(no subject)

I'm back! Heh, you probably never knew I was gone, eh?

People seem to be bitching about DH spoilers on my flist, so I'll make my obligatory statement: I despise being spoiled, and I definitely won't be spoiling anyone here. I assume that everyone I have friended is considerate enough to put such things under cuts.

OMG, only 44 days left until Deathly Hallows!! I need to get to work on re-reading the books. :-P

Book rec

MDH reads biographies almost exclusively, and every now and then he recs one to me. A few weeks ago he handed me one called The Grand Illusion: Love, Lies, and My Life With Styx, and said "You will LOVE this book." And I did. And I want to rec it to all of you.

It's the auto-biography of Chuck Panazzo, the drummer of Styx, who is gay and HIV positive. The book is basically about what it was like to grow up in the 1950s as a working class Catholic gay boy, and then goes on to be about what it was like to be a closeted gay rock star in the 70s. It's fascinating and heartbreaking, and ultimately very insightful.

One of the things that really stood out to me was how much difficulty Chuck had having relationships, even when he finally came out. He explained that gay kids, especially those of his generation, didn't have any of the dating rituals that straight kids have. They didn't have that training ground for relationships throughout school, and they certainly didn't have any role models. It made me think a lot about how much things have and haven't changed. Chuck notes that even Lance Bass didn't come out for a long time, and that was what, a couple of years ago?

Anyway, I highly recommend it. If you live near me you can borrow my copy. :-)