 
 
DON'T ASK WHY--JUST BE AND DO!!!Thursday, June 07, 2012
The reason for the title of this post is due to a conversation I had this afternoon with a resident I met at the mail boxes. I didn't know him, haven't seen him before, so I said hello and asked: 
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GREATMARTIN
6/8/2012 11:41AM
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I wish there was a way to answer your comments directly on this page!
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TENNISJIM
6/8/2012 6:24AM
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Thanks for sharing....
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GREATMARTIN
6/7/2012 10:11PM
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Just be and do--certainly applies to losing weight!!
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DEEJON123
6/7/2012 9:48PM
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Re: your neighbor, just remember some people are not happy unless they are unhappy, those are to downers you need to avoid. I find they tend to drag you down to their level. My motto is that there is always a positive no matter how bad things are. You can learn from every experience in life, whether it be a good or bad experience! Nice of you to share the cookies, after all as you know you should not be eating them anyway, right ? LOL Stay happy! 
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CAMEY13
6/7/2012 9:47PM
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Well, we can certainly see you are a writer. I am the leader of Tips for Writing, wellness and weight. It might have changed but Tips for Writing will still be in the title and there are lots of writers there. We also have my co leader who talks about weight. So why not come and join us and tell us all about the book you wrote and how you got it published. Our beginners would appreciate knowing the facts. Life is short, and you need to enjoy it while you can. I am a cancer surviver and everyday means a lot to me. One never knows when it can return. Report Inappropriate Comment |
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LINDA7668
6/7/2012 9:37PM
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I like that! Just be and do. Simple yet profound!
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PATTOMMC3
6/7/2012 9:34PM
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cute!
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PLEASE READ PART 1 IF YOU HAVEN'T YET BEFORE READING THIS
THIS MIGHT BE/COULD BE A TRIPLE X RATED BLOG BUT MORE IN WHAT I AM ASKING YOU TO IMAGINE THAN IN WHAT I WRITE THOUGH I WILL TRY TO KEEP IT ‘CLEAN’ BECAUSE THAT IS MY STYLE--WARNING: IF YOU ARE NOT READY TO LEARN WITH AN OPEN MIND THEN DON’T READ THIS!!!
Across from the stairs leading up to the 2 floors and adjacent to the restaurant were a set of stairs going down which took you to another world, At the bottom of the steps you either turned left where there were 2 massage tables or went through the door to the pool. There were hooks to hang your robes and/or towels--if you had the body or the package you hung up both.
It was a large pool taht always smelled of chlorine but then the whole building had an antiseptic smell which took a little getting use to. I usually went for a swim and most of the time was the only one in the pool. I did get a massage almost every time I was there as the massuer (what the heck was his name???) liked me and only chrged me half his normal fee but then I tipped him pretty well.
Attached to massage room was a suanna like room with deck chairs. Around the corner from that, at the entrance to the steam room, on the left were the showers and on the right the urinals and commodes. There was a very small window on the steam room door that you couldn't see htrough as the steam covered. When you opened the door that steam blasted at you. The room was divided into 2 sections, mirror images of each, and you had to slowly walk around to get to where you could sit. There were two levels of platforms and here is where you will have to use your imagination or e-mail me! For certain actions you sat on the top level, for others on the bottom or stretched out on your back or front or you just stood near the tiled platforms which, until you got use to the heat, could burn you.
Many prople would refer to the steam room, if not the whole baths, as Dante's Inferno while others thought of it as Heaven. It was a place where many closeted men could go and act without restrictions and/or fear, though sometimes it could get dicey. It was also a place where men could go to have as much sex as they wanted and any way they wanted. There were even people who met life long partners there though most certainly weren't looking for that kind of connection. A gay man in the 40s to the 80s could shut out the condemnation of the outside world. I wasn't perfect as the headline about the fire on top of this post tells you plus sometimes there were raids and the names, addresses and professions of the man arrested were published but most of the timeit was quiet except for the occassional moan and groan or yell of relief.
I went to the baths in my teens and for someone as sexual as I was back then it was Paradise. I, also, met some guys I became friends with and, in many ways, mentored me. No, most of them didn't know my age. They saw a guy who smoked, drank and was good in and out of bed. I continued going there in my 20s and whenever I visited New York. To me it was like coming home where I was always welcomed.
Many people would come from out of state and check into the baths for the weekend using it as a hotel and, usually, on Saturday night there was always a line, a list of name (usually all phony), waiting for a room or a locker. It was a 'home' for many where they relieved the pressure of living a double life, living in a straight world tatt hated them, while being embraced, even if only carnally, here.
The baths gave me an education that I would never have received in a small town. I met men from all walks of life, who did all kinds of jobs and talked about all kinds of subjects. They were out, at least in the baths, and open, full of joy and looking and having fun.
In the 1960s there was a chain of Club Baths, started by Jack Cambell in Miami, that eventually stretched across the United States that had 'private memberships that allowed you to go to all of them. For more information look at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_Baths
I have only good memories of the many days and evenings I spent at the Everard Baths which finally closed in the late 80s due to AIDS.
IF I ever go back to New York I will have to see if the NoMad hotel was built on the old Everard land or, hopefully, someone can answer me here.
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lol
