Title activities report - February 2014

February started with a meeting and ended with a roast.  That is okay by me!

• On February 1st, I attended the meeting for the SF Pride Parade Leather Contingent.  I was invited by my producers, but once I got thereI found out it is actually an open meeting and anyone can attend.  Leather/kink folks in the bay area interested in helping out with the parade, I encourage you to attend.  Write to me for more info.
• To celebrate my birthday, I went away for Presidents' Day weekend, and missed a whole boatload of activities and events in San Francisco.  Sad face!  But, I had a good time going to southern California. I even got a geocache near the Madonna Inn.  Okay, nothing to do with my title.  But it's my blog and I will put what I want here!
  
  
  
  
  

• On February 21, I attended the program of The Exiles San Francisco. Our presenter was the inimitable Mss. Tatiana Belodyne.  She gave a fantastic class on making chest and pelvic rope harnesses.  The class was well attended and much enjoyed.  Mss. Tatiana is available to teach classes, and for private sessions too.  Check out her website for more info.
• On February 26, I went for the first time to a program given by the Leathermen's Discussion Group. For kinky folks in the Bay Area who don't know about this organization, please check it out. I plan to do a blog post specifically about the LDG. In brief, it is a group run by leathermen and open to the whole community.  The programs are free, the speakers are usually community elders,and the content and audience are both HOT. I received the warmest possible welcome, the presentation by Mark Frazier was informative, entertaining, and very exciting, and I even snapped a rare pic with my sash husband Andy Cross. I couldn't believe I had never been before.  This was my first time, but will not be my last!
  
• February 28 marked the start of the Leather Alliance's Leather Weekend, incorporating the Mr SF Leather contest, for which I had the honor of being one of the judges.  On the 28th, we had the neet'n'greet at Mr S, and a roast of outgoing titleholder Andy Cross at the BeatBox.  This was all very exciting, but you have to wait for my next blog post to hear about it! Sorry to tease you.  I promise to post all about it soon.

That's it for another blog post!  Please check back soon, or subscribe to get the posts faster. And don't forget to send me an email if you have any questions!  There is a link right on the main blog page.

Shameless Plug for Bar Wotever in London

Whenever I will be in London, I always do my best to schedule my visit to include a Tuesday night, so I can go down to the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, and spend an evening in the company of queer family at Bar Wotever. I decided to do this blog post specifically about Bar Wotever and its parent, Wotever World, because I cannot stress enough what terrific people they are, and what a welcoming and friendly space they have made for all type of queer people, and everyone actually. If you only click on one link in this blog, click here to go to Wotever World's website and read their manifesto.  I get all choked up just reading it.

Here are some of the Wotever crew at the last Bar Wotever of 2013.

Title activities report - January 2014

The good news is that I have been quite busy with my sash.  I am going to really miss it when I have to give it back!  The not quite so good news is that I have been busy and not finding time to update my blog.  With a jam packed couple of months coming up, I thought I had better try and get up to date.  So, here is the first of what I hope will be several entries I post this week.

• The year started off with a bang!  Marilyn and I attended The Exiles' New Year's Eve party at Alchemy Estate.  The play space is beautiful.  There was tasty food and non-alcohol sparkling cider, and at midnight we were treated to the spectacle of a human "ball drop" - akin to the one in Times Square, but of course much more fun. Sorry, no pictures.  It was a play party, after all... I guess you'll just have to be there next time and see for yourself!
• My next event was a non-event.  I heard that on January 4, The Imperial Council of San Francisco was putting on a Mr and Ms Leather contest. I had got all ready to go out, when I double-checked the listing, and found it had been postponed until further notice.  I fully support the concept of an Imperial Court Leather title, and I hope they put it on while I can still attend it in my sash.  It is hard to think of a better or more suitable occasion! Here I am, all dressed up with no place to go.  At least I could turn around and play Pinball ...
  
  
• On January 11, I attended the Mr Powerhouse contest.  This was to be the final feeder contest for Mr SF Leather (more about that in my NEXT blog entry).  There were two contestants.  Both did a good job but there could only be one winner, and it was Will Victoria (on the left).  FYI, Will does great work on the Bare Chest Calendar, which raises tons of funds for charity.  Please go to the link and donate!  I just did. Congratulations Will, I know you will do a great job of representing the Powerhouse this year.
  
  
  Several of the contestants and organizers from the Mr SF Leather contest were gathered on stage - below is Ray Tilton speaking about it - and the new Judge Emeritus, Garry (Marlena, Empress XXV of SF's Imperial Court, and the owner of the former Marlena's bar in Hayes Valley) was introduced (on the left in the second picture).  Garry/Marlena will hold the Judge Emeritus position for life, as is the tradition.  He is the first to be named after the passing of Mister Marcus Hernandez.
  
  
  
  
  
  I got my picture taken a few times.  Here are three more of my favorite pictures from the evening, with Erik Will; Sky Pup Russell; and Ray Tilton. 

• Lastly for January - San Francisco LGBT Pride may be in late June, but the work of organizing it is a year-round thing.  On January 14, the group which runs Leather Alley at Pride met to get started on this year's plans.  This year our theme, to go along with the overall Pride theme of "Color Our World with Pride", is "Color Your Pride with Leather".  Watch this blog for more updates. 

Look out for further blog updates very soon!  I still have two fun-packed months to report on - and more coming up. Bookmark me - or subscribe!  And thanks for reading.

Title activities report through December 2013

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post, and I promised to get my readers caught up on my activities, so here as promised is another installment of My Title Year.

• November 30.  Attended the wedding of two wonderful leathermen.  (You know who you are!)  A large number from our community were in attendance.  We were asked to wear our "civvies", in deference to non-leather family members. I got dressed up in my tuxedo.  It's rare that I get the chance to wear this, since most of the formal events I attend are Leather Formal.  What fun!

• December 1. Put together another Exiles Orientation, ably assisted by Marilyn and Jak. Targeted to people in the Bay Area who identify as other than male, who either want to join The Exiles or just learn about BDSM, this class attempts to cover the essentials of BDSM, including play party etiquette, negotiation, and safer sex basics. This time I was the Narrator, which meant I also had to play the bit parts in the skit, including Obnoxious Top "Her Royal Hiney".  I always thought I would have a problem with this role - a person with inappropriate boundaries and huge sense of entitlement - but I must after all be a terrific actor because the part was easy!  Or maybe I was just extra obnoxious that day, and able to channel it for the role. You decide. <wink>
• December 7. Attended Santa's Slave Auction, a fundraising event put on by the Alameda County Leather Corps.  I was up "on the block".  I didn't "sell" for very much, but the event did very well overall and was huge fun!  Musical numbers from L.E. LeGirl and WooWoo Monroe brought down the house, and I got a whole bunch of great pictures in the sash.  Here are just a few.  Here I am with Tracy Wolf, Women's International Leather Legacy 2012...
  
  with Rich Stadtmiller (photographer extraordinaire and naughty Santa)...

 

and with the fabulous MCs, Tek and girl Kim.  

(I had to resist posting the rest, because I have way too many!)

• December 8th was the SF Bay Area Leather Alliance's volunteer appreciation party. The Alliance, an umbrella organization for leather/kink/gear clubs in the Bay Area, puts on events like the Leather Alliance Weekend and Mr. SF Leather contest, and Leather Alley at SF Pride.  I was planning to go to their party, since I had worked on Leather Alley. Sadly, due to a death in my family in the early hours of the morning, I had several other more urgent things to do instead.  Never mind, there is always next year.  And sorry for the downer.  Keep reading, you will soon come to the VIDEO portion of the blog!
• On December 13 I arrived in London, where I spent a few days seeing friends and extended family.  I worked a couple of days in my company's London office, just so I could be in town long enough to go to Bar Wotever. I am doing a whole separate blog entry to tell about Wotever, because I love what they are doing.  But meanwhile, in the context of my title activity report, the Wotever organizers were kind enough to ask me if I would come on stage and speak for a few minutes about the North American BDSM community, leather contests, and my experience becoming a titleholder.
  
  You can see a video (made on a handheld device, you have been warned) of my talk here. The video might be a bit rough, and my talk too, but I had the most fantastic feedback and great conversations after.  I gave out several pins and a lot of business cards, and I had some great conversations with folks who had lived for a while across the pond, or were originally from the US or Canada, or who were just really interested in the differences between the two scenes.  

Well, that's it for another blog post.  Please subscribe (link on main blog page) if you want to see my next blog entries as soon as I post them.  And please also send feedback, to let me know if you like the blogs, or if you want to see something different. Thanks!

Catching up on reporting my title activities - Oct-Nov 2013

Since winning the title, I have been making a steady stream of what I am grandly calling my Official Appearances.  I have been having lots of fun!

(Side note: While I have been having lots of fun as the titleholder, I have not been as successful at blogging about what I have been up to.  Failing on my goal of blogging makes me feel guilty, and the longer I leave it, the more guilty I feel.  Guilt only serves to make me feel bad, and does not help me be productive.  And guilt is probably more boring to read about than to feel.  So I have now resolved to catch my readers up with what I have been doing, with some actual content!  Please read on ...)

• October 18.  Attended the program of The Exiles, and proudly presented The Sash to my home club.  Our presenter, tomo, gave an excellent talk on "Takin' It: Pain and Pleasure", which in brief was all about how to take pain for your and your partner's pleasure.  As well as enjoying the program, I got to schmooze with my friends and show off the title regalia.  Here I am with a fellow member, obviously having a great time!
  
• October 31.  Not an Official Appearance exactly - I was there to play - but I want to give a shout out to the location. Once or twice a year, the men's bath-house, sauna and safe sex club EROS closes for a private party.  And the party attendees can be other than male! I had a fantastic time, as I always do when I get a chance to go here.  Men who have sex with men - this place is for you, 364 days of the year.  I encourage you to go there!
• November 1.  Went to the launch party for Queer Sphere, described as "a club for people of all genders who identify as queer and kinky".  I am excited to report that this new organization is providing classes, parties and a mentoring program here in the Bay Area.  Kinky queers - this might be for you. Check it out!
• November 2. Attended Santa Clara County Leather Association (SCCLA) title contest.  It was great seeing the new Mr SCCLA, Sam Campbell, earn his title.  I enjoyed listening to a wonderful step-down speech from Thib Guicherd-Callin, Mr. SCCLA 2012 and the first runner up to IML 2013. I even - gasp - met my sash husband, Mr SF Leather 2013 Andy Cross FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME!!  (Andy is also International Mr Leather 2013, so is extremely busy. I expect this factoid to feature in his roast prior to his step-down as Mr SF.) Here is a picture of me and Andy.  Note: I have since learned to pay much better attention to the placement of The Sash.
  
  

• November 7.  Definitely not an Official Appearance but I wish it were.  I went to see I am Divine, a wonderful documentary about the acting and singing star.  The movie did not disappoint!  And I got to meet Bambi Lake, one of the original Cockettes.   
  
  

• November 15.  Attended the TransMission event at the SF Citadel. TransMission events are for trans* people and allies.  I always enjoy these events because I feel at home there, thanks to the great hosts and the demographics of the attendees.
• November 16.  I had a work event planned for that whole weekend, or I would have registered for Dark Odyssey Surrender.  Lucky me, I got done with the work thing waaay early, and so I went to the hotel to schmooze in the lobby and have a quick photo-opportunity.  Here I am with Women's International Leather Legacy 2013, angel.  Afterwards I had a lovely dinner with Ms SF Leather Contest producers, Liza and Jody.

• November 23. Sarha, International Ms. Leather 2013, and Oil Tan Sam, International Mr. Bootblack 2013, were on their Big Tiny Tour and stopped by The Powerhouse, so I thought I would drop in to see them.  Thib Guicherd-Caillin kindly hosted Sarha and Sammy since Andy Cross was again out of town, no doubt on important IML business. Oil Tan Sam did a great job on my boots.  You would never know from how they look that it was pitch black in there and we had to rely on flashlights!  My phone died while I was there so I cannot prove that I was with Sam and Thib. But here is a pic of me and Sarha!  She is no doubt looking so happy because she is about to go and get some rest. Nothing to do with the awesome Ms SF Leather pin I had just given her!

 Okay.  That's all you get for today.  I am not caught up yet, so I will be posting again soon.  Next installment will include a VIDEO!

Please subscribe to my blog to be notified of updates, or email me from the blog's homepage if you want to ask a question or see something specific.

My First Week as Ms SF Leather

After the weekend's fun, I was super excited to get to work as the titleholder.  I can't say I got off to exactly a flying start... but here's the list of leather-related activities from the last week.

• Tuesday: picked up my vest from Mr. S with the patch on it.  Here I am modeling it - I think it looks GREAT. Do you agree?
• Wednesday: started this blog.
• Thursday: set up some temporary business cards - they will do fine until I get to a print shop.
• Friday: taught Exiles Orientation class with Marilyn, Allison and Judith.  I was terribly overexcited, because this was the first occasion I could wear the title patch even semi-officially.  I think my exuberance helped the Orientation to be even more fun, because it played so well into my role in the skit as the "newbie top".
• Saturday: attended an open play party at SF Citadel. Nerine and Jessie were there, escorting the Newbie Munch on a guided tour.  It was great to see my "sash mom" (or maybe my big sister?) Nerine, and as well it was fantastic to see such a large queer contingent in attendance. My date was extremely hot!  We reprised our characters from my contest fantasy. Sorry, no pictures from this event, per the Citadel's strict policy. 
• Still Saturday: attended Black Saturday at the Powerhouse, at the invitation of Big Red (pictured), who was hosting the evening.  This is my sash husband Andy Cross's home bar and event, so I was thrilled to have this be my first official presentation as the new female titleholder.  It was great to meet my sash husband's husband, Carlton.  And I got to hang out with my hot date and watch thrilling demos and super-cute go-go boys.  A fantastic night, and a great end to a fantastic first week as Ms SF Leather!

Titleholder sex

I have been trained that a titleholder's first duty on winning is, if they have a partner or date, to have sex incorporating the title sash or patch. This might involve, for example, having sex lying on top of said item, or spanking / being spanked with it.

As a married person, I think it's a good tradition to have sex right away, so my wife at least has something to remember during the year ahead, when I may often be absent or too tired to, you know...

Anyway, I am pleased to report that we did break in the patch that night. Marilyn says it has amazing super-powers. I said it might have also had something to do with my famous power of endurance. Which did give out eventually, see pic.