SPANDEX / LATEX: Photos Day 1

Dale is at AIDS LifeCycle 11 for all of this week, bringing you exclusive access to an event that has a ton of people and is not at all exclusive. Get involved here. Open your hearts/wallets here.

Someone gave me a camera.

SPANDEX / LATEX: Grindr Report, Day 1

Dale Cooper will be guest-blogging for a week while participating on the AIDS LifeCycle 11. Find out more here.

SANTA CRUZ - Pop. ~ 60,000. County seat of Santa Cruz county, CA. Home of the University of California: Santa Cruz. "Well known for watersports" (Source: Wikipedia).

Logged in at: 9:14PM, PST. First 100 profiles included.

Analysis: Smaller ALC Grindr usage than anticipated. Possible explanations: participants biked 82.5 miles today; first day of the ride, with little sleep the night before due to anxiety/going out while in the city; don't want to start the search "too soon;" many participants may have gone to bed early; people may be sticking with friends they know at this point.

Recommendations for future research: need to get on Grindr earlier in the day, perhaps at lunch and dinner time and again later in the night? Comparison of those numbers may be revealing on that account.

Important to note: inability to charge smartphones on the road, may be conserving battery life for later use in the ride.

SPANDEX / LATEX continues it's riveting variety of attempts at "content" over at the ALC Experience website.

SPANDEX / LATEX: Intro

SAN FRANCISCO - The versatility of the bike seat post should really be more appreciated. This is Dale Cooper, sometimes guest star here at Big Shoe Diaries, sex worker, milquetoast and special rapporteur on AIDS LifeCycle 11. BSD has been given the opportunity to travel along with the world's largest HIV/AIDS treatment and services fundraiser in the world, and philanthropic and engaged citizens of the world that we are, we could simply not pass up the opportunity. It should be noted, sore and well-sculpted posteriors and tons of toned boys in skin-tight clothing are to be expected, so, naturally, that influenced the decision.

From today through June 9th, I will be traveling 545 miles down the coast of California. Much more interestingly, while I'll be traveling by car and just journaling about my experience, over 2,200 participants will be traveling as well, the majority of whom will be undergoing the trip on bicycles. Cyclists have raised, at a minimum, $3,000 each for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center. That's a lot of philanthropy. I beleive they accept Colby Bucks--so don't be greedy with those greenbacks and donate, if you're able!

This is the inaugural post of what we are calling SPANDEX / LATEX, a section of BSD devoted to my musings and special perspective here on the ride. Look forward to hunks with handlebars, portraits of asses in spandex and sex worker interviews while I cruise down California 1. I have big shoes to fill here as the new diarist on Big Shoe Diaries, but fill them I shall try. Can't get enough? Follow us along on the ride (where I will also be providing more content) or head on over to the ALC website to learn what it is all about, or get involved yourself.

Dale Cooper owns a typewriter because he thinks that is probably cool.

COLBY DOPPELGÄNGER: NYC PENN STATION RELIEF

Minister of Propaganda, Karl Marxxx here reporting from my mobile device....En route to Washington, DC this morning at STUPID o'clock a.m. from BROOKLYN, I was caffeinated enough to notice a more statuesque Colby Doppelgänger smiling at me from the top of the many ugly and circuitous-making staircases that are the end result of a hugely botched resign(or three) in the 50s and 60s. The statue jutting out slightly from the wall is beautiful though, and it really does look like Colby smiling. While our muse is off in Berlin at least we have the doppelgängers to keep us company. The same is true for New Yorkers as Grand Central Station is still a sight to behold. Happy trails to all!

I SEE PENIS: FERNSEHTURM

Yay!  Break out the champagne!  My first time out of the good ole' US of A in decades.

I'm in Berlin for the whole month of June working as a nanny.  Now I finally grasp what every jet setting über hipster I know has been raving about.  Berlin rocks with its cock out.  On my first day alone I trekked down to nearby Alexanderplatz, the dour epicenter of former Communist East Berlin.  Rising above the city looms the mammoth Fernsehturm, a monument to the Soviet Bloc's hollow prowess.  Ostensibly a "television" tower, the Fernsehturm couldn't help but exhaust West Germany's most paranoid espionage fantasies.  Now it's the Berlin equivalent of the Eiffel tower.

To honor the occasion, BSD reader Chris submitted these lovely communist themed Colby bucks.  I can't wait to hit the DDR and Stasi museums tomorrow.  Woot!

MY PORN NAMESAKE'S DEATH DAY: RIP HELEN KELLER

 "Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." - Helen Keller

One of the greatest opportunities of every porn star's life is the opportunity to create a new identity that includes both a new name and new persona.  In my case, both my porn first name and porn surname were given to me by other people.  Colby, coming from Mr. Sean Cody himself 'cause I guess I looked like a slice of cheesy goodness and later, Keller from the folks at Titan 'cause I was (and still am) shy and I guess being shy in the porn world is kind of like being blind and deaf in the real world.  You have to figure out a different way of operating.  And so this post is dedicated to my porn surname namesake, blind and deaf advocate and activist, Helen Keller.  Thank you for inspiring us all to be more than what the world says we could be.    And thanks to Victor J. for reminding me of Keller's special day.

"All the world is full of suffering; it is also full of overcoming." - Helen Keller

MORE MONEY HONEY

. . . Cause you just can't have enough.  This artful batch of cash comes from BSD reader Michael in Glendale, California.

Submit your own Colby Cash to bigshoediaries@gmail.com. There may just be a present in it for you.  ;-)