Folsom Pictures

Cute boy that we met there. Trust me, he's not nearly as shy as he looks. The following pics were taken down on Baker's Beach.

I love the fog-covered bridge in the background.

Needless to say, the guy to my left was gorgeous. Too bad I can't show the undoctered photo. They too were staying in my hotel. Two very cute and high boys.

Folsom Street Fair - The Return

I just have to say that this was NOT supposed to be a day worth writing about.

The BF, SW and I are on the plane, when SW tells me that he's doesn't feel well. I won't go into details, but I'll tell you that we spent the majority of the flight lying on the floor. Also of note, the flight had 5 medical doctors, a priest and and an eastern religion spiritual healer on board. Who knew?

Folsom Street Fair - Sunday Oct 28th

Today was the day that brought me here. The challenge to walk nakedly and shamelessly through the streets with clothed men and women of all ages. We left the hotel around noon, sadly, we were not yet naked. I wore just a leather jockstrap, collar, wrist bands and a harness, the BF in his hard-to-quantify-but-sexy leather briefs with matching, slutty shirt and the Social Whore in a tight leather shorts with side zippers and harness.

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I tried to convince the SW to get naked with me, but he wasn't having it. He kept saying "later." After a while, we met up with JM (the boy that we found hanging outside our door last night) and met his very cute friend David. JM, who is about as shy as I am, dropped his pants for a few minutes as we had some playful pictures taken of us together. The BF and I then returned to the hotel, which was only a block away because our camera battery was going dead. After recharging for 20 minutes, I decided I would just leave naked. We met back up with JM, SW and David and then ran into the very attractive runner from DC that went with us to Magnitude. JM joined me and got nude too. Needless to say, we got tons of attention, which I of course hated (smile). It was definitely a lot fun, walking along the street completely uninhibited and having fun.

About 5pm, we headed back to the hotel. The group included myself, the BF, JM, David, the Social Whore and a last minute beauty named Mic. It wasn't really planned, but our hotel room turned into a beautiful orgy of naked and leather-clad men. One of the hottest scenes was watching David pound the BF on the bed. Wouldn't you know it, but as I was once again laying on top of someone, who would open the hotel door and walk in... again! The Germans of course! I have no idea what they think when every time they walk into the room I'm on top of someone. We all laughed like crazy, then we all got back to business with our increased numbers.

Later that night, we went to a bar around the corner from the hotel. In keeping with the day's theme, I wore underwear with a large pouch and the leather harness, wristbands and collar. The BF and I ran into a guy we met at GNI. It was a really nice surprise to see him again. We talked and reminisced before we all returned back to the hotel together and did what we never quite accomplished together at GNI.

BTW: We stayed at the Best Western Civic Center Motor Inn. I read that it was a good place to stay and experience Folsom, but had no idea what it was like until our arrival. We were very disappointed since it was WAY over priced and didn't even have A/C! Well, now looking back at the fair in retrospect, I'm so glad we stayed there and believe it was worth every penny.

Folsom Street Fair - Saturday Oct 27th

Today, after grabbing breakfast at a nearby dive, we met up with the Germans again at North Baker's Beach. This is a nude beach located on the side of the base of the Golden Gate Bridge. Of course I had to get nude, but it took a while since I was having a lot of erectile dysfunction issues. After a really nice guy helped me contemplate cabbage (trust me it works), and further advanced my erectile management techniques by telling me all about cabbage rot (who knew!), I was able to shed my clothes. There were a lot of clothed people around, in fact the majority were clothed. We, the BF, Social Whore and the Germans took lots of very photos. All of us got naked except for the BF and the younger of the Germans.

After some site-seeing, dinner and cocktails, we headed back to the hotel to change before going to Magnitude. We left the Germans in the bar since they didn't have tickets and weren't going. We gave them a key to the room since they were to spend the night with us when we returned from the party. There was a very cute looking guy just hanging out in front of our room which was strange since it was at the end of the (outside) walkway and there were no more rooms down there. He struck up a conversation, invited himself in and proceeded to remove his shoes and socks. We were really in a hurry, but hey... did I mention that he was cute?

So as I lay there on top of JM with member still inserted, just gently relaxing and counting down the final moments of our little detour, in walked the Germans. The younger opened the door and his eyes went wide then quickly shut the door. Five seconds later, they re-entered after obviously re-considering the situation. We all laughed. I can't tell you what they must have been thinking since we had really only just met them.

The Magnitude party was incredible! The top was covered by literally thousands of half-naked, dancing men. Downstairs in the huge dungeon, everything was taking place that you could imagine. I watched as people played in slings. Of course it took only 5 minutes before my last remaining article of clothing was shed. A great looking guy did some intense playing as a large group of onlookers observed. I also vividly remember TJ, an absolutely sexy and beautiful Taiwanese guy that also removed his floral briefs. I can't tell you how good he looked strutting around stark naked so confidently.

Folsom Street Fair - Friday Oct 26th

We spent most of the day Friday checking in, touring the Castro, meeting up with a couple of German visitors that the Social Whore had made an internet contact with and finally going bar hopping before ending up a Blow Buddies.

Actually, one of the Germans is an American. He emigrated after college, so he's lived there longer than he lived in the US. It's hilarious to hear a guy with a thick German accent use such completely american phrases. The funny thing is that to us he has a distinctly German accent, but I'm sure the Germans think he sounds American. Go figure.

After going to a couple of bars, we ended up a Blow Buddies. Wednesday is nude night, but today was dress as you like... or not. When we walked in, everyone except one had at least pair of pants or a shorts on. I gather there was less nudity than usual due to all of the visitors in town. The place was packed with beautiful men of all ages. When I was getting undressed, the Social Whore asked me if I was going nude and told me that he would. So I completely disrobed. After I checked all of my clothes, he decided that he felt a little uncomfortable and would keep his pants on! The bitch owes me one big!

Anyway, it was actually fun walking around in the buff. It's actually kind of titillating to be the only nude one. As the night wore on, a lot of gorgeous guys started going around in just there the bikinis or jock straps. Definitely a fun night.

OMG!

I know your sick of the political posts, but I'm totally besides myself. What the fuck is she talking about? If you figure it out, please tell me! Lord help us...

Folsom

Tomorrow the BF, Social Whore and I all head out to San Fran for the Folsom Street Fair. If we have any balls, we'll live up to our goal of attending the fair naked. I'm thinking perhaps I'll wear some of my leather accessories since it is a leather festival after all, but obviously not enough to take away from the stark naked effect. It's a challenge only because it is not really a nude event. I expect the overwhelming majority of people there to be fully clothed including a lot of tourists just looking for something out of the ordinary. We'll see...

I just checked the whether and they're calling for low to mid 70s throughout the weekend. I'd rather it be a bit warmer, but I guess this is about as good as we could hope for in San Fran since it's almost October.

In addition to the fair, we're going to the Magnitude Dance Party as perhaps a few other events of ill-repute. If Saturday is nice enough, we'll probably be heading over to Baker's Beach for a while to work on our full-body tans because of course I need a better tan.

Anyway, wish me luck. I hope to take plenty of pictures to help document my experience and perhaps blog the experiences as they occur.

I know I've already posted this photo before, I wanted to show the leather accessories that I'll likely be wearing on Sunday.

Unbelievable

If it wasn't scary, I'd be laughing...

Obama and Palin

As many Obama supporters look upon McCain's choice of Palin as VP incredulously, the typical feedback is that they have roughly the same amount of political experience in terms of years.

I still recall when the first rumors of Obama's possible run were circulating. I remember thinking what a mistake it would be for him to jump in largely because of his inexperience. Once the race was underway, I still was not a supporter. I didn't withhold my support because of black or gay allegiance to the Clintons nor because Obama wasn't black enough as was so often repeated in the news media. I withheld my support because the office of POTUS is a serious matter and in addition to policy stances, any person I vote for must pass my internal gut test. It goes something like this... do I believe him enough to put my very life in his hands, to decide my fate, under the worst type of strain. He was still way to knew and an unknown factor for me.

Sometime around January of this year I realized that he was (a) smart, (b) astute, which is probably even more important than smartness, (c) measured, God we need some of that, and most importantly (d) I determined that I would trust him with my life and country.

So now, onto Palin. I have to admit, I don't like what I see so far. What bothers me is the obvious continued Chritianization of our government that she would represent. That notwithstanding, the biggest difference between Palin and Obama is that we've had 18 months to get to know Obama and absolutely no time to know Palin. Even under the best of circumstances, it is hard for me to see how she can climb the mountain to the level of trust that is required of a presidential nominee. I know she's only the VP pick, but you get the idea.

In short, I trust Obama completely because I've had time to get to know him and observe how he handles situations over an extended period of time. Sarah Palin cannot possible achieve this is 2 months, especially when she only gives prepared remarks and refuses to give press conferences.

Finally Some Sanity (Politics)

How quickly things change. Just this Monday I was speaking with a fellow and ardent Obama supporter. Normally my role is to calm him down and assure him that all is OK, but on this day I needed as much consoling as he did. It really appeared that the election was getting away from him/us. He and his partner were already seriously talking about moving to another country should McCain win. Great... so in addition to country going down the tubes I'll lose a friend at the same time.

So what the hell happened. In the course of just 3 days everything changed. Obama's back on top and the momentum is clearly in his favor. McCain, in contrast, seems completely out of sorts. It was pretty depressing to see continue McCain surge in the face of the lies, mis-representations, issue waffling and Rove-ian politics. Now, in retrospect, perhaps I didn't give the American people enough credit.

Added 9/20 at 5:58pm...

I just found this on the Internet that shows how quickly and far Palin's favorable/unfavorable ratings have fallen. It's interesting to generally look at Obama's and Biden's numbers as compared with McCain's and Palin's. Very interesting, if something does change, they're toast. Unfortunately in politics, something always changes.

Weekend in the Woods

This weekend we went to a friend's house outside of Richmond Virginia for a weekend of naked relaxation with 11 others. It was a private gathering of invited guests so we already knew almost all of the people in attendance. The weekend was perfect because frankly I like all of them and a few of them are a downright riot.

The pool was heated to near perfect 94 degrees. We spent the entire weekend listening tunes, swimming and enjoying the perfect late summer weather in the buff.

I most enjoyed getting closer to some people that I already knew. Also, another nudist from central Virginia spent the better part of Saturday with us. He was cutie of about 32 years of age and we kind of immediately hit it off. No, we didn't have sex except perhaps engaging in a little frottage. He did send me a very sweet email after the weekend was over.

Go Fuck Yourself

If the title offends then, just go f... just joking.

I presume that I am like many people in that I have always had an internal, mental picture of myself that was not represented by my outward appearance. As I result, I spent a lot of time trying to present myself in a manner that my physical attributes could never attain. OK, confession time... race aside, I've always wanted to be a twinkie, but alas, that is not my destiny.

I say this because a few years ago I realized that I would never have to fuck myself. Believe it or not, this was a major revelation. It meant that I could simultaneously embrace myself just as I am without giving up my idea of beauty. BTW: I think many types are beautiful and not just twinks. see my previous post on the subject.

Sometimes people express that they are attracted to me physically, but I never ask why. Attraction is often mysterious and trying to modify one's behavior solely to become more attractive to another, specific person can sometimes be disingenuous and counter productive. Therefore, I've learned to instead embrace who I am (physically) and seek to further myself to be the best that I can be (physically). This is far better than trying to become someone else (physically).

Would I fuck myself if we met in a bar... probably not. But the great thing is that I can now accept that while still being able to feel somewhat sexy and not doubt that there are others out there for whom I will be exactly what they were looking for. I believe that this is (physical) self-acceptance and am grateful for having learned it.

Note: If you've noticed the word "physical" inserted repeatedly it is because I have never had such issues about my character, intelligence or who I was as a person. It was only the physical aspects that once gave me pause.

Unreal Tennis

I break tennis strings way too often. I can typically play only 4 times or for about 1 week before breaking a string. My attempts to find an alternative string that feels good over this past year has so far failed miserably... until now.

On Monday, I strung my racket with Luxilon Big Bangers on the mains at 51lbs and Wilson NXTs on the crosses at 54lbs. The feeling has been unreal! I really feel like I can hit the ball as hard as I want and it will stay in no matter what. The only downside is that these strings only lasted for 2 and a half days, most likely because I've been hitting so hard.

BTW, it's not just hitting hard, but being able to do so without sacrificing consistency. On Monday I played Glen who normally plays me about equal and beat him 6-3, 6-0 and 6-2 without having a single break point against me. On Wednesday I played a guy that I usually, but not always, beat and won 6-0. He didn't even get a game point opportunity on his own serve. Tuesday was just as good, but I just practiced so there was no score to report.

After winning the set on Wednesday, the string broke. I switched to another racket strung with TNT-16s and really noticed the difference. It was like someone turned off all of the lights.

I think the Big Bangers might be aggravating my tennis elbow, so I'll be monitoring this closely. I really hope I can continue using them however because after several days it's seeming more and more obvious that it is making a big difference.

Saturday

Today we went to the naked cocktail party hosted by one of the local groups. As usual, we had a great time talking with old acquaintances and making new ones. What is so great about spending a wonderful summer day indoors inside of a dimly lit bar? Everything... especially when the bar is populated by 80 naked men. Of course the question is a little unfair since this weekend hurricane Gustav was passing through. It doesn't matter though, it would've been just as fun on a beautiful, sunny day.

At the cocktail party, there was a Latino boy that I had seen once or twice before. To say the least, he is very good looking and somewhat exotic. I believe all races have their beauty, which is great because it gives me more things to look at and appreciate. Anyway, although I had seen him once or twice, we had never spoken until this day. At that time, we only spoke briefly.

Later in the day, the BF and I attended a naked party where "situations sometimes occur" and guess who also was there. We spoke more and this time played just a little. Later in the evening, he needed to walk by me since I was blocking the walk path between a coffee table and chairs where others were sitting. Playingly, I moved further to obstruct his path and said he must give me a "besito", or little kiss, to pass. In front of 6 others, he turned me around, bent me over and rimmed me for a full minute or two. Honestly, it happened so fast that I didn't even know what to do, nor necessarily wanted to.

Straight Boys

On Memorial day a few friends and I went to JR's for cocktails. JR's is not a place that I typically have frequented, but we have gone more frequently this year primarily because a friend that I met early this year likes it there.

Anyway, on this particular day, as usual, we met several people. One of them was a black guy named G. G was about 170 pounds, 6 feet tall, perhaps 35 years old and not bad looking. Anyway, he seemed a little off from the moment we met him. He introduced himself by proclaiming how much he loves his dick (those were his exact words) and as he did so he unzipped his pants to show us. This wasn't the only such antic as he would say many other things and expose himself further. Interestingly enough, he didn't even seem drunk. He grabbed my ass several times and asked me to go to the bathroom with him for some oral. I wasn't the only one, he also whispered invitations to everyone else within a 20 foot radius.

So what makes this story stranger than the normal horned up gay boy is that he consistently and fervently proclaimed his straight-ness. In between telling me what a nice ass I have, he would tell me about how he loves pussy. Believe it or not, it was so comical that he was interesting. In the end, his pussy-chasing got him thrown out of the bar since he aggressively pursued every woman in the bar and probably said something offensive to one of them.

Naked Tennis

Another update on the wonderful week that we spent at the GNI Gathering in the Pocono Mountains. One of my nudist goals has been to play tennis naked. Well, I got my opportunity at the gathering.

Upon our arrival, we used our provided maps to tour the grounds during which we found the tennis courts. I had seen on the schedule that there was a Tennis 101 class scheduled early the following morning. I really wasn't interested in an introductory class. After breakfast the next morning, we walked over to the courts just to see what was going on. I saw the guys in the class hitting the balls. They all obviously had hit balls before, so I decided to go retrieve my racket in the hope that maybe someone would want to hit after the class finished. When I returned with my gear in hand but sans-clothes, I immediately met up with a red-head guy. As it turned out, he's one of the better players that was there that week and we immediately became tennis buddies. We played everyday except once when we both needed a break.

So if you're like me (and also haven't gotten completely bored by the topic), you're probably wondering about the obvious logistical issues of playing tennis nude.

1. The first and most obvious question was about the flopping issue. Now, I have a tendency to flop quite a bit even when playing in relatively tight boxer briefs, so I was definitely wondering about this. As it turns out, this is completely a non-issue. Yes things were flying everywhere, but I didn't slow down, stop running or jumping nor restrict myself in any other way because of fears of flopping. After playing for just a few minutes it became obvious to me why this isn't a problem. God (or nature) created us naked and optimized our bodies to be able to run, jump, hunt and a variety of other arduous activities. Our bodies were created to do this. The unnatural thing is when we wear clothing which is why it bothers me so much more when I'm wearing boxer briefs than when nude.

2. Most people that don't play regularly might not think of this, but pockets are essential in tennis. This is especially true if you have a 2-hand backhand and therefore can't just keep the extra ball in your left hand. Well my red-headed tennis buddy taught me how to overcome this my first day. When serving, I used the BF's fanny pack. Simple, easy, comfortable, problem solved.

3. When I play I sweat. So I typically use various methods to help me deal with this and ensure that my grip remains dry. Among these are wristbands and a cotton shirt on which I can wipe my hands. I wore a wristband, but wondered what I would use to wipe my hands if I didn't have a shirt on. As it turns out, this too was a non-issue. What I hadn't counted on was that we just sweat a lot less when nude. I still sweated, but much less and therefore just having a wristband was plenty enough.

I loved the feeling of naked tennis. I loved being able to look onto the next court and seeing brief moments of a beautiful male form contorting gracefully as it stretches to return a deep shot. Naked tennis was all I had hoped it would be which is basically two things I love: naked and tennis. And as a bonus, it helped me get a good amount of physical activity during my vacation.

GNI

The BF and I just returned from an absolutely wonderful, naked week in the woods of the Pocono, PA. It took quite a bit of convincing to get him to go since he never experienced how fun summer camps can be as a kid like I did. Eventually and reluctantly he agreed to go although he continued to have a lot of apprehension about what he would do for a full week with nothing to do out in the woods.

We both loved it within the first few hours of our arrival. The camp grounds are well-maintained and absolutely beautiful. There's a beautiful lake, two huge pools, sports fields, tennis courts, gymnasium, weight room, miniature golf, driving range and much, much more. Although it was crude as such places normally are, it was even better than I expected with hot and cold running water within the cabins.

The best part of the weekend without a doubt was the people. Naked people always seem to be more friendly and accepting and this weekend proved no different. I couldn't possibly count the number of great people we met. I believe some will remain very good friends for a long time to come.

Over the coming days, I hope to write about many of the things that I experienced there, but I'll start by describing the disco. The campground had a wonderful dance hall that was decorated in a Japanese motif. It wasn't until the last night that I looked around and thought that it couldn't possible look like this during the other parts of the year when the camp has its normal kids in attendance. It was beautiful with red walls and platforms to dance on. The thing that was most beautiful about it though was that it was packed with naked men. The amazing thing was that many of them were getting on in years and yet came every night and danced into the wee hours. It was beautiful that for just one week, there is a place on this planet where all can go and lose themselves in sensual naked dance regardless of age. It made me happy just to be a part of it.

GNI

Well, it's been too long since I last posted, and I'm about to take off for a week to the GNI Gathering in Pennsylvania were I'm also not likely to be posting. Truth is, that work has gotten a lot busier witch is both a good and bad thing, but trust me... mostly good.

Serenity

We just returned from our second, naked, gay getaway with 80 beautiful guys to a member's country home. Once again it was terrific. I wrote about the last time here, which occurred just 3 weeks ago.

Once again the trip proved to be peaceful and relaxing beyond explanation. Perhaps because this partly reminds me of summer camp as a kid and allows me to relive such close and intimate bonding that usually only occurs between kids and (presumably) war veterans.

Almost a year ago, I stopped wearing a watch. I first took off the watch when I went to Barcelona. At the time it was purely symbolic, but interestingly enough has had a real impact upon my life. Just by moving my watch 1 foot onto the cell phone in my pocket has allowed me to become less time-consumed. I now longer need to know the exact time every second. Since being nude removes the knowledge even further (sorry, no pockets when you're nude), and because on such an excursion one has no other agenda than to enjoy one another's company, I felt even further relaxed and at peace with everyone and everything around me. Honestly I believe could get lost in the environment for weeks without even realizing it.

Jockstrap Friday

So we had no right to go out last night knowing that we'll be driving to our nude weekend gathering so early in the morning, but of course we did. Anyway, we had to! Last night was our jockstrap challenge night at the Eagle.

Interestingly enough, you'd think that being a nudist would make going in my jockstrap easy. But I actually feel more comfortable nude than in a jockstrap or thong. And when you consider this, you have to consider how difficult would it be to get into a jockstrap, in a bar, when literally everyone else is fully clothed.

All that said, I've gotta give props to the BF. He actually did it, which was totally against what I thought would happen. Well... technically he didn't wear a jock strap, but it definitely counted. He wore this thing. He thought it would be appropriate since the Eagle is a leather bar after all. (aside: I always thought it funny how it is ok to let your ass hang out at the Eagle, but sandals... well, they do have their standards!)

To be honest, when I planned this, I figured we'd just stand around like normal, just in our jocks. Well... not exactly. People were friendly to us while we were clothed, but got much, MUCH more friendly after we disrobed. I've said before how interesting it is at underwear nights that people are so much friendlier even if they are fully clothes. This is part of the reason I agreed to attend my first nude place back last November. Well, the axiom certainly held true here as well. It's amazing how approachable you become when in your underwear. People talked to me, groped me (don't worry I didn't mind) and even a couple digital explorations.

So as I was talking with a few people, a very cute guy comes over to me and the BF and said, "My friend just loves you both, would you come over and meet him?". So we went and met him. They both were very good looking. Somehow, immediately a crowd of people encircled us and activities began. There was lot of jacking. Both of the cute boys sucked me for a good time as well as one or two other people. This continued for probably about 15 minutes or so. Finally one of the cute boys came as well as a nudist friend of mine that was in the surrounding, participating crowd. The other cute guy (the one that asked us over in the first place) pulled the back of his jeans down just below his ass and started to rub it against my dick. You could tell he was considering whether to proceed further since he looked at his friend and said, "should I? should I?" as he continued to rub his ass up and down against my dick. Well we didn't. I mean we were in a bar for crying out loud.

There's more, but I think you probably already got the idea. So how was my night? Very fun actually. I wouldn't do it all the time, but I'd certainly do it again.



Anyway, we arrives a little after mid-night. I actually talked with the guy checking IDs at the door just to make sure it was OK. The cool thing is that they even have lockers for 25 cents where you can put your clothes. The BF refused to change at first and told me he wanted to have a beer first. While having our first drink on the patio, we began talking to a group of about 4 others. We mentioned our intentions

Going ons

Well, the week has been relatively slow, but that's all good. I haven't been able to play my usual 4x to 5x per week of tennis because of a pain in my shoulder. Damn it! I figured I'd take a week off any see how it feels on Monday. At least I can still go to the gym, so I'm not complaining (too much).

The BF and I are preparing for our second naked, nude gathering at a country home in a three week period. You can read about the first here. The last one was incredible so there's no way I would miss this one. I'm driving and so far have a total of 7 people in my car (which only fits 5) including the myself and the BF. Don't ask, it just happened. Anyway, I think I convinced one of the others to drive so it's all good. I'm really looking forward to this weekend. Last time we were too busy having fun (the clean kind) and forgot to take any pictures which was a bummer, so this time I'm going to wear a string around my finger to ensure that doesn't happen again.

So as a minor dare, I dared the BF to go to the Eagle wearing just a jock strap. Surprisingly he said yes, so we picked this Friday to do it. We'll see if he and/or really have the balls to do it. I figured Friday is a good day since there aren't too many people there like there is on Saturdays.

After waiting so long, and several false starts, we've finally decided on a date for our first visit to Sandy Hook. I have a friend that's not that big on mid-Atlantic beaches and I think he inadvertently talked me out of my first trip through no fault of his own. After re-reading comments of others on the web that go there, I decided that I just had to go, so now it's a plan.

Sex

So this weekend I went to a nude sex party. Now I haven't been to a party whose primary intent was sex for many, many years, and even then, very few times. You may be wondering about some of the other events and parties that I've written about in the past, but in fact these were not sex parties. Rather they were pool parties or nude parties where a certain amount of sexual play was permitted.

Earlier that same day, while I was on my computer, someone IM'd me. I had no idea who he was and he obviously didn't know who I was. After exchanging greetings he says, "so... are you on the ??? website?" Evidently, he had seen my profile on the site (FYI: it's a nude site, not a sex site) and had added me as a contact. He must have later forgotten who I was and just started chatting. Anyway, after a photo exchange and chatting for about 40 minutes or so, we realized that we were both going to the same naked gathering in the country next week and both going to this sex party for the first time later that day.

I arrived a little later than I planned, but well ahead of the official party time. The hosts had invited everyone to come early and hangout by the pool. By coincidence, the guy I chatted with had arrived just before us, so we met right at the entrance. By the way, both he and his boyfriend are both very good looking and about 30 y/o. Anyway, all 4 of us (including my BF) got nude and hung out in the pool area and had delightful conversation as we got to know each other.

Somewhere around 9:15, the party coordinator announced the official start. After he finished the announcement I turned my head around and indeed, the vibe had changed in an instant. I confess that I was little more active/slutty and public that I typically am. My best visual memory of the night was seeing a beautiful black boy about 27 y/o getting repeatedly fucked by about 5 different guys. I didn't follow him around or anything, so the count may have been higher. My best bonding was with the guy I met online earlier that day as we laid on a bed and cuddled and kissed. We later had sex, which was equally hot.

I remember one guy telling me that he had his eye on me for over a year, so of course I replied that I guess we'll see each other again next year. He laughed and told me no way. Later, his partner gave me his sincere thanks for making his night.

I've since chatted and exchanged emails with the guy I met online earlier in the day. Evidently his boyfriend and he own a house near Rehomo (Rehoboth Beach) and said that we must come to the beach with them. He sounded sincere, but you never know. We all hit it off so well, that I think we'd all have a great time together.

A Good Friend

I have a good friend. I have known him since my days growing as a young, catholic, school girl in NYC as we both attended the same fundamentalist church and high school. Growing up in NYC, we were very close. I watched my first porno video with this friend and we attended college together... at least for a year. He lives about 80 miles or so from me along with his devoutly Mormon wife and three kids. Interestingly enough, even after he grew up as religious as I did, he is now atheist.

His wife is extremely needy. He's an extremely good husband and father, but his wife doesn't permit him to do anything outside of the house. As a consequence of his short lease combined with how far away he lives, we rarely get to see each other.

Well he calls me up the other day and tells me that his wife has taken the kids back to her home state of Idaho and that he'd like to spend the night at my place. Now it was just a little over a year ago that I told him I was gay. Of course he had already had known, but I hadn't vocalized the fact prior to that point. At the time, he expressed being hurt that I didn't trust him enough to tell him earlier.

So tonight we had dinner at Clyde's and went to see The Dark Night. Afterwards, we went to a straight Latino bar near my house in Adams Morgan and had a few more drinks as we watched the live band play salsa and merengue. Finally somewhere around 2:45a we returned to my place where we drank Apple Martinis and played Rock Band on the Wii. Believe it or not, the more we drank, the better we played, or at least that's how I remember it.

After all this we talked for a long time. He began to ask me questions about being gay. He expressed that when he found out that I was gay, he became much more sensitive and offended by anti-gay jokes. He told me how it completely altered his thoughts about gay people and all sorts of issues such as gay marriage. Now this friend can be a little naive and trusting, so I've spent a large part of my life protecting him. But this night I had the distinct feeling that the roles were now reversed and that he just wanted to protect me. Now that's a good friend.

My First Time

Someone mentioned to me about the boldness of someone just walking up to me, which reminded me of my first time. Now as a disclaimer, I should mentioned that I did mess around with many of my friends between the ages of 12 and 16 so I'm never quite sure what qualifies as my first time. This posting is about my first time as an adult.

I grew up in New York City. However, I was never gay in New York. Ok, I was gay, but struggling on the inside and very self-repressed, so I never experienced gay New York. As I said in a previous post entitled My Life as a Christian Fundamentalist, the years preceding my first time could be described as asexual, repressed and religious.

Just out of college in my newly adopted town of Washington DC, I came to grips with my homosexuality. Shortly thereafter, I returned to NYC to visit the folks, but decided to visit this Greenwich Village that I always heard so much about. Well, being as green as I was, just walking up and down the street was about all I could've taken on that first night. It was about midnight on summer night. As I was returning to the metro along Christopher St, a black guy accompanied by a friend just stopped and stared at me harder than anyone's ever looked at me before. I was intrigued and stopped, but had no idea where this was going. He slowly walked toward me and as I waited for him to say something he did the one thing that I can remember so vividly until this very day. Without saying a word, he walked up and stuck tongue down my throat. Now this asexual, sexually-repressed young man would've been outraged if I hadn't absolutely melted like butter in his arms. He invited me back to his place, by that point I was helpless to decline, where he became the first man to fuck me. Yes it felt good.

The funny thing is just before going home I had met a Taiwanese guy back in DC that would later become my not-boyfriend, but we hadn't done anything sexual by that point. When I got back to DC just one day later he fucked me too. Welcome to the neighborhood!

Postscript: This picture of me was way younger than my age in the story, but I figured I'd include it anyway.

Folsom Update

This weekend is Dore Alley and oh how I wish I was going. But you know how it is, you can't do everything. Maybe next year though.

We're still on Folsom Street Fair though. It's happening on the 28th of September and I can't wait. I remember when I invited my friend to go with us I titled the email "How big are your balls?" They must be HUGE 'cause he didn't even hesitate. It should be a fun weekend since there's a lot of special events happening in town around the actual fair itself. Now the only thing to see is whether I have big balls too such that I can parade around the entire 6 block, people packed area wearing nothing but my shoes and leather wristbands. On the bright side, I probably won't have to check a bag on the airline.

Questioning Nudity

By the title of this post, you may think that I'm asking if nudity is health and good or bad and damaging. Or you might wonder if I'm referring to what are the relative benefits of going letting it all hang out. Well you'd be wrong. Although I've discussed some of these topics previously in a series of posts named Why Nude, that is not my intent today.

Today I want ask a question that I've been discussing with the BF. As I've said many times before, I am often struck by the openness, niceness and acceptance that comes from nudists. But I wonder... is this because nudity disarms people making them nicer than they might be in other circumstances? Or is it because nudity inherently attracts nicer people who already have a deep desire to be in the presence of others in such a disarming and intimate setting? Would taking a really mean person and putting them into a voluntarily nude setting soften them up ever so slightly?

I really don't know, but I suspect it might be a little of both. I guess I ask this question because the scientist within does care. It also likely has macro-social impacts on our society as a whole. But aside from that, I'm not sure it matters to me personally much at all. I love nudism/naturism because it is so wonderfully open, accepting and intimate and am grateful that I've had the opportunity to experience it.

Moments

As I said in my previous post entitled XXX, this past weekend was great to the point of almost being spiritual. I thought that I'd share so of the tender memories that I've come away with.

There's a guy who is probably about in his mid to late twenties that I've seen at other nude events, but have never met or talked to. He is very quiet. I never knew if this was from shyness, general personality trait or simply wanting to be left alone. He does talk to some people, but like I've said, we've never talked. Well this weekend I found myself in the pool with him for an extended period of time. We started talking and after a while, we were embracing. Facing each other, he wrapped his legs around me and floated on my lap while continuing to embrace and share sweet conversation. I'd love to tell you what we discussed, but frankly I have no recollection of the details. The point is that this was another one of many affirming intimate moments that I shared with others while there.

If you think about it, there are over 6 billion people on this planet that we share. Each one of them has a story and something profound to contribute. The amazing thing is how we don't take the time, or even more commonly purposely build barriers that make the world seem smaller, less friendly and a much more lonely place. I love knowing that there are so many wonders out there waiting to be discovered. And I love how they can touch me.

Similar to the first story, I also spent quite a bit of time with another guy in the same age range. I had seen him once before at a party that I attended, but yet again we didn't meet. I won't repeat it, but we spent time talking and kissing similar to the first. Since it was getting late, we went to lay down on his bed and continued to embrace and kiss. We didn't have sex and didn't need to.

Nudity At Its Best

So this weekend was the first of two naked gatherings that I'm attending this summer. Essentially a local group coordinates these events amongst other activities throughout the year. These gatherings are held at vacation homes in the country of members of the group that are nice enough to allow 60 naked boys to take over.

This was the first one I've ever attended and frankly I would have to describe it as idyllic. I'll try to paint a picture, but I'm sure I won't do it justice. It was just so freeing to be surrounded by nature, hot weather, a cool pool and beautiful, friendly naked boys. I love how I'll sometimes start talking to someone that I didn't know beforehand and discover an interesting and beautiful person inside.

It's funny, but I remember when I was younger, perhaps in my late teens, thinking about how much we humans crave and need to be connected with each others and yet how we live our lives in relative isolation. I remember thinking that if we just didn't have so many hang ups, and if we were able to become more accepting of and openly loving toward each other, how we'd all be so much happier. I remember thinking how this would never happen because it was unfortunately contrary to our human nature. There was so much potential for happiness that is being wasted by our own insecurities and mistrust.

It's like when you go to a bar. So two random guys are sitting separately nursing their drinks when all they really want is to meet someone new and share a moment. But of course the barriers are too great. What if you get rejected? What if they think you just looking for sex? What if you are looking for sex and they're not? And because of this, we choose to continue to sit in isolation more often than not.

I'm not saying these naked evens are perfect, but they're closer to that open, warm, accepting environment that I never thought could exist outside of family and close friends. Sex aside, this is why I love nudism. I love that it makes us all better people. It provides one with a sense of belonging, or better yet... a liberation so complete that need to belong goes away and you're free to just.... be.

FTL Part 2

Well overall the trip was fantastic. Since this was my first trip I think I will be forever in love with Ft. Lauderdale. We were traveling with a good friend of ours who is basically what I call a social whore. I say this because he is not shy and so loves meeting new people. This is probably a large part of the reason that we met so many nice people while we were there, making the trip even more fun. It wasn't planned, but we ended up renting a blue mustang convertible to get to and from the Haulover.

Haulover itself was definitely a blast and well-worth the trip. We did get some intermittent thunderstorms, but we also had some patches of nice weather too. What can I say about the beach.... Everything was perfect. The water was beautiful, clear and calm. There are no jagged rocks and shells cutting up your feet in the water. The drop off is so gradual that you can walk out quite aways before the water gets too deep. There's a nice sand bar that you can swim out too even beyond that. And the men! Oh, the men! They were beautiful and plentiful and even nice to talk to.

I remember the cute latino boy that I talked with that asked his supposedly straight friend for permission to talk to me and then pleaded for my email address. Later, after rethinking through all the weirdness of that situation I concluded that the friend must have been his pimp. I remember another latino boy that was very shyly checking out my stuff. All shyness left him after he took a puff of something and then started to publicly protest his sudden love for chocolate. I remember Dwayne, the beautiful and very nice black boy visiting from New York City who had an absolutely perfect body and face. I remember the three guys we "discretely" walked by to check them out only to have them stop us. I remember how the one laying down gave us a very nice little show. Yes, I definitely love Haulover.

The wonderful thing about the guesthouse/hotel is that their public area is so inviting that everyone spends a lot of time there. Therefore, we got to meet and spend time with nearly everyone staying there. After getting a little drunk on Friday night and therefore being a little indiscreet, my friend would introduce me to everyone as the one in locked in the 69 by the pool on Friday night. To which everyone would respond, "oh I remember you."

Well it was fantastic trip and I can't wait to return.

FTL

No, not I'm not referring to the faster than light drives on Battlestar Galactica. I know, I'm such a geek.

Well, we've been in Ft. Lauderdale for just shy of a day and so far it's been great. Mostly we've drank and hung out by the pool... naked of course. We went to a bar that I think was called George's Alibi that was amusingly enough located in a strip mall. I had a few Appletinis, which I've only just recently discovered. Afterwards we "hung out" by the pool. I'm sure that you can guess what that means. Lol. My traveling partner arranged for us all to meet up with several people at the bar and go to dinner with later. And the best part is that everyone I met was named Michael so I didn't have the normal fears of forgetting someone's name. More later.

The pic to the right is me being relaxing poolside at the Worthington Guest House.

Haulover or Bust

I'm really looking forward to this weekend. A good friend of mine, my BF and I are all headed out of town early tomorrow morning for a weekend getaway to Ft. Lauderdale and of course, Haulover Beach. I'm excited to go because I've never really spent any time in either of those two places. I think I spent a day in Ft. Lauderdale on a family vacation when I was like 9 or so. You may be wondering how a gay male, living in the eastern US seaboard has managed not to go to FTL. Well, that's because I'm still a newbie. Ferverant, but definitely new.

Anyway, I look forward to being nude as much as possible. We're staying at a nude resort that the friend recommended and supposed to meeting up with some people that he met through the HangingOutNude website.

P.S. I know the pic is not of Haulover, but it's so cute I just couldn't resist.

Sag

I'm posting this because a new law passed by Flint, Michigan is an example of the worst that government has to offer. I hold a strong belief that laws are inherently broad brush instruments and as such, there will always be cases in which the law makes no sense. Innocents are invariably caught up in otherwise well-intentioned laws. Nonetheless, I still believe that the governing a large society requires that such laws exist to settle disputes and maintain the community. However, given the imperfectness (is that a word?) of laws, it is crucial that we make laws only when there is an overwhelming public interest in doing so such that the benefits outweigh the inevitable negative impacts. I hate laws that try to legislate common sense, good manners, morality, religion and anything else of the sort. It absolutely boggles my mind that we've resorted to legislating fashion!

No I dislike sagging jeans as much as the next guy (Disclaimer: If he's hot and it actually exposes something, then that's a completely different story). But what is so illegal about showing a butt, covered by.... clothing? Funny thing is that a lot of today's youth that sag their pants were shorts as underwear. I can just imagine how much tax dollars we'll all spend (if we lived in Flint anyway) arguing about what is and isn't underwear or exactly where the bottom of the butt begins so that we can decide if the underwear were completely below it.

And as an aside, the nudist in me must comment that our natural, god-given butt crack isn't a dangerous weapon but a beautiful and marvelous creation.

Now, if they were banning white shoes after labor day, that would have been completely different.

Weekend Update

Well I did enjoy this Independence Day weekend. We went to a naked pool party at someone's house this weekend, along with well over 100 other people. Although I definitely had a blast what made this party especially enjoyable for me is that a partnered couple that are friends of mine took my invitation and attended. I know going to such a thing can be both exhilarating and completely intimidating so I really wasn't sure whether they'd make it or not. Anyway, they did make it and obviously enjoyed it.

As a footnote, I met someone that actually reads this blog! See... now I have proof that at least one person does read it! Anyway it was really nice meeting him, especially when I was somewhat engaged with someone else and he came up behind me, caressed me tenderly, then rimmed me. I can't really remember how it ended, but it ended too soon.

What Wall-E Can Teach Us

So the BF and I went to see Wall-E last Friday. I actually liked the movie, but that's not why I am writing. I am writing because not so hidden within its story are thoughts that I believe need to be considered and discussed both on a global community as well as personal basis.

In a previous post entitled Thoughts on Materialism and Happiness I discussed how western culture defines "progress" as inventions that remove all physical stress from our lives. And yet, without such stressors or challenges, we atrophy. And yet with each new gadget we do less. We drive instead of walk, use elevators and even electric knives because the back-and-forth motion is just too much.
Amongst many other messages within the move, Wall-E uses a little hyperbole to show just where we humans are ultimately heading with this philosophy. So as not to spoil it for anyone who hasn't yet seen the movie, I talk any further about the movie. What I do is quote someone else I've read who said,

"Wall-E" contends that real life is hard, real life is struggle, and that we live most meaningfully not by avoiding pain and struggle, but by engaging it creatively, and sharing that struggle in community. It argues that rampant consumerism, technopoly and the exaltation of comfort is causing us to weaken our souls and bodies, and sell out our birthright of political freedom. Nobody is doing this to us; we're doing it to ourselves. It is the endgame of modernity, which began in part with the idea that Nature is the enemy to be subdued -- that man stands outside of Nature, and has nothing to learn about himself from Nature's deep logic.

Quiero Comer Tu Culo

Since tomorrow is a holiday, we decided to go out last night. We went to the GL's "shirtless men drink free" night, which occurs every Thursday. Because it is a school night, we rarely get to go. This night, as expected due to the holiday, was more packed than normal. Both floors were literally so packed you could hardly move.

Anyway, an acquaintance of mine introduced me to his tall, cute, Latino friend from Puerto Rico. When he said his name, I immediately realized that we had met briefly once before about a year ago. The Latino leaned in and whispered into my ear, "yo queiro comer tu culo," assuming that I wouldn't understand. Well... I did. Of course it didn't go any further, but his assertiveness was kinda sexy.

Police State

Ok, maybe the title is a little over-blown... or maybe not.

I just ran across this article that describes how the rules governing investigations for the FBI may be changed to make it presumably more efficient at combating terrorism. Now, I don't typically believe in conspiracy stories, and although I know America has done many heinous things, I still believe that we are one of the greatest countries on the earth. But, our greatness has come from our understanding that power corrupts and therefore, not even our beloved government should be trusted. This was the beauty behind the founding of this country and our constitution. It ensured that power was balanced and everyone was watched.

During the Bush years we have witnessed a death of a 1001, small cuts and a few large ones. These cuts take power from the people and grant them to the government and more specifically to the executive branch. This article is yet another one that I find deeply troubling.

You see, according to the fundamentals of our laws, I have a state- and god-given right to live happily and peaceably. Partly this is governed by my rights against unreasonable search and seizure. However, the FBI is considering to change the rules such that they can open investigations that potentially allows them into our lives no reason at all other than they don't like how we live our lives. But this is OK because after all... these are terrorists right? NO!!! These rule inevitably get used in unforeseen ways to meet the needs of every person in the chain of command. So without a clear definition of what is a terrorist (and an independent body to authorize the investigations), these rules will certainly be used to compile investigations on political rivals or anyone else.

I feel like I'm rambling so I'll just end by reminding everyone of how another, recent FBI tool that was granted to help fight terrorism has already been perverted according to their own internal investigation to trample on the rights of everyday citizens. The biggest legacy of George Bush will be how he destroyed the perception of what it means to be American.

Nude Thoughts

I was just reading an article about a 18 y/o boy that got a ticket for being on a public street without wearing a shirt. Evidently, there is a 100 year-old law against being in public without a shirt in this Maryland town.

I mention this because it corresponds to a recent string of thoughts that I've had recently. What part of the body is too overtly sexual and should be covered up? Our culture certainly suggests that this includes the butt, pubic area and a women's breasts. But why? What makes a woman's breasts so much different than a man's? Certainly both sexes experience sexual pleasure from them almost identically, so what's the difference? And what about ass? OK, you can argue that it is commonly used in sex acts, but not any more so than one's hands and mouth. Yet we don't typically pop a boner when we see an exposed mouth.

My theory is that body parts deemed to be too sexual for exposure is almost completely determined by culture. That is, breasts only seem too racy because our culture tells us they are and therefore whenever we see them we take special notice that we're seeing something reserved only for intimate, sexual settings. Some parts of the world feel the same way about a thigh or calf or even an ankle as we do about breasts. It is the mere classification of these things as sexual parts that make them so. It seems to me that the only societies that at least treat such things somewhat consistently are those that require women to be completely covered. But even then, what about the men?

The downside of all this is that we begin to see the human form as equally desirable as shameful and inherently sinful. As a child when we happen upon a family member in a semi-nude state, we're already programmed to believe that we've done something very wrong. As we grow this shame becomes internalized into our perceptions of ourselves as well as transferred onto our perceptions of others. Fortunately, many of us learn how to deal with this as we age, but many also do not.

It is too bad that we see something so natural and beautiful as bad. That we've come to prefer the unnatural over the natural and that so many will spend their whole lives hating themselves because of inability to accept their body due to culture-induced, warped view of what the human body should look like.

The Weekend

This weekend we received a last minute invite to go out to a secluded cabin about 2 hours from the city with a group of other nudists. This is kind of the smaller pre-gathering before the normal annual gathering that they have there every year. Of course being still new to nudism, I haven't been before, but have seen some of the pictures. I was excited about going, but in the end the cabin was full due to a communications mix up so we cancelled. We probably could have still gone, but the BF has a severe allergy to sleeping in tents so that was a definite no.

Anyway, we stayed in town and had a relaxing weekend. We saw the movie Wanted with Angelina Jolie, which turned out to be much better than I expected. Although I love watching movies, I am always confounded by how hollywood can spend so much money and yet be so poorly written. The nice thing about Wanted is that it was a dumb movie written very smartly, which is something that I can appreciate.

Saturday night we went to underwear night at the GL, where it was pretty dead, the continued on to the Eagle. I can never figure out how the Eagle gets away with things that you'd never see in any other DC gay bar. I don't go there often, but I'd say that the patio was livelier than usual.

Sunday we were bored and didn't have any plans, so I convinced the BF that we should dust off our bicycles and take a ride. We took Rock Creek Park down to P-Street beach where we watched some tennis then ate a couple of wraps on the grass in a makeshift picnic. Aftwards I hit a few tennis balls then I stopped in the circle for a while before peddling down 17th street on my way home.

Beauty

What is it about the male form that speaks to us so? A beautiful mountain scene may take my breath away and I can be enraptured by a starry night sky, but nothing speaks to me in the same way as does the hard, yet gentle curves of the male body. Undeniably, it stirs up such feelings of longing, desire and appreciation, and yet the scientist within me causes me to ask why.

Let's start with the obvious... Like many, I love the curve of a man's ass. I love to see how his chest drapes across his frame. I love to catch someone as the reach up and unknowingly expose that all so vulnerable spot between their waist and naval, revealing tufts of hair that hints at what might lie below. But also I like other parts that are probably a little less commonly appreciated. If you turn so away from me so that I am looking at you from behind, but slightly to the side, I love the curve that extends from the top of the butt up through the love handles and the small of a man's back. I love beauty of perfectly shaped calves and a muscular back. But why?

Honestly I have no idea. I have a little dog named Bubu (pronounced Booboo). As cute as he is, he has never invoked such profound feelings within me. Nor has babies, females or anything else for that matter. Is it pheromones? Is it some inane wiring that was placed within each of us long ago? I have no idea. But I am nonetheless grateful for even glimpses that provoke desires never to be fulfilled and remind us that we are truly alive.

Fleeting Moments

I love meeting and interacting socially with people. I've often been surprised by how sometimes the briefest and most insignificant meeting can become so... intimate. I'm not even talking about sex or even necessarily touching. But throughout my life there have been times when the rushing road of life have paused ever so briefly and given me a special moment that I've treasured ever since.

For example, I recall when I was just 12 years old in my grandmother's apartment building on Nagel avenue in Manhattan, where I met another boy my age. I remember how we stole a can of disgusting, store-bought frosting from his house and hid within the boiler room of the building while we ate it with our fingers. Later during my college years, I recall riding behind my best friend Matt as he sped us across Mississippi fields on his 4 wheeler/ATV. I remember wrapping my arms around his wait and burying my head into the back of his neck to protect myself from the wind.

Well this weekend I had one of these moments. Well... perhaps not quite that intense, but you get the idea. The BF and I went to the bi-monthly, naked, cocktail party where, by the way, I had a blast (figuratively that is). Anyway, after the party the bar opens to the public and several of the party attendees typically hang around and have a drinks together afterwards. Well, after standing around and talking to a few people, a guy came up behind me and hugged me. Now this is an absolutely gorgeous guy that I had seen several times before, but only recently had met at a previous party where he sucked me in broad daylight. He held me from behind for a long time, wrapping his arms around to my front as he softly caressed me, whispering into my ear the whole time. Now if you were to ask me what made this moment special, I'd be at a loss of words to explain how this moment differed from any one of a million, everyday moments. But somehow it was different and shall be something that I will remember for a long time to come.

Sad News

Ok, I'm not talking about the news per se, but rather about news reporting. The problem is that there is a huge lack of good news reporting in this country. Partly this is because news has become so ratings-driven and therefore, sensationalized. For example, the whole world must spend countless hours looking at Britney's latest trip to the hospital rather than the local and national news that really affects us and our collective future most.

I even hate the "a big truck over turned on I-whatever in east bumblefuck this morning spilling milk and eggs and stopping traffic for miles," kind of story. This is only news if you live in east bumblefuck. For the 99.9% of us that don't live there, the anecdotal story is irrelevant. A much more meaningful story would have been to show us how the nation's roadways are becoming more or less safe to trucks in general. Spending hours focused on a single story like this tends to (a) make people believe that there might be national problem when their isn't and (b) waste valuable airtime that could have been used covering stories that really do matter.

I also don't like the political "talking heads" shows. I'm sure you've seen the shows where the democratic and republican automatrons square off and argue how their respective parties can do no harm, yet the opposing party can do no good (except of course to capitulate). The problem is that the very format of these shows ensures that the viewers don't get any useful information at all. Spin and half-truths are elevated such that it becomes more about the verbal game and less about political discourse. As an aside, I guess this is one of the reasons that Tim Russert will be sorely missed.

Shows that irk me the most are:

• 24hr news channels channels that contain so little news such as CNN. Although I try to avoid it, sometimes I end up watching it anyway.


• Shows that purport to be news but are in actuality just video editorials such as most of Fox News as well as Lou Dobbs (ARGH!!!)


• "Talking heads" shows such as McLaughlin group and Hardball. Of course I watch these too though.

So why are these damned shows still on the air? Why aren't they replaced by shows that are meaningful? Since I watch some of them, perhaps I too am to blame. Sigh.

Postscript: I must say what drove me to write this post. It was Lou Dobbs. I just read a story about how he believes that Bush should be impeached over the recent salmonella outbreak in tomatoes. GIVE ME A BREAK! Now to be clear, I really hate Bush, but impeach a president over a food poisoning? That's ridiculous! This reminds me why I can't stand to watch his show. Why does he have a show anyway?

Thougths on Acceptance

Today I read something that reminded me of just how vicious and needlessly unthoughtful we gay people can often be to each other. It's a wonder that while we engage in a life-long struggle for struggle within our families and society, we nevertheless can't help but alienate others around us. We criticize and exclude others because they're too effeminate, don't wear the right clothes, not the right race, too old, too fat or just not cute enough. All this made me ponder what does it really means to be accepting of others. When I point out to a close friend of mine that he made an unnecessarily mean remark about someone, he responds that he's sure that they'd do the same to him.

That may be so, but do we really want to emulate the most base behavior of our society? Do we really want to let the worst of the worst set our individual goal posts of who we want to be? The funniest thing about most of the criticisms that I hear is that they are almost always completely irrelevant to the person saying it. Why would I really care what someone else is wearing? Can we not celebrate and accept that person's different-ness without the acceptance marginalizing who we are?

For me the obvious answer is that it becomes very hard to accept others when we do not accept ourselves. When we don't accept ourselves for who we are, we fabricate arbitrary, alternative measures and then project these often superficial values upon others to see if (a) they are better or below us, or (b) they are worthy of our attention.

That's why I think that acceptance of others is rooted in first learning to accept ourselves. For when we truly achieve self-acceptance, we gain a freedom to enjoy others around us, irrespective of their social standing and differences, without our mere join presence lowering our own self-image.

Nudism is great at allowing us to really get see the human form. No, not just one so that we can mentally criticize it, but hundreds so that we can appreciate the natural variety of the human condition. Just taking off your clothes in the presence of others requires some degree of self-acceptance. And standing before everyone else, bare as the day we were born, makes us even more capable of accepting everyone else. Being nude removes our artificial security blankets and challenges us to either cower or get over it and accept it.

Tennis Today

Ok, I could talk about my recent tennis matches but the real point of this post is to share some eye candy that I came across on someone else's blog. This was just way too good not to share, so I had to find any excuse to post it. Of course I look just like this after my tennis matches. (smile)

Show Your Pride

This week was the Capital Pride parade and festival in the nation's capital. The BF and I had an invitation to get out of the city to hang out nude at a friend's country home with a heated pool and hot tub. In the end we decided to stay in town and went to the parade. The parade was basically the same as every year, but that's fine with me because I always feel a sense of connectedness when I go. I know... I think that's corny has hell too, but hey, it's the truth.

After the parade, we walked down to 17th street and had a few drinks. It was such a zoo, but I loved it. Later that night, after returning home to don a pair of skivvies, we went to the underwear night at the Green Lantern before continuing on to the Eagle. I actually had quite a good time. There's something about Pride weekend that seems to bring out the best in people. Or maybe that's just because everyone starts drinking earlier than normal.

Battlestar Galactica

I have loved Battlestar Galactica since the original series when I was a little kid. So when the new series came out, I had to watch it. Honestly, it has exceeded my expectations and has only gotten better through the seasons.

Well, this week while I was watching the latest Tivo'd episode when I noticed something for the first time. Samuel Anders played by Michael Trucco is damn hot! Damn! How the hell I didn't see this before, I have no idea. Damn!

Growing Up Black and Gay

A fellow blogger recently wrote a post that I found extremely moving about his experience growing up black and gay as well as the abuse that he sustained. I think it was especially moving for me because I related to exactly half of what he had to say.

I too grew up black and gay (duh). Although my teenage hormones raged incessantly, my brain still had not yet come to terms with my being gay. How this is possible given that I fooled around with many of my friends from the ages of 12 to 16 I'll never know. As is true with most gay youths, I grew up feeling that something was seriously wrong with me. Because of this, I became outwardly very asexual. During my college years at a religious university, I would go through cycles of buying porno magazines followed by repentance, yet still half of my brain had no idea that I was gay.

My whole life I've been very into sports including basketball, baseball, football, cycling, tennis and just about every other type of sport. Outwardly, I was your typical boy, so no one really suspected that I was gay. One of the reasons that the post spoke to me was because I understand the parts that spoke to the hyper-masculinity expected within the black community. Now Although I can be equally turned on by both masculine and feminine guys (see related posting), my masculinity helped shield me from torments that could have been. Later, after coming to grips with my sexuality, I too had a period where I was not sure how to relate to black males in spite of being raised in a black neighborhood of New York.

What I could not relate though was the abuse that the posting described. I was never a part of the in-crowd, but frequently the most popular kids wanted me as their friend, so things were pretty easy for me. His post was like living through one my worst nightmares of what might have been. Hearing a story like this it makes me ache to comfort the little boy inside and tell him that there is a better world out there that will accept and love him. It hurts me that I cannot comfort him and wipe away the tears for his pain is all of ours. I am glad that the Internet has arrived though. At least it provides the gay youth of today some outlet to know that, wherever they may live, they are not alone.

This Is Not Who We Are

The worst part of the soon-to-be Bush legacy has been the complete breakdown of the American ideals. This country began based upon utopic ideals of freedoms and the inalienable rights of man as granted by the creator. As a black man, I fully understand the flawed implementation that followed. Nonetheless, there is something said for the valiant attempt and our willingness of spirit to change over time. That is why it pains me so much to see our country so ostentatiously regress and betray who we are.

So the reason that I write this post is to celebrate the Supreme Court's decision that states that the detainees at Guantanamo Bay must be granted the right to challenge their detainment in federal courts. I totally believe that we should punish terrorists most severely, but don't believe that we must lose our soul in the process. The current process of secret military tribunals and the slanted limitations that they impose upon the defendants guarantees that the world views us as hypocrites. Government is not to be trusted... EVER! Not because I am a conspiracy theorist, but because I am a pragmatist that understands that power almost always breeds corruption. And there is no greater power than that of the United States government unchecked. I believe in our country, but one factor that has made our system work has been that we value our liberties and keep a vigilant eye on our government.

Now let's try the bastards fairly then lock them away forever!

Folsom Street Fair

Well, after doing Bay-to-Breakers nude, I've now set my sites on the Folsom Street Fair coming up on September 28th in San Francisco. It seems all of the crazy things to do are in SF or Europe. Anyway, I never even knew anything about it until recently when random people looking at my pics on the Internet turned me on to it. Anyway sounds like something fun to do even with clothes on, but of course that's not my intention. I've even co-opted a friend of mine this time to participate in it with me. So far I've at least secured a room at the Best Western, which is supposedly right within the fair zone. The idea would be to just leave the hotel nude and never even be bothered with clothes at all. I'd love to hear from anyone that has been there before and has recommendations or advice to help me to make the most out of my time.