So today I had quite the adventure! My friend, the gorgeous Seth Fornea, was in town to work a both at the Mid-Atlantic Leather event, so I went downtown with my friends Susan and Gyn to see him and check things out.
Before I got there, I wasn’t really sure what this was all about. I just figured it was a chance to see my friends and hang out. It turns out MAL is a huge leather con that was just swarming with all kinds of leather loving folks. Or I should say leather loving men. Because I kid you not, other than Gyn, Susan and I, there were maybe 5 other women there and HUNDREDS of men, maybe thousands. It was kind of disconcerting at first to be the only women around. I mean, they changed the women’s room into unisex so the men could use it too! But everyone was either very friendly, or they ignored us. So it ended up being fine and eventually I forgot we were pretty much the the only girls there.
We only had day passes so after lunch we wandered around the exhibit hall and checked things out. Let me tell you, this place was packed. And a total maze. We wandered around forever before we even found Seth. There were leather lovers of all types and fetishes. Plus tons of gear for sale. Let me tell you, my romance reader education came in handy because I was pretty familiar with most things I saw. Pups and bears and guys in masks and lots (and LOTS) of harnesses and jocks and all kinds of things. The smell of all that leather was amazing!
In addition to just wandering around, we got to do a little fan girling. Here we are with Jesse Jackman and Dirk Caber. Let me tell you, Jesse is as nice as can be. And even more gorgeous in person.
We also finally caught up with Seth and took a picture with him and the other guys…
Seriously, I love this picture. We all look so cozy!
We also took one with some other guys Seth knew. On the left is Pablo Hernandez and the other guy owns a porn studio and I feel terrible because I don’t remember his name.
Overall it was a really fun day. So good to see Susan, Gyn, and Seth again, and great to meet so many nice people. Let’s just say it was quite educational! 😉
It’s quite the event, isn’t it? I attended MAL about ten years ago. It was an eye-opener for me, too, and part of my induction into the leather community. I haven’t made it to IML, yet but I will one day.
Yes it was amazing! Such a wide and diverse leather community, it was really interesting to see everyone. And great that people could be someplace where they were comfortable and welcomed. I had a great time, and meeting Jesse and Dirk was awesome, not to mention seeing Seth again.
That looks so fun!! Wish I could have been there.