Congratulations to Walt Weis, Mr. Lure 2002, on both attaining his 50th Birthday and a wonderful benefit for the fledgling organization he and his partner Robert Napolitano are spearheading. Walt apparently took the obligations of being a leather title holder (vaguely, 'doing something good for the community') very seriously. He and Robert started Teens Prepared for Life, which basically offers self-defense classes to LGBTQ teens. I think this is great. Support groups and the like seem to me to be really unsuited to narcissistic teen agers, but self-defense instruction is both empowering (hate that word, but it fits) and instills some good values. The room was packed. I don't doubt that thousands were raised for a worthy cause, and... I met a guy. A feisty little bruiser. Not sure if he's one who imparts bruises or one who is wearing the bruises the next morning, but I like his energy a lot. I definitely want to get with that man. Tragically, he lives in Queens, which makes for a tricky commute from BDJC (Beautiful Downtown Jersey City). I've seen him a lot at Ty's, so I'm pretty certain our paths will cross again. The whole time we were talking, or standing next to each other, or catching each other's eyes from across the room, I was hard as a rock. So, Dear Readers, I'm hoping I'll have more to tell you about Bruiser. Also saw Lolita there, and bunches of other NYC leather luminaries. Definitely an Eagle crowd (wearers of leather) as opposed to a Lure crowd (experienced players who wear leather), but it was a good crowd overall.

There were drag queens. As in, dressing up like Barbra Streisand and lip-syncing to recordings of Barbra singing. Now, I wouldn't say I was a fixture in the East Village drag scene of the late Eighties and early Nineties, but it certainly had an impact. That was biting, satirical, wild, and hilarious. Watching a Barbra simulacrum, I sort of feel like I'm spying on someone dancing around their apartment with the stereo cranked up singing into a feather duster. I don't quite get it. "Being held hostage to his dreams" is a nice turn of phrase that comes to mind. Not that I'm against it or anything, but once you've heard Varla Jean Merman belt out one in her own voice, or heard the petit mal seizures that pass for badinage between Lady Bunny and Mona Foot, it seems sort of lame.

Anyway, I'm off to the Lure. Or maybe the Eagle. Or who knows where. Hopefully, I haven't seen the last of Bruiser for the night.

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