BSG

I have yet to write anything about the last episode of BSG, which I watched a week late since I was on vacation when it aired.

First... can you believe that Cmdr Adama left the fleet in the hands of a homosexual. Woohoo to BSG! Oh yeah... it's just a TV show... and not even since Hoshi was only gay in a webisode. Still it seemed kinda special anyway.

Second, I didn't foresee the end, which is kinda refreshing. But that said, I should have been able to guess it. I mean, the colonies returning to present day Earth would've been interesting if it hadn't already been done before. Returning to a future earth would've been stupid because the viewers wouldn't be able to relate. And provided that they weren't go to kill everyone off, there really was only left one possible outcome left. Somehow I missed it though.

Anyway, I enjoyed the series even more than I had enjoyed the original when I was a kid. The only regret is that it's over. Fortunately, we still have the cylon-view movie coming up and of course, there's Caprica.

Insurance and Healthcare

This is a boring topic I know, but my mind does tend to wander...

The philosophy of insurance is the concept of shared risk. It is the idea that there is a low probability of some catastrophic event that would bankrupt its victim. However, by pooling our premiums 100 of us are able to contribute such that when one of faces that dire circumstance, we can all get through it.

I recall being in a poor South America country a few years back when it hit me what the differences intrinsic differences between the first and third worlds are. I'm talking about wealth, but what makes wealth and order possible. One of these were insurance. In America we're fairly protected from everything other than death. Even then we'll likely have some help.

So it pains me when I read an article like this one, detailing how insurance companies are routinely using public information of disenfranchise a huge portion of our population. I actually don't blame the insurance companies because they are only doing what companies do. It's the system that's broken and needs to be seriously fixed.

If I follow the article to it's logical conclusion, the next time I'm in a doctor's office and he says that I really need to take metformin to stay healthy, I just might refuse to because I'm worried that I might be un-insurable 5 years from now.

THIS IS WHY WE NEED HEALTHCARE REFORMS! THE INDUSTRY CANNOT SOLVE THESE THINGS ON ITS OWN!!!

Things I Love

I frequently have conversations with people I meet about what moves them... what do they love to do most. The normal thing to do when we meet others is to ask "what do you do", referring to their occupation. I like to ask the same question, but in reference to fun.

So what do I love?

• I love interacting with people. This can be good friends, acquaintances or just meeting new people. Often I feel that I take a little something away from such meetings. I love the socializing, and most especially, the sharing of our essences.


• I love anything nude. Partly because it enhances my interactions with people, but also because I'm a little bit of an exhibitionist.


• I love dedicating myself to some task and becoming good at it. Examples of this include my life-long love of sports and pursuit to learn Spanish. I love struggling and putting everything into a tennis game and leaving knowing that I did the absolute best that I could on that day.


• I love learning new things and understanding things. This includes travel, culture, history and technology.


• I love seeing people smile.


• I love to contemplate the world I live in including topics such as sociology, science and politics as well as anything else that might capture my attention on a given day.


• I love beautiful, warm days with a bright shining sun.


• I love to see people in scant clothing on warm days. It's not necessarily sexual, but just the enjoyment of having layers that separate us removed.

Tennis Porn

Fernando Verdasco is a hottie tennis player and has combined two of my favorite things by posing naked for a charity event.

Kinda makes me reminisce of naked tennis at the GNI Gathering. Too bad I didn't get any pictures since I played 6 out of 7 days. Oh well. I guess it just gives me something to look forward to this year. I was thinking of going for the second half-week, but now am contemplating the full week. We'll see...

Maspalomas

Pictures from Gran Canaria...

There was a pretty large nude beach. The first portion was mostly straight and the second half was very gay. But then again, everything on the island seemed pretty gay to me.


Miles of dunes. The dunes are created with sands that blow from the Sahara so it was my first time being in the kind of desert that we see depicted on TV.

London and Gran Canaria Summary

I just arrived from my first major trip of the year. The BF and 6 other friends and I took an 11-day trip to London and the Canary Islands. It was absolutely fantastic. It's pretty easy for me to enjoy wherever I am, and being with the BF can make almost anyplace fun, but I have to say that the group of guys that we went with are just all great people, terrific friends and made our time so much better.

I plan to post more details later, but let me synopsize...

We spent the first 4 days in London where we went to XXL, Admiral Duncans, the Hoist and several bars whose names escape me. Four of us also went with a Londoner to a gay, nudist get together that was pretty cool and fun.

The last 7 days were spent in Gran Canaria. It's one of the few places I 've been in my life where we encountered very, very few Americans albeit there were plenty of Europeans and even several Canadians. There were also very, very few black people, which was a little surprising to me since it is geographically more a part of Africa than anywhere else.

We had 80 degree weather every day. We spent the days on the beach Las Playas Maspalomas. Things are pretty cheap there so we could've taken a cab to the beach for about 4 euros, but why would I when half of the walk was about a mile through dunes and nature where I could walk stark naked. Even the constant breeze helped keep us perfectly cooled during the walks. We had celebrated a cocktail party with the group back at the Villas Blancas resort where we were staying. We'd all get together and typically have a couple of other people that we had either met. Around 9 or so, we'd head down to the Yumbo center. This was like a huge courtyard-oriented, outdoor mall where there was there was plenty of shopping, restaurants and plenty of pretty good night entertainment. I normally don't like touristy things too much, but I actually really enjoyed the Yumbo center. After a week of being there, I still hadn't had enough of it.

The last thing I'll say in this first posting is that I was really struck by just how the gay the whole area was. I mean, yes it's a popular European gay destination, but it seemed to go far beyond that. For example, they were celebrating Carnival while we were there. All the locals participate in this and all of the young guys from ages 15 to 30 all dress up in the most pretty and feminine attire. There were butterflies, bumblebees and lots of boys in drag. Of course many of them were gay, but many of them were surprisingly straight too. It was pretty amazing to see a culture were being campy was so mainstream and to contemplate the obvious impact this has on acceptance in such a place. It's sad to think that I couldn't see this happening anywhere in the US anytime soon.

We took plenty of pictures which I tend to post soon. I haven't seen them yet since the airport lost one of our luggage bags and we've only just received it today (4 days later). Hopefully, nothing went missing such as our camera during this time.

Is it a Choice?

My Tivo captured an episode of the Tyra Banks show (its programmed to record anything having the word 'gay' in it) where she interviewed gay guys that hate being gay. The videos on YouTube are here. At the end of the show, Tyra asked:

"But the big question is, do you think that someone can ever really just stop
being gay?"

I thought that I'd answer that question here.

My answer might surprise you. The answer is both no and yes.

Speaking from the "gay" side, the problem is that we are assuming that everyone is just like us. However, the reality is that sexual orientation is not a binary, straight/gay issue. Consider the Kinsey Scale where Kinsey rated sexual orientation on a scale from 0 to 6. A '0' indicates that someone is exclusively heterosexual whereas a '6' indicate someone that is exclusively homosexual. The problem is that the gay community is predominantly composed of 5's and 6's. Why? Because we 5's and 6's are the most miserable trying to live a straight lifestyle and therefore more likely to come out. Of course for us 5's and 6's, it isn't even close to a choice and we wonder why this isn't as obvious to everyone else as it is to us. Why can't they understand that we can no more like women, than they can like men?

The reason that this argument can't work is that many of the people believing it is a choice do like men... or at least a little anyway. I think the people making this argument is most likely composed of the 2's, 3's and 4's. This means that they have probably had same-sex desires from time to time and perhaps even had an encounter or two. They really do choose. They can't choose who they're attracted to, but they can choose who they have sex with and enjoy that choice.

We'll ever convince them that our gayness is not a choice because their own life experiences, which they absolutely will never admit to, tells them otherwise. We will eventually win equality, but it won't by using this argument.

Leasons from Dubai

FYI: The photo has nothing to do with this posting nor with nudism. It's just a photo of myself from years past that always surprises me that I was ever that young.

I just read this article about about the rise and fall of Dubai. It reminded me of something that I have observed about our culture.

Have you noticed how we have morphed into a society that is driven by the appearance of happiness rather than happiness itself? I amazed at just how pervasive it is. I too am guilty of this but we must recognize the big lie if we are to move beyond it and pursue true happiness and fulfillment.

Here's an example of what I think is healthy living: (a) we seek happiness and fulfillment, (b) we determine those things in our life that would bring happiness and fulfillment, (c) we strive to do and/or achieve those things, and (d) our efforts perceived by others providing them images of our lives.

But the logic we taught to live by is perversely backwards. What really happens is: (a) we seek happiness, (d) we see images of others that "look" happy and (e) we try to replicate the things we see in those images.

The obvious problem is that we completely miss steps (b) and (c) which are the parts that enrich our lives. Furthermore, in this era of over-commercialization, every successful salesman knows how we make decisions and is barraging us with a constant stream of well endowed-, rich- and happy-looking people for us to emulate. Of course this inevitably means buying their product. It's the big lie and may represent the one of the biggest failings of western culture.

So what do I believe brings happiness? Well of course the details are different for everyone, but common aspects tend to be:

• We are happy when we are challenged; When not challenged at work, we can create constructive challenges personal lives; If we start feeling really comfortable chances are we're not doing something right


• We are happy when we engage in active activities


• We are happy when we learn and do new things


• We are happy when we have healthy and loving relationships with others such as family, friends, neighbors, partners and even strangers


• We are happy when we feel that we are doing something useful; This can be at work or volunteering or helping someone or anything else


• We are happy when we are pursuing what we love (see steps (b) and (c) above)

Don't not believe the lie.

Star Wars

A friend showed me this youtube video and I thought it was pretty cool. I like a guy whose not ashamed to look a little silly. Besides, he actually sounds really good and it doesn't hurt that he's cute too.

BSG

I just finished watching the latest, tivo'd episode of Battlestar Galactica and all I can say is wow! The first episode was slow, kinda like a warm up and the second and third were ok. Last week was the first good episode, but when taken together with this week's episode, I remember why I really love it all.

But before continuing... So I wanted to thank BSG for having the courage to make webisdoes of a gay main character just before they reveal him as a spiteful, misguided, treasonous asshole. Thanks a lot, that took courage.

Now onto this week. I kinda figured from the beginning that Sam would die (DAMN THEM!), or at least lose his new memories. I mean if he didn't, then we'd know everything and what would be the point of any more episodes right? One thing I've always loved about BSG is its ability to actually continue to progress the storyline without losing its appeal. I have to admit that I doubted a little at the start of this season, but once again I am a full believer.

Friday Night Out With the Boys

Had a fun night last night. A chef from Ireland was visiting town and the Social Whore had pre-woof cocktails in his honor. There were probably about 15 or 20 of there and we all had a good time just talking and laughing. It's a good group of guys and I love all of them.

Afterwards, we went to woof, but didn't really stay too long given the late start. Later we had dinner at Annies. Since Ziegfield's/Secrets was having their grand opening this weekend, four of us decided to try to go there. I figured that this was a bad idea when I saw that the line went all the way down the block. Then I knew just how bad it was when we realized that the line actually wrapped around the block and went another block. We bailed. The BF and I went to Omega.

At Omega I talked to several people I know and several I didn't. One guy in particular approached me soon after I arrived. He immediately berated Donna Summer's video, then disparaged everyone in the bar. I thought nice to meet you too. He returned later and as soon as he opened his mouth, frivolous negativity came pouring out again. He then started to look at good-looking black guy there that was being very friendly with a cutie Latino. Shamelessly he stood besides them in an overt attempt to lure the black guy away.

I don't really understand this, or perhaps I do and just don't like it. First, I find it both interesting and a little sad that someone who obviously craves human contact repels it so strongly by putting out such negativity. He said these things to me because he was interested in me. I can only wonder what he says to people he doesn't like. Secondly, it showed lack of life perspective to elevate the trivial failings he did as if they were monumental affairs. Third, I was taken by the shamelessness and complete lack of respect for others. Does he have any idea how his actions directly negatively impact that which he seems to want most? I don't think so, but I wish him the best.

Barcelona Planning (Update)

The funny thing is, one of the considerations I made in picking my apartment was to be reasonably close to the school. Well, guess what... the school has moved since I was there last! So the possibility of walking to school goes out the window. Oh well. It's still not all that far by metro.
On the positive side, the new school looks much better than the old one. It really looks to be a first class, modern structure that should add to the experience. Pictures from of the school are below.

Boy Has Baby

Update: It turns out the girl may have been sleeping with more than boy. Perhaps our boy wonder isn't the father after all.

A 13 year old boy, who looks more like 8, has a baby. Not really news, but sure makes for an interesting picture. Read the full article and see the video.

Phelps Stupidity

No, not for smoking marijuana, but rather everything that has happened since. But the crown for stupidity is awarded to Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott who has gone above and beyond the call of duty to dedicate all of his manpower to bring to justice Phelps on a minor change or possession.

Joaquin Phoenix Strange Interview

I just watched this extremely strange clip of Joaquin Phoenix on David Letterman. It's so strange that the only thing I can think of is that he must be high on something or suffering some serious mental issues. What happened?

Update: Link changed from YouTube to NBC since it had been removed for copyright reasons.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

That's What It's All About

We used to live in new, large colonial home in northern Virginia. Four years ago, we left our beautiful home to move into a little apartment within the city that was less than a third of the size we were used to. My question is, which was better?

Our culture has taught us that more is better. That bigger, more modern and more sophisticated is better. I believe these ideas are inherently fallacious.

What does life mean? What kind of life do we want to have lived? These are questions that we all must, or at least should, ask ourselves. Each persons answer will be different so I am not saying everyone should leave the burbs. However, it is obvious to me that our culture is telling us to live a fundamentally unfulfilling lifestyle. We focus on things over people and relationships. We begin to define fun by acquiring/owning/having something rather than by doing something.

What makes me happy:

• Really knowing and connecting with people,
• Going to bed happy that I am someone that I can respect (it really doesn't matter if anyone else does),
• That brief moment with someone new when you feel that you've really connected even if it was only for a few minutes,
• Playing tennis or biking or basketball,
• Learning new things,
• Doing something good that improves the world in some small way,
• Bringing a smile to someone's face,
• Learning languages,
• Traveling to far away places and spending enough time to really get to know the place and its people,
• Helping others, and
• Anything that includes the BF.

Andrew you're bad!

Saturday Fun

This Saturday there was a party out at a couple's home in Maryland. They host periodic parties in their home. In the summer the parties start earlier with lots of beautiful naked men having fun by the pool and eating barbecue. During the colder months, the parties occur in their basement where they have a bigger and more professional setup than most commercial bars. The place is perfect for these parties.

With about 80 RSVP'd people, turnout was good. There was as much fun to be had as one could hope for, but that's not why I enjoyed it so much. I love the ambiance. I love it when people are open and accepting and engaged. Perhaps places where anything can happen brings out such openness, or perhaps it only attracts that are already open. Either way, I love it.

When I meet people, I often smile and ask "can I have a hug", then give them my most sincere, big hug. Why do I do this? Because we've all learned how to protect ourselves from the outside world too well, and a hug is one of the few socially accepted ways of piercing that veil ever so slightly. For me, it is my way of non-sexually inviting others into my space with warmth and acceptance.

Yesterday's party was great, because I hugged so many. Of course I don't just mean hugged, but sat with them and talked. Commiserated about the bad and laughed at the good. Last night I probably met about 20 new people or more. But more importantly I spent quality time in which we shared a little of ourselves together without about 7 or 8 people.

• I remember the young, very thin black guy (~24 y/o). I watched him over the course of the evening go from shy and fully clothed to stark naked. I remember his beautiful lips as we kissed goodbye.


• I remember the guy who has lived in various parts of South America and Europe for extended periods of time. We talked a lot in Spanish and discussed various aspects of Latin American as well as Spanish (from Spain) culture.


• I remember talking to the two who come in from Philadelphia and Wilmington. I had seen around several times before.

This is what I love about nudism: the openness it inspires in each of us.

Barcelona

Un amigo nuevo me ha mandando esté poema de Barcelona...

Es la que sueña despierta, ama y se deja querer,
tan mujer y tan hermosa, de ahí le viene su poder!

Ella tiene poder,
Ella tiene poder,
Barcelona es poderosa, Barcelona tiene poder,

Su paseo de Gràcia, es su poder!
Los niños que lloran, es su poder!
su justa palabra, es su poder!
y la flor de la rambla, es su poder!

Tennis

Today was my second day back on the court after taking a 2 month break. I'm still not playing very well, but that'll take probably a month before I get back up to a decent level. My timings not quite right, not quite moving as I should, sucking wind and battling two blisters. I said all that to say how much pure fun playing is and how happy I am to be playing again. I'll be playing every day that the temperature ventures near 50 degrees.

Read a Book

This is one of the most negatively produced positive videos I've seen. I have no idea what to make of it.

Warning, the video has a lot of racially objectionable language.



The creators of the video defend their work here. Really not sure what I think. On thing that bothers me is the use of the word 'Nigger' (no, I won't say N-word) when it's done by either whites or blacks. It is a term whose only purpose was to denigrate. Even when used between blacks today, I think it retains a little of the "separateness" that the original term implied... and we all no that separate but equal is not equal.

Curiosity, tell me what you think of the word 'nigger' when used between black people?

Barcelona Planning (Update)

So I've ditched the apartment I was looking at Barcelonetta only because the agency that is renting it has a lot of mixed reviews on the Internet. I was really looking forward to being so close to the beach, but oh well. Oh... and thanks for the nude, Barcelonian buddy that contacted me to let me know that Barcelonetta is totally safe.

Below are some pictures from the newest place I'm looking at. It is a really smalling studio apartment being only about 240 sq ft. But it seems perfect from me. It has Internet, which is critical since I plan to work remotely part-time while there. It also has a private bath, double bed/futon, washing machine, stove top, pots, pans, linen and a TV (Catalan TV basically plans hardcore porn after 11pm).

So far I've contacted the agency renting the apartment twice and they responded quickly and really answered my questions, which is a good sign. The other place never even responded. My final step is to figure out how to increase my confidence in the company. Their website is at http://www.barcelona-home.com/ so once again, if anyone knows anything, let me know.

So here are the plans while there:

• Take morning language classes at Don Quiote from 8 to 4 each day
• Work from 1 to 5 in the afternoon each day
• Spend lots of time at Mar Bella, which is the nude beach. The last time I was in BCN was during the fall months, so I never got to experience the beaches.
• Favorite bar: Dietrich
• Favorite disco dance club: Metro although i really want to try some of the Arena discos this time (Update: Ever since I first visited, I keep calling dance clubs discos because that's how they refer to them)
• I want to spend at least one weekend down in Sitges
• I also wouldn't mind traveling by rail for another weekend somewhere. Perhaps Madrid, Vallencia or even Cap d'Agde although that's a little bit of a hike. Maybe even taking the ferry to Ibiza for a weekend would be nice.

Question: If you know of a place that you'd recommend or an event that I should do, please let me know.

Wide angle lens view of the studio apartment. You can't quite see this from here, but the table abuts a wall that sticks out. Behind this wall is the kitchen.

Kitchen contains: refrigerator, microwave, sink, stove, washing machine and cutlery.

Private bathroom contains a shower.

Shared terrace. Think I dare go nude here?

Street view. Born is a couple neighborhoods over from Las Ramblas. It's pretty convenient to the beach, the Don Quiote, Eixample (gay area) and metro.

Inappropriate Palin Joke

I felt really good about myself until I insensitively laughed at this joke when someone told it to me last night.

Thoughts on Stimulus and the Financial Crisis

Have you ever noticed how people try to spin things when they have an agenda? A common phrase touted by the Republicans as they oppose the stimulus package has been, "borrowing got us into this mess so how do we think more borrowing will get us?"

First let me say what I agree with. Yes, our debt is crippling. Yes, we as a nation and as individuals live beyond our means because it is unsustainable.

But this is not what caused the financial crisis. The crisis was caused by:

• Unregulated greed. Greed is one of the greatest inspirers of innovation. But we need rules to ensure that everyone plays on a level playing field.
• Imbalanced risk versus rewards. If the same person or entity that benefits from a good decision will also suffer the consequences of a bad decision, by an large, that entity does a better job at considering the risk. In the current crisis, we had mortgage brokers who got money for making loans, but suffered no consequence if they wrote a loan to someone they knew couldn't pay. The banks didn't care as long as they thought they could sell the load on the secondary market to Fannie and Freddie.

So what should we do about the current crisis. I believe we gotta come big. I believe the risk of doing too little far outweighs the risks of doing too little. I believe most people mistakenly believe that life will continue only because it has done so for their whole lives. I believe that major changes can and do happen. All great empires wane and at some point, so too will America at some point. This crisis has the signs of a cataclysmic event that could greatly change the world and our place in it, so the risks are too great. Is the Democratic plan the right one? Honestly I have no idea and don't believe that anyone really knows. Even the world class economists are just providing educated guesses based on classroom "schools of thought".

However, once the crisis is averted (fingers crossed), we must address the deficit. And I hate to say it, but we can't do that by just reducing pork/earmarks. Pork just makes up too little of the budget to make a dent. We must address, restructure or reduce:

• Social Security,
• Medicare, and
• Defense.

Without talking these three, talks about balancing the budget are meaningless.

Naked Coctails - RIP

Well, it's official... one of the areas most reliable, repeating gay, nude activities has come an end. The bi-monthly, Saturday afternoon, nude cocktail party at a local bar is no more. It was my first introduction to nudity after returning from Barcelona and I've talked about here, here, here, here, here and here.

I've always wondered how the bar managed to hold this even given the DC's strict liquor license rules. Although I do think this played a minor part, strangely enough I believe what doomed the long-running event was a fear that patrons could be fined and/or arrested. This made no sense to me, so I looked it up in both the DC Penal Code and Alcoholic Beverage Control Regulation.

DC Penal Code section §22-1312 talks about "lewd, indecent or obscene acts." Upon further investigation, this pertains to exposing oneself in public as well as sex acts. The naked cocktails had a doorman and access was restricted to registered members of the group.

ABRA has many statements regarding nude performers and dancers, but nothing on nude patrons. It has nothing requiring certain articles of clothing except for performers. If you're a geek like me, read it and note the following:

• Chapter 8 entitled "Enforcement, Infractions and Penalties" only applies to liquor sellers, not patrons.


• Search for key words: "nud*", "cloth*", penis, pubic, naked and other related words. All references are explicitly tied to performers or dancers


• Read Chapter 7 entitled "Standards of Operation" in full.


• Read Chapter 10 entitled "Limitations on Consumers" in full. Interesting note for future use: § 25-1009 says you can get a $300 fine for drinking and operating a horse-drawn carriage.

So the only patron-related ramifications are the in the Penal Code and are only enforceable if there is a reasonable expectation that it will be seen by the public.

Ironically, I always thought the bar was on somewhat shaky grounds, but in the end it was the fear generated by rumors of the groups members that ultimately caused the event's downfall.

The event ran at times monthly and at other times bi-monthly for 5 1/2 years. I am happy to have been a part of it for exactly one year. Rest in peace naked cocktails, we'll miss you.

Update: Upon subsequent reflection, I think my tenor might have been slightly misleading. DC still has a good amount of activities for gay nudists like myself. In fact, one member has already invited some to an alternative get-together and another has volunteered to host it in the future. My lament is that I appreciated the routine-ness of the event that I fear will likely be lost. The notion of doing something so normal as standing in a bar, but nude. The idea is that even if no one makes any specific plans, even if there's nothing going on, every other Saturday there was naked cocktails.

Male Blog

I've been asked to participate in a blog named Male. The premise is a variety of perspectives and thoughts from various bloggers on various topics related to our life journeys and what it means to be male.

Feel free to stop by and check it out.

How Stupid Are We

This is absolute insanity. It's weed! Not murder! It kills less people than either alcohol or tobacco and much less addictive than either. Give the guy a break. If this is the worst thing Michael Phelps has done in his life, then he truly should be role model.

I Love Toasters

Palinacins

This is sad, but I guess predictable. As the Republicans try to chart there course out of the wilderness, we have their new (and first black) chair of the RNC basically playing partisan ball by exhorting his members to resist everything Obama. I guess that shouldn't be too much of a surprise since the party chairmen are always hyper-partisan by nature of the position.

But this article is even worst. It suggests that the Republicans constituents still standing are those that were most ardent in the support for Bush and everything red. They are the ones that believe that they lost because they weren't hardcore enough. And they have spoken, and the name of their future is Palin. Sad, but I guess its part of the necessary stages of grief that they must go through.

Barcelona

A while ago, I decided that I would be taking another extended trip to my favorite city. I've cleared it with the BF and the job. I'll be going to BCN for 5 weeks in June and July. The BF is still trying to decide if he'll join me for the final week. I'll be continuing my language immersion classes for 4 hours a day and working my job remotely. I'm thinking to rent an apartment short-term that has Internet.

After lots of research into apartments, one of my final location picks is Barcelonetta. It is a very strange place very near to the nude, gay beach. Of course, there are no real nude beaches in Spain since nudity is technically legal everywhere as long as you don't create a scene. Hmm, I might have to think of ways to exploit this...

Barcelonetta is a little scary though. The streets are incredibly narrow and lined with 10 story buildings with the days laundry strung between them. It probably only seems scary because the building seem so close in. It's not like El Barri Gotic or El Rival, whose streets are left over from midevil times. These streets are actually in very straight grid format. Since I was in BCN in 2007 for a good while, I definitely know of some neighborhoods that I don't want to live, but am not quite sure about Barcelonetta. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE IF ANYONE KNOWS ANYTHING ABOUT SAFETY IN BARCELONETTA, LET ME KNOW. The only other place with holiday apartments in my price range was close to Placa Espanyol. Although PE is only a couple of metro stops away from the city center, it's not walking distance to anything I'm interested in... well except the clay tennis courts at Monjuic.

A friend that I haven't seen in about 7 years contact me last week and invited me to join him in Nicaragua in June where he owns beach-front property near a small town. I'm kinda tempted to go there for a week, before going to BCN, but I really haven't seen him in forever and he is a little... er... unorthodox. I'd probably feel better about it if we met up and re-established our friendship first, but he lives in Philly and I'm in the process of buying plane tickets. It would probably be fun though.

Incoherent Blatherings About Boring Stuff

Today was a great day. It just felt great. The temperature got up to an unseasonable 60 degrees and the BF and I started the day by going out to a local diner for breakfast. Later, I decided to break my 2 month tennis hiatus a little earlier than planned. I went out and hit for about an hour and a half. Of course I was pretty rusty, but what really shocked me was that I was way more winded that I thought I should've been. Wow, how fast I can get out of shape!

Later the BF and I went to Results to work out. I'm pretty even keeled emotionally, but I've noticed that strenuous, physical exercise always has a positive impact on my demeanor. I felt great. I sure hope my tennis elbow doesn't return so that I can start playing regularly again.

Last night I got a call from Kitty. Kitty is a mixed-race black guy (yes, he's a guy), and he wanted to meet up for an early dinner at CPK. The BF and I met up with him and his best friend D. D is supposedly straight and I actually believe him even if he seems more gay than most gay guys do. I think he's probably mostly straight with a little sugar added for good measure. D had changed his hair style to a mohawk and was looking way better than I had remembered.

After dinner we all went back to our place for drinks and conversation and in-between watched the Lost marathon playing on G4. I had never watched this channel and found their channel promotional spots pretty funny and slightly disturbing. The pop-up chat room was also a little weird since it always pops up just when you're really getting into the show. Later we all took out my extensive sexy underwear collection and played dress-up because Kitty told us that he had never wore a thong. D was walking around in a yellow jockstrap and a straw hat and looked hilarious. It was a fun night.

Friday night I had invited a different 20-something friend to join us a Cobalt. He pretty much acted like an ass from the moment he walked in and committed one of my cardinal sins, which is being rude to a good friend of mine. The fact that he was rude to a friend is beside the point, I just have a problem with people that don't consider others enough to treat them as a living being. I winded up kind of letting him sulk in a corner for a while, until he finally decided he would engage and pulled me upstairs. Not going into details, but as I thought about it the following day, I appreciated his behavior even much less. I actually did have a good time, mainly because I left him to sulk alone for a while. Later that night we ate and went to JRs, where I had a really good time talking with Jack. He's such a cute sweetie so I always enjoy talking with him.

I fear that the local nude scene seems to have slacked a little recently. I hope that it's just be the weather. The bi-weekly cocktail party may be in danger. Currently I think there's one scheduled for next Saturday, so I guess we'll find out then how's it going. The last party was a little dampened because the establishment were it is held have some business licensing fears and clamped down on physical contact. I understand the no sex or sex acts rules, but they pretty much stopped all contact below the nipples. One of the things that I love about all male nudity is the openness and lack of hangups, but this is severely dampened if you have to be more guarded nude than you would've been in a normal clothed gay setting. Oh well. It was hard for me to relax in that atmosphere, but after a while I did and actually enjoyed it.

Lastly back to tennis, I loved Nadal's win at the Australian open. I just can't get enough of him. I always route against Federer, but it was really kind of hard watching him cry like that. I really felt for him.

So What!

For the record, I have nothing against marijuana, but don't smoke it and except for twice in my many years, never have.

That said, I wanted to comment on an article that I came across that talks about a picture that surfaced of Michael Phelps smoking marijuana using a bong.

1. He's just a kid. I don't mean this in a bad way. I mean of course he's not perfect and bound to have done at least a few dumb things. So what?
2. Besides, our irrational attitudes toward marijuana make no sense anyway. Look at the scientific evidence. Drinking and smoking are much worse in just about every way you can imagine. Sure some may argue it's a "gateway" drug, but I'd say that alcohol is much, much more so.

Huh?

I have a personal philosophy that everything we do SHOULD promote our life aspirations. These include our careers and relationships, but also simple things like having fun and feeling fulfilled.

So in that light, I just can't understand what Blagojevich is doing. It made no sense before, but it even makes no sense to me now. Now that he's been impeached, and banned from ever holding public office in Illinois again (didn't even know they could do that one), what is he trying to achieve with his media blitz? Perhaps the answer is simple, and just a matter of ego. But whether he's guilty or not, he's not helping himself any. Maybe there's something I'm not seeing here, but I can't help but question someone's mental state when the consistently do things that clearly causes no good to anyone and pain to themselves.

When Will They Learn

Update: Chip Saltsman has officially pulled out of the race for the RNCC Chair.

The Republicans are currently picking their next party chairperson. It came out sometime around Christmas that one of their party chair candidates distributed a CD mocking minorities with songs such as "Barak the magic negro" and "the star spanglish banner." Here is an article rehashing some of the old debate.

Now, I'm sure these were intended as just jokes, but it reflects the inherent callousness and disregard that the leadership has for minorities. We've become pawns in a political game in which we are clearly deemed as on the other side. Because of this, considerations for us as humans with dignity and respect are put aside for political gain... or even just a laugh.

No, contrary to what many tell me, they are not evil. In fact, they are no more corrupt or evil than are Democrats. Unfortunately, partisanship causes all groups to often ardently back positions if for no other reason than to distinguish themselves from the "others". But we need them and we need them healthy. We need them because unchecked power ALWAYS get abused. We need them to make the Democrats better.

Blatherings

Well it's about this time of year when I start to forget what warm weather ever felt like. Gone are the days of frolicking naked in a nearby pool or sunning by the beach. I'm so looking forward to warmer times and upcoming trip to Gran Canaria.

Having only been doing the nude thing for a year now, I may not be an expert, but it seems as if DC has taken a turn for the worst. There just seems to be less festive activities and most of the groups seem to be faltering in one way or another. I think that's a shame, but maybe it's just the winter blues for the groups too.

I did go to a party hosted by the men of color, area nudist group with the BF. We also took a new 23 y/o friend that we recently met along with us who seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. About 45 very good-looking guys showed up and we had a really good time. The party started with some light food and a lot of good social mingling. Later in the night it turned decidedly friskier, but not quite like an all-out sex party.

I've put on a couple of pounds since I decided to take some time off from playing tennis 4 times per week. Some of this is good since I've been trying to gain some muscle in the gym, but I am pining for some warmer weather where I start playing again.

24 Sucks

I am trying watch tonight's episode of 24 and frankly, after being a fan for so long, I can hardly even watch it. How did they go so wrong so fast. It's soooo bad!

So what's wrong with it? Let me count the ways:

1. The whole United States is held hostage by, not even an African dictator, but an African dictator wannabe.
2. This wannabe is in the US. He comes and leaves at will.
3. All of the Americans are helping the wannabe, saying "yes sir", "nor sir", "right way we'll help you kill 10,000 Americans sir."
4. I have no idea how they can get 2 planes to collide in mid-air so easily, but boy these terrorists are good!
5. Oh yeah, for some reason the device in all commercial airliners that warn them of an impending mid-air collision doesn't seem to be working. Oh well.
6. Did you know that there's a website to cause a thermal nuclear reactor to melt down? That's the only way I can see that this CIP device can remotely gain access to all of these internal networks.
7. Er... unplug the firewall dumb-assess!

Honestly, I'm just getting started. There's so much other complete and utter bullshit, but what's the point? I can't believe that with a set full of adults someone doesn't say, "er... excuse me... director guy... this craps makes absolutely no sense."

My First Obama Criticism

So I've been very pleased with his quick actions that have immediately set a new tone in Washington. However, I have to point out that providing an exemption to his own, newly enhanced lobbyist ethics rules seems like a really bad idea.

Republicans First Steps Toward Recovery

This article about the Republican's selecting the next chair for the RNCC shows that the republicans at least realize that something is wrong. The evidence is that all the candidates are touting how they'll do the best job of attracting minorities. There are even two black candidates in the running.

Of course the problem is that it is just a knee-jerk reaction, at least for now. Thus, it becomes a shallow proxy for true inclusiveness. Nonetheless, recovery always starts with admitting that you have a problem. The coming years (or perhaps decade) will make it clearer that they must become more attractive to minorities and accepting of gays, not out of moral revelation, but rather through changing demographic realities.

Still, it's good to see a baby take its first steps.

Lull

It's been a while since I've last posted, but my brain still runs rampant. I've noticed something recently that has somehow escaped me until now. During the past few weeks I've been completely taken aback by the number of people that have spoken to me about being sad or depressed. Some were friends, others acquaintances while others complete strangers.

I wondered how I had missed such feelings in others for so long when it finally hit me. It was no accident that it all happened around the holiday season. I always feel so helpless and hurt when I see someone else hurting. It pains me when I know that I cannot fix everything and bring the smiles back. All I can do is listen because that is something that we all need now and then.

Blagojevich and Burris

Everyone's making such a stink about Blagojevich's appointment of Burris to represent Illinois in the senate, however I think that perhaps my perspective is slightly different.

1. First, I believe that Blagojevich is a disgrace. I qualify this only slightly because I (nor many others for that matter) have really seen the supposed evidence against him. Often things aren't what they seem which is why our country deems us innocent until proven guilty. That said, it sure doesn't look good at all.

2. Even if he is innocent he should have resigned. The nation as well as Illinois is in a financial meltdown. States are operating in crisis mode to balance their budgets since they are unable to raise and/or print new money like the federal government. These times call for an effective leader. Even if we give Blagojevich the benefit of the doubt, there is still no doubt that he has become completely ineffective as governor.

However...

Until he resigns or is legally removed, he does remain the democratically, elected governor of Illinois with all of the responsibilities and authorities that that implies. Illinois law (and perhaps it's constitution) states that he can make this appointment. Illinois' elected representatives wrote the law that granted the governor the ability to make this appointment and the citizens of Illinois elected its governor. So although I'm totally with the current impeachment proceedings and genuinely hope they work and work fast, it seems somehow perverse for the senate Democrats to decide not to seat someone legally selected to represent the people of their state.

I mean think of it... whatever precedent that they might set for refusing to seat Burris could also be used for not seating someone else deemed to "radical" or "unfit" in some other way. Of course the problem with these words is that they are so subjective. Too radical or unfit according to who? One could always come up with such a justification to bar the people's representatives because we don't like their politics.

I actually hope they find a true way (not a technicality) to not seat Burris, however, I hope that they don't trample on the rule of law and the concepts of Democratic representation in the process.

Postscript: References by Burris and others to race has been absolutely not just distasteful but despicable. If it's a bad idea for Blago to seat someone does it become ok if that person is Black? Hell no!

The Ugly Truth About Sex

I came across this article today about how teenagers who take a pledge not to have sex before marriage engage in sex at the same rate as those that don't take such a pledge. This is not a new study, but rather a re-interpretation of a study done within the past couple of years that I can still remember reading about. If I remember correctly, the original study did say that pledged teenagers engaged in sex only slightly less. For context, understand that my fundamentalist upbringing makes be believe that many such pledges occur within a religious context.



But there is a hidden story here. What this tells me is that teenagers desire to abstain from sex will have little impact on their actual ability to have sex. It means that evolutionary-developed drive to copulate is stronger than the will of most.

Alternate Realities

I have no idea what's going on. Either Obama has become completely unglued or Pat Robertson has come completely off the rails because something in the universe just ain't right.

Recall that I come from a fundamentalist background. I went to Jerry Falwell's school so I you'll understand that I am completely perplexed that Robertson states:

• Wants the TARP money used to help consumers/homeowners.
• Calls Bush's handling of several matters including Iraq, Katrina and the economy "terrible" and "unprofessional".
• Says Obama "has the makings of a great president" (qualified by if he continues down his current, middle of the road course).

Now I'll admit that I have been doing some mind-blowing, geeky reading on Quantum Physics and String Theory recently so it is completely possible that I've just been sucked into an alternate universe.

Salem

Recall the witch trials of Salem, Massachusetts. To me this represents a natural inclination within us to eschew that which is different. For group-think to take over. When people are not like us, they become less human. With the loss of their perceived humanity then follows our loss of empathy for them. And yet civilization continues its march. Civilization has required of us extraordinary concessions. Each concession comes as an attempt to allow one to live with the implicit compact that we will be allowed to do the same. The very nature of this compact is that civilization forces us to get to know each other more and more until ultimately the witch is accepted as our next door neighbor.

This is the lens with which I look back to the legacy of slavery and the Jim Crow era. It is by no chance that the developed world has ended slavery just as we have made huge reforms in other areas such as gender-biases, freedom of religion and place of origin.

Which brings me to my point...

The Republicans built their modern-day alignment based on a reaction to the 1960s civil rights movement. It seeked to gain from the fears of "otherness" for electoral gain. Unfortunately, whether by commission or omission, this sentiment remains deeply entrenched in party today. It is no accident that most minorities in this country are Democrats.

And yet I hate this. I hate that my only choice is to either vote Democrat or to vote against my own self-dignity. I wish there was true choice and healthy competition out there in this regard.

But there is hope. It lies in the Republican's shrinking base. As the electorate becomes more composed of the young, which are more knowledged and accepting of differences and minorities, the Republicans will be forced to change. I welcome and look forward to this day. Even now, every few days I peruse Republican Internet sites in search of signs of change. Fortunately there is some chatter on this topic, not yet enough to trigger the change that is needed and ultimately unavoidable. Eventually, we realize that they're not witches. And even if they are... so what.

Postscript: Although I've phrased this as primarily about race, it really about "otherness", which include sexual orientation and other religions. Someday, when the party is less-based upon whom they hate and/or disregard, the Republican party will serve this country better.

Money Isn't Everything

Preferred method of remittance is Paypal. Oh yeah... and say some hail Marys or something.

Asshole

There's nothing I hate more than an asshole. Not the literal kind of course. I can handle people's oddities. I can deal with weirdos. I can sit down with the down-and-out, but I just can't take assholes. For my purposes, an asshole is defined as someone that needlessly, purposely or recklessly causes harm to another. I hate people that mistreat others or talks bad about others.

I say all this because I came across this article today that gives the latest on a former, local judge that definitely deserves to be in the running of the asshole of the year award. This judge sued a local dry cleaners for $54 million because he claims that they lost his pants. The dry cleaner had his pants, but even if they weren't his as he claimed, the cleaner's offer to replace them was declined so that the judge could start a dumbest of all law suites.

Here we are 3 years later and the judge (who subsequently last his job as a judge) is appealing yet again and threatening to go to the Supreme Court. The owners cleaners have had to close 2 stores and lost most of their savings just defending themselves.

Now I'm always one to understand that there are always 2 sides to every story. So event 'til today I continue to read the story, searching for some unseen insight that motivates the asshole. I haven't found anything other than... that he's an asshole. Somewhat in his defense, I'm wouldn't be surprised if the dry cleaners mistreated him when he made his initial complaint, but do you decide that this has gone too far? When do you stop wasting my hard-earned taxes to continue this charade?

Post Script: The man pictured in the picture is poor schmo that just happened to be standing when the photo was snapped and not the referenced asshole.

Ah the Smell of Adams Morgan

I wondered what that rancid odor was that I would smell walking though Adams Morgan this fall season. Mystery now solved. It turns out the be the fruit of female Ginkgo trees. They kind of look like large chestnut/grape -shaped things that fall from the trees. They don't seem to start smelling until someone steps on them and opens them up. The smell is astounding in its power. I wish it smelled like crushed rose petals, but no such luck. It actually smells more like used baby diapers.

Despair

Last night the BF and I went out to Woof, dinner, then Omega. At Omega I met a guy who immigrated from an Islamic country. When he entered the bar he walked directly up to me and told me how "sexy" my shirt was to start conversation. Of course I told him pretty early on that I had the BF.

He's a very good-looking guy, likely to be somewhere around 30 years old. He told me how he only likes black men. He said his first gay experience was with black men and that he's only ever dated black men since. He told me how he had recently just came out ending his prior period of furtive encounters. Remember that the stigma in his part of the world is far greater than it is here. Since coming out he has lost (a) his wife to divorce, (b) his kids to his wife, (c) his house to his kids, (c) parents, (d) grandparents, (e) 58 cousins, (f) job although I didn't quite understand this one and more.

He says that he's given up everything for "one, good, black man". Of course this isn't true. He gave up everything to stop living a lie, nonetheless the desperation and longing of the conversation deeply touched me. There are people that search for their soulmate for their entire life and he's only been out for 2 months. He told me that he's not looking for a big dick, a good fuck, or a one-night stand. Rather, he repeated over and over that he just wants one, good, black man. He even talked about abandoning his religion and being cremated upon his death. I wonder how long it'll be before he gives in to his familial loss and declare himself straight once more.

The saddest thing of all is that it is really difficult to find just one, good, black guy. No... not because he's black, but rather because he's gay. I know that the impacts of culture upon us are grossly understated. It is what makes some blacks internalize inferiority as much as the most ardent racist. It's because they're both watching the same TV shows, movies and reading the same magazines. Well, the same holds true for us gays. We've all grown up in a society that tells us that we are less, inferior and possibly even worthless. Some of us have confronted this and have largely overcome this self-hatred, but many more are still mired neck-deep in it. This is what makes us generally not husband material. That most of us have been more or less damaged by the very society that should have nurtured us.

Fortunately, there are good men out there though. I only hope that my friend finds one. I hope that he is mentally and emotionally ready when he does.

Sexual Racism

I came across a link to a website speaking about sexual racism today and found it to be pretty well-done. I tend not to judge others sexual proclivities since I believe that they can be so complicated that often even we don't even understand why we like what we like. But this site moved my thinking on the issue a little. Perhaps there is something a little perverse about cutting off others even before we've even said "hi". Granted, the online sites that the article speaks tend not to be for casual chit-chat, but still.

Sex and racism aside, I've always greatly believed in the basic principle that positivity is more powerful than negativity. Unfortunately the power in negativity is immediate, so we often think of it as stronger, but positivity tends to alter our mood, our mindset, our happiness and the happiness of those around us. It makes us more likable and attractive. These are more subtle, but stronger. Being positive doesn't mean that we must be pushovers either. I firmly believe that we can ask for what we want and be firm, yet in the nicest way.

Nudism Update

It has been now approximately one year since I first stumbled upon my first nude event and nearly 10 months since my first became active in DC. Having just gotten home from Key West, I thought this would be a good time to reflect on how my views, understanding and general feelings have evolved over this past year.

As the BF and I sat on the couch and reflected on our vacation we also thought of our other getaways that we've had this year. Now I should say that we've always enjoyed our vacations even in prior years, but this year's vacations seemed to be especially enjoyable to us both.

The answer is really nothing new. It's the warmth of the people. You can stand in a regular bar and maybe the average person might talk to 2 or 3 or so people that they didn't already know. But if that same person was naked in the same bar surrounded with other naked men, he'd likely meet 20 to 30. Perhaps nudism just doesn't attract people that want to hide. Perhaps we just can't take ourselves quite too seriously as we stand there in our nakedness looking positively silly. If you can, try to recall having fun and playing when your an 8 year old kid. Remember the silliness and yet the absolute, true and simple fun that could come from almost anywhere at anytime. Somehow I believe that being naked kind of causes to regress into this state, but totally in a good way. It's just plain fun... well... and sexy, but I guess that's where the the 8 y/o analogy falls apart.

I find that most of us long for a sense of connectedness and a feeling of belonging. We want to be able to simply "be" while still being accepted and not judged. The irony of course is that the very things that we do to achieve these ends are those things that isolate us most. For example, to be accepted we try to be cool. Of course, this immediately alienates anyone that isn't as cool as we are. And even in the circles that have bought into our engineered coolness, there is the stress of maintaining appearances such that we hide behind our cool clothing/hair/lingo/etc. Nudism is not magic, but makes it easier to dispense with such things.

On occasion people have asked me if I am a nudist. I have trouble answering this not because I care what they think about it, but because the word seems to mean so much to so many. I mean, I don't have a political agenda. I don't necessarily think its practical for our society to completely dispense with clothing. And yet I do love being naked. I love being with others that are naked. Although I accept that we will forever live in a clothed society, I believe that our culture could benefit from a little more of the body-acceptance that nudism promotes. Oh yeah... and it's just simply fun.

Does that make me a nudist?