Gay Nudist In DC

Drug War

2011-11-28T11:47:00.001-05:00

I read this article in the HuffPost, which features a girl that had been brutally attacked yet the police refused to investigate even as she dogged them for a year, investigated the crime on her own, interviewed witnesses, and identified her attackers. Still the police didn't do anything until a story was published in a local paper. Topping off the irony is that about a year later, a full SWAT team broke down her door on a drug tip. So the fight against marijuana gets lots of agents, time and money, the fight against people that would bash your head in doesn't even get a police report filed. Another Chicago PD member offers great insight as a response to the article.

The problem isn't the Chicago PD. It's the perverse incentives of our drug war that rewards police departments nationwide for drug busts but provides few incentives for capturing murders. It's the same incentives that caused officers in New York to admit to planting marijuana on innocent people as well as tricking others into a committing crimes (PDF) that they would not otherwise have committed.

We all understand how things such as our current drug war as well as it's perverse incentives occur. They come from good places. The problem is that laws are necessarily course instruments and therefore always have unintended consequences. But what has it accomplished? It directly supports Evo Morales and has resulted in thousands of deaths and nearly open civil war in Mexico. It has concentrated an enormous amount of wealth and weapons in the hands of the worst. It disproportionately punishes people of color, which slows down our improvement in national race relations. It fills our jails with non-violent offenders costing us billions of dollars each year... and it takes away detectives within the Chicago PD that should be capturing the brutes that bashed that poor girl's head in. Change is needed.

Contemplating Barak

2011-11-23T14:21:00.000-05:00

I've listened to and heard the discontent with Obama for quite a while. In some ways... I don't get it. He's passed more common-sense legislation than anyone I can remember. But still, I guess when your campaign is about excelling and being different, perhaps being very good just doesn't live up to expectations. Well I recently read an email from a young, black attorney that wrote to Andrew Sullivan and it really gets to the heart of how I feel about it:

Thank you so much for writing such an eloquent defense of Obama. I'm a black attorney in my mid-20s and I'm very gainfully employed at a big law firm. My parents grew up in poverty, raised themselves to the middle class and then sacrificed so that I could go to elite schools for my entire life with the hopes that I will do better than them one day. Things are good for me mostly, but times are tough for a majority of my friends. My minority friends and I are very happy with the president and take attacks on him very personally. To the first point, we are happy because it seems that minorities, unlike the liberal white students I went to school with, had reasonable expectations. We knew that Obama could only do but so much in the face of the opposition he has to deal with and we are happy with what he has achieved.

And not to be too racial about this, but myself and a lot of my minority friends sense that white liberals' disappointment from Obama comes from a sense of entitlement.

Unlike affluent white liberals, minorities in this country seem to have a better grasp of a key truth in life: you don't always get everything you want. We know, if not firsthand then from the stories of our parents, that America isn't always a nice place, and all you can hope for is incremental change. Unlike a lot of our affluent white liberal friends, we are used to not getting it all and have learned to live with it.

To the second point, the way Obama is attacked hurts us personally because so many of us see ourselves in the president. We are middle-class black and Hispanic kids who did all the right things. Worked hard. Went to elite schools. Got the right jobs. We did what conservatives often accuse blacks of not doing. We pulled ourselves up.

And then what? We are torn down, doubted by our white coworkers and called affirmative action phonies by our white supervisors. We see it in the workplace in a thousand different subtle ways. We are held to a different standard. So when we see the best of us, a man who has independently climbed to the top of the American meritocracy, be attacked in such unreasonable and personal ways, we take it hard. If the editor of the Harvard Law Review can't be accepted as competent in this country, then how can we?

But again, we still 'know hope' because we know how the world works. We know how America is. We hold onto incremental progress and don't fixate on what hasn't been achieved. We've done it for 400 years. We'll keep doing it because this is home and we don't have any other choice.

Burning Man 2011

2011-09-07T15:56:00.124-04:00

Once again this year, I did the GNI Gathering and Burning Man on back-to-back weeks. I just can’t help myself as these are two of my favorite events of the year. Based upon my experiences of last year, I persuaded/demanded that the BF accompany me this year so this year we went to BM together. Once again we stayed with the same camp that I stayed with last year.

Naturally, the first question that people ask about BM is “What is it all about?” Honestly, I still haven’t quite figured out to answer this yet since it is so vast and varied that it is very difficult to provide a single answer that does it justice. The best description is one that I had found an re-posted a year ago:

For those unfamiliar: It’s an art festival, showcasing thousands of sculptures and modified cars and creative structures. It’s a music festival, with hundreds of makeshift venues for DJ’s and musicians. It’s a costume festival, with everyone wearing something extraordinary, if they choose to wear something at all. It’s a conference for the mind, offering free lectures and educational seminars from thinkers across the creative-arts-and social science spectrum. It’s a religious festival, steering clear of organized dogma into the realms of free expression, open worship of the universe, and a deep reverence for the beauty of diversity. It’s a love festival, where nudity is accepted, sex is acceptable, and tantric workshops are held. It’s a community of like-minded individuals gathering in a remote place to avoid the confused, ignorant reaction of those who simply don’t get it, and probably never will. It’s a backlash against corporate America, where no brands or advertisements or promotion is allowed. It’s the wildest, most hedonistic party you’ve ever seen. And most of all, Burning Man is none of these things at all.

Here is a list of some of the most memorable experiences of this year’s burn:

1. I am Blondie!

While on the playa, many burners have what are called, "playa names". A playa name is an alternate name that you use while at BM. Many say that your playa name has to be given to you. At our camp's last year superhero party, I dressed as the Greatest American Hero and so a guy I met at the party gave me the name "Blondie", which I instantly liked.

After last year's burn, I wondered if I should keep a name that only represented a costume I wore once or whether I should wait for a new name to come. I got my answer as soon as my feed touched the playa dirt! I instantly knew that I am Blondie! The funny thing is that I can't tell you how often people came up to me and remembered me simply as Blondie throughout the week. There were even people from last year that remembered me as Blondie even though I don't recall using the name last year as much as I did this year. I am Blondie!

2. The Temple

The temple this year was absolutely AMAZING! The beauty and grandeur of it was completely awe-inspiring and I was totally blown away. Even though this was my second burn (year), I still cry every time I visit the temple and it is readily apparent that I am not alone in this. Written all over the walls of the temple are representations of struggles and losses of the thousands that have visited it. Within each of these writings one gets a profound sense of the shared struggle that we all endure. It reminds us that although we sometimes feel like we struggle alone, we are not alone in our humanity. It is too hard to ready the inscriptions for too long, but it does serve to remind me that we are only here upon this planet for a short time and very definite part of this existence will be comprised of pain, struggle and loss. But there are other parts as well and perhaps the greatest tragedy of them all would be to squander those when we had the opportunity to hug, love or... perhaps... just say hello to a stranger. I can think of no concept that better embodies BM than this.

3. Naked Pub Crawl

For the second year in a row, the Naked Pub Crawl was my favorite, single event. The event was patterned off of the World Naked Bike Ride, but since it is not officially affiliated with the WNBR was forced to change their name. I guess that's appropriate thought since the WNBR is really a naked-protest ride whereas the Naked Pub Crawl is really just an excuse to get naked and go bar hopping.

The event starts at the Man, which is the precise center of the city and probably just about 1 mile away from my camp. Once there you join the other hundreds of naked participants waiting for the ride to begin. From there we biked to a series of 6 playa bars including:

The Barbie Death Camp and Wine Bistro (love this name!)
Tribe
Party Naked Tiki Bar
Celestial Bodies
The Duck Pond (complete with a slip and slide)
Comfort and Joy

Burning Man is a mixed gay/straight event where it is said that many find that is it environment in which people may feel free to experiment in ways that they normally wouldn't. What I didn't know is that this meant that I would do things with a girl that I hadn't done in 20 years at one of the pub crawl stops!

4. Midnight Shift at the Camp Bar

Since our camp bar operates an open bar from 10am through 2am every day, we all take turns manning the bar. My favorite shift was the midnight to 2am shift since during this period the bar was still pretty lively, yet there was adequate free time to really connect with some of the people in the bar. All I have to say is that no one hates the bartender that gives them an unlimited supply of free drinks!

I do recall one night we met these two guys that had come and hung out at the bar for a number of hours. Afterwards, they waited for us (we didn't finally close the bar until 2:40am) and we went off to Comfort and Joy and the Down Low club where I remember spending time talking and hugging with a beautiful and sweet guy named Angel.

5. Soley Girl, et al

At the camp bar, I met served very sweet girl that I'll call Soley. At the time she was with what appeared to be her longtime boyfriend, but I would learn days later that they had just met. Soley's very energetic and took to me and the BF quite quickly. We would hangout together 3 more times throughout the week. Her entourage included her friend and tent mate, which was another beautiful, young girl who happened to have fallen for the brother of Soley's paramour.

One time we I was with a bunch of camp mates and we decided to go down to Ashram Galactica. Ashram is a camp whose theme is that the provide period-themed hotel rooms that they raffle off free of charge. They also boast that their bar is so complete that they can make any kind of drink. I had champagne as well as Stoli and cranberry. Nice! For the second year in a row, I had a moment while at Ashram when all in the universe just seemed perfect. When I first arrived it was way too crowded and some of our party immediately walked out. But within about 20 minutes it thinned out just enough to make it enjoyable. I then ran into Soley and her party as well as a number of other interesting characters. It turned out Soley's paramour is now a Spanish-language instructor so we spoke in Spanish for about 20 minutes. I also remember this 20-something year old pretty blond girl walking up to me and putting her tongue down my throat, which was completely unexpected. I think she might have said hi or something, but not much else.

There were many other experiences besides these that are just too many list here (or maybe I'm just too lazy). There was the Salvadorian lady in my camp that came with her siblings with which we hung out several times. There was Jeremy with whom I spent a whole afternoon discussing everything and nothing and on a playa-wide search for Vietnamese coffee. In the end we settled for snow cones. There was the time we spent with Miguel, whom I have known for about 3 years now and have seen multiple times in 3 different cities. There was the intimate time with Bob who said this was his 8th burn, but his first time having sex on the playa. There was going to the toga party at Moonbow only to later serve drinks to a group of the guys from the party that showed up in our bar all the way across the playa still in their togas. There were the sweet Japanese boys I met at the end of critical dicks march that spoke hardly a word of English. There was meeting Mario while out and about and going together to get some of the most tasty french toast ever. There was more eye candy that has ever been accumulated in place ever before. There was being part of the greatest camp on the playa. There was the burning of the Trojan horse, the man and greatest of all... the temple.

... and above all else... there was a deep sense of belonging.

Naked Summer 2011

2011-09-07T15:40:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I've posted and yet so much has happened over the past several months. It hasn't been anything earth-shattering or life-changing, but nonetheless these events combine to comprise a slice in the greater blip in eternity called my life and it is my duty to embrace, live, use, enjoy and learn from it. I thought that as the summer vacation season draw to a close, I'd commit my experiences to virtual paper.

The next set of following posts will speak of these adventures as well as the things I experienced and the people I met. In addition to the events that I will speak of, there have been a number of smaller events that have dotted my summer, each of which have likewise enriched my life such as naked cocktail parties and weekend retreats with groups of friends secluded in the countryside.

World Naked Bike Ride - Toronto

2011-06-14T12:29:00.000-04:00

I've often seen pictures of WNBR and have wanted to participate for quite a while. For those that are not familiar with it, perhaps this quote from the WNBR website best sums it up:

It's time to put a stop to the indecent exposure of people and the planet to cars and the pollution they create.

WNBR takes place simultaneously in 70 cities and 20 countries throughout the world so it is truly an international event. This year I chose Toronto because (a) it was relatively close, (b) they seem to have an active and growing event and (c) the BF and I have been wanting to visit the city anyway.

So the first obsticle was finding two bicycles. Through the magic of the Internet, a local referred me to bicycle rental places close to Coronation Park where the ride was set to start. In the end I winded up just getting bikes from a closeby Toronto Bixi location. The Bixi is one of those city-wide bike sharing programs that first began popping up in European cities several years ago and are now being replicated in the states As a side note, I did cover the seat with a towel.

The ride itself lasted for about 1 hour and 45 minutes. The ride route went down some of the busiest streets in the city including multiple parks, the university, city hall and down Church street in the gay village.

The ride itself was even more fun than I expected. I really enjoyed riding towards the front of the group and seeing the reactions of the people as they first noticed us. It's like they had no idea what to think.

The Danger of Statistics

2011-05-08T12:55:00.000-04:00

Today I was looking at videos of stories by Story Corp over on vimeo and came across this video of a soldier, presumably from WWII, recounting the day that he looked a young enemy soldier in the eyes and shot him dead.

The story made me profoundly sad for his loss as well as the kid who never got to experience so many things. My mind couldn't help but leap from Iraq and Afghanistan to Libya, Syria and other conflicts around the world both past and present. Each statistic that we stoically hear is a profound loss and deserves to be mourned by us all.

How Osama Changed America

2011-05-03T15:42:00.000-04:00

I had to write this as a direct dissent from an article I read in the the CNN Opinion section.

The writer says,

"... utterly disregarding his own safety. ..."

Dry words, on paper or on a glowing computer screen. Yet one of the grand and humbling truths about life in the United States is that there somehow has never been a shortage of those whose actions time after time reflect those words to the letter. Bin Laden managed to change a lot of little things -- trifling, really -- in American life, but he couldn't change that.

What has regrettably changed in the US is our heightened fear of the “other” and our move away from truly espousing freedom of religion to an environment where worshippers fight public backlash to build a place of worship anywhere. We now live in a society where the government has admitted to wide-spread incidences of it spying on its citizens without cause. Where assignation orders are placed on the heads of citizens and non-citizens alike. Where our basic tenant against unlawful search and seizure has been forfeited. We live in a country where, once again, the president can order an assassination and where you and I can be incarcerated merely for whom we associate with. We believe that we can bring peace, democracy and our ideals at the barrel of a gun.

One of Osama’s goals was to destroy our way of life but this he could not achieve. It may not be necessary though since we seem intent on doing it ourselves.

The author of the article says that these changes are “trifling”. Somehow I think we’ve lost something profound.

Burning Man Pics

2011-04-21T13:15:00.000-04:00

My camp consolidates our respective pictures and shares them amongst ourselves. My copy got held up so I just received it last week and have been looking through 6,500 pictures that were included. So many bring back memories of the playa while others reveal things I had not even seen. I decided to share some of those pictures that I didn't believe to display others in too compromising of a position. Here's batch 1...

The start of the naked pub crawl

Unplanned, but zaney socks became my signature last year

There was an incredibly beautiful double rainbow the day I arrived

Loss

2011-04-20T13:14:00.000-04:00

Remember the 18 y/o college freshman from Rutgers university that jumped off the George Washington bridge when he discovered that he was video tapped having gay sex? Well evidently the guy (and girl) that participated in tapping him are in a world of trouble.

Although there's a part of me that wants to see justice done, I can't help but feel the pain of loss as three young lives are irreversibly ruined when they should have been looking forward to a hopefully wonderful future. I wonder what the assailants motivations were. Was it to cause emotional harm? Was it as a asinine joke or perhaps just one of those incredibly dumb things that we do when we're that age? I sure don't know, but the consequences are all too clear and it is all so unfortunate.

What Is Burning Man

2011-04-16T18:48:00.003-04:00

This is something I get asked quite a bit and yet still have trouble answering. I found this description on the web the other day and thought it a perfect even if incomplete description.

For those unfamiliar: It’s an art festival, showcasing thousands of sculptures and modified cars and creative structures. It’s a music festival, with hundreds of makeshift venues for DJ’s and musicians. It’s a costume festival, with everyone wearing something extraordinary, if they choose to wear something at all. It’s a conference for the mind, offering free lectures and educational seminars from thinkers across the creative-arts-and social science spectrum. It’s a religious festival, steering clear of organized dogma into the realms of free expression, open worship of the universe, and a deep reverence for the beauty of diversity. It’s a love festival, where nudity is accepted, sex is acceptable, and tantric workshops are held. It’s a community of likeminded individuals gathering in a remote place to avoid the confused, ignorant reaction of those who simply don’t get it, and probably never will. It’s a backlash against corporate America, where no brands or advertisements or promotion is allowed. It’s the wildest, most hedonistic party you’ve ever seen. And most of all, Burning Man is none of these things at all.

Er... Huh?

2011-03-14T00:00:00.002-04:00

Happy Naked Saturday

2011-03-12T12:30:00.000-05:00

Today is naked cocktails day and I'm really looking forward to it. I haven't been for 3 or 4 months now since somehow I seem to always be out of town when it is happening. I love the event for sheer camaraderie of it. Just spending time with people I know and others I don't in a free and accepting environment having nothing to do except to enjoy each others company. One thing that most people that haven't done anything naked before often don't realize is that you when you're naked for an extended period of time is that after a while, you'll often forget that you're naked at all.

Later this evening, there's a part out in Upper Marlboro that I'm planning to go to. These parties are clothing optional, but most of the people are naked. Those that aren't naked are almost always stripped down to their underwear. Although these parties are also very social, they also have a sexual aspect to them as well. I heard that they had 100 people RSVP so far, so it should definitely be a blast.

Atlantis

2011-02-28T19:30:00.001-05:00

The BF and I went on the Atlantis 20th anniversary cruise at the beginning of February. This is our 5th gay cruise and the first in several years. The 20th anniversary cruise was to be on the brand new and largest ship in the world named the Allure of the Cruise. With over 5,400 passengers, I call it the "big gay cruise". There were a ton of guys from the Washington area that went.

I have to say that the ship was absolutely amazing! Having been on a couple of Royal Caribbean's Liberty-class ships, which were the largest just a few years, this ship absolutely dwarfs anything I've seen before. But it wasn't just the size that makes these ships great. It's also the spaces and the views. It truly is very well designed.

Although I enjoyed it immensely, there were some things that could have been better. Some were due to the ship while others were just had to do with the way Royal Caribbean and Atlantis organized this cruise. Here are some of my issues:

The ship was so big that I routinely met and clicked with people that I wouldn't see for the rest of the cruise. Perhaps I've actually found a ship that is just too big.
The ship was really desgined to disperse people to various parts of the ship and does so wonderfully. The problem is that gay cruises typically have parties in which a large number of cruises will be in a single location during that time. This ship had no space that was conducive to this kind of party. The solarium area was used for the largest parties, but it was too small, too fragmented and way too crowded. It's also, by definition, indoors. Atlantis' normal incredible light show was completely obscured and lost in the space.
I'm not sure that I could explain it, but for the first time I felt like we were being watched. I don't typically break too many rules, but I don't like feeling like I'm being watched or policed while on vacation.
Which brings me to my next point... Given that we're in a completely chartered ship and in international waters, I would hope that the "normal rules" would have been suspended to some extent. I'm not asking for anarchy, just a more relaxed atmosphere, which I did not feel existed.
As usual, they did have a nude sunbathing deck, but I wish it were larger.
Unlike all prior cruises I've been on, there was neither a cruising deck or area.

I doubt I'd go on the January cruise next year, although I'd still consider their March cruise. Frankly I think RC contributed to the less-friendly atmosphere quite a bit so maybe I'll have to re-think cruising with RC again.

Some pictures...

End Times

2011-02-01T12:07:00.001-05:00

Sorry... I do get a political sometimes.

Sometimes I like to play thought experiments. One such experiment attempts to look at the proliferation of weapons throughout time and amount of associated damage that can be wrought by a single person. For example, a crazy man 5,000 years ago could try to hit someone in their with a club before being tackled by his villages. Two hundred years ago someone could probably get off one musket shot before needing to reload. Sixty years ago the average person could get a hold of a six shooter.

Today it's fairly easy for one to get a hold of technology that can kill scores, if not hundreds or thousands. So I've often interpolated this into envisioning an ultimate future when all it took was one crazy to change the world as we know it.

Today I am revising my opinion for I had forgotten one thing... that the pen is mightier than the sword. At the same time that weapon technologies are developed and proliferated at an alarmingly ever increasing rate the same is occurring in other areas such as communications.

This epiphany was brought on by watching this clip of Glenn Beck. I've said this before and I'll say it again... It doesn't surprise me that people like him exist nor that they have the crazy views that they do. Nor does it surprise me that companies such as Fox News Corp are willing to anything to make money since that is primarily what companies do. It doesn't surprise me that politicians sometimes seek short term political gain over the greater good because in their eyes they can always do good tomorrow... if they're re-elected.

No, these things don't surprise me at all. What does surprise me is how all these things have been conflated to create an environment where are large number of prominent and leading Americans are seeding the ground and either tacitly or nearly-openly advocating for religious and cultural war (and I mean war in the literal sense).

So Beck has Northern Africa conquering Spain, France, Germany(?), Italy and Greece. Really? Is he serious? Please... can we buy him a risk set and lock him away?

I don't believe that we as a society are as worried about how much this country has changed as we should be.

Tom Ford on Nudity

2011-01-29T20:15:00.000-05:00

I ventured upon this account of an interview of Tom Ford and just had to repost:

Someone asked me recently about male nudity, and I brought up the subject that, in our culture, we use female nudity to sell everything. We’re very comfortable objectifying women. Women go out and they are basically wearing nothing. Their feet and toes are exposed, their legs are exposed, their breasts are exposed. Everything is exposed—the neck, the arms. You have to be really physically perfect, as a woman, in our culture to be considered beautiful. But full frontal male nudity challenges us. It makes men nervous. It makes women nervous. Other times in history, male nudes have been regarded in a different way. The Olympics were originally held nude. The reporter I was explaining this to said, “This would make a great story.” I explained how when I come home I actually take off all my clothes, and I wear no clothes until I leave. I eat naked. I do everything completely naked. He said, “That would make a great interview.” I said, “Fine, we have to do it nude.”...

Anyway, we did the interview. The interviewer was straight, and I made it a point to desexualize the interview even though I was sitting with my legs wide open, completely naked. At the end of the interview, I put on a dressing gown and he put on his clothes, and I sat next to him on the sofa and said, “Was that sexual?” He said, “Absolutely not.” And I said, “That’s because I didn’t make it sexual. Sexuality is in the eyes, it’s an expression, it’s in a look.” Then, all of a sudden, I looked at him in a very different way, and it made him very nervous.

Nice!

Memories of a Burn

2011-01-28T16:50:00.000-05:00

I believe my last post before my hiatus was of Burning Man so it's only fitting that it should the first upon my return. Yes... I've been thinking about it quite a bit recently as it was just over a year ago that I first committed myself to going. Now, seeing all of the discussion boards light up with chatter about tickets going on sale puts me right back where I began...

When I went to Folsom this past September, I ran into quite a few people I met at BM including 4 of my campmates. Two of them were the same guys that invited me into the camp that I ultimately joined and came to love. Jon asked me, "so have you had the dreams yet?" and I felt goose bumps. For several weeks after returning from BM I would awaken in bedroom in the early morning, starring bleary-eyed at my obviously rectangular ceiling and somehow my mind repeatedly confused that cieling for the inside of my tent. And for just a few, special moments, I was transported back to the playa. I thought I was the only one experiencing this, but I guess not.

Tickets went on sale just about a week ago. I was a little slow getting online to buy the deeply discounted tickets, but I did get 2 tier III tickets for a reasonable discount. Then this past Sunday I happened to be in my underwear at the Eagle (don't ask) and heard someone call my name from behind. It was Paul from BM. Paul was in my camp and was one of the people responsible for putting it together. Paul, the BF and I sat at the bar discussing and reminiscing for close to two hours.

The BF and I are also taking a cruise in about a week. Although we prepared some costumes for some of the theme parties, the "Angles and Demons" theme party kind of stumped me. Then I had a thought. After I returned from BM last year, one way I kept the experience alive and immediate was by working on BM outfits for this year. One such outfit was a pair of faux fur chaps. Weird huh? But it makes sense... faux fur because faux fur is big at BM and the nights are cold. Chaps... because I am a nudist afterall. So after not being able to think of a custom I like, I had the idea of combining the chaps with demon horns and a litlte makeup and yellow contact lenses to create a demon.

The next weekend the BF and I were in a fabrics store buying material for one of the other costumes when we passed this really lush roll for snow white, faux fur. When the BF immediately mentioned how great that would look in a pair of chaps I knew I had found my angel! So in a day we made a second pair of faux chaps and bought wings (probably too big, but oh well) and a halo. It's the BF's costume, but of course I had to try it on.

He's Back!

2011-01-28T15:54:00.000-05:00

It has been a while since I posted anything here. I can't really say that it was for any particular reason. Lately I've been contemplating resuming my postings but was looking for a deserving topic.

Black Rock City

2010-09-23T09:54:00.000-04:00

Found this satellite photo of Black Rock City, the temporary city where Burning Man takes place and had to repost it.

Folsom 2010

2010-09-22T20:59:00.000-04:00

I'm getting ready to leave for San Francisco and Folsom Street Fair in just a couple of days. The BF as well as other friends all decided not to go this year for various reasons so I'll be going solo for the first time. Fortunately I do know a couple of people from the DC area that are going.

Healthcare Reform

2010-09-22T10:32:00.000-04:00

So I've given up all hope of the country actually coming together in support of anything even remotely rational and have accepted the fact that something actually got done as consolation. Here's a video created by Kaiser that tries to explain the affects of healthcare reform on average citizens. It's animated but surprisingly complete and helpful.

Nudists, Burning Man and Locusts

2010-09-21T16:11:00.001-04:00

A while back I read of scientific experiments that claimed to have figured out why locusts swarm. Locusts are normally solitary creatures that on rare occasions will completely change their normal behavioral patterns and team up with millions of other locusts. The cause of the locust swarm has been so baffling since biblical times that swarms were considered to be acts of God. In fact, solitary locusts and swarming locusts even look so different that up until 1921 scientists believed that they were completely separate species.

As it turns out, experiments have shown that changes in serotonin levels within locusts cause them to change their behavior and appearance leading to swarms. Serotonin also naturally occurs within the brains of many animals including humans. Elevated levels of serotonin are known to lead to intense feelings of well-being.

So what causes locusts to experience elevated levels of serotonin? The answer appears to be the scent of other nearby locusts as well as having their hind legs fondled. So certain environmental factors can cause normally solitary locusts to be forced onto smaller and smaller patches of vegetation resulting in the raising of their respective serotonin levels leading to swarms.

I can personally say that something very similar occurs when you get a group of people that are willing to be close enough and open themselves up to each other. I've seen it happen at most nude events as well as on gay cruise ships and of course at Burning Man. In each of these cases the feelings of closeness and connectedness with those around me rose as the hours or days passed. I could tell that it wasn't just happening to me because I could simultaneously witness the same changes taking place in those around me. These events have been some of the most intimate and memorable times of my life and are a great reason why I (and likely others) feel such a draw to such events. It is at these times that everything in the universe just seems most perfect.

Burning Man Video

2010-09-19T11:28:00.000-04:00

I love the way that this video captures the spirit of Burning Man.

More O'Donnell

2010-09-16T11:52:00.000-04:00

I swear that I am not obsessed with the primary victory of Republican Christine O’Donnell. Nonetheless she seems so emblematic of what is wrong with the tea party faction of the Republican Party. And one of the major problems with the other factions is that they feed the tea party faction.

Here are two quotes from O’Donnell:

I think that drug use is out of control here and there is something called tough love and what has happened with the liberal welfare program implemented in the last decade is they have cultivated an attitude of dependency. The reality is, especially in my own city here in D.C., is that a lot of those people who do deal drugs are using federal money that they get from welfare programs. We need to implement a tough love program.

We know that people will abuse the system. They will find a recovery program that can enable them to continue in their drug use as long as they get federal funding. We see the same kind of abuse with food stamps... people are abusing our compassion.

So my problem with these statements is their lack of intellectual rigor. What is the basis for her statement that “a lot of those who deal drugs are using federal money?” She states this as fact, but provides no supporting info. Perhaps it is supposed to be implicit because both of these groups tend to live in the same neighborhoods. This too is a misnomer too, but I can only cover so much in one posting. Would her “tough love” program allow the children of America to become like the children of third-world countries? That is, would America’s poorest children be starving on the street and condemned to caste system where education and upward mobility become even further out of reach?

She also implies that the fact that some people abuse a system means that the system should be abolished. So I could say the same thing about voting, so should we abolish this too?

She goes on to say:

We sit there and scratch our heads and wonder why sexual harassment is out of control in this country. It is because we are setting a precedent through our pop culture, through the songs that penetrate the airwaves and the sitcoms that are on television that are just saturated with sexual themes, that respect no boundaries. We need to just do a U-Haul of our pop culture. I think legislators, Hollywood film producers all need to reevaluate why they are doing what they are doing... We end up feeding a demon, feeding a monster and we are feeding this appetite so much that our generation is going to self-destruct quite honestly.

So here she conflates a legislative agenda with a cultural one. She suggests that politicians should do a ‘U-Haul’ (seriously… U-Haul?) of our pop-culture. I have no idea what the hell she means by this and doubt that she’s thought about it enough to know herself. I can’t think of any steps that politicians could take short of legislating pop culture that would help in this area. The only countries that I can think of that currently attempt this are totalitarian regimes such as Iran where they now have a list of acceptable haircut styles.

Half of me is giddy with delight at her nomination given that she has a snowball’s chance in hell at election in a state such as Delaware. However, a more insidious part of me asks… “what if…” and this part terrifies me. I just cannot help imagining an army of people like O’Donnell, who believe that (a) masturbation is evil, (b) morality can and should be legislated being in control of this country.

Tea-Partiers as Cylons

2010-09-16T11:07:00.002-04:00

As an avid Battlestar Galactica fan and a political junkie, I just couldn't resist re-posting this:

The Tea Partiers were created by Republicans.

They devolved.

They rebelled.

They look and feel like Republicans.

There are many copies.

And they have a plan. (Maybe)

Burning Man

2010-09-15T16:45:00.000-04:00

As some of you may know, I spent the last 8 months figuring out how to go to the Burning Man festival this year. I have to say that I had a wonderful and surreal experience and am still trying to figure out how to describe it all. Until then, I'll just post a few pictures...

I love this next pic. While on the Critical Dicks march, I ran across a heart-shaped mirror somewhere near Esplanade and 4:30p. The guy in the background was someone I was speaking to and said that he intentionally positioned himself into the picture to add some additional flair.

Burning Man is like an alternate universe. Therefore many people there go by what they call their 'playa name'. On Thursday at our superhero party someone asked me what my name was. I told them, but only after explaining that I don't yet have a playa name. He conferred with two others before naming me. Now I'll forever be called 'Blondie'.

Anyone who's followed my journey to Burning Man will likely know that I've researched and read just about everything available on the topic. Even so, there were still some things that just blew me away. One of which was the scope of the artwork. There a massive amount of incredibly creative pieces of large-scale art that looked like it took years to make. But likewise, there were seemingly thousands of smaller works of art that were no less inspiring.

On the top of Malmart:

Christine O'Donnell versus Jerry Falwell

2010-09-15T12:48:00.001-04:00

Ready Andrew Sullivan's blog I came across these two episodes of Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect. The point of his posting these were to shed insight on Christine O'Donnell, who won the Republican nomination over Michael Castle in Delaware last night. O'Donnell is a tea-partier (I could use 'tea-bagger', but why be pejorative) and enjoyed the support of the likes of Sarah Palin. The Delaware Republican Party actively and ardently campaigned against her to no avail.

Anyway, the first episode can be seen here and here in which she discusses the topic of telling the truth. As a complete aside, as someone that tries not to lie, the episode did make me consider my own thoughts on the topic. Perhaps I'll write about that later. The second episode featured O'Donnell and Jerry Falwell discussing the their views of the inerrancy of the Bible.

Here's what I got from these episodes:

Wow is she annoying to listen to! I try not to judge people along such superficial lines, but honestly it is hard to deny that some people are easy to listen to and others not.
Although I disagree with almost everything that Falwell said, I have to give him credit. Except for his faith (which by definition is not subject to logic), he comes across as reasoned, logical, human and I have to admit... quite intelligent. O'Donnell on the other end seems to spout an endless stream of illogic and nonsense by contrast.

Even if I did buy the tea-partiers anti-tax rhetoric, God help us if her like wields any sort of significant power in the upcoming political landscape.

[Update] Oh wow. Somehow I missed O'Donnell's anti-masturbatory segment she did for MTV in the 90s.

Good Data, Bad Conclusions

2010-09-10T11:01:00.000-04:00

As someone with a background in science and mathematics, I often read reports and studies and question the conclusions that are reached. In all fairness, true studies tend to be pretty careful, but we typically hear about these reports via a synopsis over public media, which inevitably leaves out the details and often draw obvious but bad conclusions from the study results.

So today I came across Allstate's annual Best Drivers Report. The full list of the city-by-city breakdown can be found here. I initially read about it here where the article's author stated "Once again, DC boasts the country's worst drivers." Even Allstate themselves state that the purpose of the report is to "identify which cities have the safest drivers." They further state that a goal of the report is to "facilitate an on-going dialog on safe driving."

So what's the problem? So I can find a number of problems with the methods used in this report such as it assumes that Allstate claims data is representative of all accident, which may or may not be true. It is also possible that, because of rate differences present in each state, safer drivers flock to Allstate in some states but have less of an incentive to do so in others. This would certainly skew the result. That said, I realize that they wanted to put numbers together based on the data they had so I'll ignore this problem.

The real problem is that what this report actually tells us is "in which city is it safest to drive" and not which city has the safest drivers. Here's why:

The report definitely states that some cities have higher incidents of accidents than others, but it emphatically DOES NOT tell us why. The report assumes that the only (or primary) cause is the quality of the driver, but other possibilities include traffic patterns, road conditions, density of cars on the road, etc, which the report completely and conveniently ignores.
By this report one would believe that bad drivers love big cities since no city with population >1M is less than the 50th percentile. I find this hard to believe. More likely cities with lower density by definition have less opportunity for collisions and greater margins of error than cities with higher vehicular densities.
The report suggests that cities on the lower half of the list should "fix" something. Although this may be true, it doesn't necessarily follow. As long as humans continue to drive, there will be accidents. We could take draconian measures to lower accidents to virtually zero by erecting barriers between lanes, instituting a nation-wide 5mph speed limit and stop lights at every corner of every street that only allow one car to proceed at a time. Although this would certainly reduce accidents the cost of doing this would be counter-productive as the nation would come to a stand still. So just because cities in this report could improve, doesn't mean that they necessarily should improve.
It also seems to me that it is more likely that roads conditions such as lane size, traffic lights, stop signs, visibility at intersections and other factors are more likely to yield improvements to safety than just telling drivers they need to drive better. It seems this report is better targeted at city transportation departments than individual drivers.

That said, I like the report in that it does tell us the relative safeness of driving in various cities. It also gives us some clue as to which cities might want to evaluate if changes are in order. But it definitely does not tell us which cities have bad versus good drivers.

Pics from GNI Gathering

2010-09-10T01:28:00.000-04:00

Everyday at 5pm, there's a themed cocktail party. Many people dress up according to the theme and group cabins will all make an entrance all dressed either the same or in complimentary ways. My cabin and our sister cabin (20 guys in all) dressed up everyday. This last picture was from theme called "What not to wear." We all used lavender-dyed mops as wigs. It was a big hit.

Burning Books

2010-09-07T16:18:00.000-04:00

We've reverted back to burning books... Really?
Despite years of over a decade as a fundamentalist, I am not agnostic and decidedly non-religious. Nonetheless, I certainly allow others to worship their religion and have their beliefs. That said, I find religion one of the most dangerous forces on this planet because it leaves no room for compromise, rational discussion or reason. It defines "us" and "them" and then imbues us with righteousness because we act with the authority of God. Of course this does not represent all believers, but history has shown religion to be amongst the primary motivations of some of the worst atrocities committed by humans in history.

Somehow we have to realize that there really are only two, diametrically opposed paths; either we will live together or we will wage world-wide war to annihilate one another. Unfortunately world-wide war isn't very scary to some radical believers as they believe that it heralds the coming of paradise to earth.

It scares me to see how far we've regressed from the country that believes in freedom of religion and the right to pursue of happiness for all humans.

Of course it is the same communications medium that allows me to share my thoughts here that also permit xenophobes, islamophobes, terrorists, racists and other inherently socially destructive organizations to disproportionately recruit and influence the world-wide debate. But how do we stop the beast when nut like Pastor Terry Jones with a mere 40 followers can have such influence on us all. Sure, we could overcome it by saying that we must all act reasonably, but even this optimist knows that humans are generally predisposed to group think rather than reason. So where do we go from here?

GNI Gathering

2010-08-29T22:20:00.000-04:00

I just got back from this year's GNI Gathering and somehow it seems to get even better each year. This I returned for the full-week option as I did my first year. I have to say that I am majorly tired, but would trade a single minute. It was great seeing guys that I met from previous years as well as meeting new friends. Some people memories:

First I have to mention the guys in my cabin as well as our sister cabin. We all know each other fairly well and most are pretty good friends whom had travelled together previously. As usual, they are just an awesome group of guys to be around and to have in my life.
I saw T from Boston for the third year in a row. The BF and I also visited him an his partner in Boston and Vermont in June this year and at the time he was considering not returning. I posted about it before here and here. I'm glad he did decided to return and would like to believe that my encouragement had a little to do with it. We spent several nights dancing the night away and closing the dance club together. T and I have always just shared a special bond.
Two really cool guys from NY whom I have become close to over the years. I was disappointed to hear that JN wasn't returning, but was told that A would be there. I was kinda disappointed when I arrived last Sunday and he wasn't there, but was simply elated he arrived mid-week.
I met A from California on my first night there near the bonfire and we instantly became friends. He called me his "chocolaton", which I found very endearing. A just had a radiant personality such that you just couldn't help being drawn into him. He fit it quite well.
I remember spending time speaking with R from Boston. It was his first year so I asked him what he thought of the place so far. I already knew the answer because he had an ear-to-ear grin that he just couldn't erase from his face for days. Nonetheless, his answer blew me away as he struggled for words to describe the experience for him.

Of course there were many, MANY others. Then there were the daily, themed cocktail parties, the dancing, the costumes and the shows. As for sex... of course there was plenty of that too. Not in common places as that is against the rules, but there are more than enough places to go for those who desire to do so. Then of course there was the annual 100-man J/O session.

I definitely want to post more photos, but I just returned and am trying to rest as well as I can before flying out to Burning Man in the morning.

Prayer for Burning Man

2010-08-13T09:19:00.000-04:00

I read this on the Gay Burners website today that I thought felt very welcoming:

Dear Burgins, everyone had their first year. Everyone understands and most will help you along your way. May the wind be at your backs and your party be on. May you walk away changed and blessed and enlightened. Bless you all…

Marriage Equality

2010-08-12T12:20:00.000-04:00

I was struck by this graphic that I came across today. Wow how things are a-changing! The geek in me can't help but notice how linear/straight the lines are. One thing I've never understood about the gay marriage debate is why doesn't the "full faith and credit" clause of the consistution require each state to recognize gay marriages performed in another state. I can understand how a state could legislate that it wouldn't issue marriage licenses for same-sex couples, but instituting a law the specifically and directly states that one state will not honor a marriage performed in another seems clearly unconsitutional. Then again... I'm not a lawyer so what do I know.

Tom Hardy

2010-08-10T14:29:00.000-04:00

I came across this quote a couple of weeks ago from Tom Hardy, who played a prominent role in the movie Inception:

As a boy? Of course I have. I'm an actor for ****'s sake. I've played with everything and everyone. I love the form and the physicality, but now that I'm in my thirties, it doesn't do it for me. - Tom Hardy

Typically it is the Kinsey 0s and 6s that first become comfortable with their sexuality. I wish that the many shades of gray could become as comfortable as Tom is.

100 Naked Gay Boys

2010-08-08T23:58:00.000-04:00

I've had the opportunity twice recently to visit a friend who has a country/vacation home a good ways outside of Richmond. I've posted about this place before here and here.

The trip was actually a large event held through one of the local nudist groups. I don't know how many people actually showed up, but just over 100 RSVP'd. The hosts have quite a few beds since they have people over often, but to support a crowd of this size, there were also guys on air mattresses in the basement, in the other two structures on the property as well as numerous guys that brought tents. I really love these parties because the combination of nudity, sun and the stress-free environment promotes bonding with others on a level that is rare in the normal world. This trip was absolutely no different.

The food was way better than I would have expected and the bar was well-stocked. Saturday night there was a very interesting S&M demonstration near the fire pit. Just after the demo, it started to rain so I ducked into a nearby tent for a little while, which turned out to be a very fun diversion. I actually fell asleep in the tent as I waited for the rain to subside before eventually just giving up and returning to the house in the rain. The funny thing is that what sounded like a downpour hitting the tent was really just a light drizzle so I really waited for no reason at all. That was OK by me though as I wouldn't have changed one moment of it.

I didn't take any pics this time around, so I uploaded a pic I took about 2 years ago while at the same place.

Facebook Fail!

2010-07-27T13:25:00.002-04:00

This is funny, but since it's true it's also kinda sad:

2010-07-24T23:36:00.002-04:00

So if you're at the Eagle and they're playing Bieber, is it ok to sing and dance along?

IMEN

2010-07-19T13:04:00.001-04:00

So I've been want to attend the IMEN Gathering and decided to go for the half-week option. So I arrived there on Wednesday right about 4:45p, which was perfect timing since the daily cocktail party was just getting into full swing.

So as I expected to, I had a great time. I didn't really attempt to find any DCers to go with, but I did expect that I'd probably see a couple of people I knew. However, I was really surprised by just how many people there were from the DC area. I wouldn't be surprised if there were 20 DC guys there. I also ran into a couple of I know from Baltimore as well as folks that I had previously seen or met at GNI.

Overall, the experience is kind of a scaled-down version of the GNI Gathering, which is exactly what I had expected. There certainly less people, but again that was expected. I would have to say that the average of the attendees was skewed older.

So things I enjoyed most:

As with GNI, the cocktail parties were great. I did dress up at 3 of the 4 parties that I attended. They especially liked it when I dressed in a tutu, knee-high patent leather boots and a fish net top for the Rocky Horror themed day.
I loved the overall vibe that was filled with acceptance and friendliness. Of course that are traits that tend to permeate naked events in general and a large part of what drew me into nudism in the first place.
I love how just hanging around in a group of naked guys for extended periods of time tends to break down the walls that we normally erect between us. I love just being able to be in the company of another beautiful person (not necessarily physical), and to experience the closeness and sharing of souls that transpires.
I love to see the older men smiling and having fun as if they were teenagers. There was one guy there who was probably close to 70 or more and shuffled his feet as he slowly walked. But if you could see him cut up the dance floor night after night, you would think that he was 20 years younger.

The days were beautiful even if a little hot and humid. Fortunately, I spent most of the daytime hours around the pool so the heat wasn't even an issue. I spent quite a bit of time with a guy who's a dominant in the S&M scene and his friend who came down for a day and a half. So I got my first experience as a sub although he made sure to tell me how poor of a job I was doing. It was actually fun play although I'm not sure I could do that full-time. I also met a beautiful guy from New York with whom I spent quite a bit of time. He was incredibly sweet, affectionate and had the most beautiful bubble-butt. We cuddled quite a bit, but it never really progressed further than that.

As for events, I participated in the Family Feud as well as the celebrity auction, where I fetched on of the highest prices. They were raising money for scholarships for next year's event for members that can't financially afford to come. I also dressed for some of the themed cocktail parties including Rocky Horror (pictured above), leather and Star Wars.

As I expected I had a great time and would do it again.

On Aging and Happiness...

2010-07-15T08:22:00.000-04:00

I recently read several articles about a recent study on happiness highlighting the relative differences between younger and older adults. The study found the happiness is correlated with age, but not in the way most people might think. In fact the study found that happiness peaked somewhere near age 65.

A close friend of mine is always reminding himself (and me) that he is getting old. Since 'old' is a relative term, I interpret this as meaning that he is getting 'older'. But what does that mean? Older than what? For sure we're all older than we were last year... or yesterday... or even since a few moments ago so this interpretation of 'older' is so inherent that it is not even worth saying. So then what do we mean by we're getting 'older'?

Perhaps we have an idea of what constitutes a happy life and we believe we are getting to old to live that life? I distinctly recall when I was 27 feeling that only had 3 more good years and after that it was all down hill. I can honestly say that my first 27 years were pretty good, but the time since has been even better. We can never be sure what the future holds, but we can be sure that we have right now. So my happiness advice is:

Never fret about the past because there's nothing we can do about it. Learn whatever lessons the past has to teach us and move on.
Figure out the things that we actually have power to change or influence. Make sure that our actions in these areas are in line with our desires for our life and happiness.
Figure out the things that we cannot change. To be honest, we actually have very little power of much but we do control how we react to what is happening around us. Therein lies our power. For those things that we don't control, be honest and admit it. Once we admit it, we can treat it like the laws of gravity. No one ever gets pissed at gravity when the fall because they know that gravity cannot be controlled. Rather they stressing about gravity we think that we should be more careful. So next time you encounter an asshole, understand that some (few not most) people are assholes and always will be and that this cannot be changed. Our power is in how we deal with the asshole such that it contributes or at least does not detract from our life and happiness.
Learn to appreciate the good in things.

Relax

2010-07-14T08:22:00.000-04:00

Last weekend some friends and I visited the couple that has a secluded, country home in Virginia. As usual it was beautiful. It's always interesting to see all of the latest improvements that they've made there since they're always doing something. All days there are pretty much the same, and that's fine with me. We spent the weekend drinking, talking and alternating between sitting on the porch, soaking up rays by the pool and swimming. Although this is the same location that is planning a weekend party for 100 later in the month, this day there were just the five of us.

Ryan Reynolds Public Nudity

2010-07-13T06:01:00.003-04:00

I saw this on Naked Black Guy blog and just had to re-post:

Mel

2010-07-12T16:04:00.000-04:00

We already knew that Mel Gibson was insane, but really?

Listen to the audio and judge for yourself.

Here's a synopsis taken from the HuffPost:

"You should just f*cking smile and blow me," he screams. And: "You need a f*cking bat in the side of the head. Alright, how about that?"

Oksana stays reasonable and cool as Mel grows more and more out of control. He accuses her of threatening him, which she denies, and he threatens to kill her.

"Threaten ya? I'll put you in a f *ckin rose garden you c*nt! You understand that? Because I'm capable of it. You understand that?"

Mel also explains the failure of his relationships.

"You have no fucking soul. And my soul is screaming because you don't have one to join mine!" he screams. "I left my wife because we had no spiritual common ground. You and I have none. Zero. You don't even f*cking try!"

Nudity and Guns

2010-07-08T14:28:00.000-04:00

Louisiana just passed a law that specifically allows registered qualified gun-owners to their carry concealed guns into churches. It makes me wonder what the circumstances that made the legislature and governor believe that such an action was necessary.

As I read this, it makes me wonder about a world where the natural human state (i.e. nudity) is criminalized, yet guns are not only legal, but encouraged... in church no less!

I guarantee you the world would be a better place if there was more nudity and less guns.

Hilarious

2010-07-06T16:17:00.003-04:00

Does anyone find this as funny as I do?

Facebook Quote

2010-07-03T15:01:00.002-04:00

A friend of mine wrote this on his wall. I thought it was cute.

He came to me one night; explored my body, licked, sucked, swallowed! When satisfied, he left and I was hurt!... Fucking mosquito!

Boston and Vermont, Ctd

2010-07-01T23:48:00.003-04:00

Pictures from the trip that I took a few weeks earlier. I'm looking at the expression on my face in all of these and can't for the life of me figure out what I was thinking.

Damned Homonyms!

2010-06-30T23:42:00.002-04:00

I have always asked that question on road trips...my fav construction next 53 miles and never see a sole.

This is a quote from a not-so-close friend on Facebook. I wanted to reply, "I think that's a good thing because those damned soles are always littering up the power lines", but thought better of it. It's funny... when I read, these types of mistakes, they jump out at me. But when I write, I make the same mistakes all of the time. It has caused me to realize that writing and reading exercise different parts of the brain.

Boston and Vermont

2010-06-29T16:29:00.001-04:00

I met a a guy at the GNI Gathering two years ago, who immediately became a friend. We had kept in contact throughout the year that followed and I was absolutely elated to see him upon my return to GNI the subsequent year. He lives in Boston with his partner, whom I had never met, and had purchased a vacation country home on Rock River in Vermont. Rock River is very popular gay swimming hole near Brattleboro Vermont. For about a year and a half now, he has been inviting me and the BF to visit them but somehow the time and season never seemed to work out.

So when he invited us once again a couple of months ago, I was determined to make it work. Getting to Brattleboro isn't the easiest thing to do since there is only one Amtrak train from here to there that leaves just once per day and takes 8.5 hours. We considered driving, but that too would take about the same time assuming no traffic. Good luck with that. So we decided to fly into Boston and spend part of Friday there before leaving to Vermont.

Once in Vermont, we spent late-afternoon Friday down on the river, which was stunningly beautiful and bucolic. We stopped at swimming hole #5 where we talked to some guys there that Steve knew and swam in the river. This was the last swimming hole and is mostly visited by gay men for naked lounging and swimming. On Saturday and Sunday we attended the naked massage workshop at Frog Meadow. Frog Meadow is a gay B&B, with a beautiful and large home, pond, hot tub and miles of hiking trails. Late that night we went to a gay-owned restaurant named Peter Havens in Brattleboro before sitting on the porch back at the house with a cocktail.

On Sunday, after the workshop, we headed back to the river where there were even more people than before, then later had dinner at a local tavern.

Before heading back on Monday, we bought local cheese, maple syrup and toured a couple of the local towns. All in all it was an absolutely wonderful weekend and I'm glad I got to meet my friend Steve's other half.

SIDE NOTE: Brattleboro was the site of a news story that I had read about last year. Basically, with their philosophy of "live and let live", Vermont is the only state (that I know of anyway) in which public nudity hasn't been made illegal. So last year a group of teenagers took to hanging out in the downtown area naked on weekends. The city legislature, determined to put a stop to this eventually passed a law that public nudity was illegal within the business district, which is actually a relatively small area. Even though I wish that they had not passed such a law, I think it speaks a lot about Vermonters that the law was as narrowly constrained as it was. Had this had taken place nearly anywhere else, public nudity would almost certainly had been legalized throughout the jurisdiction. Go Vermont!

Palin Clone

2010-06-29T13:07:00.001-04:00

So... err... vote for her because... she's a straight shooter?

IMEN

2010-06-16T15:17:00.000-04:00

So I've been trying to convince the BF to go the IMEN Gathering this year. We've never been before, but I imagine it is a slightly smaller version of the GNI Gathering. Having attended GNI two years ago (and already signed up for this August) and to The Woods Campground just a few weeks ago, I decided that this naked camping this is pretty cool and really wanted to go. He does enjoy it but he most enjoy events that entail "doing something" (my words not his) whereas I will be perfectly content on doing nothing at all as long as I am sharing the time with cool people.

Anyway, he told me that I should go ahead and go, but he will not be attending, and I am really looking forward to it.

C.R.A.Z.Y

2010-06-16T15:04:00.002-04:00

Movies, and more specifically Hollywood, tends to disappointment. My most common grief is that they spend so much money on a move and spare no expense, but then put in the most inane things. Sometimes these are lines, or a ridiculous character or situation. Sometimes it's a response that makes no sense, but supposedly underpins the entire movie. Typically, Hollywood movies have great production, great sound, great special effects but incredibly poor writing and characters. Oh well.

That's why I was so happy when I saw this just a couple of nights ago. We watched it via Netflix Instant Play, which I love and believe that the concept is definitely the future of home movie watching. I just can't wait until they get the majority of their library online.

Anyway, this move was superb and I'd definitely recommend it. Be forewarned... it's in Canadian French, but well worth reading the subtitles.

I Love You Phillip Morris

2010-06-14T19:18:00.000-04:00

I hadn't heard of this until today. Supposedly it has a very explicit sex scene in in which Jim Carrey instructs Ewan McGregor to "come in my ass" or something similar. I haven't seen that scene, but here's the trailer, which looks like typical Carrey-zany fair but with somewhat of a twist.

The Woods Campground

2010-06-11T15:19:00.001-04:00

Last week we went to The Woods Campground near Allentown PA for leather weekend. This was our first time going to a clothing-optional/naked, gay campground outside of the GNI Gatherings. A friend of ours visits several times a year and was telling us about leather weekend while we were both visiting other friends in Richmond and I decided to go.

We arrived on Friday around 6pm and almost immediately ran into the friend. He immediately got us to remove our clothes, but of course that wasn't too hard for me. Since my only other gay, naked camping was GNI, I'll try to compare and contrast.

Obviously there were less people at the campgrounds, but that was to be expected.
There are less occasions where you would see a large majority of people in one place at the same time.
It did retain the very friendly and open atmosphere that makes it so easy to meet others and share time together.
Since it's clothing optional, there were a fair number of clothed people, particularly during the daytime.

Overall, we had a really good time. Some of my favorite memories were:

Spending several hours with a beautiful 24 y/o who followed us around for the better part of Friday. He wore shorts during the day, but nothing but a harness at night. Very sexy.
Going to the party that was hosted by a couple of the guys there. Their place had a surprising number of bath tubs...
Spending a couple of hours in a nearby camp that saw me stumbling home late Saturday night. They invited me over for smores, great fire-roasted grilled cheese sandwiches and even better conversation.
And of course... the dungeon.

I'm already booked for the full week at the GNI Gathering in late August and am hoping to be able to attend the IMEN Gathering for a half-week in July if possible.

I Could Care Less

2010-06-11T11:10:00.005-04:00

Interracial Trends

2010-06-10T10:18:00.000-04:00

I love interracial couples whether they are straight or gay and I'm not even exactly sure why. Perhaps it's because I am in such a relationship or perhaps because I tend to find all races beautiful. Or maybe it's because it is a symbol of acceptance and the world as I would like to see it.

Anyway, I came across this report by the Pew Research Center that reports that almost 15% of all new marriages are between people of different races or ethnicities. There's also a pretty cool interactive graph here that really highlights interracial marriages by geographic region here.

Take away... If you're looking for a mixed race marriage, move to Cali.

2010-06-02T15:43:00.000-04:00

I've often stated that the two things that continue to drive technology are games and porn. Porn is so prevalent in gay culture that you can find it playing openly in many gay bars. Although it's certainly less open, I've often wondered how prevalent it has become in the straight world given the rise of the Internet. This infographic helps answer those questions. Unfortunately, it is possible to have such a graphic without asking "what is porn?" Given that one of the search engine results that they qualify as porn is "gay dating", I'm kind of taking these statistics with a grain of salt. Besides if it had any real scientific they would have published their methods. I know... I can be such a geek.

Via: Online MBA

Gay McDonald's Commercial

2010-06-02T02:04:00.002-04:00

Not a fan of Micky D's, but this was cute.

Whatsa Nudist?

2010-05-30T12:07:00.001-04:00

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

2010-05-29T10:48:00.002-04:00

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

2010-05-28T13:56:00.001-04:00

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

2010-05-27T11:23:00.002-04:00

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!

2010-05-26T15:05:00.000-04:00

Two year old smokes 40 Cigarettes a day.

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Hmmm

2010-05-20T15:16:00.001-04:00

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

2010-05-14T11:40:00.000-04:00

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

2010-05-07T10:34:00.000-04:00

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

2010-05-05T20:59:00.002-04:00

Gaga/Beyonce Telephone via the US Army

2010-05-05T09:49:00.001-04:00

Goverment Regulation

2010-05-05T09:23:00.000-04:00

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

2010-05-04T23:30:00.000-04:00

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

2010-05-02T23:26:00.001-04:00

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.

Genius

2010-04-09T10:38:00.000-04:00

I know how geeky it is for me to love this video, but having made a career out of technology I can really say that I am amazed that they could get a robot to do this. It also shows the limitations of robotics if getting a robot to do something that is so easily done by almost any human. Lastly, one has to wonder... how many millions of dollars were spent on that folding machine?

Burning Man Update

2010-03-28T13:26:00.000-04:00

Well, it seems like our little group of three local guys trying to do Burning Man together has dissolved. Oh well. I'm still committed to going anyway. Two of us have decided to continue on and try to make it work. We're supposed to meet this Monday. I'm also in contact with a couple of gay guys in San Francisco. Ideally it would work out so that the two groups merge and become one.

Battlestar Galactica Next

2010-03-16T23:44:00.000-04:00

Finally some real news! Rumors are that the SyFy channel is contemplating a new BSG spinoff. Woohoo!

Irrelevancies

2010-03-16T12:50:00.003-04:00

Friday of this past weekend I finally wore the kilt I bought at Mid Atlantic Leather weekend out. Needless to say a lot of people played with it/me all night long as well as asking if had on any underwear. Of course I didn't.

Then on Saturday I wore my new five fingered shoes to the naked cocktails and the party afterwards. I also wore them to Costco the next day as well.

This last pic was taken in a dressing room of the Levis store in Tyson's mall. Very often when I go into dressing rooms the BF comes with me. I like him to come so that I can get his opinion and also because since we wear the same sizes he often tries on whatever I'm going to buy and vice-versa. Well at the Levis store the changing room attendant was this cutist little 18ish blond-hair'd boy. When we told him we only needed one room he jokingly said we would only have 2 minutes. We laughed. He really was joking.

Porn is Good

2010-03-15T15:57:00.000-04:00

Finally, just the justification that we've all been waiting for...

But seriously, I am by nature a scientist and so tend to put a lot more stock in good studies than anectodes. Perhaps the issue isn't porn though. Perhaps it is in the inherent harm that we do to ourselves when we try to deny our nature that has been built up over the course of millenia. This doesn't mean that we cannot progress. It just means that lying about who we are is counter-productive.

Despite the widespread and increasing availability of sexually explicit materials, according to national FBI Department of Justice statistics, the incidence of rape declined markedly from 1975 to 1995. This was particularly seen in the age categories 20–24 and 25–34, the people most likely to use the Internet. The best known of these national studies are those of Berl Kutchinsky, who studied Denmark, Sweden, West Germany, and the United States in the 1970s and 1980s. He showed that for the years from approximately 1964 to 1984, as the amount of pornography increasingly became available, the rate of rapes in these countries either decreased or remained relatively level. Later research has shown parallel findings in every other country examined, including Japan, Croatia, China, Poland, Finland, and the Czech Republic. In the United States there has been a consistent decline in rape over the last 2 decades, and in those countries that allowed for the possession of child pornography, child sex abuse has declined. Significantly, no community in the United States has ever voted to ban adult access to sexually explicit material. The only feature of a community standard that holds is an intolerance for materials in which minors are involved as participants or consumers.

In terms of the use of pornography by sex offenders, the police sometimes suggest that a high percentage of sex offenders are found to have used pornography. This is meaningless, since most men have at some time used pornography. Looking closer, Michael Goldstein and Harold Kant found that rapists were more likely than nonrapists in the prison population to have been punished for looking at pornography while a youngster, while other research has shown that incarcerated nonrapists had seen more pornography, and seen it at an earlier age, than rapists. What does correlate highly with sex offense is a strict, repressive religious upbringing

Racial Perspectives

2010-03-14T23:54:00.001-04:00

Recently I was talking to a black friend of mine who was recounting a sexual encounter that he had had with a white guy. Now, for the record I know this friend to date whites, blacks and latinos at a minimum and is obviously comfortable around all. Perhaps he has a racial preference for dating, but I am completely unaware of it.

While in the midst of having sex the white guy says to my friend 'I love your black skin.' I think I can safely say that all black guys that date white guys have heard some version of this at least a few times. My friend asked me how would I feel if someone had asked me this. He said that it didn't cause him to bail out on the sex, but that he didn't like it at all.

So what does a black guy think when he hears this?

We hear that we have been reduced to a melanin fetish. Our partner doesn't see us as complete human beings, but rather the stereotypes connotated with by our skin. That there is nothing special about us that attracted this person other than being breathing and being black and that any person with a similar skin tone would have done just as well.

So what the hell is a white guy thinking when he says it?

Well, first the problem with the statement is that sometimes the white guy means exactly what the black guy thought he meant. But not always...

Sometimes what the white guy is saying is that although some people may discriminate against you because of your skin, it is not a barrier for him. That he finds beauty in the very thing that some say lessens you. Or... he may mean nothing deeper than when we say that someone looks good with a tan.

Honestly the statement has never bothered me probably because I am a hopeless optimist and always think the best. Nonetheless... a recommendation for white guys (probably the same for girls too), just don't say it. Not because there is inherently anything wrong with the words but because the chance if it being misconstrued is great.

Besides, if you do say it, you just might not get laid.

Naked Happenings

2010-03-14T20:25:00.000-04:00

Being the first Saturday of the month means that it was time once again for naked cocktails at a local bar. I absolutely love this event and really never thought it would ever return to DC when one of the local nudist groups chose to terminate it. So obviously I was overjoyed when a different group replicated it at a different location. The local bar that hosts it loves us because during the time when the event is taking place the bar is pretty empty. Usually on the first floor, which is open to the public there might be 2 or 3 customers meanwhile we typically have over 100 guys on the 2nd floor. This Saturday we had exactly 122. There is no sex at the event although there is quite a bit of touching. The event is really just about hanging nude, talking with old friends and making new ones.

After this month's event, there was a clothing-optional party by a gay couple in Maryland that frequently hosts such parties. This event does allow sex and there's even an ample playroom with glory holes and slings specifically for that purpose. Sometimes people will ask me if it is a sex party. I'll normally say no because there's so much socializing that occurs there that calling it a sex party would really diminish what it is really about. There's a bar and chill-out areas. This Saturday there was short drag show and frequently there's karaoke... not typical things you'd find at a sex party. As most naked events, everyone there is extremely social. While I was walking from one area to another I passed a black guy that was standing by himself just watching and taking it all in so I stopped and talked to him. As it turned out, it was his first time there and he had come alone. I gave him 50 points for having the balls to come alone. I spent the next 45 minutes or so talking with him and introducing him to quite a few people. It touched me that today he left me a voicemail thanking me for making him feel comfortable. I thought that was very sweet.

All in all, it was a wonderful day and I wish every Saturday was equally as fun.

Bullshit

2010-03-11T16:55:00.000-05:00

Not only is this video from the Onion is hilarious but it also makes an incredibly good point about the state of our news.

Burn, Burn, Burn

2010-03-09T15:18:00.001-05:00

They danced down the streets like dingledodies, and I shambled after as I've been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes

I came across this today on one of the Burning Man forums. I love it!

Another Casualty

2010-03-08T21:26:00.000-05:00

Two posts in the same day on the same theme. Both were people ravaged by the consequence of a society that resulted in them believing that they could not live life as gay.

This time it's the suicide of Marie Osmond's son. At least according to this article in the National Enquirer (I know, but hey they did break the John Edwards story) the 18 year old Michael Osmond jumped from 8th floor of his apartment building.

Another Outed Republican

2010-03-08T21:22:00.000-05:00

Last week Californian state senator, Roy Ashburn, was arrested for DUI when he left a gay bar (story here). What made this story notable was that the fact that he was a Republican that consistently voted against gay rights while in office.

Somehow stories such as these don't make me feel happy or vindicated. Rather, I feel sad. Most of us over a certain age have passed through a time when we grappled with our sexuality. Try to remember how this was a time when it felt like that the world was arrayed against us. It was a time when our inability to even fathom life as gay either forced us into mental dissonance or into a life filled with depression and self-loathing. Now imagine if those forces were so strong… or if you were a just a little weaker how your life might be if you still lived in that state.

This is Roy Ashburn as well as the others in the recent string political outings including Larry Craig, Foley and perhaps others such as Crist. This phenomenon is not unique to politicians but is a constant mental anguish experienced by millions.

So I think of the lifetime of pain and self-hatred and above all else it saddens me that we live in a culture in which some feel that they are forced to live like that.

Dance Naked

2010-03-05T15:34:00.001-05:00

Came across this video while reading the Naturists, Young and Active! blog. It supposedly depicts frat pledges that are forced to go naked all the time during the pledging process and are told to do stuff. Not sure I buy that, but still... looks good.

See the original posting here.

Criminal

2010-03-05T15:24:00.000-05:00

I think payday loan services are among the worst type of organization. They prey upon the weakest and most uninformed in our society under the guise of performing a supposed service.

I ran across this quote today from The Atlantic:

A good friend of mine got sucked into the payday loan scam a while back. They had some medical bills and things got tight so they borrowed $600 from a payday loan place. The terms of the loan were as follows:

The loan had to be paid off in full all at once. So in any given month you were not permitted to pay down any fraction of the principal. You had to come up with all $600 all at once.
The interest rate on the loan was 50%/month. So to keep the loan current it mean paying $300/month.

This of course meant that they would have to be able to scrap together $900 in any given month in order to pay off the loan. Given that they were struggling to get $600 together in the first place, getting $900 all in one month would have been a stretch. Paying the $300/month was painful but doable, but the problem was that they couldn't get out from under the loan because they couldn't get all of the principal together in any given month.

Terrible! But in then name capitalism we allow them to continue to rape the poor.

Bodily Harm

2010-03-04T13:41:00.000-05:00

This article describes how a NJ family were ordered by the police to cover up a naked snow-woman. First, it's not real; it's not even life-like. Second, it was a replica of the famous Venus de Milo, so it was definitely art. But most of all, are we that scared of nudity? That's what I thought when I saw the article. Are our bodies that evil? The unhealthy insanity of our society is killing me.

Palin

2010-03-04T12:54:00.001-05:00

A quote from Sarah on the Jay Leno:

I studied journalism, my college degree there in communications. And now I am back there wanting to build some trust back in our media. I think the mainstream media is quite broken and I think there needs to be the fairness, the balance in there — that’s why I joined Fox. Fair and balanced, yes. You know because, Jay, those years a go that I studied journalism it was all about the who, what, when, where, and why, it was not so much the opinion interjected in hard news stories...

I can't be only person that is dumb-struck by her inability to actually say anything.

Marriage Comes to the District

2010-03-03T17:15:00.000-05:00

I'm a strong believer in marriage but always hated the idea of having to go through a wedding. Nonetheless, it affected me more than I thought it would when I heard the news that the Congress allowed DC's new marriage law to go into effect. It brought a smile to my face and suddenly I was dreaming of a beautiful wedding with attended by my friends and family. It made me think of several friends of my mine that already have set dates for their weddings.

Marriage just became a lot more real for me today. Congratulations to DC and America!

Nudity and Sex

2010-02-26T12:09:00.001-05:00

Is nudity about sex? So many times I’ve been asked this question. The truth is… well, the answer is no… but maybe kinda…

We’ve come to associate nudity with sex because our culture has imbued within us the idea that the only time it is acceptable to be naked in the company of others is for sex. So true to our training, as soon as our pants come down sexual feelings arise. But this is not how it has to be nor is it how we as humans started our journey.

You see nudity is just about life and all that it comprises. Nudism is about doing all of the things that we would normally do, just without clothing. This can include reading, watching TV, household chores, sports and yes, sometimes even sex, but sex is not the point.

But why? Why would we want to do things naked when we’ve been doing them so well for our whole lives with clothes on? Here are some of my reasons:

Being naked helps us to come to acceptance of your body and helps free us from body-shame.
Being naked allows us to see the variety of other people’s bodies and to accept this variety as natural and normal.
Being naked allows us to see and accept the natural occurrence of aging so that our fear of aging is diminished.
Being naked forces us to lower the walls that we’ve built around us a little enabling us to have true and meaningful person-to-person sharing.
People are just nicer and friendlier when they’re naked.
People are more accepting when they’re naked.
But most of all, being naked is fun.

About Me

2010-02-25T16:58:00.001-05:00

I thought I'd update my personal profile, then decided to make it a post as well...

Hmm, so what shall I say about myself. I'm a wannabe nudist and aspiring exhibitionist. Don't ask me why, because I couldn't tell you. My blog is a place where I write about absolutely nothing interesting at all.

Other things about me:

Love to travel
Play way too much tennis
Engaged in a life-long persuit of the Spanish language
Took a language immersion class in Barcelona (twice) and planning to repeat
Favorite nearby getaway: Rehoboth Beach and Ft. Lauderdale
Favorite slightly further getaway: Ft.Lauderdale/ Haulover
Biggest public nudity experiences: Baby-to-breakers race and Folsom street fair (twice)
Always loved to play sports and currently play tennis 3 times per week
Handy with a computer (it pays my bills)
Graduated from Jerry Falwell's university
Love to be nude even in public

And most of all I'm just a nice guy that loves people. I think we were all at least a little weird so have a philosophy that allows others to be themselves. The one thing I despise most is people that mistreat others.

A Picture and a Story

2010-02-24T16:37:00.000-05:00

These pictures were taken during my first stay at the GNI Gathering in 2008. It was the first time that I had gone 'camping' in very long time since the first time that I had convinced the BF to go.

For those unfamiliar with the event, GNI takes over a campground in rural Pennsylvania for 10 days. The full week is dedicated to camping naked and is attended by 800 naked guys.

The week was magical for me. It's funny how if you're naked long enough with others, that you actually forget all about the nudity. What I loved most about this weekend was the same thing that first drew me to underwear night at the Green Lantern, then ultimately to naked events in the first place. In fact, it is one of the things that I find most satisfying and fulfilling in the world. That is that I just loved the closeness and honest sharing that I had between me and others. It is part of human nature that we all want to be part of something and to be close to others, yet we (and society) erect barriers designed to protect us that, unfortunately, have also alienate us from this basic need.

So who did I meet? Far too many people to tell, but some of the ones that I still keep in contact with are:

A group of Columbians, particularly two from New York that I love and still call friends,
A couple of Canadians from Ottawa, and
The greatest and sweetest guy originally from Pennsylvania, now living with his partner in Boston.

Since that time, I've run into people I've met at GNI at various places across the country including several people in San Francisco, Ft. Lauderdale and Key West.

The backdrop in the first picture shows the man-made lake at the campgrounds. It is larger than it appears in the picture as only a portion of it is visible. The camp has paddle and row boats as well as kayaks available for use whenever you please. Many of the activities take place near the lake including some of the cocktail parties, naked wrestling, daily volleyball and many others.

These next two pictures were taken by a friend from DC called Camera Guy. We had met him many times since he used to go to the GL Underwear parties. He had offered to take some naked pictures of me on several occasions so when I saw him at GNI, I definitely took him up on the offer.

Burning Man Update

2010-02-22T23:07:00.000-05:00

So I've talked about possibly going to Burning Man before here, here and touched upon it here as one of things I would like to accomplish this year.

It started to look a little dismal since this is just not the kind of thing I feel comfortable doing myself. I have no problem being on my own in new places, but the extreme conditions of BM makes me feel much more comfortable if I had a little bit of a support system.

Well just when I was starting to doubt, a fellow member of one of the local, nudist groups posted a message asking if anyone was interested. Of course I replied along with 3 others. One has already dropped out, but the remaining two seem committed. We have yet to meet in person due to the being snowed-out (or in), despite several attempts. Since connecting electronically with my possible future fellow burners, I have been looking into what I would have to do to prepare and as a result am starting to believe that I can make this work even if the group falls apart. The amount of preparation that goes into this thing is enormous, but honestly I believe that even that is part of the experience.

We've electronically discussed several options for shelter including the Green Tortoise. The good part is that they supply food, transportation and lodging. The bad is that it might be a little too structured for me, especially if I decide that it isn't working for me. One of the guys has a 4 man tent, which is my preference. We also briefly mentioned the possibility of renting an RV, but that is both expensive, risky and I've read that many campers don't like being too close to an RV and their noisy generators.

I've also started building a list of things I'd need. It still incomplete, but I figured if I start one, then I'd have someplace to make notes when I come across good ideas. So far the list has over 40 items on it, and I haven't even listed any clothes yet. I figure I won't much clothing anyway, except to ward off the chill during the evenings.

Maybe...

2010-02-22T20:13:00.000-05:00

I read this article today and I can't tell you how good it felt just to know that healthcare still has a chance. If it doesn't pass now, it likely won't come up again in any meaniful way for the next 10 years or more. It isn't perfect, but it is good and addresses many of the most troublesome issues about our current system. I absolutely astounds me that such a necessary change is boiled down to one-liners as if this were a move and these one-liners, however true or dishonest they may be, may ultimately alter the lives and deaths of millions.

Political Lies

2010-02-20T10:52:00.000-05:00

I know... the title is a little redundant. Anyway, I came across this graph the other day and thought it striking.

Now, I don't want to read too much into this graph, because I'm not sure that the start of the recession is all Bush's fault any more than I believe that the turnaround in-progress is completely Obama's doing (although as unpopular as they were, I think the bank bailout brought us back from the brink of disaster and stimulus probably helped bend the curve a little).

My only point is that saying the opposite is disingenuous and hurts our nation in that when all of the political discussion by the supposed experts and leaders focus on known lies, solely for political gain, it obfuscates the real issues and discussions that must take place.

Liberty or Death

2010-02-20T10:42:00.000-05:00

So I keep seeing this image appear on the right of my facebook page and being a Liberty graduate (prior posting here), I think I'm going to finally give in and join. In spite of their craziness that they espouse, I do have fond memories and many friends.

Goodbye FTL

2010-02-15T09:36:00.000-05:00

More FTL

2010-02-13T11:15:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we spent the day on the beach where I ran into someone that I had met from Chicago. He has the most beautiful, fuzzy ass. It always amazes how often we run into people we know when travelling. The beach was beautiful, with just enough sun to make it comfortable even though it was fairly windy.

Fuzzy ass.

Naked At Last

2010-02-12T10:44:00.000-05:00

These past few weeks I really haven't had any chances to be naked. It's not that there weren't things going on, but a combination of travel when events were taking place combined with our severe weather just meant that the stars haven't aligned. In fact, the last time I was naked with others was the New Years party.

That all said, I just can't say how nice it is to finally be in sunny and warm weather.

Indiscreet

2010-02-10T10:50:00.000-05:00

Craziness

2010-02-10T10:47:00.000-05:00

So me and 7 of friends were supposed to be heading off for Ft Lauderdale today and tomorrow. If anyone's following DC weather, you'll know that we have had (a) record snow fall this season, (b) a 20+ inch snow storm this past weekend and (3) in the midst of one helluva snow storm right now with wind storms up to 50 miles per hour.

One friend was not impacted since he was leaving from Richmond, where they were forecasted to get less snow than here. I helped arrange for another 4 of us to rent a one-way van to drive down to Ft. Lauderdale yesterday and the final 3 are renting another vehicle today.

We'll were just about 2 hours away from our destination. Inspite of the long drive, we're actually arriving a full day early since we left early to get out before the storm got too bad. The drive itself was relatively easy since there were 4 drivers between us and more than enough room for 2 people to stretch out and lay down at the same time. The weather's not going to as warm as I would like, but we're looking temperatures ranging from 68 to 72 degress.

Let it Snow

2010-02-08T20:13:00.000-05:00

This weekend DC and most of the east coast got hit by yet another big snow storm. This storm was the biggest one yet, and keep in mind that we had already passed last years complete snow fall weeks ago! Anyway, the area got anywhere from 18 to 33 inches depending on exactly where you lived. I've now shoveled snow on 4 consecutives days. Below is a picture of my street:

Pictures

2010-02-04T17:40:00.000-05:00

Mystery Solved

2010-02-04T17:32:00.001-05:00

Over the past month or so I've been having trouble sleeping. Normally, I can put my head down and be out within a few minutes, but these months even when I managed to get to sleep I haven't been able to sleep a full night without repeatedly awaking throughout the night.

Well my recent trip to Vegas has helped me solve the mystery. While there I had no trouble sleeping at all. The first night back in my own bed was even better. It was the best sleep I had had for quite a while. All this helped me develop a theory… Could it be the coffee? Now I know this seems like a no-brainer, but keep in mind that I've always drank significant amounts of coffee so I hadn't suspected this as a likely cause.

My experiment began the next day. I went to work and drank my normal 3 mega-cups of coffee. I'm guessing that this equates to roughly 6 to 8 normal cups (see mega-cup below).

Well, that first night after being back to my normal coffee routine landed me back to my normal restless nights. The solution… I've bought some instant decaf (I know, yuck!). I now allow myself 2 mega-cups of half-regular/half-decaf so long as it is before 2pm. If I want a 3rd another cup I've restricted myself to a cup of full-decaf.

Since the change, I've been sleeping much better.