This weekend has been...beyond amazing. I have experienced an overflow of wondrous, overpowering joy, but before that point I had to stand at a cliff's edge of anxiety and jump into the unknown, alongside my two leather brothers, Ian and Drew.
Three Days of amazing, insane, terrifying, and emotional experiences follow.
Day 1: Friday, April 29th
The Meet and Greet.
The evening started with Sir C. and I attending a private party for the contestants and judges at Alex Kitay's (Mr. Long Beach Leather 2010) and his Sir's house. I met the judges, Ms. Cynthia, Utah Rox, Alexei, and of course Alex himself. After an enjoyable party as well as a chocolate pudding penis (Yes, it's all completely true, Alex and Michael made home made chocolate pudding and put it in a penis mold. These guys are freaking hilarious!), we departed for Pistons Bar where Ian, myself and Drew went about the bar, meeting people, introducing ourselves and getting to know the crowd.
Day 2: Saturday, April 30th
The Competition
The day started quite early, 11:00am we had rehearsals at the bar, going through the competition step by step, practicing going up on stage, using the microphone, thinking of what we want to put together for our 90-second speeches, as well as listening Pup Don practicing his song for the evening. Pup Don has a fantastic singing voice by the way, I never thought of him as a singer before this. Then around 1:00pm we broke for lunch which was generously donated by Johnny Reb's, I grabbed a BBQ Pork sandwich, oh my god it was excellent and I am totally going there in the future. After lunch the judges arrived and set up for the interviews. David, Alexei's partner, was our coach who helped calm us down and think through things before the interview.
I went first. My nerves fried, I stepped out of the bar, into the back patio and approached the stage. After I shook the judges' hands, I ascended onto the stage, looked down upon the four people who would be placing me under intense scrutiny...and I relaxed. Almost as if my fears were shoved behind a pane of soundproof glass, squirming and writhing, but I could not hear them. The interview began, and I was asked questions like
"If you won the title, what would you do for the leather community?"
"Who are the Satyrs?"
"Do you know what the NCSF is?"
I answered each question to the best of my ability, then when the interview was over, I stepped down, shook the judges' hands once more, thanked them, returned to the bar, and had a miniature stress breakdown as all the stress died in a violent cataclysm in my chest. Ian then went forward, and after him, Drew.
The hard part was finally over, the contest was next.
Master and his partner picked me up at the bar and we headed to Razorback's where I needed to get a haircut. Unfortunately it was already 5:00pm and the barbershop was closed, we headed over to Syndicate on Broadway and I discovered they were closed as well. They directed me towards Trimmy's a small salon across the street, which I discovered which was still open. I entered and asked if they could give me a quick haircut, and Michael David gave me a wonderful cut, I was so thankful! They really saved my ass!
After picking up my gear, heading to Master and his partner's hotel room, and getting ready, we all headed out to Pistons where the competition awaited us.
Entering the bar, I made a beeline for the changing tent, Ian and Drew were already inside along with David who would be our "wrangler" for the night. All throughout the contest he helped us change in and out of our gear, gave us last minute opinions on what would help our gear really impress the crowd, and reminded us on what we had forgotten in rehearsal. The competition went in stages.
1) The competition is introduced, and Pup Don sang his song Liz Phair's "Fuck and Run" as we changed into our first outfits.
2) The first outfit judging was the "Bar / Cruise Wear", what gear we would wear normally on a night of leather in a bar. I went with my Chippewa Engineer boots, leather pants, zip up leather shirt, and my very first piece of leather my good friend George passed down to me, a black leather riding jacket. Since I was contestant #1, I went up first and answered a question about my bio about being a "casual furry". I explained who furries were, and I considered myself a casual, since I didn't really delve very deeply into the furry communities and circles, but rather I occasionally wrote stories with furry characters.
3) We changed into our next outfits, our jockstraps and "skin wear". I wore a simple leather harness, leather wristband, and a leather jockstrap which were lent to me by Luis Skobar along with my combat boots. Getting up on stage again, I was asked a question about a sexual fantasy of mine. The fantasy I chose to disclose was where I am abducted by two hot, muscled cowboys. They take me into a secluded barn for a few hours of amazing bondage play, and then drag me out to a huge mud pool where they untie me and we indulge ourselves in a few rounds of the hottest nude mud wrestling you can imagine. Then as a surprise, we were asked to strike a sexy pose on a nearby bondage table. That was fun.
4) Our final outfit change, the Formal Leather Wear and the last hard part of the entire weekend, our 90-second Speech. I went with my CHP leather uniform, and for my 90-second speech I spoke about how I was introduced into the leather world by my dear friend George. What was amazing was that as I spoke, it flowed out of my heart and into the night air, not a single tripped word or grasp for an idea. As I stepped down and entered the changing tent, I broke down in tears.
It felt so beautiful, I had never exposed myself so deeply, I had never poured my heart out like that before, I had ripped away a sheet of privacy and bared myself against the audience, and they applauded me.
Thank you George.
5) Alex Kitay stepped down as Mr. Long Beach Leather after his speech, then we were called up once more all together. The runners up were selected, Drew won 2nd Runner Up, then I was selected as 1st Runner Up, and finally Ian was named Mr. Long Beach Leather 2011.
As we stepped down and were released into the audience to find our friends and celebrate, I was so overwhelmed with joy that I burst into tears. All the stress, anxiety, excitement, hugging George and Master, I was so very, very happy. Afterward Master tied me and another sub for a while, but at that point I was so exhausted I don't think I enjoyed it as much as I could have, even though I wanted to play so bad. As I remember that night, I'm tearing up again, it was so amazing.
As winners, we all received a beautiful Tom of Finland poster, and a year of classes at Ms. Cynthia's BDSM Workshop.
As the night ended, I went home with Master and spent the night at his hotel room as a wonderful ending to an intense day.
Day 3: Sunday, May 1st
The Victory Beer Bust
After a delightful breakfast at Park Pantry, Master, his partner, and I all went back to Pistons to attend the Victory Beer Bust and BBQ. Today was a day to relax and relish in our hard work. I spoke with many members of the leather world over these past three days, many people who have seen years of experiences, but these three individuals really struck me.
Alexei Romanoff, whom I see as a proud grandfather of the leather community. A man who fought very hard so I could be up on that stage without the police coming to raid the bar and arrest us all in an act of discrimination and hate. His softness, his encouraging smile, he had nothing but a wonderful gentleness about him. I want to listen to his stories, to his history.
Ms. Cynthia, a woman who's cackling laugh is unmistakable as it is uplifting. I sensed a terrifying ferocity behind her warm smile, which I immediately respected. She works hard to educate in BDSM play so I may learn even more about this amazing fetish world.
Utah Rox, a man who told me that your boots are what carry you in your leather, and forward in my journey in the world. This man spoke with me at length about the art of boot-blacking, and that he wishes for me to study under a respected mentor to learn more. In all honesty, I admire boot blacks, and respect their skill, but never saw myself polishing a boot before. However that does not mean I will not attempt to learn the art. I may be traveling to San Diego one weekend this year, and we'll see what happens.
I feel that I have grown this weekend...these experiences, these people, everything that has happened and taken place have awakened something somewhere inside of me. I needed this very badly.
Now...I just need to sleep.
Thank you so very much. I love you all.
Play Safe.
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