Seattle, WA – With all the travel and events I've engaged in lately, I'm enjoying a little down time here at home in Seattle. I've been catching up on work, taking care of some much needed house-keeping, spending some time with my family and missing the two boys I'm most connected to.
The training business is picking up a bit. I've been slamming a full month of sessions into two weeks because of my little Inferno vacation, revamping client programs for fall and networking to bring new clients into the pipeline. Work with the two non-profit boards I serve on continues. I've pulled out of helping to prepare our Northwest titleholders for the International competition because I'll be judging the contest in San Francisco next month, but Generic Leather Productions of Washington has several other projects I'm involved with and our annual meeting for the Washington State Mr|Ms Leather Organization is coming up in a few weeks. And, last Friday I taught a class on single tails for Tribal Instincts, Seattle Men in Leather's educational series.
Side Bar: The class wasn't very well attended. It might be that I'm just getting used to presenting to audiences of 50 (the needle demo Derek and I did at Inferno this year) to 100 (the class with Midori in Chicago), but I'm afraid it is more a reflection of SML's floundering as an organization. I know a couple of months ago, the Dragon Clan (my leather family) were informed that our play at the leather socials, with all the whip cracks and noise from flogging scenes, was disruptive to peoples' conversations. Give me a fucking break. SML has always been welcoming to both the leather/Sm and the leather/S&M crowds (go ahead, ask me about the distinction), but I'm getting the impression that the organization is losing its soul. This tears me apart because Dave Lewis, my Daddy in Seattle until he died, invested so much into SML and I don't want to just walk away from the organization. We're having another social at the Cuff this Wednesday. The Dragons will be there. Hopefully, other players will be too.
Speaking of the family, I met my brothers Gene and Odie out at the Cuff Sunday night. It was a pretty slow night, but a good opportunity to touch base and talk about the stuff coming up. And some of the boys were there too, including Danny (pictured above) a new boy to Seattle who was brought to my attention by my boy Derek. I got to meet Danny a few weeks ago during Northwest Leather Weekend and invited him to join Derek and I at the play party the Saturday night. Since then he seems to have found a comfortable home within the fold of our crew.
All in all, it's been a good and productive period but I'm missing my boys immensely. Derek is home in Chicago and Jeff is on vacation in Hawaii. Both close to my heart and always on my mind but thousands of miles away. With busy days and close friends here in Seattle to occupy my time I shouldn't feel so lonely but I do nonetheless. I'm looking forward to seeing Derek in San Francisco this weekend and thrilled that Jeff will be joining us at the street fair on Sunday. I'm going to be one very happy man.
