All roads lead to Bruce Springsteen
and Kermit the Frog and Rosie O'Donnell
What does that have to do with finding handsome you might ask? Well, quite a bit.
I had a dream a few weeks ago about Rosie O’Donnell. Weird, right?
I’d been thinking about the Muppets and that song that Kermit sings “It’s not easy being green” and then I went down an internet rabbit hole where I found an episode of the Rosie O’Donnell show that Kermit was on and she asked him to sing her favorite song. I was thinking about that song and about how it’s not easy being handsome. (Which is a topic for another day.)
Back to the initial rabbit hole - all of a sudden I was watching Rosie O’Donnell being interviewed by Maia Bialik on the Vela podcast, and I must’ve fallen asleep because Rosie O’Donnell and I were having a giggle. I mean we were just having a gay old time and she thought I was funny. I don’t know if I was interviewing her for Finding Handsome or chatting with her, but I got to meet her and hang out, and the funny thing is the one thing I remember asking her was “Do you happen to personally know Bruce Springsteen and if so, could you introduce me to him?” And that was all I wanted - to meet Bruce and be his friend. I mean I’m hanging out with Rosie, but I just want to get to Bruce. Wild. I’ve also had dreams about Bruce where he and I were good friends, but I digress, and this isn’t psychotherapy!
All dreams lead to Bruce.
And that’s how I knew I was gay.
All roads lead to Bruce.
On November 6th, 2024 I saw Springsteen at the Scotiabank Arena. It was my 40th anniversary Bruce show. My first was in Montreal at the Forum on July 21st, 1984, with my big brother Mark. It’s him I have to thank for my music education and introduction to the Boss. (Thanks Big Bro!)
That show changed my life.
I was 13 years old and I never looked back. 40 years later, the man still gives every ounce of himself to a live show. It’s a religious experience for me. Hard to put into words. If you’ve never seen a Springsteen show - GO NOW! And here’s the tiny bit of icing on the cake for me - not only was I at a Springsteen show with my cousins, Karen and her son Dan (who got us incredible seats by the way! Thank you Dan!) - but at Scotiabank arena there is now an all gender washroom!!
I’m just going to say that again.
At Scotiabank arena, there is an ALL GENDER WASHROOM!!!!!!
Now this is profound. Go back and read “The perils of public bathrooms” to dig deeper on this subject for us ‘handsomes’.
For my Finding Handsome interview, if I were to answer my own questions, Bruce would be my answer to question 2:
Who did you emulate? Who did you build your identity off of if anyone? What image/icon, if any? Was there a celebrity, person you knew, or stranger you saw that made you think “That’s who I want to be” or “That’s who I am inside”?
His work ethic, engagement, and presence - full-on immersing himself into a show - his connections with the band, the audience. He’s all there. Not to mention his ass in those faded Levi’s jeans - something I’ve been striving for my whole life is to look that good in a pair of Levi’s. Still working on it I might add!
As a teenager, with posters of the Boss plastered on my walls, I realize now that for a time I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to be “with” him, or to "be him”. I know so many of you ‘handsomes’ know what I’m talking about. But it was the song “The River” that solidified it for me and this particular verse.
But I remember us riding in my brother's car
Her body tan and wet, down at the reservoir
At night on them banks I'd lie awake
And pull her close just to feel each breath she'd take
Now those memories come back to haunt me
They haunt me like a curse
Is a dream a lie if it don't come true
Or is it something worse
That sends me down to the river though I know the river is dry
That sends me down to the river tonight…
I finally realized, listening back to that line that, I wasn’t Mary in that song - I was the guy singing - I was BRUCE!
Thank you Bruce Springsteen, for helping me realize that I liked girls, and for inspiring me for all these years.
“Tramps like us, baby we were born to run”