Interlude: G.L.U.E.

Interludes are short segments between regular episodes with no editing but WITH leather creaking. It's a chance to hear a little more about what's going on in my life. Here's what my host's AI has to say about this episode:

What makes a meaningful community connection? Join us as we gear up for Glue Weekend in Houston, October 11-13, 2024—a leather and fetish event that promises to be both thrilling and thought-provoking. As I share my excitement about judging the Mr. Third Coast Leather Contest and delivering a keynote speech, you'll get a sneak peek into the array of activities planned, from the Misfits Ball and cigar socials to a bathhouse pool party and fetish kink classes. Reflecting on my experience judging the Mr. Eagle contest, I'll discuss the deeper connections fostered at smaller, intimate events, and why they hold a special place in my heart.

Ever wondered how challenging questions can reveal a contestant's true character? Hear about the importance of meaningful conversations within niche communities like the cigar and leather circles. I'll share my insights on how engaging in dialogue, rather than merely having the right answers, helps foster community growth. Plus, we'll highlight the significance of local and regional events as valuable entry points for anyone looking to get involved in their community. Whether you're attending Glue Weekend or exploring local events, this episode is packed with insights and excitement about connecting with like-minded individuals.

Chapters

• 0:00 Judging and Keynote at Glue Weekend
• 7:45 Community Engagement at Glue Weekend
• 17:27 Local Event Engagement Importance

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to Full Cow, a podcast about leather kink and PDSM. My name is Edge, my pronouns are he, him, and I'm your host. Welcome to another intro dude. The episode between episodes offered raw and unedited, but with leather creaking, or usually with leather creaking, you know everyone. My Langlitz jacket is starting to finally break in and so it's not creaking as much. If any of you who are special fans of the creaking would like to buy me a brand new Langlitz jacket, I would be on board for that. But hopefully you'll get a few creaks every now and then. I'm actually recording this like moving my arms a lot to try to get some. Oh, there we go, there's a little creaking. Anyway, this episode is about glue and that is a leather weekend in Houston. I'm going to read the press release just to kind of give you all a little overview of what it is. Houston will once again host Glue Gear, leather, uniform, etc.

Speaker 1: 1:01

Weekend, october 11-13, 2024. Produced by Misfits Houston, a Houston leather Levi club which is celebrating their 32nd anniversary, the weekend is one of the longest-running LGBTQ plus fetish weekends in Texas, which started in 2012. Events will be hosted at Play 2409 Grant Street, rich's Houston Montrose Center and Club Houston in the Montrose neighborhood which serves the LGBTQ plus community. The weekend will include the annual Mr Third Coast Leather Contest, which represents the states in the Gulf Coast region. The competition is also a direct preliminary contest to International Mr Leather held in Chicago. Other weekend events include the Misfits Ball featuring DJ Matthew Moody, a cigar social with boot blacks, a bathhouse pool party, the screening of Enquerados. I'm very, very sorry to my Spanish speakers, I am learning Spanish but I'm only like 100 days in on my Duolingo. Anyway, it's a document that will be a documentary at the Latinx Mixer and there will be 16 Fetish King classes, a Sunday brunch and tea dance and much more. Run passes and individual event tickets are on sale now through October. You will find tickets on Eventbrite and more information at glueweekendcom and I will have that link in the show notes.

Speaker 1: 2:34

I am thrilled to be going for a number of reasons you know. I'm sure I've already mentioned this, probably in one of the interludes. I've been pulling back from leather events. So I only go to a leather event if I am sort of compelled to go and I'm pulling back because I'm focused on finding a local boyfriend. Blah, blah, blah. If I'm traveling all around the country, I'm not meeting anyone. Local blah, blah blah. I'm spending all that time and money instead of investing in my local community blah, blah blah. But the reason I'm going to glue is they have asked me to be a judge for the Mr Third Coast Leather Contest and I'm also giving a keynote speech and that is something I have never done. I am crazy thrilled for that, and I just wanted to share a little bit about the event and what I'm thinking about it. What's interesting about this interlude is it's really combining some other topics I've discussed in other interludes and episodes, including how much I tend to like small events, and including my extensive experience of judging at the Mr Eagle contest last year maybe, yes, last year. You know I'm very curious. Since I'm going to be a judge, I'm curious if any of the contestants will do their research so thoroughly that they will discover this episode to kind of get a clue as to who I am. So if you're a contestant in the Mr Third Coast Leather Contest, come up to me and say Xanadu and then I'll know you've listened to this episode.

Speaker 1: 4:03

Small events are fantastic. One of my favorite events is Mates in Provincetown and I'm hoping that glue will have that kind of flavor to it. A small event, first of all for an introvert, is a little less overwhelming. It's more manageable just because of the amount of things to do people and energy that's going on around me things to do people and energy that's going on around me. I also love that you actually get to see people. There were people at IML. I was at IML and there were people I knew were going to be at IML and then I saw photos of them at IML afterwards on Facebook and I never saw them at the event. And my experience at MAL was even worse. Like at MAL, I had 10 seconds to say hello to someone and then, oh my God, there's the next person I have to go say hello to and I never saw the first person ever again. Big events is fantastic Lots of energy, lots of people, lots of fun but small events you actually run into people again and again. You can start having longer conversations and start forming connections, and I'm all about connections when I go to events. So that's one of the reasons I like small events. And one of the reasons I'm glad to be going is I am compelled to go as a judge and keynote speaker.

Speaker 1: 5:18

As a judge, I re-listened to my judging interlude to see what I said on that one, and this will be fairly repetitive. I'm a hard judge. I'm a hard judge. I'm going to have the hard question for these contestants and it's not because I'm mean, I'm like the opposite of mean. However, this is feeding into IML and this will put them on the national stage and I think it's important for them not only to be thinking locally about their local community and how they contribute, but to be aware of larger conversations happening in the community. When I did the judging episode and I was judging Mr Eagle the really hard question I had was about Touche's 25th anniversary party where, if you know, leather Bar in Chicago has a big party hires a racist, transphobic puppeteer who's making rape jokes. Community is outraged. That's the short version.

Speaker 1: 6:15

If I were judging last year, my question would have been given what happened at MIR, what do you think is the future of this contest? All right? So first of all, you have to know what the hell MIR is, which is historically, mr International Rubber Then you have to know what happened. They are now just MIR. They're open to contestants of every gender and every possible gender identity and the winner will get to choose if they're Mr International Rubber, ms Mix Mrs, whatever International Rubber, ms Mix, mrs, whatever what it calls into question is are these sort of gender-specific titles? So if I'm judging a Mr Third Coast Leather, to what extent should it remain a Mr Third Coast Leather? Not an easy question, because you need to know what's going on out in the fetish world and you need to take a very delicate stand or a stand. Part of the reason I ask these questions is hey, you're going to be on the national stage. You better know what people are talking about. And hey, you're going to be on a microscope, because now you're going to be a title holder and you better know what you're talking about. But also, I'm also just very curious for people to be able to articulate some sort of position on these issues. I often think you know I talk about this all the time. This comes up in all my little educational videos Membership in a community is not about knowing the right way to do things.

Speaker 1: 7:45

It's about knowing the terms of the conversation. So there are a gazillion ways to light a cigar. You could be an Obanoff's person or Hubbard's person. On your boots you may have a particular feeling about what hide you like for your floggers? None of those things matter. The important thing that matters is that when you're talking to another cigar person, you can talk about the different ways of cutting or lighting or why you like your way. It's very similar that I'm not really interested in someone having the right answer to these impossibly difficult questions. I like to ask, but being able to participate in the conversation, because conversation, I think, is what moves us as a community towards some sort of solution.

Speaker 1: 8:34

Also, the thing with the hard question is I don't necessarily expect you to know the answer. I also expect I don't expect anything. I also want to see how you respond when you don't know the answer. It was very instructive when I did this in the Mr Eagle contest, because some people clearly just gave an answer and they didn't know anything. They didn't know what touche was, they didn't think to ask me or anything like that. They just gave an answer. I'm like, oh well, okay, this again is meaningful, not because I'm the mean judge although I am the mean judge but because, as a title holder, you're going to be interviewed in any number of media outlets the local gay rag or some website and you have to be able to say when you don't know something, you just have to say I don't know, or you have to say I need to know more about that or I need to research that. And, as I mentioned in the judging episode, the best contestants will, after the interviews, go find the answer, find me and tell me what the real answer is. So that shows a kind of persistence and follow through which I think also speaks to a contestant. I have in my head three different super hard questions. I think I, I think I already know the super hard question I'm going to ask and um I it's really hard, ty, if you listen to this, that whole conversation we had about that trip you're taking to go do that event in Europe, that's really my question. That's all the clues I'm going to give. So I'm really looking forward to judging and I'm looking forward to Houston.

Speaker 1: 10:17

You know, as soon as I announced this everywhere, in all my social media, even on Facebook, I started realizing how many friends I have in Houston, how many leather friends I have in Houston. I don't. I haven't been to Houston. Oh my God. I mean 40 years. No, I'm not that old. 30? No more than 30. 35 years, maybe. 35 years when I lived in New Orleans. I went to Houston a couple times. You know, new Orleans and Houston have a very interesting kind of—they're close, they're good friends. I will say, you know, between Mardi Gras and Louis there's like a whole Houston New Orleans thing. So I went to Houston a few times when I lived in New Orleans. But I haven't been to Houston since. I've probably flown through it on Southwest. But beyond that, I'm excited to go to Houston. I'm excited to see and partake in what looks like a really vibrant local community. Now grass is always greener in Wilton Manors. I'm pretty sure if I asked the people in Houston they would have all kinds of complaints about their community. That's part of what makes a community a community. But I'm excited to see friends that I haven't seen in years. I'm excited to meet people that I've only chatted with online. Decided to meet people that I've only chatted with online. They are putting me to work.

Speaker 1: 11:40

Let me tell you I have a very packed schedule. I get in on Friday. There's a meet and greet with the contestants and judges. Friday night with Cigar Social Very happy to hear there's a cigar-friendly event at this, as I am quite fond of my cigars and then Saturday is interviews. That's like two hours, and then Saturday at 6 to 9, I think, is the contest. And then Sunday is this brunch thing where I am giving a keynote. Now I don't know what the hell I'm going to say and I've not had a lot of input on what it should look like. It should be about 20 minutes long. Apparently, people will be brunching while I talk and that will present certain challenges. In itself, I'm certainly capable of commanding a room, but if you're competing against cinnamon rolls or biscuits, then it's tougher. Now hopefully it's at a hotel and I'm competing against, like buffet scrambled eggs which are dry and horrible.

Speaker 1: 12:42

But I've been thinking about a couple topics and I have a few. I don't know where I'm gonna land. So one of them is really, um, you know, in disability theory there's this oh, hold on, I'm gonna look up her name Garland Disability Theory. One moment, people, I told you it was unedited and raw. It is not Garland, oh, it is Garland Thompson. One moment, I got to find a real name Rosemary Garland Thompson. Rosemary Garland Thompson does disability theory, which is an academic sub-discipline that theorizes disability. Anyway, she has this one article about misfits and it's really about not fitting into the environment. I mean, it's a little bit more complicated than that. So I thought it'd be interesting to do a keynote about misfitting for the misfits and really thinking about how we craft spaces where we do fit, and I think that's a really beautiful way for thinking about community. Very uplifting Applause, applause, applause. Take my cinnamon roll about.

Speaker 1: 13:55

It's made me think a little bit about how I got to where I'm at and all this stuff I do the podcast and the videos and my old website and the YouTube and the Tumblr and all that. It all started because I was looking to get laid, and so I thought about doing some sort of speech about the power of trying to get laid and thinking about how we can create change, we can help others simply because we want to get a good trick right, like in those moments when we're looking for sex, we can actually teach people new skills, we can learn new skills, we can welcome people into communities, and so thinking about how my journey led to where I was at but it wasn't any sort of grand plan, it was just I was trying to get laid. And if that's happened to me, what can you do when you're trying to get laid? So I'm thinking about that. Oh, and if y'all have preferences, let me know.

Speaker 1: 14:47

So there's misfitting, which might be a little dry, I don't know, I think it's powerful, it's a little dry for a brunch. And then there's trying to get laid, which is funny, kind of funny, right, it's an interesting concept, I think, about how we stumble into service simply by trying to get our genitals happy, and then I don't know no-transcript in terms of leather, just because I don't know that really, you know, part of what they wanted was something a little joyous. I think they wanted something. You know, like we know you're a great talker, you know you can talk about things and you can be funny. So I'm like, okay, we want to keep this inspirationally happy, joy, joy. And so I'm thinking less about some of the complex issues we're facing as a community and more about um possibilities for positive change, and which both those talks are really about positive. Like you know, the whole idea of of misfit is creating the environment where you do fit, which is about creating community. How do we create community where people fit? Um, oh, that is, oh god, I'm really good, I might do that one. And then obviously, trying to get laid and stumbling into service is really great. And also about aspirational service types things, and I think I'm gonna yeah, I think I'm gonna do that.

Speaker 1: 16:15

It is gonna be a really crazy weekend for me Fly in, busy, busy, busy, busy, busy. Fly home Sunday, and then I'm traveling the next weekend as well to LA, just for a day, essentially. So I have a really crazy October coming up. But I'm excited for Glue. I am super excited. I'm excited for the event. I'm excited because I like judging people. That's kind of a joke.

Speaker 1: 16:42

Go back and listen to the judging interlude, it'll make more sense. I'm excited to see friends and to meet friends, and I'm kind of excited for this keynote and kind of have no fucking idea what I'm doing. So we will see. If you're there, please say hello. Your best chance of grabbing me will be really during that Friday night, because you don't get to come to the judges interviews, obviously, and then during the contest, I'm going to be sitting at some table being all judgy, judgy, um. So your best, best bet is to get me a Friday night, cause that seems like the most low key social and I hope to meet so many of you and um, that's it. I'll give a report once it's done too, but you've not been to Glue, think about it.

Speaker 1: 17:27

And if you can't make it to Glue, think about what local events you can attend or support or create local or regional events. They are critical for entry points for people, they are more affordable than some of the national ones, they create more local connections and they're often a super duper lot of fun. So I hope to see you in Houston, or I hope you see yourself in some local or regional event near you. That's all for now and I will see you. No, I won't see you because I'm on a podcast. That's all for now. I'll catch you. Am I catching you? I don't know. I hope all of y'all are having a great, great journey.