San Diego, CA -- A couple years ago, one of the boys I had been mentoring in Seattle moved south to San Diego. I've kept in touch with this boy, Vladimir (pictured right). He has continued his activism in the leather/Sm scene (as much as he can in a location like San Diego) and has become quite involved with the rugby team in his new hometown. So, when Vlad asked if I would come down to San Diego to 'check it out' and assist with a fundraising event ha was organizing for the rugby team, I had to answer in the affirmative.

I flew in yesterday to meet some of the people involved, talk about ideas, scout locations and work through some of the details. Although the details are not totally solidified yet, it looks like I might be helping out with a bachelor auction later this fall. It should be a blast and I'll keep you up to date as I learn more.

Of course the trip to San Diego wasn't all community service work; we got to fit some personal time in, too. Today Vlad and I went to the San Diego Zoo (which I hadn't been to since I was a kid, about thirty years ago). The trip to the zoo brought back some of my only pleasant memories of childhood, reminded me just how scared of heights I can be (the sky tram) and had me wondering which set of primates were more interesting to watch, the monkeys or the humans.

We also got a chance to cruise some of the local bars over the course of the last two evenings. And, you know what that means. Yep you guessed it, boys got tied up. I've started to collect a picture montage of boys (and girls) in quick arm binders from around the country. The photo to the left is the latest addition, a beautiful Latino named Manuel who I met at Pecs bar. He took some convincing, but once he agreed to give it a try, he seemed to enjoy himself.