Quote:

---

I'm going to be on this cloud for a month! And just so you all know, this book has never left my side! When I was driving home today, it was either on the passenger seat or on my lap (I made my right leg numb with it sitting there). It takes me ten minutes to get past the cover each time I open the book. I'll be surprised if I ever finish it!

JG

---

Quote:

---

This is from Exxie P.' blog:

Monday, March 22, 2004
...sundays with kyan...

Last Sunday, Kyan Douglas came to Chicago to give a talk at Loyola University, sponsored in part by the university and in other part by the Rainbow Coalition. Oddly, the Loyola website said very little about the talk - just that it was going to happen, when it would happen, and where. I made plans to go, but was really worried that it would be cancelled by the time I got up there. I had, after all, gone all the way up to Milwaukee to see Jon Stewart in October, only to drive past the theater to see a “Cancelled” sign above the doors. I’m still bitter about that one.

But Kyan didn’t cancel. I saw him and it was awesome. Dressed in a charcoal John Varvatos suit, Kyan spent most of his time behind the podium talking about his life and the show. As a straight woman who supports gay rights but has no real personal ties to the issues, my interest in seeing Kyan stemmed mostly from my love of Queer Eye and my intense, burning passion for Kyan himself. Which I think was the main interest of many in that auditorium, especially the bevy of girls with whom I shared the first row. (First row! I could have felt his spit if he had, in fact, spit while he spoke. Though I’m glad he didn’t.) But while he did talk about the show and his co-stars, and he reminisced about his family and college days, his talk went beyond just assuaging his Queer Eye fans and giving the obligatory coming out story.

Kyan talked a lot about the choices he’d made in his life and how they led up to his present occupation. He talked about choosing his college, having once decided to attend UT Austin for acting but changing his mind at the last moment because it felt wrong to him. Instead, he enrolled in Loyola in New Orleans and spent much of his time involved with the church, filling his need for spiritual guidance. He learned massage therapy and later moved to New York to join the Aveda Institute and become a hair dresser. At this point, he said he father questioned his actions, but he told him that these were things felt he needed to do, to trust his judgment. The Aveda Institute lead to a job with Nick Arrojo and it was there that he was approached to do Queer Eye. Kyan said that he felt that everything he’d done up until the show had been leading him to that point, preparing for this opportunity so that when it came along he saw everything in his life fall into place.

I think that’s amazing.

Being at a sort of crossroads in my own life, it’s difficult to think that anything good will come as a result of not knowing what I want to do. Or, not so much not knowing, as knowing but having no idea how to get there or what to do in the interim. I don’t know if the choices I’m making are helpful or harmful or completely irrelevant to where I want to be. I can only hope that somewhere down the line all of this will make sense. It’s easy to believe that success just happens to certain people, so it was really good to hear that someone who has this success went through the same period of doubt and uncertainty. That the choices he made didn’t always make sense but somehow felt right. All I have to go on right now are my feelings and, after listening to Kyan, I think that maybe that’s not so bad.

Kyan finished his talk and came out from behind the podium to answer questions from the audience. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone so gracious to his fans as Kyan was that day. Many lauded him and his co-stars for providing good gay role models in the mainstream media, to which Kyan always stressed that it was amazing for him to feel so accepted by so many people. He gave advice on facial products, warning to stay away from St. Ives Apricot Scrub, and smiled sweetly to all the girls who squealed over his good looks. The most heartening moment came when a priest took the microphone, announced that he was gay, and thanked Kyan for showing the gay community in a positive light, for striving to make homosexuality normal. The look on Kyan’s face was priceless as he listened to this; I can only imagine what it must have felt like to receive such a nod of approval for the Catholic-raised gay man. The priest finished his comment and, after a lengthy applause, Kyan took a moment and simply said, “Thank you for being out.”

I haven’t met many celebrities and I don’t really care to. I’m pretty sure I’d be quite disappointed by their approach to fans and their cavalier way of treating their enormous success. But Kyan was, simply, an inspiration. It was obvious that the man behind the podium was just as amazed by his celebrity as the adoring fans filling the auditorium seats. He had worked toward something that he had been lucky enough to receive, and to recognize when it came his way, and he wasn’t taking any of it for granted. It’s rare to find that quality among the successful, but those in possession of it are so much more worthy of their success by virtue of that. Hearing all this from Kyan, and being able to see it in his eyes, made me realize everything that I need to keep sacred along this way - who I am, what I want, and how I feel.

I only went to see Kyan because I think he’s hot, but for completely unrelated reasons, I don’t think I’ll ever forget those few hours I spent in his presence.

http://exxie.blogspot.com/2004_03_01_exxie...ie_archive.html

All content herein
©2003-2004 Veronica Carolyn Bond

---

Quote:

---

Don't forget to pack your tape recoder so you can catch everything that he has to teach you.

---

Quote:

---

I'M NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO SEE IT!! WWWWHHHAAA!!! My mom made an appointment for me to see my doctor because I've been sick and its not going away and blah blah blah, but I'm missing Thom!
I did watch Ellen today, just in case, and they didn't show what it was.

JG
(bows before his highness' royal swiveling throne)

---

Quote:

---

First thing you need to do is BREATHE! Don't cry! This is a good thing remember? Kyan's coming, you just fell in love with him, its destiny! You did something right in a past life and now you're being rewarded for it. The dharma wheel keeps turning.
Be sure to let us know all about it! (As if you could do anything else )

JG

---

Quote:

---

I'm sure he wouldn't mind....for whatever you wanted to use it for! (me cheeky this afternoon! )

---

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

First thing you need to do is BREATHE! Don't cry! This is a good thing remember? Kyan's coming, you just fell in love with him, its destiny! You did something right in a past life and now you're being rewarded for it. The dharma wheel keeps turning.
Be sure to let us know all about it! (As if you could do anything else )

JG

---

You're so right. Keep reminding me if I get verklempt again.

---

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

I'm about six hours from SD and I believe this is a Saturday, which could work for me. I read the description and it sounds like it would be a lot of fun.

Deeva

---

The class fee is so cheap! If you decide to go let me know, so we can find each other, I wonder how big the class will be

Isa

---

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

If TTB says "nice pics," uh-oh, that's how it starts. It was the book that toppled me over with a fever, right into Kyan's arms.

Isa

---

No chance. Kyan is definitely a hottie and a sweetie, but if I know TTB, she's a faithful, loyal, die hard, devoted....(Okay, Tomasulo, we get the picture!)...wife of Thom. (It takes one to know one.)

---

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

My sister needed help making jewelry, but she wouldn't let me tape over any of her VCR tapes and I could only listen to the tv from where I was sitting.

Did anyone watch Ellen? I only partially heard, "......could be.......under there. Thom Filicia." Did anyone see that, what was it?

Oh well, remember to set your VCR's.

Isabelle Nicole (for the duration of his Royal Highness King Sean's reign.)

---

In my area, the Ellen episode with Thom will be on today at 3PM......ghod, can someone make the time go faster today!!! On yesterday's show they had a brief (VERY brief) preview shot of Thom unveiling the redecorated Luxury Box. At Ellen's show, there is a "Riff Raff Room" for overflow audience members and, while outside waiting, they take down names for a drawing. Once the show starts taping, Ellen pulls a name from a drum and that person is invited out of the Riff Raff Room to sit in the Luxury Box. It's the best seat in the place and a personal assistant brings you your choice of refreshment. They discontinued this awhile back and covered up the Luxury Box. So it appears that Thom has "remodeled" it and will be on the show for the reveal. (I'm VERY curious if this is a pre-taped segment....is it possible that Thom is back from London and in Los Angeles?...I just can't figure this out and I'm a nervous wreck.)

---