Beatnik Bloggers - I enjoyed last night's gay hipster BlogJam quite a bit, considering I'm sure it was the first spoken-word performance I'd ever paid to attend. There was a good range of different kinds of blogging, from poignant to downright hilarious. The evening got off on the right foot with two great and funny readings from local boys Jimbo and Chrisafer, whose Seussian take on "A Bear in a Sling" had the house rolling. The night mostly offered personal recollections well-told, such as Waremouse's heartfelt tale of love and loss in London and the adorkable PJ's touching remembrances of growing up as a gay indie-kid in the mid-1990s. Joe Jervis related a wrenching story from the epidemic -- something we hear far too little of these days -- interestingly bookended by Steve Cox's forthrightness about being a healthy HIV-positive "geekslut" in 2004. Sullivan drew a few hisses (and a desultory appreciation from the host) for reading the most political piece of the night. And Jimbo's crush was as cute as he was literate, regaling us with vignettes of queer student life in Manhattan. Listening to all that talent on stage could have left me feeling like a blogging poseur myself, but I'm fairly secure in my stature somewhere way-way-off the A-list, especially when it comes to creative writing. It would have been fun to stick around for Blowoff afterwards and mingle, but Brian and I decided to bail, as it was a school night and the next one's on Saturday anyway.