Whatsa Nudist?

After two years of having this blog I thought this might be a good topic. The truth is that if you ask twenty self-professed nudist this question you'll likely get as many answers. I was at a party recently where someone was remarking on the difference between a nudist and a "true nudist" as if there were some kind of purity test. Such distinctions are often made within the community and I won't even start on the distinctions that we create between nudists and naturists. Here are some of the distinctions that I've heard:

1. Nudism don't have sex.

2. True nudists hate wearing clothes and want to be naked all the time.

3. Nudists are always naked when at home.

For the record, I did consult Merriam-Webster's and it said:

Nudism: The practice of going nude, esp. in places that allow sexually mixed groups, in the belief that such practice benefits health.

Useless, so let's move on...

What is nudism to me? Well I like to keep things very simple, so a nudist is anyone that enjoys being naked in the company in social settings.

Tribute to Gary

I just learned that Gary Coleman died yesterday of a brain hemorrhage. Like many of my generation, I grew up watching Diff'rent Strokes. It was nice to see cute black kids on TV. I think I even had a little bit of a crush on Todd Bridges, but of course Gay was the cute one. Unfortunately, they both went on to live tortured lives because I don't think man was made to be so widely revered and scrutinized their whole lives... and especially not at such a young age. I guess that's the consequence our celebrity-driven culture.

Diff'rent Strokes was typically a typical sit-com with a much levity. However, I do remember one episode in particular that was decidedly different. My memory may not be perfect since I haven't seen it since I was quite young. In this episode, Arnold, Gary's character, was worried because he was shorter than everyone else his age. Do Mr Drummond took a doctor so that they could use the spacing between his bones to determine how tall he would eventually be. The idea was to prove to Gary's character that he had nothing to worry about. When the results came back, Arnold was told that he would always remain diminutive and would never grow to 5 feet tall. This was one of the only episodes that I can remember that ended on a sad/poignant note. It comes to mind because in retrospect it foreshadowed his life.
Rest in peace Gay.

Below is a mash up of scenes of Coleman in Diff'rent Strokes.

Letter from a Soldier

I came across this posting on the Service Members Legal Defense Network, which an organization attempting to end discrimination against gay service members. It really touched me. I'm always amazed because behind every set of eyes that we face each day, there is a story... a story of love, of triumph and of struggle.

SLDN has been sending letters to Obama advocating the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. It is a letter from one WWII veteran to another on their anniversary.

Dear Dave,

This is in memory of an anniversary – the anniversary of October 27th, 1943, when I first heard you singing in North Africa. That song brings memories of the happiest times I’ve ever known. Memories of a GI show troop – curtains made from barrage balloons – spotlights made from cocoa cans – rehearsals that ran late into the evenings – and a handsome boy with a wonderful tenor voice. Opening night at a theatre in Canastel – perhaps a bit too much muscatel, and someone who understood. Exciting days playing in the beautiful and stately Municipal Opera House in Oran – a misunderstanding – an understanding in the wings just before opening chorus.

Drinks at “Coq d’or” – dinner at the “Auberge” – a ring and promise given. The show 1st Armoured – muscatel, scotch, wine – someone who had to be carried from the truck and put to bed in his tent. A night of pouring rain and two very soaked GIs beneath a solitary tree on an African plain. A borrowed French convertible – a warm sulphur spring, the cool Mediterranean, and a picnic of “rations” and hot cokes. Two lieutenants who were smart enough to know the score, but not smart enough to realize that we wanted to be alone. A screwball piano player – competition – miserable days and lonely nights. The cold, windy night we crawled through the window of a GI theatre and fell asleep on a cot backstage, locked in each other’s arms – the shock when we awoke and realized that miraculously we hadn’t been discovered. A fast drive to a cliff above the sea – pictures taken, and a stop amid the purple grapes and cool leaves of a vineyard.

The happiness when told we were going home – and the misery when we learned that we would not be going together. Fond goodbyes on a secluded beach beneath the star-studded velvet of an African night, and the tears that would not be stopped as I stood atop the sea-wall and watched your convoy disappear over the horizon.

We vowed we’d be together again “back home,” but fate knew better – you never got there. And so, Dave, I hope that where ever you are these memories are as precious to you as they are to me.

Goodnight, sleep well my love.

Brian Keith

Morally In Step

I found this poll by Gallup and decided it would be a fun test to see how in/out of step I am with the rest of America on today's hot-button social issues. Unfortunately, these categories are not as "hot" as they seem since the vast majority are considered "acceptable" by most Americans.

Issue	America	Me
Doctor assisted suicide	Even	Acceptable
Gay or lesbian relations	Acceptable (+9%)	Acceptable
Abortion	Unacceptable (-12%)	Acceptable
Having a baby outside of marriage	Acceptable (+14%)	Acceptable
Buying and wearing clothing made of animal fur	Acceptable (+25%)	Acceptable1
Medical testing on animals	Acceptable (+25%)	Acceptable
Gambling	Acceptable (+27%)	Acceptable
Medical research using stem cells obtained from human embryos	Acceptable (+27%)	Acceptable
Cloning animals	Acceptable (+32%)	Acceptable
Divorce	Acceptable (+46%)	Acceptable
Suicide	Unacceptable (-62%)	Acceptable2
Cloning humans	Unacceptable (-79%)	Acceptable
Polygamy, when one husband has more than one wife at the same time	Unacceptable (-83%)	Unacceptable3
Married men and women having an affair	Unacceptable (-86%)	Unacceptable4

Now if I could just get Gallup to do a similar poll on leather, S&M, golden showers and walking naked through public streets....

Footnotes:
¹There is nothing inherently morally wrong with wearing animal fur, however there is something morally wrong with killing hundreds of animals to make one coat for no other reason than vanity. I wish there were a way to guarantee that animal fur used for coats only came from animals that are already dying for other reasons, but sadly with few exceptions such as leather, this is not the world we live in. So although fur coats are not inherently evil, I am totally against them.

²We usually think of suicide as someone giving up, but I'm expanding it to include people that are terminally ill with a severely decreased quality of life (i.e. severe pain, etc). When a pet is experiencing this we euthanize them and say it is the "humane" thing to do. But when the same happens to Grandma, all of a sudden we can't do the humane thing to humans. Makes no sense to me.

³I have no problem with polygamy if that's what all involved want. I don't think it typically works very well, but who am I to say? That said, this question was specifically worded with gender imbalances so in this light I think it is wrong.

⁴Again, I have no problem with people doing as they see fit. However, the use of the word "affair" implies that this is occuring without consent.

Unbelievable!

Two year old smokes 40 Cigarettes a day.


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Hmmm

I saw this video of Rand Paul today. In case you don't know, Rand is the son of the quirky congressman Ron Paul and has a fairly strong libertarian bent. I'm kind of weird in that I typically believe what people say unless I see something that convinces me otherwise. So taking this at face value means that he is not racist, just extremely libertarian... and stupid. I mean... WOW!!! For the record, this is why I abhor purists. They find simple solutions that will solve all of our problems. Of course these solutions usually don't exist because life is fundamentally about trade-offs and calculated risks.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Glen Beck

Ok, normally Glen pisses me off, but Stephen Colbert did such a good job making fun of him last night Glen made me laugh even more than he made me upset. This is hilarious.

Collateral Damage

I found this video a couple of days ago and it still sickens me. Police officers break in the door of a Missouri family, shoot the dog, yells at the family as if criminals. All of this is done in front of their 7 year old son. As you watch, try imagining yourself in the position of the dad, mom and even the kid. They'll remember this for the rest of their lives and may even have nightmares for quite a while. They'll never like or even trust the police again.

And why? Because they had so little marijuana that they couldn't even be charged with anything above a misdemeanor. Remember that marijuana is less addictive and less toxic than either cigarettes or alcohol. No one ever ODs on marijuana like they do with alcohol, yet this family has had their lives irreparably damaged because of what took place between two consenting adults.

DISCLAIMER: I don't even smoke the stuff, I just think it's ridiculous!

More Palm Springs

Gaga/Beyonce Telephone via the US Army

Goverment Regulation

I ran across this this article the other day, which provides a common-sense look at how government regulation is REQUIRED to foster freedom. Now for the record, I believe laws should be kept to a minimum and only instituted when there is an overwhelming case for them. I also know that as a society advances they tend to make more and more laws while eliminating very few of the old laws making the mere task of understanding what we're supposed to do nearly impossible. Don't believe me? Try buying a vacation home, owning your own home, rent out a room or two, start a business, buy and sell a few shares of stock and then do your own taxes.

That said, regulation does have place. The reason I hate the current Republican arguments is because they've become purists. Rather than realizing that the real question is one of balance, they've taken a "drugs is bad" kind of approach in saying that all government intervention is bad (except the military industrial complex of course).

Here's an except in which Bok uses a traffic analogy to make the point:

Normally, the point of driving is to get somewhere. The traffic laws enable us to get where we are going much more quickly and safely than we would if each of us had to decide for him- or herself which side of the street to drive on. The traffic laws do not tell us where to go. They leave the choice of destination, and for that matter the decision whether to drive at all, entirely up to us. They simply tell us which side of the road to drive on, that we should stop at various points, and so forth. By taking away our freedom to drive on the left, or to blast through busy intersections, they grant us much more freedom in the form of a greatly enhanced ability to get wherever we want to go quickly and safely.


Anyone who thinks that the traffic laws enhance our freedom should acknowledge that in some cases, including this one, government action can enhance our freedom, even if that action takes the form of restrictions on what we can and cannot do. An enormous number of questions about which (other) forms of government action might enhance our freedom would remain to be answered, but the fact that some government policy involves either a more active government or new restrictions on our action would not, by itself, imply that it diminishes our freedom.

Burning Man Update

RECAP: In January I started communicating with 3 other, local nudists about going to Burning Man together. One dropped out because he decided that we would go to Italy instead. After repeated attempts to get together for a first meet over the course of 2.5 months, another dropped out leaving just me and J.

In early March a guy from San Fran contact me through my blog (hey babe) and we discussed the possibility of getting a group of 3 or 4 to go in an RV. R said that he had gone once before and that the only way he'd do it again would be in an RV. He subsequently found another SF guys who was also interested and with J added into the mix, that made 4 of us. Perfect! I did some initial investigations into getting an RV and called around to all of the burner-friendly rental companies since I had read real horror stories about the other companies. The long and short of it was that it would cost about $1,100 per person (gas included), which was about what I had expected. After I shared the rental details, only D responded so nothing really happened since then and the burner friendly rental companies were already starting to sell out.

Serendipitously the BF ran into two guys visiting from Reno at the last naked cocktails event. J and S are avid burners. He immediately brought me over and introduced me to them. J and S told that about the registered theme camp that they were members of. I had already spoken to 4 other, predominately gay theme camps, but their camp struck me as exactly the kind of camp that I wanted to be a part of. The BF and I took them to a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. Interestingly enough we never did discuss Burning Man at dinner but rather discussed a very diverse set of topics.

After our meeting I looked up their theme camp and sent an email to the camp coordinators. Although they were very welcoming, the told me that they normally take on new members in July when they get there space from the Burning Man organization and have a better idea for how many existing members will be returning. I was overjoyed when the contacted me back to let me know that they had decided to admit me immediately at their last meeting. Woohoo!

So why go with a camp?

• I feel like I should definitely go with someone so that if I go missing at least someone knows I once existed. Just seems like a personal safety thing to me especially since it is my first time.
• Depending on a 50-person theme camp is way more reliable than depending on a single or even three individuals. I don't have to worry about anyone backing out. I don't have to worry about being stuck with plane tickets, RV, etc should the people that were going to split the cost with me suddenly not be able to make it.
• There some camp amenities such as a shared kitchen including utensils, pots and pans.
• There's a built-in concept of home base and plenty of people to spend time with.
• There's even a food group that shares meals. I've seen the menu and they eat quite well (I. This means I won't have to pack food. When I was planning to bring my food it was going to be very austere since I didn't want to worry about clean up and wasn't going to bring a stove or any method of refrigeration.

All in all, my joining their camp has allowed me to begin taking the next steps in my planning such as truly finalizing my packing list and the acquisition of the things that I will be needing. Also, J and S have been very kind and even offered to allow me to pre-ship some of my stuff directly to them. They're returning to DC next weekend, which also coincides with the next naked cocktail event. We're planning to see them there and go out to eat afterwards. I shared the camp information with J, the local nudist, so if he really does want to go he's free to join them and me as well.

Purchases I made this weekend:

• Sleeping bag
• RV safe toilet paper
• Tent
• 2 LED flashlights (although they don't seem to be bright enough)
• Large and small lanterns
• Small bike pump, head light (LED) and patch repair kit
• Battery operated air mattress pump (I already have the air mattress)
• 4 solar garden lights for the entrance to my tent
• Flexitol brand heel balm (lots of people really recommended this for protection against playa foot)
• Small hand mirror
• Wet wipes
• Solar shower bag (there might be a shower already set up in the camp, but I'm not sure)
• Multi-tool (knives, serrated saw, screw drivers, can opener, bottle opener, etc)
• Camelbak style backpack with pocket for additional stuff
• Liquid soap (I could have just bought this in Reno, but oh well)
• Work gloves

Additional arrangements I've made:

• Purchased Burning Man ticket
• Reserved car in Reno (including bike rack)
• Reserved a bicycle from Reno Spark's Kiwanis Bike Program
• Began monitoring air fares

As it currently stands, I'm planning to fly out of DC as early as possible Monday morning with the hope of arriving sometime around noon. I would then take the rest of the day to buy things that I don't want to bother buying in DC and then having to ship them there. So far the shopping list includes stuff like batteries, water, liquor (off course!), hammer, etc, etc. I would then stay in Reno overnight and start the 2.5 hour trek from Reno to Black Rock City sometime around 5 or 6 am. The goal is to have enough time to arrive, find my camp and set everything up before 11am when things start to get too hot. I had thought about trying to fly out of DC on Sunday, but considering that I won't be getting back from my week at the GNI Naked Gathering until about 3pm, I thought this was way too adventurous. Besides, BM starts on Monday so arriving on Monday would guarantee me the longest lines to get in.

Anyway, if nothing else, you should be able to tell by the length of this post that I am completely STOKED!!!

Palm Springs

We arrived in Palm Springs just about two days ago. This is my first trip and was on my list of places that I wanted to go. The BF, two other friends are all here staying at Inn Exile for the week. Serendipitously we ran into B&J, a couple of gay boys that live in the DC area that we've known for a few years. As it turns out, they're staying at the same resort and their room is directly across from ours.

The first day the temperature was in the 60s, but got up into the 80s and 90s for the remainder of our trip. We stayed at Inn Exile, which was OK. On Sunday we day-tripped over at All Worlds Resort, which I liked a whole lot better. If I go back I think I'll probably stay there next time. At All Worlds, one of my travelling companions ran into someone he knows from DC. We let us put our things in his room and supplied us with liquor for the day. He also showed me the red light room, which had a sling and was surprisingly packed to be 5pm on a Sunday.

On Friday early evening we went to Wang's in the Dessert, which we were told is the place to be. The place was absolutely packed, drinks were only $2 and the people were extremely friendly. On Sunday we went over to Barracks up in Cathedral City for the beer bust which was a also a lot of fun. I wore my leather football pants and thought about stripping down to a jockstrap, but didn't. We also briefly went over to CCBC, but two of my companions weren't feeling it so we only stayed for about half an hour.

When I returned, a friend of mine asked me to compare it to Ft. Lauderdale. I had a hard time answering because they're so similar and yet so different, but I'm going to make another attempt here. FTL has Haulover Beach, which is a definite plus. That said, much of the daytime activities in Palm Springs revolve around the resorts so there seems to be moreactivity there. I think I'd have to say I like both, but perhaps I liked Palm Springs just a little bit more. Also, the dry air, lack of mosquitoes and predictable weather during the winter are also big pluses.