The 2000's Were Fucking Stupid.

How about we NOT go back?

Me, in the 2000s, wearing an ugly skull swimsuit and trying to be way too skinny because thin was in. Let’s not do skulls and skinny again.

The first time I ever saw the Super Bowl was in 2008 when I was invited to a big fancy gay party at a modern home in the Hollywood Hills overlooking the city, right off Mulholland. Football just wasn’t something I grew up watching. I didn’t necessarily watch the game at the party, but it was fun to be around all the energy. I didn’t realize the Super Bowl was a “thing,” so learning that at twenty-six was kind of fun. Kind of like learning a new holiday exists.

I went to that same party this past Sunday - as I’ve done years since - and it’s always kind of a reunion of people I haven’t seen in a long time. I’ve been in LA seventeen years. And a lot of guys I knew in my twenties aren’t around anymore. Some went back home. Some moved to New York (then back, then back to New York again). Some died of suicide or drug overdoses. So when I look around at a party like that, I feel a sense of protection and gratitude for the people around me. Despite the airy, laid back picture LA paints of itself, it can be a crushingly challenging place to make it work. So when I see people who I’ve seen around for almost twenty years, I feel proud of them, just for staying and surviving.

I still don’t really watch the game, but I normally watch the halftime show and some of the commercials. This year, as I was in the middle of talking to someone, a strange and incoherent commercial starring Kanye West came on the screen. He was mumbling something (I couldn’t hear because the party was loud) and the whole thing was strange and very cheap looking for a Super Bowl ad. The only words I could make out were “Go to Yeezy.com.”