As a single guy “of a certain age,” my interest in dating and relationships comes and goes like the tide.
I’m currently dipping my toes back in the water, but I’m not sure my heart’s fully in it. I love eye candy, but I’m not sure I’m ready for a steady…diet of beefcake, 24/7/365.
While I’m unsure about finding “Mr. Right,” I’m usually interested in finding the next “Mr. Right Now.“ And window shopping is my favorite sport.
Whatever my mood, I can find a new man crush almost anywhere: at the grocery store, walking through the mall, or in my car’s rearview mirror. I collect man crushes the way some guys collect stamps. (How do you think all my montages came to be?)
For me, attraction isn’t about lust or longing. Well, not just lust or longing.
For me, attraction is about appreciation, admiration, and aesthetic delight.
What can I say? Men, in all their varied forms, fascinate me. Whether it’s a scruffy silver fox with a devilish grin that could melt glaciers or a sharp-dressed dandy who knows his way around a patterned sock, I love observing all the ways masculinity expresses itself.
Just yesterday, I went to the Apple Store for some tech help and found myself torn between two of their Geniuses. Smart and handsome? Oh, fuck me running.
When I was younger, I thought attraction had to be linear—you either wanted to date or fuck someone…or you didn’t want to know them. But somewhere along the way, I realized attraction is its own pleasure.
I can swoon over an actor’s charm, a model’s pecs, a writer’s way with words, or a neighbor’s effortlessly rolled-up sleeves without needing anything from them. Wanting is another story. But appreciation? That’s easy—pure and without agenda. Mostly.
There’s something freeing about that. Especially at this stage of life, when the world tries to convince us that desire and beauty are only for the young. I reject that bullshit entirely.
Men in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and beyond catch my eye in ways young guns never can. We’re usually more comfortable in our skin, grounded in our experiences, and often blissfully unaware of just how magnetic and magnificent we truly are.
Of course, younger guys have their own kind of charm. I love watching that cocky confidence gradually settle into something more grounded. I can appreciate them without any need to claim or contain them.
So yes, I’m still out here—watching, admiring, and occasionally fanning myself.
Not everything has to lead to romance. Sometimes it’s enough to simply say (or sing), “Whatta Man!” Smile to myself. And move along with a little more pep in my step.
Maybe that’s the secret to staying young: keeping our eyes—and our hearts—open.
Thank you for being a friend!
Clint 🌈✌️
P.S. Who are some of your man crushes? Past or present.
P.P.S. Big thanks to (Jerry Portwood) for hosting our Substack Live about queer vintage photography. And for letting me know my YouTube channel had reached another milestone: 20K Subscribers!!! I’m celebrating the love….thank all y’all.
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FYC = FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION
ON THIS DAY = OCTOBER 6
BIRTHDAYS
1882 = Karol Szymanowski = Polish composer and pianist 🌈
1887 = Le Corbusier = Swiss-French architect and painter
1902 = Bruno Balz = German songwriter 🌈
1906 = Janet Gaynor = American actor
1908 = Carole Lombard = American actor
1917 = Fannie Lou Hamer = American activist and philanthropist
1952 = Herbert Rusche = German politician and activist 🌈
1962 = Jenni Olson = American filmmaker and film historian 🌈
1963 = Elisabeth Shue = American actor
1971 = Emily Mortimer = English actor
1974 = Jeremy Sisto = American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1977 = Wes Ramsey = American actor
EVENTS
1600 = Euridice, the earliest surviving opera, receives its première performance, beginning the Baroque period.
1683 = Immigrant families found Germantown, Pennsylvania in the first major immigration of German people to America.
1927 = The Jazz Singer, the first prominent “talkie” movie, is released in theaters.
1960 = Spartacus premieres at the DeMille Theater in NYC.
1963 = Judy Garland sings “Happy Days Are Here Again” with Barbra Streisand on The Judy Garland Show. They also sing “There’s No Business Like Show Business“, with Ethel Merman joining them.
1968 = Metropolitan Community Church is founded in Los Angeles by Rev. Troy Perry in the living room of his home.
1971 = France becomes the first Western European country to decriminalize homosexual acts.
1998 = Twenty-one year old gay college student Matthew Shepard is beaten, pistol whipped, and tied to a fence in a field near Laramie, Wyoming. He dies of his injuries at a hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, on Oct. 12th.
2010 = Instagram, a mainstream photo-sharing application, is released.
HOLIDAYS + OBSERVANCES
LGBTQ History Month (October 1-31) 🌈🧐📚
National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15)
https://youtube.com/shorts/92_eD8f0j68?si=wjJN7DddbH2fmXNG
Anyone peckish for a snack 🌭🌭🥩🥩 😝😎
Ohhh Clint, I know what my poison is......
much to my......? I lust after....too much....bromance.. bro sexualities, I just can't help my self. It's my str8 side coming out. I admit it and NO I won't waste my time, energies on therapy, I'm happy being a str8🌈 dude who enjoys sex with other like minded lads and blokes, when I can. Viva la difference makes the world turn. Cheers DougT 🇫🇴 🇬🇧