A codpiece is better than full-frontal - REALLY????

Ahhhh - June 14: the world-wide date for the World Naked Bike Ride, an innocent gesture to get people to take notice of our unhealthy consumption of non-renewable resources. This year over 70 cities organized events whereas naked riders peddle through their city to landmark a dependence on oil and it's negative impacts.

But not in Boulder, Colorado.

In Boulder the warnings started early; any person exposing themselves fully would lead to receiving a charge of indecent exposure and as I have pointed out before, a charge of indecent exposure in the state of Colorado is an immediate mark against that person as a sexual predator, resulting in said person's requirement of registering as a sex offender.

The Denver Post states that everyone behaved themselves - well they had to when threats of a felony charge which would impact the rest of their lives were thrown at them.

Now Boulder has always been more carefree, more liberal, more tolerant the Denver. In fact, although Denver attempted the guise of a local event, truth is that Boulder is about the only city in Colorado that could pull it off - that is until Boulder city officials and police threatened to levy the devastating charges against riders should they disrobe. I guess I'll have to stop thinking of Boulder as that fun-loving, live-and-let-live city that was always so much more progressive and accepting than Denver could be.

The Denver Post reports that people were in underwear, swimwear and there was even a creative codpiece or two. They did allow women to go top-free, I guess there has been some progress made in realizing that at least the top half of your body isn't dirty or something to be ashamed of. If only we can get people to realize there is nothing with the rest of your body then we might get someplace - and tell me that a codpiece isn't a little more demanding of attention than a plain ol' penis...

I will admit I didn't even entertain participating this year based on these reports (coupled with the incidents at last years Pumpkin Run) which is sad as at 6'6" I drive an economical car, I recycle, and I've given up my house and yard for a more energy and water efficient apartment - but I have to live somewhere and have no desire to posted on a national website with a label that is best worn by rapists and pedophiles, resulting in my being drawn and quartered by my building-mates.

I was at Haulover Beach in April for 10 days and the experience was great. Legal, social nakedness with no fear of repercussion is the most freeing and liberating joy you can experience (sans sex). Colorado does not allow for this freedom and I still have yet to understand why, although it is good to know that I can hop on my bike in my skivvies and be left alone.

Maybe I'll hit San Francisco or Portland next June - I hear there were no arrests and no codpieces.

A link to the Denver Post article has been included for your reference:

http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_12587273

T-minus 10 and counting…

In ten days I head to Miami and in as many days I will be on the sand at Haulover Beach. From what I can ascertain it’s one of the top 10 nude beaches in the world and I’m to the point where I am practically counting the hours.

Now every nude beach that I’ve been to has a different feel; San Onofre is relaxed and mellow and if you break away from the small legal area, you can walk the shores of the Pacific immediately under Camp Pendleton for miles in the early morning without encountering another sole. Baker Beach is cool, breezy and not for those with any reservations about being seen; unmarked in it’s legal status and with a stellar view of the Golden Gate Bridge, you can be 1 of 5 nudists swarmed by hundreds of unknowing and unsuspecting tourists and if you‘ve got issues with being in the public view this might not be the beach for you. Sandy Hook is a free-for-all for East Coasters and tourists, and with a far view of New York City it produces a throng that may either embrace you or simply look through you, depending on how they feel that day.

I’m anxious about Haulover for two reasons; First, it is always interesting to step foot onto a new beach and gauge the ambiance, the vibe that the beach and its inhabitants produce. Secondly (in my opinion) this beach is possibly the most publicly visible beach, overlooked by some of Florida’s most expensive and coveted high-rise real estate.

Now the second part intrigues me more - as a nudist which feels our access to public lands is unduly limited and that nudity should never be considered nasty or illegal, I have no issue with the thought of being seen by any of Miami’s clothed elite while naked, or being surrounded by those visitors experiencing the much, much larger textile portion of Haulover. But, even with legal status it must be a little like being on display and for someone who has a little bit of a penchant for being naked where he shouldn’t be, I’m very much ok with this.

Nude beaches fulfill so much for so many of us; A place to feel the warmth of the sun and an ocean breeze on your body, a place to feel unencumbered and a place to see and be with others like us - to nod your head to the others that have to live like me, fully clothed when we’d prefer not to be. Being naked is so important to me that I don’t know if I could ever take a vacation where it wasn’t part of the itinerary; couple this with the support of nude organizations which keep me apprised of our status and assist in allowing us to be counted and I feel that I’m doing my small part.

So my hope is to take my laptop and provide a 10-day view of Haulover. I’m bringing carry-on luggage because when you visit a nude beach, you only need be concerned with adequate clothing to get to and from the beach and maybe be prepared for a dinner or two - I think I can get the trusty computer in there as well. So I’ve told myself to document the days activities so they can be remembered. I hope to talk about the feel of the beach and the people I meet and my impression of naked Miami, maybe even see if there’s anyplace else to drop my trousers, because as a man wanting more to do naked it’s always fun to push the envelope.

I’ll bring my camera too.

Now if anyone in Miami reads this and is at Haulover when I lay out my towel, say hi when you see me there…

It’s time for the wearin’ of the green…

So Tuesday is St. Patrick’s Day, and yes - with a name like Kevin Patrick it is expected, well required, to celebrate the wearin’ of the green. In Denver, our Paddy’s Day parade is on Saturday so tonight I’m getting the kilt ready.

Yep - I will be wearing a kilt tomorrow to the parade, just as I have done for the past 5 years.

Now how come I can feel comfortable on a nude beach but I don’t feel comfortable on the streets in a kilt?

And did I mention I have 6 of them?

I envy men that can pull them off. I wear them when I’m going out sometimes and on St’ Patrick’s day. I’ve seen other men wear them and they don’t care who looks at them and how they are perceived which is the reason I started buying them. I wanted them as a replacement for jeans sometime - I mean how cool is it to show up in kilt and not care what other people think of it? More so, I wanted to be a man secure enough to wear one. My problem seems to be that most men that have the guts to wear them look great in them and I’m still not quite sure I do. If you’re big and muscular and attractive and look like you don’t give a damn and would kick anyone’s ass for calling it a skirt you’ll be fine - be a tall, skinny, bald, middle-age queer and maybe you’re not pulling it off, maybe you’re a wanna be…

I exchanged a couple of emails with a guy on Blogger when I first started and I quickly became leery. This kid is 20-something, straight, attractive, and a nudist and I’ll be god-damned if he doesn’t wear a kilt when he has to put something on; Now I don’t want to be the stereotypical gay man by coughing up one-liners from old movies but to quote Scarlett, I was pea-green with envy.

I mean really, some guys get all the luck.

No really - a handsome kid that looks good in a kilt and isn’t worried at all about what other people think.

Some guys really do get all the luck.

Really.

I’m pulling out the kilt right after this rant and I will wear it but with a little remorse. This sentiment isn’t because I don’t have the best calves or because I really am Irish and right about now I’m as lily-white as they come, and a tan could do nothing but help this situation. No, I am remorseful because this 20-something kid is right because he truly doesn’t care about how he looks in a kilt or even realize that he’s one of those lucky people that can get away with just about anything - it’s because this kid wears it because he likes it and he doesn’t care what other people think and more than anything I am striving to be that type of person.

Envy sucks - It’s the one nasty emotion I feel as a nudist sometimes and now it’s surfaced because I passed an email or two to this very nice kid who just dropped in on my blog to say hey…

So to my kilted friend, I’ll work on the envy and attempt to mirror the ease with which you live your life and follow your passions, and realize that since you stopped by only to share a word about our beliefs in body-freedom I should remember that since you didn’t shriek at the way I looked naked maybe I should stop worrying about everything so much.

Eric, my naked buddy, stay regimental or better yet, be naked and thanks for maybe teaching an old man a lesson.

Naked social networking on the internet or: How to make friends and piss off people in 12 easy steps.

Now anyone who’s been to this site could easily glean one thing; Kevin is feeling a little lonely and looking for friends. Kevin also likes to be naked and likes other people that are comfortable with this.

So Kevin goes onto the web in all of his glory (well, not so much glory but I did put it all out there) and I start to interact with people across the globe via the worldwide web. I’ve had exchanges with men and women in other states and other countries and for the most part, I’ve had a blast. I love the diversity in people who all share a small common bond but allow that bond to open up new relationships, regardless of all the differences in their lives. I don’t want everyone to be just like me and I am so glad there are others out in the world that embrace the variety others can bring into their day - the challenges and perspectives that someone else can present – beliefs and ideologies and experiences that make me ponder and question and learn...

And boy is I learning.

Let’s cover the bad part of naked social networking first:

If you want to have a conversation over a web cam, please make sure that we’re going to have a conversation and that I would be able to see your face, not just your genitalia. I personally appreciate genitalia and I am by no means prude, but on our first interaction let me see a face with a smile, and then ask me if I’m looking to watch you jerk-off - that’s the only request I make. I’m sorry if I make anyone mad and by no means am I saying this is inappropriate behavior between adults, it’s just that I want a little more.

Yes, Kevin is naïve.

But now the good part:

After going onto a site where I have a profile posted (and after shutting down IM to avoid pop-ups inquiring about joint masturbation sessions), I received a post regarding my profile; it was open and friendly and inquisitive and complimentary. I responded to this person and then the dialogue started to go back and forth. With each response, I found myself wanting to express more, say more about myself and learn more about this person in return. There were topics which made my replies exceed my approved allotment of characters in that darn little text box, and every new thread seemed to make each of us want to know more and share more of each others life and experiences and opinions.

I really like it when you feel you have something to look forward to each day because a new and interesting person has entered your life, digitally or otherwise.

New friend; thanks for being the highlight of a crappy day yesterday.

Now, since this person is happily married, it always brings up the topic of whether people who meet in this kind of climate can truly just be friends. I’m trying to be adult and say yes, but we all know what kinds of things can happen. I think I’ve already admitted I wear my heart on my sleeve and am the first to admit I misread peoples intentions and comments on an hourly basis – If we talk and I ask you to explain yourself or request that you be blunt, I’m doing this to prevent myself from making a bad assumptions, not because I’m stupid.

Okay – I can be stupid.

Anyway, here’s to new friends, the joys of naked surfing, and looking forward to opening your inbox…

End segregation now

So I took a little hiatus.

Not from blogging or anything else in particular, just kind of took a break from human interaction; at work I was more quiet and I found myself not participating in social environments and found myself holed up at home during the weekends just not wanting to talk to people. I’ve been this way from time to time all of my life and the people around me have come to accept it. I am now back to being my normal, overly-caffeinated self again

I’ve decided that after a rather interesting year I’m giving myself a well-deserved vacation and that means someplace I can curl up on a beach and read and just generally be lazy for 6-7 days. I’ve starting looking at Haulover beach and I think that next month I’ll treat myself to a week there. I’ve been researching it and it sounds like it’s one of the most diverse and unified beaches in the US. After a week of internally debating about being fiscally responsible (paying my car loan off) or spending a week with a bunch of other naked people, well I have to tell you that I am pretty sure that being naked is going to win.

Now, I am always slightly torn whenever I look into taking a trip to a nude beach, as there always seems to be one last mark of segregation still affecting us-

Which side is the straight side and which is the gay side?

First of all, please let me tell you that I am not “Pollyannaish” about the state of racism in these United States, however you won’t find any beach directories telling you which is the black side or the white side - at least we’re getting better about that even though we have a long way to go still in terms of racial equality.

With that said, when I tell you that I’m torn I have to re-emphasize that I’m a gay man, but unless you and I are in a gay bar and you buy me a drink and tell me that you’d like to get to know me better, then I assume you’re straight. So when I go to a beach I am conflicted in that yes, it is great to be among your own, to be safe with others that are like you and maybe you even think that if you start talking with someone you are at least approaching someone within your own dating pool. But when I go to a beach and talk with others enjoying the sun and the surf and the breeze, I like to think that I don’t exclude the chance to met wonderful, funny, insightful people that I might exclude myself from should I look for the area predominately full of men on rainbow-colored towels and then set my own towel among them.

My first trip to a legal nude beach was to Sandy Hook in New Jersey and I had done due diligence before I went, knowing exactly which side of the beach I was supposed to station myself on and I did such. I spent most of the day alone, not talking to anyone until I walked to a concessions stand. On may way, and by a chance encounter, I started talking with a family and ended up having the best afternoon. It wasn’t until after we said goodbye and thanked one another for the day that I realized I had broken the boundary that I thought would give me comfort; to this day I am still conflicted when I step foot on the sand at then end of my destination and have to decide between going left or going right.

Someone want to fix this for me? So far, the only thing that I can come up with is to lay down in the middle so I get to enjoy the people on both sides.

Is age relevant?

So I’m having another birthday. I closing in on 50; if I reach out with my hand I can touch it and even though I admire this age on others (50 is the new 40), it doesn’t seem to be reaching back to me with a warm embrace but instead with a big, fat, ugly wrinkle stick.

Over the course of a couple of years I’ve been able to interact with others socially a number of times naked, and more and more I seem to be the eldest participant. When I realize this I often wonder if I should gracefully back away from the group and just put my pants on - for some reason or another I often find myself pondering that maybe I should just this leave kind of recreation to the firmer, shapelier, tauter 20-somethings, because we’ve all heard this before: “nudists are never the people that you want to see naked”.

Does age matter when you want to be naked? I know that when I see an older person at a nude beach I think it’s a wonderful thing. I think older bodies are beautiful; each wrinkle and line shows another experience in his or her life, whether good or bad, that this person was able to maneuver and survive. That person’s ability to shed their clothes regardless of how their body looks is a testament to core beliefs and self-assurance, and with age comes wisdom; talk to this person and you get stories and history - little pearls that you can use yourself later in life.

I was looking at pictures of me at one of these gatherings and I stand out - it’s not the tattoos or the metal or my height. I’m not the only bald guy, the only skinny guy, but I am the oldest guy. As the oldest person I sat back and thought that if I were missing from the picture it might appear more natural somehow, and that with me included it almost seems as though I was an outsider trying to fit in.

I don’t know what this all means. Maybe I need to be less of a nudist trying to be naked anytime I can, wherever I can. Should I now confine myself to interacting with nudists my own age in more acceptable places - that little group on the beach surrounded by all the young bucks and does, or do I need to work harder at looking “good” for my age?

I think these must be the questions that all nudists and naturists must ask themselves - I guess for the most part these are the questions that we all ask ourselves as we get older.

I’m going to try very hard to be one of those “seniors” that we see on the beach - the older man or woman that seems not to have a care in the world regardless of a little sagging and creasing. I also need to figure out why age or a little extra weight seems to weigh heavy on mind when I always profess the opposite to others.

Maybe I just need to find more people my age that don’t care about wrinkles and gravity and don’t mind being a little out of place in the picture…

Another step outside of the ol’ comfort zone

So we’re all out here - you’re either like me or you’re curious about people like me or you’re bored or you may even just need a laugh at the expense of someone who looks different or has different beliefs - it’s all good and even though the thought of being the butt of a joke made by someone completely anonymous to me bothers me sometimes - it’s a small price for meeting new people and being honest to one’s self.

So self I say, why am I not out in the thick of things?

I used to be - look at the picture and you can see that I used to be pretty adventurous; I mean you don’t get naked in front of a mall for god’s sake without being a willing to put yourself out there. This picture (and others) are a couple of years old and when I did them I felt alive. Taking these pictures meant I was different and edgy and went against the grain. Taking these pictures made me feel as if I had overcome years of always blending into the wall at social events (really, just blending in on a day-to-day basis), and never having any in my life that gave me bragging rights. Doing these pictures gave me the sense that I could actually stand up for rights and freedoms I truly believe in my heart we should have, and it made me feel strong and individual and proud.

So why do I still feel so all alone in this?

I said I found a group that seemed to be like me - acknowledging and celebrating body-freedom and individuality regardless of age, sex, body type. I’ve inserted myself into that group, albeit quietly, with the validation that I can put my money where my mouth is, all with no direct contact back from any of the other participants. Now I know that this all takes time; even with the guaranteed anonymity of the Internet there is still some reluctance in approaching people directly - I know this because I am just as guilty of this as are many, many other people who’d like to reach out to somebody , but for some reason pull back.

We’re all so different and I know that there is a lot about me that most people may not like. There are visible and personal attributes that may make people think twice about contact, things that could make people think we could have less in common than more so they just move on. I do this as well and I think it’s time for me to stop. I’d like to feel more alive again and me using excuses about my age or appearance should not hold me back. Even if I think that I have few shared interests with a person I stumble upon out here on the net, I should reach out if to do nothing more than say hello.

If you get a note from me, know that I just wanted to reach out to someone who peaked my interest, who shared an experience (good or bad) that I identified with, or made me laugh or smile.

And yes, the camera will be coming back out soon if for nothing else then to give a good laugh to someone else…

New Year’s Resolutions

So I never try to do this to myself; set unreasonable requirements against myself so as the year progresses and my goals are unattained and I feel as though I have failed.

Failure sucks.

Failure sucks more when you can’t blame it on anyone other than yourself.

Instead of setting myself up for failure by defining unrealistic ambitions which would only result in an increase in the bad habits that I am attempting to change (I can‘t stop smoking and when I can‘t I smoke more), so I’ve decided to make resolutions that I can keep by resolving to allow myself a few things:


I will allow myself the good things that life can bring

I will allow myself to have a good time

I will allow myself to be who am and not have to apologize for it

I think this is all so simple - Why would I try to commit to changing my mind, body, soul, solve global warming and world hunger when I can decide instead that I will learn to like myself for who I am? I can still try to be a better person to myself and others but I refuse to list 10 single points of failure, any of which I could find myself agonizing over in 30-60 days when I haven’t been able to bring it to fruition.

I’m attempting to make this year a year of positives and I hope you can do the same for yourself as well; that you grant yourself wishes and allow yourself to dream your dreams, even shoot for a few. I wish for everyone laughs and smiles and that you allow one other person to know who you really are and let them in to see the bad as well as all of the good.

Oh yeah, I resolve to find a good beach in the next couple of months…