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The Gay Road Less Traveled

The Gay Road Less Traveled

Category Archives: Books Check ‘Em Out

The Gay Road Less Traveled

20 Friday Mar 2020

Posted by johnjernigan in Books Check 'Em Out, Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

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art, author, books, boston terrier, Cricket the French Bulldog, dogs, entertainment, french bulldog, gay, gay writers, health, humor, LGBT, Life, lifestyle, memoir, News, relationships, Squeak the Boston Terrier, writer

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Feeling sad, lonely, bored, horny? Social distancing got you feeling down? For the funny, the drama, the hot sex scenes, and a glimpse into my altruistic charitable work with old white men throughout the USA, go buy my book on Amazon asap!

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Menagerie – Rachel Vincent

14 Wednesday Nov 2018

Posted by johnjernigan in Books Check 'Em Out, introducing, My Favorite Things, Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

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authors, book reviews, books, Carnival, fantasy, fiction, gay, gay authors, gay writers, john jernigan, LGBT, movies, queer, Rachel Vincent, the gay road less traveled, Unicorn, writers

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A compelling, awesome, unique and imaginative story…so different it’s hard to explain, fantastically good!

“There there is breathtaking beauty behind the seamy and grotesque reality of the carnival. Gallagher, her handler, is as kind as he is cryptic and strong. The other “attractions”—mermaids, minotaurs, griffins and kelpies—are strange, yes, but they share a bond forged by the brutal realities of captivity. And as Delilah struggles for her freedom, and for her fellow menagerie, she’ll discover a strength and a purpose she never knew existed.”

“Welcome to the menagerie, where beauty and grace shine from every cage and peek from every shadow. You’ve never seen anything like the exotic wonders within, so keep your eyes open, ladies and gentlemen, because in our world of spectacle and illusion, what you see isn’t always what you get.”

“But if monsters could look like humans, and humans could look like monsters, how could anyone ever really be sure that the right people stood on the outside of all those cages?”

“Drea, why don’t you turn a circle and give us a good look?” the talker said, his chest all puffed out, as if he’d had something to do with making me perform.

“Fuck you,” I said, nice and clear, in spite of my fuller voice, so everyone could hear.

A couple of teens near the back of the crowd laughed, but the mothers scowled and covered their children’s ears.

“Sorry about that, ladies and gentlemen,” the talker called with an amiable chuckle. “Most of our exhibits were born and raised in the carnival, and they hear a lot of rough language.”

“Most of our handlers are full of shit,” I added, drawing more laughter from the back of the crowd. “I learned to cuss the same place all of your kids did. In middle school.”

“A wolf will growl to warn you that it’s angry and a bull will paw the ground before charging. Rattlesnakes rattle, cats moan and hiss, and hyenas grunt and cackle. But a man will smile right in your face as he drives a knife into your heart.”

“If you cut off my hands, I’ll write with my feet, and if you cut off my feet, I’ll write with my nose, and if you cut that off, you may as well cut my whole head off, because no matter how you slice and dice me, you can’t control what I think, or what I feel. You can keep me locked up for the rest of my life, however brief that may be. But you will never, ever own me.”

“She won’t serve her dish cold,” the oracle mumbled, almost with giddy joy as chill bumps rose all over her skin. “And two graves won’t be near enough…”

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The Bird Box – Josh Malerman

06 Monday Aug 2018

Posted by johnjernigan in Books Check 'Em Out, John Jernigan, My Favorite Things

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I finished this fantastic book last night, and like great books often do, I was wound-up tight and then in tears as the final scene unfolded. So good, different, unique! The Bird Box movie is coming out in late 2018, with Sarah Paulsen, John Malkovich, and Machine Gun Kelly, starring Sandra Bullock as Malorie, but read the book first! Josh Malerman’s descriptive writing style shakes the reader’s visual imagination by introducing us to a  dangerous and challenging new world.

“How can she expect her children to dream as big as the stars if they can’t lift their heads to gaze upon them?”

“You can smell it, too. Death. Dying. Decay. The sky is falling, the sky is dying, the sky is dead.”

“Robin was a great kid. Smarter than her father at eight years old. She liked the oddest things. Like the instructions for a toy more than the toy itself. The credits of a movie instead of the movie. The way something was written. An expression on my face. Once she told me I looked like the sun to her, because of my hair. I asked her if I shined like the sun, and she told me, ‘No, Daddy, you shine more like the moon, when it’s dark outside.”

“You are saving their lives for a life not living.”

“It’s better to face madness with a plan than to sit still and let it take you in pieces.”

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Dog Food Diet?

07 Wednesday Mar 2018

Posted by johnjernigan in Books Check 'Em Out, Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, the Flaming Homosexual

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From my memoir “The Gay Road Less Traveled” Please go buy a copy on Amazon!

“I texted him to tell him I didn’t really eat dog food, but that’s a crazy sentence to send to somebody. The worst part is that he was popular and had lots of friends in Fort Lauderdale and Miami, now they all think I eat dog food.”

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New Orleans 1997

01 Thursday Feb 2018

Posted by johnjernigan in Books Check 'Em Out, Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, the Flaming Homosexual

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an excerpt from my memoir “The Gay Road Less Traveled”

New Orleans 1997
Dear Diary, we lost Princess Diana this year. At Halloween, lots of the drag queens in New Orleans honored her by dressing up as the beloved princess, that’s what I initially thought, but as I looked closer at their outfits, all of them had blood and tire tracks on their dresses, and one queen had a steering wheel around her neck!

 

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My Book is Published!

23 Tuesday Jan 2018

Posted by johnjernigan in Books Check 'Em Out, John Jernigan, Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, the Flaming Homosexual

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author, books, ebook, gay, good reads, john jernigan, LGBT, the gay road less traveled, writer

 

 

 

 

Please go buy The Gay Road Less Traveled on Amazon!

 

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Books Books Books

21 Wednesday Jun 2017

Posted by johnjernigan in Books Check 'Em Out, Dogs is People Too

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$5 for a Bag of Books at the Worcester Habitat for Humanity yo, inching Less Than Zero, Doctors and a childhood favorite Island of the Blue Dolphins. 8 years old I was Marana on that island, struggling to find food and trying to avoid being killed by the wild dogs (while doing everything I could to steal one of their puppies).IMG_1212

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Rascal – Sterling North

04 Saturday Mar 2017

Posted by johnjernigan in Books Check 'Em Out, Dogs is People Too, My Favorite Things, My Heart

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authors, books, children, dogs, french bulldog, gay, Nature, pets, raccoons, writers

imageRascal found for 25 cents at the thrift store! My endearing love of raccoons started with this favorite book from my childhood, in fact I named my 5th child Rascal (jostling with my Frenchie for camera time in the pics below)

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America’s Boy – Wade Rouse

29 Tuesday Nov 2016

Posted by johnjernigan in Books Check 'Em Out, My Favorite Things, the Flaming Homosexual

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authors, book reviews, books, country, funny, gay, humour, LGBT, literature, memoir, reading, writers

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Underground Airlines – Ben Winters

05 Wednesday Oct 2016

Posted by johnjernigan in Books Check 'Em Out, Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

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black culture, civil rights, equal rights, Equality, Gay Rights, History, LGBT, News, perspective, point of view, religion, Slavery, society, trump

 

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An alternate  present day reality where slavery is still alive in some of the southern states

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We The Animals – Justin Torres

05 Wednesday Oct 2016

Posted by johnjernigan in Books Check 'Em Out, My Favorite Things, the Flaming Homosexual

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author, book reviews, books, child abuse, fiction, gay, LGBT, literature, memoir, mental health, reading, writer

image“We  wanted more.  We knocked the butt ends of our forks against the table, tapped are spoons against our empty bowls; we were hungry. We wanted more volume, more riots. We turned up the knob on the TV until our ears ached with the shouts of angry men. We wanted more music on the radio; we wanted beats, we wanted rock.  We wanted muscles on our skinny arms. We had bird bones, hollow and light, and we wanted more density, more weight. We were six matching hands, six stomping feet; we were brothers, boys, three little kings locked in a feud for more.

We wanted more flash, more blood, more warmth.

Always more, always hungrily scratching for more. But there were times, quiet moments, when our mother was sleeping, when she hadn’t slept for two days, and any noise, any stair creak, any shut door, any stifled laugh, any voice at all might wake her, those crystal, still mornings, when we wanted to protect her,  this confused goose of a woman, this stumbler, this gusher, with her backaches and headaches and her tired, tired ways, this uprooted Brooklyn creature, this tough talker,  always with tears when she told us she loved us, her mixed up love, her needy love, her warmth, those mornings when sunlight found the cracks in our blinds and laid it self down in crisp strips on our carpet,  those quiet mornings when we’d fix ourselves oatmeal and sprawl onto our stomachs with crayons and paper, with glass marbles that we were careful not to rattle, when  our mother was sleeping, when the air did not smell like sweat or breath or mold, when the air was still and light, those mornings when silence was our secret game and our gift and our sole accomplishment –  we wanted less : less weight, less work, less noise, less father, less muscles and skin and hair. We wanted nothing, just this, just this.”

 

 

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Porcelain – Moby (a memoir)

26 Friday Aug 2016

Posted by johnjernigan in Books Check 'Em Out, Music is the Answer, My Favorite Things, the Flaming Homosexual

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author, book reviews, books, dance, dance music, DJ, gay, house music, memoir, music, musician, New York, writer

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I read Porcelain in one 4-hour bathtub inhalation yesterday, and mostly loved it. Moby’sstruggles to find work as a DJ and  his references to those first classic house tracks that I remember from my late teens pretty much smothered his petty irritants (his veganism, alcoholism and Christianity). Any DJ or dance music fan will love most of this memoir.

“Frankie Knuckles had invented house music, lived on the Lower East Side, and was deified. Junior Vasquez owned the floor at Sound Factory, where he played 12-hour sets and was a revered legend living in Chelsea. Danny Tenaglia was in the house music pantheon: he too played long remarkable sets and lived downtown. Larry Levan was a dance music god and he had just started a residency at Choice in the East Village. David Morales was seen as the biggest of the New York house music DJs: he owned the floor at Red Zone, and in an unconventional move, he lived in Midtown. Tony Humphries existed in a strange mythical realm of his own. His sets were long and legendary, his remixes were flawless, he lived in the unknown recesses of Newark, New Jersey.and was in residence at Zanzibar,”

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A Dog’s Purpose, A Dog’s Journey – Bruce Cameron

13 Saturday Feb 2016

Posted by johnjernigan in Books Check 'Em Out, Dogs is People Too, My Favorite Things, My Heart

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animals, book reviews, books, boston terrier, dogs, french bulldog, inspirational, love, perspective, pets, point of view

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Bruce Cameron is my favorite dog author, both “A Dog’s Purpose” and “A Dog’s Journey” were read in 4-hour cover-to cover inhalations. I encourage anyone who loves dogs to read these 2 books, in fact as I am cutting and pasting quotes into this post I am crying just a bit.

Some Bruce Cameron quotes:

“You can usually tell that a man is good if he has a dog who loves him.”

“The job of a good dog was ultimately to be with them, remaining by their sides no matter what course their lives might take. All I could do now was offer him comfort, the assurance that as he left this life he was not alone but rather was tended by the dog who loved him more than anything in the whole world.”

“But humans drive the cars and decide when dogs eat and where dogs live and clearly this was something else in their power – they could find their dogs when they needed them.”

“I guess I had never bothered to consider that there might such a thing as a boy, but now that I had found one, I thought it was just about the most wonderful concept in the world. He smelled of mud and sugar and an animal I’d never scented before, and a faint meaty odor clung to his fingers, so I licked them.”

“Some people just don’t appreciate having a dog around. It’s sad to think there are people like that. I knew Gloria was that way—maybe that’s why she could never be truly happy.”

“You can usually tell that a man is good if he has a dog who loves him.”

“My dog’s name is Tucker, and his DNA is unidentifiable and suspect.”

“As I sat in the sun on the wooden dock that jutted out into the pond, I knew this to be true: my name was Buddy, and I was a good dog.”

“A bouquet of wonderful scents met my nose, and my heart leaped when I realized who I was smelling.
‘Molly!’ I heard someone call.
I whipped my head around everywhere and there they were, the people I’d been smelling. Everyone I’d ever loved in my life, standing at the edge of the water, smiling and clapping. I saw Ethan and Hannah and Trent and CJ standing in front, along with Andi and Maya and Jakob and all the others.
‘Bailey!’ Ethan yelled waving.
My names was Toby, and Buddy, and Molly and Max and Bailey and Ellie. I was a good dog, and this was my reward. Now I would get to be with the people I loved.
I turned, whimpering with you, and swam toward those golden shores.”

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My Books my preciousss

10 Wednesday Jun 2015

Posted by johnjernigan in Books Check 'Em Out, Dogs is People Too

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My trunk has been full of books for 2 months. I was finally able to unpack them, with sadly leaving some behind in Miami. Books are my best friends, after the 2 loves of my life Cricket and Squeak

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The Silver Star – Jeannette Walls

23 Thursday Apr 2015

Posted by johnjernigan in Books Check 'Em Out, My Favorite Things

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authors, best gay blog, book reviews, books, culture, fiction, gay, Jeannette Walls, The Gay Road Less Traveled John Jernigan, The Glass Castle Jeannette Walls, The Silver Star Jeannette Walls, writers

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The Glass Castle (about her chaotic childhood) and Half Broke Horses (about her awesome grandmother’s childhood in frontier Texas) were both memoirs, and both are all-time favorites. The Silver Star is Jeannette Walls’ first foray into fiction, and I really enjoyed it. A mother with mental health issues, 1960’s racism, the Vietnam war, class system injustice in a mill town, and the rape of her sister are just some of the plotlines in this very satisfying offering. Also, there are emus.

“Don’t be afraid of your dark places,” Mom told her. “If you can shine a light on them, you’ll find treasure there.”
― Jeannette Walls, The Silver Star

“What I do know is that wondering why you survived don’t help you survive.”
― Jeannette Walls, The Silver Star

“I’m none too big on giving advice,’
Aunt Al said. ‘Most times when folks ask for advice, they already know what they should do. They just want to hear it from someone else.”
― Jeannette Walls, The Silver Star

“Job, chapter fourteen, verse seven,” Aunt Al said. “ ‘For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its tender shoots will not cease.’ ”
― Jeannette Walls, The Silver Star

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Chinese Kosher – Michael Levy

01 Sunday Feb 2015

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In September of 2005, the Peace Corps sent Michael Levy to teach English in the heart of rural China.

“When I finally relented and agreed to go to Dog Meat King, I did so with no attention of eating the meat that gave the restaurant it’s name. But as a sat in the restaurant, hungry and happy to be with my friend Jennifer, I felt a Moment of Truth emerging from the greasy haze. Was I about to go fully native? Maybe there’s no really difference between dog and pic I thought to myself. I lifted a dog cube with my chopsticks and stared at it. The face of my brother Eliot’s golden retriever appeared in the veins of the meat. To my horror, my mouth began to water. I licked the meat. The sky did not fall. I popped the cube in my mouth. I chewed. I swallowed. It tasted like chicken. Kosher was of course out the window.”

“All of this is thanks to the Leadership of the Communist Party and Socialism with Chinese Characteristics” teacher Qing said. “We will get rich now and develop and catch the West. Then we can develop True Communism later.”

“You do not have to worry about the quality of the meat. We can buy it in Walmart.” I was taken aback. “Walmart sells dog meat?” “Yes” replied Jennifer. “The price is also low, always the lowest. Walmart has the lowest prices in town.” I shook my head in disbelief. It was bad enough to think of a dead-dog section of Walmart, but what was even more unbleievable was that they could undercut the proces of butchers in the open markets, who were squeezing out a subsistence living.

My first class at Guizhou University started with everyone telling me their names, rather the American names they had given themselves. The worst student in the class had chosen the name Moron, which was ridiculous, but far from the strangest. There was “Anvil” a butch girl with a bowl cut, and an effeminate boy who went by “Dandy.” Two skinny girls inroduced themselves as “Shitty” and “Pussy.” Shitty explained her name by telling me it “sounded friendly.” Pussy told me she liked cats. There was Shmily, which she explained stood for “See How Much I love You” and Larple “I am a little fat, like a large apple.” There was God, Red Hero, and Waiting G, as well as two brothers named Stone and Stone Crusher.

Jackie raised his hand after Moron sat down. “His namee is Gordon, Mr. Mike, not Moron!” Jackie yelled. “But his English is very poor so that you cannot understand him!” Jackie was looking sternly at Gordon. “His Chinese is very poor, too! He is a minority person, so he has difficulty learning!”

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Beautiful Boy – David Sheff

25 Sunday Jan 2015

Posted by johnjernigan in Books Check 'Em Out

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Beautiful Boy – a father’s journey through his son’s addiction to crystal meth

I found the most interesting parts of this story to be when the father described parenting his two younger children, second-guessing himself and constantly worrying that he was the primary caregiver of a child who became a meth addict.

“Through Nic’s drug addiction, I have learned that parents can bear almost anything….I shock myself with my ability to rationalize and tolerate things once unthinkable. The rationalizations escalate….It’s only marijuana. He gets high only on weekends. At least he’s not using hard drugs….At least it’s not heroin. He would never resort to needles. At least he’s alive.”

“An alcoholic will steal your wallet and lie to you. A drug addict will steal your wallet and then help you look for it.”

“Anyone who has lived through it, or those who are now living through it, knows that caring about an addict is as complex and fraught and debilitating as addiction itself.”

“Along with the joy of parenthood, with every child comes a piercing vulnerability. It is at once sublime and terrifying”

“But here’s the rub of addiction. By its nature, people afflicted are unable to do what, from the outside, appears to be a simple solution—don’t drink. Don’t use drugs. In exchange for that one small sacrifice, you will be given a gift that other terminally ill people would give anything for: life.”

“In his suicide note, Kurt Cobain wrote, “It’s better to burn out than to fade away.” He was quoting a Neil Young song about Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols. When I was twenty-four, I interviewed John Lennon. I asked him about this sentiment, one that pervades rock and roll. He took strong, outraged exception to it. “It’s better to fade away like an old soldier than to burn out, ” he said. “I worship people who survive. I’ll take the living and the healthy.”

“I tried everything I could to prevent my son’s fall into meth addiction. It would have been no easier to have seen him strung out on heroin or cocaine, but as every parent of a meth addict comes to learn, this drug has a unique, horrific quality. In an interview, Stephan Jenkins, the singer in Third Eye Blind, said that meth makes you feel “bright and shiny.” It also makes you paranoid, delusional, destructive, and self-destructive. Then you will do unconscionable things in order to feel bright and shiny again.”

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Turning Tables – Heather & Rose MacDowell

07 Wednesday Jan 2015

Posted by johnjernigan in Books Check 'Em Out, My Favorite Things

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A great little story about a twenty-something who lost her job in marketing, and bullshitted her way into waiting tables at a Michelin-starred fine dining restaurant, without knowing the nomenclature.

1. Soup is considered a beverage and should be served and cleared from the right like other beverages.
2. A cocktail is never more full than when it’s dropped.
3. Never ask why (try not to even think it). Say “Of Course” or “I’ll attend to it immediately.”
4. The handle of a teacup is called the “ear” and should be placed at the 4 o’clock position to the right of the guest.
Do: Treat the busboys like a rich old aunt. If you’re nice to them you stand to make a lot more money.
Don’t: Check your tip in view of the dining room. Get mad later, in private.
Do: Channel your inner psych nurse and use a soothing voice with rude guests.
Don’t: Be honest if anyone asks how you like working at Roulette. You love what you do and plan to stay forever, right?
Never: Refold a guest’s napkin and put it back on the table. Replace the used napkin with a fresh one.
Always: Thank your lucky stars. You could be selling ladies shoes at JC Penney or trimming trees in Oklahoma in December.

“The fish special this evening is roasted monkfish with crispy shallots, mache emulsion, and an eggplant and Black Zebra tomato napoleon. The grill selection is a 10 ounce ribeye. It’s organic, free range, slaughtered humanely, and dry aged at high altitude. We will be serving it with a Jerusalem artichoke gratin and red pepper jus. Both specials are $42.”

Dr. Bernitz flips a few pages of the wine list before glancing up.
“How’s the fish tonight?”
“Flown in this morning, sir” Cato says crisply. “If you’re interested in seafood I suggest the wild salmon.”
“Why?”
“It has a firm texture and rich flavor that goes perfectly with chef’s caramelized ginger-shallot broth.” “Interesting, let’s hear about the lobster.”
This is the beginning of a 10 minute dance that is less a customer-waiter exchange than a subtle negotiation between adversaries.
“Where do the blood oranges in the relish come from?” asks the doctor, clearly enjoying the challenge.
Cato looks as if he might yawn. “Andalusia, Spain by way of 737.”
“You don’t happen to know who makes this china, do you?
“Chef had it designed exclusively for Roulette by Arte Italica. If you turn it over, you’ll see his signature. Of course I wouldn’t recommend doing that with a full plate” Cato laughed lightly.
“My mother would love a set, can you arrange that?”
“Just leave me her address and she should have it by Monday morning, unless she would prefer afternoon delivery. in
“Do any of the ingredients come from countries that use child labor?” the doctor says, gazing over the freesia at his wife. Martina needs to know before we order.”
“That’s why I memorize the menu” Cato tells me when we’re away from the table. “Not to make Gina happy, not to make money. To put assholes in their place.”

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Diary of a Lost Boy – Harry Kondoleon

03 Saturday Jan 2015

Posted by johnjernigan in Books Check 'Em Out, My Favorite Things, Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

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a diary

Meet Hector, a beautiful A-list Chelsea party boy, complete with six-pack, street smarts and Upper West Side bff.
Meet Hector, body ravaged by AIDS, wearing caftans with pockets full of Kleenex, saying goodbye to his last T-cells, facing his death with humor and grace, trying (unsuccessfully) to find detachment.

“My new psychiatrist says gay babies need a erotic/romantic relationship with their fathers such as straight babies have with their mothers, but since the likelihood of the gay babies getting such paternal affection is slim, they grow up the way they do.”

“TV Guide was harassing me about getting their empty guide to emptiness. Threats from creditors filled the mailbox. I scrawled on the back of one “I did not order TV Guide because I never would and I never will. I am ill and you are harassing me, desist!” Jury duty notices? I scrawled across the jittery forms “AIDS!AIDS!AIDS!AIDS!”

Listen then to this wonder! How wonderful it is to be both outside and inside, to seize and to be seized, to see and at the same time be what is seen, to hold and to be held – that is the goal where the spirit remains at rest, united with our dear eternity – Meister Eckhart

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Boys of Life – Paul Russell

13 Saturday Dec 2014

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authors, book reviews, books, Boys of Life Paul Russell, gay, gay fiction, gay Miami, gay writers, LGBT, lifestyle, Lolita, queer, writers

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A sleazily well-written gay Lolita, with an gay alcoholic 16-year from Kentucky as our protagonist. Reading it as teenager years ago, I remember being shocked and turned on, a little repulsed and a lot impressed. I just picked it up again, reading it in one marathon 4-hour jaunt. It has stood the test of time quite well, still a little creepy but like all of Russell’s books grabs your attention and keeps it. Paul Russell is one of my favorite authors, in addition to Boys of Life other great reads of his include The Salt Point, Sea of Tranquility, War Against the Animals and The Coming Storm.

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Paul Russell quotes:
“Just because you pretend the universe doesn’t have teeth doesn’t mean you won’t get eaten in the end”

“I’ll put it to you simply: love is the enemy. That’s my conclusion. We should all live in our little monk cells and never venture out”

“Waiting, he thought, was the most miserable condition a man could find himself in. His whole life, he had been waiting for one thing or another”

“He wanted to toast mad idealism, forbidden desires, the dreams that drove one to criminal acts. He wanted, quite starkly, oblivion”

“When he got a story urge, there was nothing to do but grab a pen and write. Otherwise it was too much like getting a hard-on and not jerking off”

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Lowering My Expectations

21 Tuesday Oct 2014

Posted by johnjernigan in Books Check 'Em Out, Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

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Armistead Maupin, authors, book reviews, books, depression, Edmund White, gay, gay blog, gay fort lauderdale, gay Miami, Simone de Beauvoir, Thrift Store, writers

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I find myself desperately poor, I don’t even have enough money to get a haircut or pay my cell phone bill. But I can afford to go on three dates, with Simone de Beauvoir, Armistead Maupin and one of my great loves Edmund White.

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Artist Renderings From My Book

12 Saturday Jul 2014

Posted by johnjernigan in Books Check 'Em Out, My Favorite Things

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art, Augusten Burroughs, authors, autobiography, book reviews, books, boston terrier, David Sedaris, dogs, french bulldog, gay, LGBT, memoirs, queer, writers

14 Due to Budgetary Constraints

Mateo the Artist, a most fabulously talented individual, is the artist for my book, The Gay Road Less Traveled, $2.99 on Amazon. Squeak the Boston Terrier is the supermodel.

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20 Trailer Park Turkish Delight

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Books are People too

05 Saturday Jul 2014

Posted by johnjernigan in Books Check 'Em Out

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Augusten Burroughs, authors, autobiography, best gay blog, book reviews, books, buy John's book $2.99 on Amazon, Chuck Palahniuk, David Sedaris, gay, gay blog, gay dating, Julie Andrews, LGBT

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On the 1st and 15th of each month, the Parc Thrift Store in Pinellas Park is 50% the entire store, so 50 cent harcovers and quarter paperbacks, including Chuck Palahniuk, Margaret Atwood and my 2nd favorite author of all time, Augusten Burroughs.

The New 2 U Thrift Store in Seminole has coupons for 50% off your entire purchase, again making the harcovers 50 cents and the paperbacks a quarter, including Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants and Riding Lessons, and the greatest literary love of my life, David Sedaris.

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Books as Mental Health Aides

23 Monday Jun 2014

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Angela's Ashes, atlanta, authors, autobiography, book, book reviews, buy John's book $2.99 on Amazon, dating, essays, Frank McCourt, funny, gay, Gypsy Rose Lee, humor, LGBT, love, Malachi McCourt, memoirs, relationships, sex, Sue Monk Kidd, Tampa Bay, writers

Books as Mental Health Aides

I tried to go to work today, but left after a couple of hours, apparently I am still a bit emotionally fragile. On the way home, I stopped at the St, Vincent de Paul thrift store on 34th and treated myself to 10 (ten) books for $1 (one) .

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A Girl Named Zippy – Haven Kimmel

22 Sunday Jun 2014

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A Girl Named Zippy, atlanta, autobiographies, book reviews, books, buy John's book on Amazon, culture, essays, funny, gay, Haven Kimmel, humor, LGBT, Life, lifestyle, love, memoirs, perspective, point of view, writers

A Girl Named Zippy - Haven Kimmel

I read this book last week, sitting with my mom in the nursing home, until she passed away. Zippy’s sharp humor and funny observations helped me through a tough time in my life.

“…she waited until she and my grandfather Anthel were just home from their honeymoon, and then sat him down and told him this: “Honey, I know you like to take a drink, and that’s all right, but be forewarned that I ain’t your maid and I ain’t your punching bag, and if you ever raise your hand to me you’d best kill me. Because otherwise I’ll wait until you’re asleep; sew you into the bed; and beat you to death with a frying pan.” Until he died, I am told, my grandfather was a gentle man.”

“That cat doesn’t have a lick of sense,’ I said, sighing.

Well, honey, he’s not right in the head,’ Dad said, flipping his cigarette into the front yard.

I glared at him. ‘And just what do you mean by that?’

Dad counted on his fingers. ‘He’s cross-eyed; he jumps out of trees after birds and then doesn’t land on his feet; he sleeps with his head smashed up against the wall, and the tip of his tail is crooked.’

Oh yeah? Well, how about this: he once got locked in a basement by evil Petey Scroggs in the middle of January and survived on snow and little frozen mice. When I’m cold at night he sleeps right on my face. Of that whole litter of kittens he came out of he’s the only one left. One of his brothers didn’t even have a butthole.’

“I stand corrected. PeeDink is a survivor.”

“What kind of good deeds? Like Girl Scouts? Because I got kicked out of Brownies and they won’t give me another chance to keep my clothes on at camp.”

“My mother was good at reading books, making cinnamon biscuits, and coloring in a coloring book. Also she was a good eater of popcorn and knitter of sweaters with my initials right in them. She could sit really still. She knew how to believe in God and sing really loudly. When she sneezed our whole house rocked. My father was a great smoker and driver of vehicles..He could hold a full coffee cup while driving and never spill a drop, even going over bumps. He lost his temper faster than anyone.”

“I respect every way in which you are a troublemaker, now get up and do what your mother says.”

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Books: 10 cents each!

06 Friday Jun 2014

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book reviews, books, buy John's book on Amazon $3.99, Carrie Fisher, culture, David Sedaris, Dune, essays, Fast Food Nation, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Maureen O'Hara, memoirs, Nicholas Sparks, Peter Benchley, secondhand shopping, Stephen King, The Reader Bernhard Schlink, Thrift Store, writers

Books: 10 cents each!

10 for $1, at the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store on 34th St. in St. Pete

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Buy My Book!

18 Sunday May 2014

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Augusten Burroughs, authors, book reviews, books, boston terrier, buy John's book, cute, dating, David Sedaris, dogs, ebook, essays, french bulldog, gay, LGBT, Mateo L'artiste, memoirs, new orleans, pets, queer, relationships, sex, short stories, writers

Buy My Book!

The Gay Road Less Traveled – John Jernigan
$3.99 on Kindle, the Kindle app is free for any cell phone

Artwork by Mateo L’Artiste, models Possum the Boston Terrier and Cricket the French Bulldog

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I Love Books!

17 Saturday May 2014

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@thejohnjernigan, Augusten Burroughs, authors, book reviews, books, buy John's book on Amazon $3.99, Chuck Palahniuk, culture, dating, David Sedaris, essays, fiction, gay, gay dating, home decor, IKEA, interior design, Jim Butcher, John Burdett, LGBT, libraries, lifestyle, love, memoirs, R.A. Salvatore, relationships, sex, short stories, the gay road less traveled, used books, writers

I Love Books!

Home alone on this Saturday, with no money and no man, I organized my library and discovered I am RICH!…in books. I do have several date possibilities for tonight, with different men, including Jim Butcher, Chuck Palahniuk, John Burdett and R.A. Salvatore.

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Posted by johnjernigan | Filed under Books Check 'Em Out, My Favorite Things, Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

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My Books, my precious

06 Tuesday May 2014

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Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, Angela's Ashes, book reviews, books, buy John's book on Amazon $3.99, Catcher in the Rye, Choke Chuck Palahniuk, Emma McLaughlin, essays, fiction, gay, gay dating, High Fidelity, J.D. Salinger, LGBT, Life of Pi, maddaddam, Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake, queer, Sara Gruen, second hand, St. Petersburg Florida, Tampa Bay, Thrift Store, Wagon Wheel Flea Market, Water for Elephants, writers

My Books, my precious

Killing time in Tampa waiting on some nuggets to get home from school, I stumbled across the Life’s Treasure Thrift Center, with the following sale sign at the door: Entire store 50 % off ! That meant $1 hard covers and 50 cent paperbacks 🙂 I hit the jackpot, including 3 of my favorite books of all time; Life of Pi, Choke, and Oryx and Crake. $11.00

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25 cents each at the Wagon Wheel Flea Market, Catcher in the Rye, Angela’s Ashes, Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter and High Fidelity $1

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Using my 1/2 price coupon for the entire store, my precious books from New 2 U Thrift in Seminole…a little chic lit, but i am very much in touch with my feminine side, so they say 😦 $3.75

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45 Books for $4.50

28 Monday Apr 2014

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@thejohnjernigan, A Wrinkle in Time, atlanta, author, book reviews, books, buy John's book on Amazon for $3.99, Chuck Palahniuk, Don't Lets Go to the Dogs Tonight, essays, flea market, gay, Kosher Chinese Tiger Levy, LGBT, memoirs, relationships, sex, short stories, Snow Falling on Cedars, St. Petersburg, tampa, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time Mark Haddon, thrift stores, wicked, writer

45 Books for $4.50

The sign on the board at the front of the St, Vincent de Paul thrift store said “10 Books for $1.00” Yes, please, 45 books later, I had six lovely bags of books, including Chuck Palahniuk, Don’t Let’s go to the Dogs Tonight, Wicked, A Wrinkle in time, Snow Falling on Cedars, Kosher Chinese Tiger Levy, and one of my all time favorites: the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time Mark Haddon. This is a great story and adventure, with a leading little detective who suffers from fairly severe autism or savant syndrome.

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Posted by johnjernigan | Filed under Books Check 'Em Out

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A friend of mine who used to be one of the hard working under appreciated social workers for the State here in Pensacola has written a book now available on Kindle, John Jernigan’s “The Gay Road Less Traveled.” I purchased it tonight to start it, couldn’t out it down, it was so funny. Graphic, real, and hysterical, John’s writing is endearing, funny, smart and if you happen to be drinking coffee, it may shoot out of your nose at some point during one of his vignettes. You can read it on Kindle.

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