And then...

Don and I left brunch, intending to head home, relax, and change into clothes for the Mr. Oil Can Harry's Leather Contest that night. At 8. Or so I thought. Don got a call in the car about his leather shirt for the Mr. Sister Leather Contest next week, and in the course of that, found out the OCH contest started at 5pm. So, after a quick shot to my house to change, we were off to Studio City.

We got there on time, just around 5pm. Mind you, we'd been drinking champagne since 11am, it was now six hours later, and Don really had never stopped. So we get to the bar, grab a big ol' vodka and mingle. Hot guys. Seriously HOT guys. Daddies, cubs, smooth muscle boys, twinks... white, latin, black, asian... wow! (note: I chose not to capitalize these groups because we don't capitalize "white" and if I don't get to capitalize my own background without seeming racist [White = White Power] then I'm not about to capitalize someone else's race over mine) A veritable United Nations of flesh.

It was truly a bit bizarre - leather daddies dancing cheek-to-cheek with cowboys in fringed chaps; boys in jockstraps doing the Boot Scoot Boogie; men in rubber head to toe spinning during a line dance; twinks in T-shirts and trainers holding their own beside line dancing daddies. Awesomeness.

Then the contest started. Contestants were introduced, two of them were part of the Mr. Eagle Leather Contest... it seemed odd to me. These guys were clearly not part of the OCH regulars, yet there they were asking to represent the bar. One boy, a tall twinkish Ph.D. candidate from Cal Tech seemed the only true OCH boy on stage, but I don't think he'd win. The others looked more leather, even if they were less country.

I loved taking pictures and playing with my new-replacement camera. I was way down in the crowd while the contestants were on stage, but I got some really great close-up pictures (and not just of ass shots, faces too). I met someone named Lauren who works for something called Leatherati... I like that. He is like the paparazzi for the leather scene. I could get into that. Note to self: come up with creative pun as name and get some business cards made.

After a couple hours there, I wanted to leave. Someone had spilled an entire beer down my side, and I wanted to go. I was getting bored and cranky without drinking. But I don't have a problem, I swear. So I started to drive Don home, when I realized I hadn't eaten since breakfast. So, we did what you do when you are hungry. We looked for food.

And we ended up stopping at - yes - Hamburger Mary's in West Hollywood. And - yes - there were drag queens performing. Almost 12 hours after starting my day, it ends in a circle. Having burgers and martinis while drag queens pull bingo numbers with Chad Allen and then Calpernia Addams hosts the Follies Burgere. We only stayed for 3 or 4 numbers, it was getting seriously late and work was calling in the morning. Probably loudly. Probably painfully.

At any rate, it was one hell of a good day and I'm so glad I got to enjoy so many good people on my weekend!