Burning Man 2011

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.

IMEN

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.

Boston and Vermont, Ctd

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. 

 

Boston and Vermont

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!

The Woods Campground

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.

Whatsa Nudist?

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

1. Nudism don't have sex.

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

3. Nudists are always naked when at home.

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

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

Useless, so let's move on...

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

Palm Springs

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

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

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

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

Naked Happenings

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Nudity and Sex

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

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

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.

Indiscreet

Pictures

Random Pictures

A Picture and a Story

The following set of pictures were taken at my former home in Northern Virginia. We rent it out so when the last set of renters left, we went there several times to do the kinds of things that one does before re-renting. I can never figure out how it happens, but as usual I somehow winded up with my clothes off.

Burning Man

I've always heard of Burning Man and wanted to go. The past 5 years of my life I've forced myself wish less and do more so I really considered going in 2010. That said it seems like such a daunting task because:

• The GNI Naked Gathering is the week prior so I'll already be out of work and vacationing for a week prior to Burning Man. The biggest issue however is rushing to get back to DC, get all my stuff in order and fly out west the very next day.
• Since you have to take everything you need with you, I'd have to bring all my food, clothing and 12 gallons of water. How do I even carry 12 gallons of water without a car?
• I like the idea of 'surviving' the wild, but let's face it I'm a native-NYC boy. Now I went camping as a boy on several occasions but I'd feel much better doing such a large thing like this with someone else for support.

For these reasons I'm beginning to doubt whether I'll be going next year. This wouldn't be too terrible since I have a friend in Baton Rouge that has been trying to get me down to New Orleans for Southern Decadence during that same weekend. Besides, New Orleans wouldn't be bad at all since every time I've been with him has always been tremendously fun in the absolute worst kind of way.

Return of Super Nekkid Saturday

Super nekkid Saturday are those weekends when multiple nude parties occur on the same day. Of course I love the chance to bare all for (nearly) the entire day. I've written about prior super nekkid Saturdays here and here.

This particular Saturday started with us going to a baby shower. A gay couple that are friends of ours have been working to adopt/surrogate for at least over a year now. Well, just about a month ago their baby girl was born and she's is absolutely adorable. The funny thing is in all of their pictures they look completely haggard and utterly frightened. That said, I think gay couples are generally way more prepared for children then straight couples because they have to work at it so long and hard. All I'm saying is generally speaking most gay couples don't have "accidents".

After the shower was the naked cocktails. I can say how glad I am that these monthly events have returned to DC. Once again we had about 100 naked guys there on a Saturday afternoon. Anyone who's ever thinking of participating in a naked event, but is feeling apprehensive, this is a great event to come to.

Directly from naked cocktails we went to a naked holiday party hosted by one of the members up in southern Maryland. He has a terrific place nicely on a nicely secluded lot. About 100 guys showed up there too. I've been to two other parties that he's hosted before, but they were typically smaller parties of 30 or so where he only invited people he knew. This party was open to the full membership of one of the local nudist groups. There was light food, a great selection of wines, beers and spirits. Have I mentioned the naked men?

Why do I love being naked with others so much? Well, aside from the obvious reasons I'd like to share a message that was posted on the message board of one of the nudist groups I belong to (identity removed). This was submitted in response to an open question regarding the gay communities tendency to treat each other harshly based on appearance or perceived worth or lack there of. Here's the response:

It's a funny thing about looks and how people judge us. I'm not a horrible looking guy. But I'm certainly not great looking. Am also 45, hairy and about 50 pounds overweight. Have I encountered rejection in clothed social situations? YES. Many times. I do feel I look better clothed than naked.


In clothes free situations, I experience rejection far less. This is true of a variety of clothes free groups. Why? Have no idea.

My sentiments exactly. At both of the parties as well as in Key West and every other naked party everyone intermingles far more than I see at almost any other open gathering of people. The young with the old, the trim with the rotund. This is community at its best.

Weekend Wrap Up

This weekend felt like old times. On Friday I just hung out with a good friend of mine at the Eagle. At his suggestion we stripped down to our jockstraps (what a coincidence that we both were wearing one) and just talked for a good time. I really enjoy times like these when you can just connect with people on a personal level.

Saturday afternoon was our second naked cocktail gathering. About 112 people showed up, dwarfing the size of our first gathering last month and showing just how much people really do love this event. As normal, it was completely non-sexual. We just talked to old friends and met new ones. I had invited a Latino friend of mine that is almost 40 but still has one foot firmly in the closet due to an intense fear of his self-admitted, homophobic family. He's never had close gay friends or allowed himself a real boyfriend, but has replaced these meaningful relationships with random sex. Partly I invited him just to get him into a specifically social and non-sexual event. He was very timid in the beginning, but warmed up to the atmosphere after a little while and had a really good time.

Later we went out to a couple's house that was having a clothing-optional party and invited the group that attended the naked cocktails to join them. Given that there were several things going on that evening that I knew about, I was surprised by how many people showed up. As always, we had a fantastic time and it was a wonderful way to complete our weekend.

We're On!

Naked cocktails are back! To recap, a local group ran bi-monthly naked cocktails at a local bar, which was absolutely fabulous. I was terribly disappointed when it all abruptly ended. Recently a fellow nudist took it upon himself to help revive it at a new location. Well, this Saturday was our first event and being the first event we knew the bar would be watching to determine if they would allow us to meet again.

Well it went fantastically! There were 82 naked gay guys there. I'm sure holding on the same weekend as the Equality March didn't hurt our numbers. Everyone was on their best behavior. Thankfully, the vibe was similar to the naked cocktails of old. I was pleasantly surprised to see a few guys who attended GNI (naked camping) who were visiting from out of state.

It was just a beautiful time spent with fellow nudists in a comfortable environment. I hadn't realized just how much I had missed this event. Thanks to the guys that helped make this possible.