And this, this was the highlight of the week, I think. It had been so long since I'd been in a leather bar in leather gear for a leather event (I got stuck in khaki's for the Ashram West Mr. Leather contest). But this, this was fun as fuck.

The contest was advertised (falsely) to start at 9pm. I got there at 8:30, picked out my spot, and waited for Don and the Avatar brothers to arrive. And I waited. And waited. Some drunk called August began talking about pups and boars and biting and spitting... I was trapped. Then Jojo showed up and saved me. If I didn't thank you already, Jojo, thank you now. And then, my eye spotted someone I hadn't seen in 20 years: Robbie. He used to live with Teresa back in the day, and used to work at Disneyland and knew half the guys I dated in my 20s. I remember road trips to San Diego in the back of a borrowed convertible. Well, there he was, large as life. So we caught up and then around 10, the contest began.

I had noticed this hot guy looking back and smiling every so often, and because we were literally pinned in chest to back, at one point, he had to introduce himself - he was sitting on my knee. Did he arrange that? I like to think so. So Raphael introduced himself and those eyes, that smile... damn what a cute boy. After the introduction of the contestants, he moved to greet a friend, and never did make it back to my lap. And on the contest went...

An hour passed. Still no Don. Still no Avatar. And still no Raphael (who had nice minty breath that made me want to kiss him upon meeting him). They took a break, I wandered around while having my next cocktail and found a few other people I knew, but no sight of Don. The line out the door hadn't moved in hours, so I figured he might be stuck out there. I decided to leave, but not before finding Raphael and giving him my number. I walked up to him, said, "Pull out your phone" and gave him my cell. I told him I had to go rescue a friend having car trouble and I hoped to hear from him later. I got to my car, checked my iPhone and found that both Joel and Don had tried to get in, saw the line, and left. Don was at the Faultline, but Joel had gone back home. I headed to the Faultline - when you got the leather on and look good, you can't go home before midnight. So there, at the Faultline, I met up with Don and the Avatar brothers for one more cocktail and lots of man-watching before heading home after a long, very fun night.