Harley was a constant presence in my life for 14 years. She was the closest thing i have ever had to a daughter and in many ways she was like a perpetual two year old child. There has never been a point where i have regretted having her in my life. i don’t think dogs feel love the way humans do, so i won’t say that she loved me unconditionally but i do think that she accepted me unconditionally. W/we’ve both been through a lot together and she has helped me get through some very difficult times in my life. i used to call her “Adventure Dog” because she dealt remarkably well with whatever change was thrown her way, whether we were traveling on vacation or moving to a new living situation. Even at the end of her life when she could hardly move because of her arthritis and she was starting to go senile she brought joy into my life and she will always be missed.

i am very lucky because when i packed up everything and moved to California to serve my Master, He took us both in and grew to love Harley as much as i did.

me: “i didn’t think You liked being around people, Master?”

Master: “you’re not a person.”

The first factor is O/our mental state. i can take more pain and am more open to giving myself up to the pleasure of pain when i know it pleases my Master. When i am encouraged (“Good slave. you can do it. Take it for your Master.”), my pain tolerance goes through the roof. When He punishes me, neither of U/us gets any sexual gratification from it. It’s more of a mechanical act that W/we both want to get over with as soon as possible and there’s nothing erotic about it.

The other factor is how my Master administers the pain. When He is using me for His sexual pleasure, He will usually build up the pain gradually and will take occasional breaks when it gets to be too much for me. When He punishes me, it’s sharp, intense, brutal and relentless. i have learned early in O/our relationship to do whatever it takes to avoid being punished and i haven’t given Him a reason to punish me in well over a year.

WHAT:             Folsom Street East
WHEN:             Sunday, June 20, 2010 – 2-8pm
WHERE:             28^th Street btw. 10^th & 11^th Avenues, New York City
WHO:             Co-Hosts: Peppermint and Mike Dreyden
Performers: Sylvia Tosun, Fredrick Ford, The Johns, Brian Kent, Noa Tylo, Unisex Salon, The I.C.N.Y.

A KINK OF OUR OWN: FOLSOM STREET EAST RETURNS

(New York City) On Sunday, June 20th from 2-8pm, the Folsom Street East (FSE) street fair returns for the 14th consecutive year, celebrating its adolescence with a day of fetish-fueled fun on West 28th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues on Manhattan’s West Side.

While most New York City street fairs feature a lot of the same stuff – tube socks sold in bulk, 10-minute massages, a variety of meats-on-a-stick, maybe a couple of pet adoption booths with cute puppies — FSE is a little different. True, there are tube socks – but mostly just visible above the laces of black leather boots — and any massages given are more friendly than therapeutic. You’re far more likely to encounter bears and wolves than puppies, and “meat-on-a-stick” can quickly take on an entirely new meaning.

Inspired by San Francisco’s legendary Folsom Street Fair, FSE was founded in 1997 by former Gay Male S/M Activists (GMSMA) chair John Weis and a cohort of similarly-minded New York City leathermen. “I thought that having a fun day in the sun for the SM/leather community celebrating our diversity would go a long way in helping dispel myths and stereotypes,” said Weis. “We saw FSE as important opportunity for visibility, outreach and activism. A key part of that is taking a proud stand — outside in the sunshine – embracing and celebrating sexual diversity.”

Since that first year, FSE has featured live music and performance art, bootblacks, barbers, health and community information, and vendors selling everything from cigars to harnesses to handmade floggers. From a handful of vendor tables and a few hundred attendees that first year, FSE has grown exponentially: the 2009 event drew over 50 vendors and nearly 10,000 leather and fetish-clad revelers over the course of the afternoon.

FSE is also an opportunity for the community to flex some philanthropic muscle as well. The $10 suggested donation benefits a number of charities and to date, FSE has donated over $210,000 to a wide array of non-profit organizations, including this year’s beneficiaries: the Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center, the New York City Anti-Violence Project, and the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF).

Each year, FSE names the winner of the organization’s Sexual Freedom Award, which is given to an individual or group whose work promotes equality, respect and openness among people regardless of sexual orientation or gender expression. In addition to public acknowledgment and a commemorative plaque, each year’s recipient receives a $500 grant to the charity of their choice. This year’s Sexual Freedom Award recipient is Ms Susan Wright, founder of the NCSF.

FSE is organized and staffed entirely by volunteers who give of their time and talents to make the whole thing happen.  Anyone interested volunteering at the event is invited to visit the FSE Volunteer page at www.folsomstreeteast.org/category/volunteers, or email volunteer coordinator Mike Ryan at volunteers@folsomstreeteast.org.

In addition to the street fair, this year FSE will be spanning the weekend, kicking off with BULLY—a Friday night party—at View Bar, moving through Saturday night with Bad Apple at Rush (presented in conjunction with NY promoter Mark Nelson), and on into Sunday’s street fair.  For more details about these and other weekend events, visit the FSE website.

MEDIA INQUIRIES: press@folsomstreeteast.org
MEDIA LIAISON:
Susan Wright
susan@ncsfreedom.org
917-848-6544.

www.FolsomStreetEast.org

To download a pdf copy of this release: Click Here

Recently 665 Leather in West Hollywood had a sale on neoprene sleep sacks so He decided to buy one and give it a try. Neither of U/us particularly has a neoprene fetish (although i don’t mind checking out the surfers in wetsuits at the beach) so a neoprene sleep sack wouldn’t have been O/our first choice but the price was right. W/we tried one on in the store to make sure it fit and afterward the salesman said something to my Master along the lines of “Did he get a hard on while he was in it? Because if he did, that’s a good indicator that You should buy it.” i corrected the salesman by telling him that the decision to buy it didn’t hinge on me getting hard but on my Master getting hard.

W/we’ve used the sleep sack several times and i would say that it’s a good purchase. It’s easy for me to get into and He just zips it up. It’s tight yet stretchy so i feel snug and confined, especially when it is combined with a mask or a hood. my Master can leave me in it and watch me struggle for hours while He plays around on the computer, watches TV or reads a book. He can put in an electric butt plug and can beat on me with a paddle or cane without worrying too much about damaging the neoprene. i’ve noticed that even after one or two sessions i have started to associate the smell of the neoprene with sex, and get aroused by it. i even started fantasizing about taking up surfing so i can get a neoprene wetsuit.

Yes i do wear the nose ring every day except one the rare occasions when i’m not quite awake and i forget to put it back in after i shave and shower in the morning. Most people who see me on a day to day basis don’t even notice it anymore. When i forget to put it in they don’t realize it’s gone unless i say something. They usually say that they thought there was something different about how i looked that day, but couldn’t figure out what it was.

my septum has been pierced for over a decade. For the first few years i had a solid ring through my nose and my ex use to call me his “little bull.” Now i wear a smaller, more understated crescent spike. my Master said that when W/we first met He was going to have me remove it, but decided to allow me to keep it since He has come to think of it as part of who i am.

Back in 1996 when i first got my septum pierced, i wore a large solid ring

Now (2010) i wear a crescent spike through my septum.