, complaining about how unfair life is.

1. Smoking.You gotta give it up man. And we count ourselves in on this list. There’s nothing good about smoking. Stop rationalizing your self-destruction and fetishizing the 60’s and quit for good. You teeth will be whiter. Your skin will be firmer. Your lungs will breathe easier. And your sex drive will improve. The benefits of quitting always outweigh the perils of the puff.

Mind, Body, and Seoul
Pictures a friend sent of their trip to Korea

Starbucks everywhere!

And all this time i though it was in Nashville!

I like the names of the gay bars in the Itaewon area

Timeless Beauty

Happy Birthday - Klaus Nomi!

in honor of his birthday- today- January 24-

Klaus Nomi (January 24, 1944 - August 6, 1983), was a German countertenor noted for his wide vocal range and an unusual, otherworldly stage persona.Nomi was known for his bizarrely theatrical live performances, heavy make-up, unusual costumes, and a highly stylized signature hairdo which flaunted a receding hairline. His songs were equally unusual, ranging from synthesizer-laden interpretations of classical music opera to covers of 1960s pop standards. He is perhaps best remembered by the general public as being one of David Bowie's backing singers during a 1979 performance on Saturday Night Live.Nomi was one of the first celebrities to contract AIDS. He died in 1983 at the age of 39 as a result of complications from the disease.

Happy Birthday, KLAUS NOMI...We miss you.

Happy Birthday Edmund White!

Today is the birthday of Edmund White. It’s a good time to reflect on the courage of one of America’s great writers. Courage is not a word often used when describing today’s American writers, but Mr. White is different. We learned from his recently published memoir, that the sixties were a time of tremendous struggle for him. In this day of yuppie writers, it’s almost impossible to imagine a writer struggling so long to be published.


Edmund White’s great breakthrough was, of course, A Boy’s Own Story. It took courage to write A Boy’s Own Story. It was one of the first literary novels to present a gay boy as anything other than sick. It is a sweet irony that this courageous tome went on to become the first gay-themed New York Times Bestseller. Many believe A Boy’s Own Story is the Great American Queer Novel. For me, A Boy’s Own Story –alone–doesn’t quite rise to this level. But when taken together with its two sequels–Beautiful Room is Empty and Farewell Symphony–this trilogy perfectly represents The Great American Queer Novel–epic in sweep, historical and deeply personal.

If Edmund White had written only these three novels, he would be one of America’s great writers–gay or straight. But Mr. White didn’t stop here. He has written several more novels–including some historical fiction. He has written an award-winning biography of Proust and a highly entertaining biography of Rimbaud.

One of my favorite Edmund White books is his memoir, My Lives. Rather than presenting a chronological history of his life, Mr. White made the interesting decision to divide the book into different “Lives.” The two chapters that deal the most frankly with sexuality are: “My Hustlers” and “My Master.” Mr. White appears to have no interest in justifying his behavior. He is neither an apologist nor a propagandist. The writing is matter of fact, fascinating–occasionally humorous. Mr. White could have easily omitted these chapters from the book. After all, how many Princeton professors write about this sort of thing? But Mr. White once again made the courageous choice.

While we’re on the subject of courage, I should mention Mr. White’s recent play, Terre Haute. There are a lot of reasons great American novelists rarely try their hand at playwriting. For one thing, their record as a whole hasn’t been too good. Henry James’s one and only play was a notorious flop. Hemingway’s one and only play never got off the ground. And F. Scott Fitzgerald’s one and only play bombed in a “Broadway Bound” Atlantic City try-out. Plus, it can be painful. It’s a tough thing to submit your writing to a producer and a director, actors and finally an audience who may or may not get it.

I didn’t get a chance to see Mr. White’s play when it was produced in New York, but I did recently read it. And I was struck by two things. First, the quality of the dialogue. And second, the humor. As you probably know, the play is a series of conversations between a man who seems a lot like Timothy McVeigh and a writer who seems a lot like Gore Vidal. Mr. White gives the Gore Vidal stand-in a Yale education and he even has him quoting Norman Mailer(!) but the similarities with Gore Vidal are obvious. This character also gets all the good lines. Like his response when asked if he slept well: “I always sleep well. I leave nothing to chance. I’ve taken a ten-milligram valium every night of my life.”

It’s nice to see one of America’s great writers taking a stab at playwriting. And succeeding. I hope he will continue to write plays. I understand he is working on a sequel to City Boy. Will he also be writing some more fiction? Or perhaps another quality biography? Whatever his next project, I’m sure it will be courageous.

Happy New Year!!

All the best in 2010 from the Randy Franks Studio.