Letter from the Editor's Office

Working on this Major Events / Mardi Gras issue of the magazine with the rest of the BOI staff has been a super fun experience for me as it has involved very pleasant trips down memory lane. You see, from about 1999 through 2005 I was the epitome of a Circuit Boy and was routinely seen at every rainbow-colored party around. Black & Blue Festival in Montreal. White Parties in Palm Springs and Miami. Red Party in Columbus.

During the party rich period of time that was the first half of this decade, typically 5 or 6 times a year I joined close friends and partymates from Chicago, NYC, LA, MSP, Vancouver and Tacoma for long weekends chatcterized by non-stop dancing, just a little bit of sleep, quite a bit of weight loss, tons of good times and lots of laughs. Criticism and concern came my way from some, but at the time - and even now ­ my mates and I were unapologetic for having so much damn fun. While many "normal folk" went on weekend trips and vacations to rest and relax, my sojourns to South Beach, Toronto, and even Louisville (for the tragically named "Crystal Ball") were judged by me to be satisfying and worthwhile based on whether I literally passed out from exhaustion on the plane ride back to Chicago with thoughts of dancing on the box fresh in my head.

As for Mardi Gras, I've been lucky enough to attend versions held in New Orleans and Sydney, Australia. While I definitely enjoyed myself in NOLA despite that smell of puke that permeates Bourbon Street and the French Quarter, it was my attendance at the fun-filled 1994 Gay Mardi Gras in Sydney that was a signature life event. Down Under that year I was introduced to Patsy and Edina, shown just how much fun a parade can be, educated on how to stay up all night partying, taught that sharing a hotel room with a friend often means sharing tricks (that was fun), and led to conclude that guys who are REALLY REALLY well endowed are often talented bottoms because "that big ole thing just ain't going to fit into most people." Fifteen years later, my Sydney Mardi Gras memories are fresh and clear. Fifteen years from now, they'll still be fresh and clear. I had that much fun, and it really was THAT big!

Dennis Michaels
BOI Magazine Contributor