Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month ( the finale of an ongoing project)

March 31st - Reason to be cheerful: Being Gay.

It's never been about parades, discos, drugging or hedonism for me (not that I have any problem with any of that - rock on if that's what floats your boat).  

I knew I was Gay before I even knew what the word meant. 

Being Gay has made me resilient, strong,  and introspective; when you are ten years old, and realize that you are marching to a different drummer, you live in your own head, and sometimes, you find all the answers that you need right there.

Now that I am older, much older, I realize what a lucky  man I am.  Being Gay is just a small part of who I am, but it is an important part, and I am glad that I was dealt this hand.

March 31st's reason to be cheerful: Being Gay.

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

March 30th - Reason to be cheerful: The Medport Diner

A stone's throw from my front door (OK, we'll you better have the pitching arm of Herman Munster), is one of the finest diners in all of New Joisey.  I love this joint.  Great food, decent prices and a pleasant staff.  The French Toast here is the stuff that dreams are made of.

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

March 29th - Reason to be cheerful: Low Stress Holidays

The joy of low stress holidays - what's not to love?

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

March 28th - Reason to be cheerful: Film Noir

Shady Dames, Gumshoes, Crooked Cops, Fog Shrouded Streets, Guns, Booze and Murder ... all in glorious  Black and White.

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

March 27th - Reason to be cheerful: Annie Hall

I feel that life is divided into the horrible and the miserable. That's the two categories. The horrible are like, I don't know, terminal cases, you know, and blind people, crippled. I don't know how they get through life. It's amazing to me. And the miserable is everyone else. So you should be thankful that you're miserable, because that's very lucky, to be miserable.

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

March 26th - Reason to be cheerful: Gay Actors and Actresses who come out of The Closet

It does not happen often enough, but when it does, it helps the cause - for every Tom Cruise / John Travolta Closet Case their is a Neil Patrick Harris or a Jane Lynch.  We've come a long way since Rock Hudson, kids.

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

March 25th - Reason to be cheerful: Being in a Decent Relationship

 I've been up and down and over and out, and I know one thing: being in a decent relationship really makes life bearable.  I happen to be one of the lucky ones who got a good partner in the deal. 

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

March 23rd - Reason to be cheerful: The Godfather (film)

Make me an offer I can't refuse - I love this film.

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

March 23rd - Reason to be cheerful: Playing Hooky.

Sometimes, nothing's better than just blowing off the responsibilities for a leisurely day all to oneself.

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

March 22nd - Reason to be cheerful:Boulder Colorado

A good friend of mine moved out to Boulder back in the 80's, and I went out to visit him several times. I fell in love with this trippy, beautiful town almost immediately.  During one of those visits, I met someone and ended up traveling back a few more times for a long distance indiscretion affair. What can I say, I was young and stupid.  Still, I have a lot of great memories of  "The People's Republic of Boulder". 

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

March 21st - Reason to be cheerful: Horror Films

nuff said...

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

March 20th - Reason to be cheerful: The First Day of Spring

it has sprung at last

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

March 19th - Reason to be cheerful: The back-roads of South Jersey.

For the past twenty two years, I've traveled the back roads of Southern New Jersey (thanks to my job), from Burlington County to Salem County; and let me tell you, once you get off the highways and take the road less traveled, you come across some incredibly unique sights.  Route 666 will take you to Cape May (or Hell)....and if you ever find yourself driving down Route 54 in Buena, keep an eye out for the roadside robots!

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

March 18th - Reason to be cheerful: Dirty Franks 

I first discovered this funky little dive during the summer of 1987.  Located on the corner of 13th and Pine Streets in Philadelphia, Franks is the kind of place you either love or hate - I love this place, and have even taken my sainted mother here  (a homeless man tried to get her to buy him a drink).  If you are ever in Philly, and really want to enjoy a corner bar with some actual atmosphere, Franks is must see!

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

March 17th - Reason to be cheerful: Saint Patrick's Day

My last name may be "Romano", but thanks to my mother's side, some Irish blood runs through my veins.  So yeah, I do fly a green flag on March 17th - Erin Go Braug, piesanos !

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

March 16th - Reason to be cheerful: The City of Los Angeles

L.A. first cast a spell on me many moons ago when I spent a "lost weekend" there.  A few years back, I returned and found that the place I had dubbed, Babylon was still as vibrant, scary, beautiful, repulsive, seductive and as crazy when last I laid eyes on her.  Some leave their heart north of this city, mine is in a bar on Sunset Blvd, waiting for me to return to retrieve it.

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

March 15th - Reason to be cheerful: Tuner Classic Movies

Because life in black and white, is often better than in living color.

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

March 14th - Reason to be cheerful: The Return of Daylight Saving Time

 The first real sign of spring!

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

March 13th - Reason to be cheerful: French Toast

French toast, nuff said.

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

March 12th - Reason to be cheerful: Layla by Derick and the Dominoes

Possibly the most perfect piece of rock music ever, Layla was said to be written by Eric Clapton over his unrequited love for George Harrison's (then) wife, Pattie Boyd ... it's all a rather soap-opera-like back story.  Personally, whenever I hear this song, I get goosebumps.  From the rollicking intro to the, seemingly, endless instrumental  coda, Layla is  the kind of song that wraps you in its arms and does not let go until that little bird chirp at the very end .  A very wise woman once said that hearing this song is like getting a dozen long stemmed roses.  For the back story on Layla CLICK HERE.

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

March 11th - Reason to be cheerful: Gloria Grahame and Frank Sinatra in It Happened in Brooklyn

I mean, come on, Gloria Grahame and Frank Sinatra...

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

March 10th - Reason to be cheerful: American Graffiti

This is one of my "desert island films" - a movie I would take with me and watch over and over, and never grow tired of.  I know it's billed as a comedy, but I've always seen it as a bittersweet homage to the end of an era - just months before the death of JFK would knock America on its collective ass. We focus on a late summer's night where the concerns are mostly automotive or hormonal...and the whole thing is set to a treasure trove of golden oldies.  George Lucas might have been the man who brought us Star Wars, but American Graffiti is, in my humble opinion, his real masterpiece.  This one always puts a smile on my face.

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

March 9th - Reason to be cheerful: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

  I was born in the City of Brotherly Love (South Philadelphia to be exact)  and lived there until I was 12.  When we moved to the suburbs,  I missed Philly.  I missed the gritty streets, the corner stores, the music that seemed to come streaming out of every open window on a warm summer's night, the smell of a million different foods that hit you when you walked down 9th street, the trolley that shambled up our street sending off sparks from the electric cable wires above, the goofy but earnest celebration of New Years day with the Mummer's parade, the shady guys who offered the neighborhood kids ten cents to run errands for them ... but most of all I missed the Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and friends we left behind.   When I got older, I learned to appreciate the history of my home city as well as it's peculiar beauty - I once heard someone call Philadelphia, "Athens on the Delaware"- maybe that's a bit overstated, but it works for me.   Whenever I go back to Philly, I understand that you can indeed go home.

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

March 8th - Reason to be cheerful: Rhapsody In Blue by George Gershwin

Hands down, one of the most gorgeous pieces of music, ever.  A little bit of jazz, a touch of classical, a hint of Broadway...to me, this piece always evokes a romanticized version of Gotham at sunrise, and then slowly stretching and waking up until the entire city is in full gear and full glory.

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

March 7th - Reason to be cheerful: Academy Awards

I love watching the Oscars.  The airhead starlets in bazillion dollar frocks, the dreadful musical numbers, the confusing technical awards, the sour puss look on at least one of the contender's face when he or she does not win ... The Academy Awards, March 7th's reason to be cheerful.

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

March 6th - Reason to be cheerful: Seth MacFarlane

 I only started watching Family Guy  last year (but that's me, always late to the party) - and I was instantly enamored with the cartoon's take-no-prisoners-vibe.  Later on I found American Dad and then The Cleveland Show.  I was really interested in the brains behind these crude but insanely intelligent cartoons, and that's where I found Seth MacFarlane.  Not only is he bright, with a seemingly endless knowledge of pop culture, but he can also sing (and let's face it, kids, he's easy on the eyes).  Mr. MacFarlane, March 6th's Reason to be Cheerful! 

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

March 5th - Reason to be cheerful: John Garfield

You know, nothing makes me happier than stumbling across a John Garfield film.  He was the quintessential Hollywood Bad Boy, and one of the greats of film noir.  From The Postman Always Rings Twice to He Ran All the Way, nobody did it better than Mr. Garfield.

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

March 4th - Reason to be Cheerful:

"Gee Officer Krupke" from the film, West Side Story.  Nothing makes me smile more than this scene from the 1961 film...here's a link to that very number.

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

Let me get this out of the way, I despise the month of March, with the same passionate dislike I have for November. Nothing of any good comes from either of these months (so sorry if your birthday is in November or March), that said, I defy March to bring me down this year, so for the next 31 days, I will post something that makes me happy .

March 3rd - Reason to be cheerful:

 The artwork of the late Keith Haring, especially this one of Andy Warhol as Mickey Mouse.  All of Haring's work makes me smile...such bright colors and such child-like themes (OK, well some of his work was very sexual, and I can't lie, that makes me smile as well)...what's not to love?

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

Let me get this out of the way, I despise the month of March, with the same passionate dislike I have for November. Nothing of any good comes from either of these months (so sorry if your birthday is in November or March), that said, I defy March to bring me down this year, so for the next 31 days, I will post something that makes me happy .

March 2nd - reason to be cheerful: 

 Jefferson Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow, one of the greatest albums of all time - pure pop filtered through a sugar coated, psychedelic haze.  Not a bad track on this one, it always puts a smile on my face.

Laughing in the Face of My Least Favorite Month (an ongoing project)

Let me get this out of the way, I despise the month of March, with the same passionate dislike I have for November.  Nothing of any good comes from either of these months (so sorry if your birthday is in November or March), that said, I defy March to bring me down this year, so for the next 31 days, I will post something that makes me happy  ... and so it begins.

March 1st - reason to be cheerful:

 Maggie and Julius...aka Margret Dumont and Groucho Marx