Eileen St. Louis

The public scrutiny of Michael Jackson's death has almost made me forget that he was simply, a man who had just as much troubles as any of us but unfortunately, had to live them all out in the limelight. If there is a lesson to be learnt here, its that as rich and famous as he was, MJ could not escape the terrors that lurked in his soul and I wonder perhaps, if he was surrounded by good people who really looked out for his best interests. I mean, who was MJ's bestfriends? Elizabeth Taylor? Diana Ross? Can White Diamonds and Drug Diva keep it real? As much as I respect the Grand Moonwalker who stole my heart with his charismatic and innoncent smile while he sashyed down lit squares in "Billie Jean," I can't help but feel a great sadness for the man that was exposed to so much personal abuse at a young age and then public ridicule as he aged, despite his phenomonal successes. I think MJ's heart was always in the right place. I truly relate to his strugg...

So, pride month coincided with Swizz sweetheart boys on their first tour of NY. Though Brooklyn Pride was drizzly, we managed to do a lot of outreach and have funvwhile doing it too. To "kick" it off, I attended a very timely workshop at APICHA about how to deal with unwanted advances during Pride. The boys brought chocolate and beer courtesy of Switzerland and we spent many a night attending Spanish bar, drinking mojitos,calperinas and listening to jazz.

Pay attention! Asian Americans can be superheroes too! Nerds and lazy bums alike. Just check out this new anthology called Secret Identities, a collection of comic strips exploring API issues and culture in superhero scenarios. At the Q&A panel at none other than the giant conglomerate known as Time Warner, artists and creators were asked tough questions, like how do you depict an Asian character visually? who gets to decide demographics in comics? have you ever been asked to make a character more Asian? how would you see the influence of this anthology on media? When the weather gets warm, you may find yourself on the beach. Coney Island is buzzing with free icecream sandwiches as soon as you get off the subway to ominous rain clouds looming over Astroland. The rain came down hard on Memorial Weekend beachgoers who fleed to the sands and fast food restaurants.

I got to share my birthday with many old friends, including Angie with the delicious baby bananas for her mom and Marilyn-Spock next to my favorite Japanese restaurant Takahachi in the east village . Maritza and I met Erin at Guac Fest in the Gowanus and then had margaritas at La Taq with my very handsome and eligible Andrew Rowe. Then on Saturday, I participated in one of the most elaborate Spring Celebrations I have ever witnessed called the Hudson River Pageant. I was costumed as "Weed" and others featured are "Flora," "Rainbow," "Sky," and "River Goddesses."

blessed is this earth for all the fruit that it offers I will be "Weed" in the upcoming Annual Earth Celebrations pageant on May 9th. Details at: http://www.earthcelebrations.com/

"Where are you going?" said the owl to the mouse. Startled, the mouse replied, "Out of the darkness, to feed my loved ones," hurrying on its way. The owl stretched out its wings far and wide. Its huge wing span suddenly blocking out the moonlight rising where the sun had left. "They will have to wait," owl said to the mouse.