I have just been introduced to a marvelous artist who has come up with a much better vehicle for tears than reality television. Meet Sarah Scott, an incredible painter and writer who has decided to use her skills to transform other peoples pain into something beautiful. It is a task that I consider no less than Rumplestilzkinesque, and by which I am inordinately intrigued, considering my own history. So, if you happen to find yourself tearing up, seize the day, and snap a photo for Sarah, particularly if you are male. You’ll note in the video which Sarah has made that, contrary to whatever Fergie thinks, it’s the big BOYS that don’t cry. (god, I wish I could escape that song. It’s everywhere.)

I mean, c’mon. Even a lazy blogger like myself must post a response to last night’s PR4 finale. Congratulations, Christian, and welcome to the musty hall of fame where moldy television catch- phrases repose in aeternum. Is it a “doh” moment, or maybe one of introspection where one says “wujutalkinabout?” Seriously, it’s like the gay equivalent of JJ on “Good Times” but somehow, not so “Dy-NO-Mite”.

Yet again, Bravo has succeeded in Minstrellizing the entire American gay experience - not that there’s anything wrong with being effeminate. I am a very proud proponent, and practitioner of skipping. I just wish that young gay men in America didn’t feel the compulsion to speak like they were vying for a date with Flavor Flav - not that there is anything wrong with New York. I love New York, and I have pictures to prove it, but isn’t it time to retire the snapping, and the idea that men can be “girlfriends” and “bitches”? I know it’s probably going to be a while before we stop using gay men as more comfortable stand-ins for disenfranchised young black women, but perhaps we can let it start with PR5. Perhaps we can let part of this cliché salad wilt and die. Perhaps we can all admit that “fierce”, indeed, peaked, and it did so in 1998, and that last night, Christian put the last nail in its coffin. It’s dead now, folks. R.I.P.

I’ve sent out the appeal . . . I have asked my fellow Season 2 alumni whom they endorse for the election. Check back for their choices for 2008. I, myself, am a little torn. I’m a registered Democrat, but I was going to vote for Edwards in the Primary because Hillary and Barack were getting a little too catty. Now, Edwards is gone, although hopefully his populist ideals will be absorbed, and not discarded. We shall see. . .