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Friday, September 29, 2006

Pictures You May Have Missed...

I have so little to blog about at the moment. How about some background photos of some of the people I have posted about in the past.





This is John Noble yeah that guy I talk about whenever I talk about Leather. A German, Wisconsin farm boy and old school Leatherman from the Chicago area. I have other photos of him from back in the old days of the Gold Coast and Malehide Leather not to mention the Drummer Magazines he was in and the Inferno Magazines etc etc etc. The man went to so many Inferno's you could plaster the front of a bar vest in all the patches. We were together about 5 years.



That is Jason my partner, the tall good looking guy in the white t-shirt, we have been together for about 6 years now, and I am the short fat ugly (Dieting!) one next to him with black t-shirt and the goat. Yep, I bet your image of me is now shattered, age has taken it's toll. *sigh*


This is my big brother Carl who still works at the DC Eagle and is in The Centaur MC.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

HI MOM!



Ok, say what you want but this is my Mom, but only I get to call him that, you on the other hand might meet his fist. The first Leatherman I ever met that taught me what that term means, maker of my first full set of Leather restraints and probably several other pieces I have. I owe him a great deal, from introducing me to my first Top "John" to what he taught me about taking care of Leather and how to wear it, to introducing me to The Centaurs and convincing me to become a member and all the time he spent being more than a brother but also making me family through some good times and some really bad. When people ask what Leather means to me, my memories of Rocco are at the top of the list. When I think of my best friends, Rocco again. Anyway, I ran across this picture on the Philly MC site thought I would share so you do not think I am totally making things up. You know what is wild is click the picture and look at his membership dates. He started in 1977!

Yeah, I know some great Leathermen and as Rocco would say "WATTA BOUT IT!?".

Friday, September 22, 2006

Sex Is Not A Substitute For Love: Monogamy

You know I have held off writing about my views on this subject. It is simply that talking about monogamy seems to me to involve stating something personal about my current relationship and I tend not to write about anything that is close to a “kiss and tell” concerning my relationship with my partner. I hope you can forgive me but I would rather walk on broken glass than ever do anything to hurt him or make him feel uncomfortable... But as usual though, I keep opening my big mouth without really explaining what I mean and I am quite sure people have a very incomplete picture of what I am saying.

If anything my having grown up in the San Francisco Bay Area and having gone to bath houses back in the days when doing so was not a big deal (Yeah people actually used to admit to going to them.) living the life of a young slut on the go and eventually getting involved with Leather and BDSM, it was I learned to focus on what really matters to me in a relationship and not be distracted by the sordid side issues; for me that is exactly what monogamy falls under, a side issue.

I do not believe monogamy is an important issue in any relationship I am in or ever have been in, I do not believe that being monogamous ensures happiness, nor is it a cure all for a relationship that has serious issues. I think people tend to use it as simply yet another crutch or an excuse to hide the fact they are bad at having relationships based on real values and even worse at dealing with their own sexuality. How many shallow pointless Gay relationships have you seen based solely on looks and sex? I mean come on! It just seems so wrapped up in insecurities with sex and “sex as a substitute for love” that it all comes off sounding more childish to me than anything else when you could essentially summarize it with the old tit-for-tat “If I can’t have sex, neither can you”. Anyway, for me, I don’t build my relationships on sex (although it is a great way to meet people) and I could never honestly figure out why people would end a relationship because of sex. Love sure, communication sure, trust sure, respect or honesty even, but the worst thing in the world to me is to spend all the time and effort of having a relationship that lasts years with someone who would leave you the minute they found someone they liked having sex with more. If that is the case and that happens then in my mind it is not wrong to say that you probably needed to move on for more serious reasons.

Those reasons usually involving lack of trust or lack of communication or lack of respect and lack of honesty.

Don’t go thinking I or my partner are some sorta sex fiends either in fact we are very dedicated to each other and neither of us runs around looking for threesomes or anything like that. I am not talking about some trashy, desperate, idea of free love here. Besides the usual always have safe sex and the like, there should be discussion, agreements, and compromise around this mutual decision to respect the other person and your relationship as well. Little rules like “I always leave the bar with the person I came with unless discussed prior to going out” or “I always come home and never spend the night” or I have seen people do things like “No kissing” or “No second dates”. There are all sorts of things people do to make sure that communication is kept open and there is never a question of trust. So no, I am not saying that non-monogamy is any easier than monogamy it is simply different and more understandable to me.

As I have said before… Hell if I would ever break up years of a good partnership over a fucking blow job!

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

San Francisco Eagle: Men In Gear


I am not the most sociable person here in San Francisco but I tend to hangout at The Eagle quite a bit. Enough to know when I hear and see something good happening. Men In Gear night was a fucking blast, my nipples still have not recovered. The crowd was not your usual lot of posers and Sunday Afternoon Beer Bust dreck. I actually saw a lot of Leathermen for a change even some Tops and the people were, if anything, real about it. I am definitely going to this again. It reminded me of the Dore Alley crowd before the tourist started coming in to gawk. As someone who shall remain nameless commented... No Mamma's Family clones in sight and not a Sash Queen to be found. This was a crowd that felt different and hell it was different from the fucked up club kids and attitude driven muscle boys you typically run into. EXCELLENT!

I love it when what had become a fashionable fad starts to lose it's appeal and honestly if Leather is gonna gain back those qualities it once had it is events like this not Folsom Street Fair or another beauty pageant or another play space that will make me believe there is some life in the old ways yet. Good work David and let's see more!

Sunday, September 03, 2006

Harrison St. Fair Bear Weekend: 2006


Oh lord! They are back again and bigger than ever...

First thought that came to my mind last night was...

Shave The Whales!

So I guess I owe everyone an update...

Been working and hanging out after work at The Eagle watching everyone getting
ready for the big event Folsom St. Fair which is coming up soon. In fact an acquaintance from the bar was showing off his new collar he bought for himself to wear at the fair.

Yes, I was nice and said nothing... I shut my mouth and told him it was sweet.

Actually the thing was this huge metal 2-inch iron collar with a curved stake
for a closure. Which is cool but as I pointed out to him... um where is the
lock? Oh well, bottoms buying their own collars makes it pretty much jewelry
anyway right.



That reminds me when I first moved back to San Francisco 6 years ago I was standing on the second floor of the "real" Leather bar in town (at the time) called The Loading Dock. Anyway, it was early in the evening since I am not one to stay out late (unfortunately The Loading Dock was only open late, if at all, I took it the owners hated schedules, clocks or regular customers)
and I was minding my own business just watching people mill around. Some collared bottom slides up to me and gives me the once over. I smile and asked his name and we chatted for a while as he basically invited me home. I asked him where his Top was thinking there should be one around for me to get introduced to with him wearing the collar and me being another bottom... what were we gonna do?

He looked at me all-weird so I backtracked and acted ignorant and asked about the collar he had on. He said it was his, and by this point I realized he was not even able to pick up the fact I was another bottom. This got me curious so I simply asked him about what Tops thought of it and he said HE LET THEM PLAY WITH IT...
Huh? Oh my, am I on the right planet?

I tell you sometimes I wonder if that aint the fucking truth and all this Leather protocol shit I remember was just some alien implant.

Oh back at the Eagle… someone watched me try on that stupid lock-less collar and got real upset. His exact words were "You are not going to tell me you are some big old bottom are you?". I try to be nice so I did not say anything, this made me think though, because the guy has known me for 4 years now.

I obviously come from a rougher type of crowd because I always flag right, I never tell people who ask anything different, but I guess my look or my attitude says Top. *sigh* At this stage of the game I just honestly give up. Maybe someday I'll meet others who understand but right now even in the middle of a fucking Gay Mecca. I feel like some old Leather dinosaur.