1a. Moment of silence to reflect on how spectacular Vermillion Chrstimas was. Remember 2008, everybody? Yes, we could! More or less! Depends on who's answering the question.
2. PAWS stands for post-acute withdrawal symptoms. I think (hope) they're why I've been the C-minus version of myself lately (my baseline is the B-plus version of myself). If they're not the cause, then it's actually me getting less and less happy with my life and not having the willpower to make changes. And that's, you know, a much bigger problem. And I tend to try to solve bigger problems with drugs. And drugs cause PAWS. And the antelope eat the grass! Circle of life.
Until I know for sure, I'm adjusting my Wellbutrin dose and watching a shit-ton of Rupaul's Drag Race stuff on YouTube.
2a. HOLY SHIT, RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE. I didn't get into it until 2014, and I'm mourning all of those lost years when I could've been enjoying it. I'm making up for them by completely immersing myself in it now. I watch at least 5 minutes worth of drag-queen YouTube content each morning when I get to work in order to get myself in a good mood
It's hard for me to explain what's so compelling about drag queens and Drag Race, so I'm referring you to Mark Blankenship's excellent discussion of the allure of such an intimate look at an incredibly well-developed subculture on Previously.TV (http://previously.tv/extra-hot-great/ehg-071//).
And I’ll add that it’s just really refreshing and validating to see gay men who are actively cultivating their faggotry instead of tempering it out of shame. If we were all just masc for masc, then...well, then that’d be fucking hot. Dammit. I was trying to make a point here.
Here, just watch this phenomenal music video from the incomparable Willam Belli. It probably won’t help me articulate anything, but it will make you love drag queens.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOF5fM6puKw