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Contact: SEBootblack2008@yahoo.com
Schedule
July 18-22 2008 NLA_CFL in Tampa, Fl
August 7-10 2008 Master/slave Conference in Washington D.C.
September 26-28 2008 Fetish Fair Fleamarket in Charlotte, NC
February 27-March 1 2009 South Plains Leatherfest in Dallas Texas
April 9-12 2009 Frolicon in Atlanta Ga.
April 17-19 2009 NLA-Houston in Houston TX
May 1-3 2009 Submissive Journey Weekend in Pigeon Forge, Tn
June 12-14 2009 Southeast Leatherfest in Atlanta Ga
Columns
June 25, 2008
Speech given at SELF 2008
June 2008
| Wow, what a wild few weeks since SELF! It has been great and I am starting to get my feet under me. The first thing is my thank yous. I did not make it to SELF, nor did i make it through the competition on my own. I had an amazing support system and an amazing group of people spread throughout North and South Carolina and beyond who stepped up and helped out. Thank you to each and every one of you. Your support, donations, love, and willing ears/arms/backs meant the world to me. Thank you to the SELF Board for producing a fabulous event. I have never felt so loved and cared for as I did while competing for this title. You guys really do know how to take care of your contestants. I would also like to thank the judges. Every interaction I had with each of you led to me taking something away. It was wonderful to get to interact with such a venerable group of ladies and gentlemen. I have now attended SELF twice and both times have been life changing events for me. I cannot say enough good things about this event and the people who put it on each year. All I can say is if you have stumbled across my column and you have never attended SELF before, make your way to the registration page and sign up as soon as possible. You won't regret it. I have made friends and loved ones through SELF that I likely wouldn't have met otherwise. And that is what it is all about. SELF is a place for family and friends to meet, reconnect, and spend time together. My schedule has started off with a bang. I taught my first class at my home group, CAPEX (Charlotte Area Power EXchange), this past weekend. I did bootblacking 101. It was a great class with a small group who asked alot of questions and the class was well received. I look forward to the opportunity to present for CAPEX again soon. July 4th weekend will see me in Atlanta volunteering for Atlanta PRIDE weekend. Then I will be flying down to Tampa to present/fundraise with NLA-CFL. I am really excited about this one. Its sure to be a great weekend. In October i will be flying out to San Francisco to compete for the title of International Community BootBlack. It is going to be a weekend full of fun and some seriously stiff competition. I can't wait. I have a few dates set up for next year as well. I will be presenting at NLA-Houston in April. I will also be attending South Plains. I have several more offers in the works now and will keep you all up to date. It is my pleasure and privilege to hold this title. I have never done anything like this before and I am awed by the amount of support and the outpouring of love i have received. I am going to do my best to make you all proud and to be worthy of the faith you have placed in me. Thank you so much. girl commando SouthEast Bootblack 2008 |
Speech given at SELF
Young leather
Usually you don't look for leather but rather leather finds you. You
could be at an event one day and over hear a conversation or meet up
with someone who takes the time to explain leather to you. Suddenly
something clicks. You have found your leather heart. This happened to
me about a year and a half ago. I was your typical young kinkster. I
had the vest and the boots and wore them because they were hot. But,
then I overheard the phrase "earned leather." I was curious what this
meant, so I approached the person who had said it and they were more
than happy to offer an explanation. It was a very brief cursory
explanation, but it triggered something deep inside of me. I knew this
was what I had been looking for. I took off my boots and my vest that
night and haven't put them back on since.
Once I discovered leather I never looked back. I soaked up everything
I could find and talked to everyone I could. That is how I became
Young Leather. I am one of the next generations. I take this very
seriously. I have duties and a legacy to carry on. I have chosen a
path that requires work and commitment in addition to the other
responsibilities in my life. I have chosen to carry on these long
standing leather traditions. Many of you in this room are the ones
who chose to walk the path before me. Some of you are the ones who
will walk the path after me. I have a responsibility to uphold these
leather traditions, not just for me but for all of us
To uphold the leather tradition I must keep not only learning from my
elders, but also passing down what I know to the ones coming behind
me. In this way our history and our traditions will survive the test
of time.
In addition to the responsibilities I have, I must also be conscious
of where my focus is. I am young leather and sometimes that leads me
to be impatient and to forget my focus. I sometimes forget the
important things in my life. When this happens, I remember a statement
that a good friend of mine made, "Earning leathers is what keeps us
grounded." My focus in my journey right now is earning my leathers.
Through doing this I gain an insight into the past, present, and
future of leather. I have been given assignments that range in focus
from the history of leather folk who have passed on to What earning my
leathers means to me. I look both inside myself and outside into the
leather world for the answers.
This is hard work and it is very humbling at times. When I step back
and see the big picture I am awed. I often think of walking down a
dirt road. Ahead of me I see many sets of footprints. They are the
footprints of the people who have forged this road. If I look behind
me I see my footprints over top of those and I can also picture the
footprints of the next generation coming along after mine. This is my
path. I am right where I need to be. I am Young Leather and I am proud.
*****************************************************************
This speech was written and given from the heart. I love what i do and
i feel like that showed. Thank you to everyone who expressed interest
in seeing my speech.
In leather,
girl commando
SELF Bootblack 2008
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