Happy Fathers Day!

Dads, Daddies, and Papa Bears...Oh Myyyyyyy

Like a lot of my dears, nears, and queers, my dad passed away a long time ago, so I consider Father’s Day more of a memorial day than a celebration.

I tend to spend much of the day thinking about him, turning over moments both meaningful and mundane in my mind, realizing just how much of him lives on in me. For better and worse. The stubbornness. The bad dad jokes. The kindness. And the impatience. Yeah, I learned it all from watching my old man.

I also like to listen to songs that remind me of my old man — the stuff he loved and the stuff that drove him up the wall. I was that kind of kid. Songs on repeat? Instant eye-roll. Extended dance remixes? Pure torture. He often reminded me he bought me a Walkman for a reason: headphones.

But those moments — him hollering from the other room to “turn that shit down!” — are the ones I cherish now.

Music brings people together, right? One way or another.

While he was devouring science fiction hardbacks, I was knee-deep in non-fiction paperbacks about art, culture, and history. We both needed stories to understand the world, just from various corners of the bookstore and/or library.

Right now, I’m reading I Was Better Last Night, Harvey Fierstein’s memoir. And let me tell you: It’s got all the bite and brilliance you’d expect from Harvey. I highly recommend it, especially if you’ve ever felt like a square peg in a round-hole.

So today, I raise a glass (okay, maybe two) to all the fathers and father-figures. The bio-dads and chosen dads. The daddies and the papa bears.

Whether yours is still with us or just with you in spirit, I encourage you to share a story about him. Funny, sad, sweet, weird — it all matters.

That’s how we keep them close. That’s how we carry them forward.

Happy Father’s Day!
Clint 🌈✌️

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ON THIS DAY = JUNE 15

BIRTHDAYS

• 1479 = Lisa del Giocondo, Italian model and subject of the Mona Lisa

• 1835 = Adah Isaacs Menken = American actor, painter and poet 🌈

• 1884 = Harry Langdon, American actor, director, and screenwriter

• 1917 = Lash LaRue, American actor and producer

• 1937 = Waylon Jennings, American singer-songwriter

• 1941 = Harry Nilsson, American singer-songwriter

• 1949 = Simon Callow = English actor and director 🌈

• 1951 = Steve Walsh, American singer-songwriter

• 1954 = Jim Belushi, American actor

• 1955 = Julie Hagerty, American model and actor

• 1969 = Ice Cube, American rapper, producer, and actor

• 1971 = Bif Naked = Canadian singer-songwriter and actor 🌈

• 1973 = Neil Patrick Harris = American actor and singer 🌈

EVENTS

• 1878 = Eadweard Muybridge takes a series of photographs to prove that all four feet of a horse leave the ground when it runs; the study becomes the basis of motion pictures.

• 1987 = The New York Times decides to allow its writers to use the word “gay” as an adjectival synonym for “homosexual.”

HOLIDAYS + OBSERVANCES

• Father's Day

• Global Wind Day

• National Beer Day (UK)

• National Big Boy Day

• Nature Photography Day

• National Smile Power Day

• Pride Month (ongoing)

PORTRAIT + QUOTES OF THE DAY

“I'm probably my biggest critic. I worry that if you spend any quality time reveling in good things then karma will slap you upside the head, so I try to stay as even keel as I'm able.”
Neil Patrick Harris

“What defines a relationship is the work that's involved to maintain it, and it's constantly changing.”
Neil Patrick Harris

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