A highlight of my visit to Bend, OR for their fab film festival was time traveling to the early 2000s inside the very last Blockbuster.

“we heard tale of expanding the tent”

I just found this book in my library and it's everything I needed for thinking about the stirring of possibility that comes from opening into connection and frisson and being seen and known by others, and vice versa.

Category is: Posing with my book, HELLO STRANGER which came out six months ago today! Get it wherever books are sold (namely, your favorite indie bookstore!); and yes, you can even get it on audiobook (read by yours truly).

Reading the interviews of Gabriel García Márquez and this passage stands out to me, from the 1970s but relevant in this time, that in this era the fight must be for collective happiness, which as he astutely describes, is the only kind of just happiness

Angels in America remains my go-to work whenever I feel despondent and sink into despair.

What a fucking nightmare

“you come up with a mean nickname to call this guy on TV?” “sure did boss, real fuckin sexy just like you asked”

here’s a pretty good rebuttal of the new Andrew Sullivan piece from Tony Kushner. Oh look it was written over 30 years ago. www.thenation.com/article/arch...

Love Astoria, my former home.

So many faves I left off.

I was deported by the U.S. for reporting on the Columbia University student protests. www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

“Look, we both know why you are here,” the agent told me... “It’s because of what you wrote online about the protests at Columbia University,” he said. www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

CLARIFICATION : The Trevor Project's hotline will still be live. But basically this means LGBTQ people can no longer be connected to it through the US national 988 suicide prevention hotline. They will need to be contacted DIRECTLY So spread this around They can be texted. They can be called.

very much enjoyed @bmanuel.bsky.social’s Judy at Carnegie Hall—a perfect Pride month read.

posting about the crushing state of things and then promoting book stuff (h/t to @maris.bsky.social for this)

Also highly recommended: @bmanuel.bsky.social Manuel Betancourt’s book about the Carnegie Hall concert.

Happy Pride! 🏳️‍🌈 If you’re going to buy gay books this summer, may I recommend two that make for excellent poolside/beach reads?

Reading @bmanuel.bsky.social's "Hello Stranger" has added about two dozen books, essays, and films to my "for later" pile, including "Cruising", which, fucking woof. 🥵

This is a story I wanted to write but knew that @bmanuel.bsky.social would be better for it.

If you're a millennial who went to college in the early 2000s, OVERCOMPENSATING will feel familiar and hit you with waves of nostalgia and cringe, in the best way possible. @bmanuel.bsky.social spoke to Benito Skinner and Wally Baram about their starring roles. www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE: ALL STARS opting for a tournament-style competition is an incredibly brilliant way of making those bouncy early episodes feel weighted with the stress and anxiety of final episodes, all while giving the show a way to reboot itself four times. Low-key brilliant?

"There are certain ideas that you're just like, 'Oh, I don't want to plant this seed because what if it's an ugly flower?'" — Cole Escola speaking for/to all of us writers. youtu.be/bPvRvh3PsBI?...

May the 4th content.

Caught TRAPEZE this weekend and boy was I not prepared for what’s ostensibly a film about watching Burt Lancaster & Tony Curtis mosey around in tights on any given shot.

I see we’re having interactions with strangers discourse… www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/757080...

BOTD Douglas Sirk!! MCCT5: 5)Magnificent Obsession 4)Shockproof 3)Written on the Wind 2)All that Heaven Allows 1)Lured More: @tnyfrontrow.bsky.social: www.newyorker.com/culture/rich... @bmanuel.bsky.social: www.filmcomment.com/blog/sirk-fr... Sarah Cleary: www.bfi.org.uk/features/whe...

I needed to write about something that’s giving me hope, so I wrote about Independent Bookstore Day which is this Saturday. lithub.com/something-go...

Man, this is a pretty fucking gross move from Amazon, huh? Good on @bookshop.org for not mincing words, though:

Very excited to be part of two panels at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books this weekend with a fabulous all around cohort of queer folks!

Yes to all of these summers.

When you think about, growing up with BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER was good practice for living through apocalypse after apocalypse, Big Bad after Big Bad (while still being required to go about your life at school and/or your day job).

And the nominees for the 85th Annual #PeabodyAwards are...✨ Take a look at these innovative creators across various media forms, showcasing the very best of storytelling! 👉 peabodyawards.com/awards/nominees/ #StoriesThatMatter #Peabody85

The best/only way to read HELLO STRANGER, tbh is to stop and watch CLOSER first, naturally.

Two weeks from today at the @latimes.com Festival of Books! Moderating a panel w these folks! Sat at 4:30p. . #booksky @andycorren.bsky.social @bmanuel.bsky.social

Caught up with the fab Jenny Slate to talk all things DYING FOR SEX (including that hilarious Clueless bit!) (Spoilers for the show if you haven’t yet watched)

I’ve watched this now so so many times.

🌈📚 Keeping it Queer ✊ 📖 Hello Stranger - Musings on Modern Intimacies by @bmanuel.bsky.social explores modern queer romance and the expansive possibilities of ephemeral intimacies Bookshop Affiliate Link bookshop.org/a/100590/978... Library search.worldcat.org #booksky #queerbooks #lgbtqia

Happy Trans Day of Visibility! Coincidentally, it's also your last chance to catch the Wachowski's THE MATRIX for free on Pluto TV: pluto.tv/on-demand/mo...

The ACLU has filed a case on behalf of SC families against the county library system, which has systematically removed and restricted access to LGBTQ books, including The Cardboard Kingdom. Thanks to all the organizations and families who are fighting the good fight! www.aclusc.org/en/press-rel...

New rule: All guests must be able to take a Buffy The Vampire Slayer reference I drop into a conversation and run with it. @bmanuel.bsky.social set the standard yesterday. We also talked about how we talk about our threelationships. It was illuminating. www.youtube.com/live/NOFWvMJ...

Loved chatting with Matt Bomer about his new show, Mid-Century Modern, and why he needed comedy after Fellow Travelers.

Today: @bmanuel.bsky.social joins me to discuss his book: Hello Stranger. It's about what a stranger can reveal about who we are and grapples with online sexting, real-life cruising, divorces, and threelatuonships. I've been looking forward to this conversation after reading the first chapter!

We join our colleagues in @nsfc.bsky.social, @nyfcc.bsky.social and @bsfc.bsky.social in condemning the attack on NO OTHER LAND co-director Hamdan Ballal.

Loved this excuse to wax poetic about Julia Roberts, Isabelle Huppert, Sigourney Weaver and Maribel Verdú, among others. On Snow White’s scene-stealing role and the actresses who breathed life into the Evil Queen.

Dispiriting to see my three books (and several journal articles and my dissertation!) here. Love knowing Meta will make millions off of my work.

Loved this excuse to wax poetic about Julia Roberts, Isabelle Huppert, Sigourney Weaver and Maribel Verdú, among others. On Snow White’s scene-stealing role and the actresses who breathed life into the Evil Queen.

Simon Stålenhag’s illustrated novel, The Electric State, is sublime. Its Netflix adaptation? Atrocious.