Strike a pose, there’s nothing to it, VOGUE

By Craig Stadler

Welcome to June 2019. You’ve made it half way through the year which only started five minutes ago…or so it feels like. We have seen elections come and go and I will vent about that in a minute, but as we get ready for the 3 month deep freeze of Winter, how are you doing? How are YOU?

Winter for me is an interesting time. If you believe in all things scientific, you will find that there is a disorder known as SAD, or Seasonal Affect Disorder. This basically states that in the colder months, when there is less sun, the body is not able to produce the same amount of happy making hormones in the body and people tend to feel depression even more.

Now, if you are like me and are already medicated up to the eyeballs for depression and various other colourful and emotional disorders, this is a time of dread, when people like myself generally cocoon and hide and wait for the warmer months. And I don’t like Summer, so it’s a vicious cycle.

2019 for me has been a rollercoaster. New home, new career, new life, new suburb, which have all been brilliant. But it has also brought the end of a promising career, the realization that some close friendships need trimming, financial strain as I try to repair my past financial mistakes and try to assist my mother to live, who is unable to work. My brother’s retrenchment has not helped there, because he is not able to assist anymore, so it causes a general feeling of frustration and helplessness. And of course, just as we thought we had recovered from my mother’s breast cancer and subsequent mastectomy, she has had a stroke and lost a large portion of her eyesight.

6 Incredible Ways Sex Boosts Your Health

Between the “Birds and the Bees” talk and sex-education in school, conversations surrounding sex frequently emphasize its negative repercussions: from sexually transmitted diseases and infections to social and emotional distress.
Since our society is quick to focus on the negative consequences of sex, we do not know as much about how sex boosts our health. Sexual health is a significant contributor to our quality of life, and those who engage in safe sexual practices can reap lasting physical and emotional benefits.

Defining Sex
There are differing views on what constitutes sex, making it a relatively ambiguous term. Some individuals solely equate sex with intercourse (sexual contact involving penetration), while others believe that sex encompasses a wider range of behaviors.
For instance, a study on conceptualizations of sex, which surveyed 204 men and 282 women ages 18 to 96 years, found: 45% of participants considered performing manual-genital stimulation to be “having sex”, 71% considered performing oral sex to be “sex”, and 80.8% considered anal-genital intercourse to be “sex”.
However you define it or prefer it, alone or with a partner, sex can have several health benefits that might just surprise you.

Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras launches its bid for World Pride 2023

Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras has announced their formal bid for WorldPride 2023.
With support from the Department of Premier and Cabinet, ANZ, Tourism Australia and Qantas, an Australian delegation sets out this week to travel to key international destinations where they will present the case for Sydney to this marquee LGBTQI festival.
WorldPride is the largest gathering of LGBTQI communities globally, and is held every two years in a host city. If Mardi Gras is successful in its pitch to InterPride – the international association of pride organisations that decides the location – it will be the first time WorldPride is held in the Southern Hemisphere.

David Hockney: first exhibition in 20 years with works dating back to his childhood

“David Hockney: Drawings from Life” will be the first major show dedicated to the celebrated gay artist’s drawings in over two decades.
The exhibition at London’s National Portrait Gallery will include self-portraits as well as portraits of some of his favourite subjects; his mother Laura Hockney, his muse Celia Birtwell, and his friends Gregory Evans and Maurice Payne.
The show will be curated by Sarah Howgate and will feature over 150 works spanning the artist’s entire life. It will trace the trajectory of his practice by showing how he continued to revisit his favourite subjects over his career.
The exhibition will include intimate portraits created with both traditional and non-traditional drawing equipment like coloured pencil, pens, and even iPhone/iPad apps. Hockney famously experimented with different tools, most notably in the 1980’s when he made several portraits using a Polaroid camera. He described this as a Cubist depiction of form that pays homage to Picasso.

Makeup for men

They claim male skin is 'different' from female skin, and thus men need their own manly brand of makeup

War Paint: Makeup for Men is a new brand of cosmetics marketed explicitly to men. With a name like ‘war paint’ and their black packaging, it’s clear they are targeting a very specific demographic: macho men. Since queer men don’t seem to care about the gender of makeup (see: Drag Race), this brand is definitely aiming their product at straight guys who may otherwise see makeup as ‘gay.’
Their website talks about how male skin is ‘different’ than female skin.
‘Many people believe all skin is the same, however, men and women’s skin are very much different,’ they write. ‘Men’s skin is naturally tougher, the skin on a man’s face is 25% thicker than a woman’s, men’s skin also has bigger pores and a lot more of them which produces more sebum than a woman.’
They credit testosterone for these differences.