GAYLETTER

We have an intimate 420 party every year. The last one we threw even had a photographer from the magazine Put A Egg On It!, who came to take photos of our lovely homemade desserts. This year we are a bit annoyed because we are in the Dominican Republic and we don’t have any greens. However we brought Foria (THC suppositories) and we are gonna head to the beach and lay down with them inside of us — we’ll tell you more about that when we get back. If you’ve already started smoking, good for you. I don’t care what strain you do, just make sure it’s the best quality possible. I recommend you don’t make any emotional calls or get involved in any drama, it will just ruin your 420 celebration, keep it light and present. Turn on YouTube and sing some random songs, it’s so much fun to sing when you are high. Make sure you make your entire day blurry, go outside and take long walks, if you can, go to a park and chill out. Why isn’t weed legal in New York City already?  —Abi

Card games are generally relegated to wood cabin retreats when Internet and cell service are both unavailable, however we’ve taken to playing them here in the city with a glass of wine on a Saturday afternoon. Perhaps we’re just getting old, but there’s something very satisfying about playing a game in the real world instead of on a screen — it’s grounding and relaxing. The game we are the biggest fans of at the moment is by artist Sigrid Calon. It’s a classic memory game (distributed by Princeton Architectural Press) where the goal is to turn over cards to find a matching pair. Sigrid’s fluorescent, Risograph-print-inspired patterns are gorgeous. She is clearly a cunty artist. The game works with 2 people but is best with 4. Have a puff, pour a glass and settle in for some fun. Yasssss, old people games is so 2016.  —tom

Spring is coming, I don’t care if it’s cold at the moment, or what the weather app on my iPhone says, I can feel it in me bones — the seasons are changing GOD DAMMIT! And with the change of seasons comes a chance to change something else in your life. We don’t care what you do, but you owe it to your pagan ancestors to shake some shit up, so why not start with your apartment, or your room? Spring is the season of renew. So re-paint your bedroom, replace a piece of furniture that’s getting old, replant something, rearrange your place, remove something you no longer use (ie. give away some old clothes, then use the receipt as a deduction on your taxes). Change something, anything. It may be scary at first, but it’s the best thing you could do for yourself, just ask a neuroscientist. Apparently every time you change your surroundings, you create new neural connections — you literally expand your mind. So what are you waiting for? Spring to it!  —t&a

Who knew there were so many gay-themed, healthy, social activities one can do in NYC? There’s this group called Guy Social (who we mentioned earlier this year) and they have tons of events aimed at homos. There’s Guy-raoke, Guys Paint Night, even a Guys for Hilary event… and then there’s this one, Gayzer Tag. For $15 you get unlimited laser tag, unlimited bowling and unlimited pool. There’s also $8.00 Grey Goose vodka drinks and $14.00 beer pitchers. Holy shit that’s a great deal. We tried to bowl in Brooklyn last weekend and it was way more than $15. I don’t know the types of guys that are into gayzer tagging, but who cares, bring your own crew and make the most of it. I haven’t played laser tag for years but from what I remember it was a fun, cheap thrill. It’s much healthier than getting wasted, but with the great drink deals they’re offering you can do that too. I mean, you’re only human.  —tom

Well this is about the darn cutest thing I’ve ever hear of. It’s a gay skating and tea dance on ice at Bryant Park. And even better they are serving booze! That’s right: gays, ice skating and vodka, what could possibly go wrong! I’m kidding, this sounds like a fucking blast. Season 6, RuPaul's Drag Race contestant, and GAYLETTER issue 3 contributor, MILK (pictured) is also doing a live performance. We’re super excited for that as I have a feeling that queen is pretty good on ice. Music is by DJ XAVIER and there’s also performances by Michael Paul Dionysiou, and the Drags On Ice Spectacular. Also a portion of proceeds go to benefit the Ali Forney Center. I mean, what are you waiting for, lace up those skates and getting down to Bryant Park this Sunday, January 24th. We’ll be there, just don’t get in our way, we’re real cunts on ice.

This new museum sounds intriguing. It’s the first museum that reacts to emotions, “and turns them into art. The Museum’s exterior changes color to reflect the mood of the city by scraping social media and other real-time data.” This could either be amazing or a big old yawn. The fact that it’s sponsored by Glade makes me nervous that it could just be a giant ad in disguise, but whatevs, I think it’s still worth checking out. “Each installation invites emotional interaction. Touch, feel, play, listen, imagine and breathe. Step into the first kaleidoscope controlled by emotion. Float through the feeling of calm on a lavender cloud. Use your own biometric data to create a MoodLens — or unique emotional selfie — and match it with a perfect custom fragrance.” You had me at ‘lavender cloud.’ Smoke some greens and get in touch with your feelings.  —tom

Take the day off work and head to Jacob Riis Beach in Queens for a day of sun and sand, large naked lesbians, hot Latinos with giant subwoofers, fresh made cocktails hand-delivered by sketchy looking dudes and hot hipster boys in speedos as far as the eye can see. We have visited the beach the last two weekends in a row (with our friend Charlie) and couldn’t recommend it more highly. Fuck Fire Island, fuck the Hamptons, Riis is where it’s at. It’s close enough to Brooklyn and the city that it makes day trips ridiculously easy. The water is perfect, the crowd is as diverse as it gets and the cruising is bananas. The beach is long, but the spot to be at is in front of the abandoned mental hospital (lol) on your left, if you’re facing the water. It’s the perfect backdrop to the rowdy crowd that take over the sand. Be careful while you’re there the cops love to find any opportunity to write tickets, mainly for drinking, or peeing in the long grass. Enjoy those sun rays while we still have them!  —tom

You have probably heard about the Rentboy.com bust. I know this is a complicated case and I’ve seen so many different opinions displayed on social media. I’m not gonna get deep into it, but I think people should be able to do whatever that want with their bodies as long as they’re not hurting anyone. Sex workers rights are human rights. If you agree you should speak up. On Thursday, a rally is being held, calling for the police to drop the charges and for our society to decriminalize sex work. “LGBT activists, civil rights organizations, the HookUp Collaborative and supporters will hold a demonstration this Thursday, Sept. 3rd, at Noon at the U.S. Eastern District Courthouse in downtown Brooklyn to demand that the U.S. Attorney stop the prosecution of Rentboy.com and drop all charges after the raid on them by Homeland Security. We are outraged at this latest example of the abuse and selective prosecution of sex workers. We are sick and tired of this misuse of government time and money to persecute members of the sex industry. This unrelenting harassment and persecution endangers the health and safety of these workers and their clients, and disproportionately targets the poor and people of color. We demand an end to this system of criminalization.” Amen to that. It’s 2015 for fuck’s sake.  —Abi

The Danish artist, based in Berlin and Copenhagen, Jeppe Hein has a cool interactive art installation at the Brooklyn Bridge Park for their annual “artistic turnover of its greenery.” He’s known for his interactive sculptures and installations that usually “combine elements of humour with the traditions of minimalism and conceptual art of the 1970s.” The exhibition is presented by Public Art Fund, I am excited to go visit the installation — it sounds like a perfect Summer activity especially if you’ve smoked some greens beforehand or taken some mushrooms (you know, the usual outdoor Summer GAYLETTER activity, just kidding, but that does sound nice.) The exhibition contains 18 “whimsical” pieces on view from park benches, there’s a “Mirror Labyrinth,” which looks very trippy (“The strips vary in height and reflect the surrounding cityscape, including the skyline of Lower Manhattan, which stands directly across the river.”) as well as a grid of “rooms formed by lines of water jets that visitors can step into and out of.” It’s a fountain in which two-metre-high walls are formed by jets of water that shoot up and down. The best part of the show, especially in this heat is that you can have a refreshing shower and who knows if you are not wearing underwear you might get some attention in the park — remember you are in Brooklyn they’re very pro-nudity.  —Abi