the conference: day 1

For the first time in my life, I attended a professional conference – meaning one that dealt with my work. Last week was the West Coast Convergence which was the meeting of a lot of sex work –related happenings. There was Sex Worker Fest, SWOP national meeting (I’m a board member of SWOP-East), St. James Infirmary’s Fantasy Sex Me Academy and the Desiree Alliance 2007 Conference.

Although I have a few quibbles, what I came away with was a profound feeling of love and acceptance. I’m still high from it (and I didn’t partake of anything stronger than champagne on my last night). My small-publisher meetings chronicled on here do not compare and must’ve happened on another plane of existence entirely.

So, my first day. I arrive in SF Tuesday (7/17) about noon, just in time to miss SWOP’s big rally. I had hoped to attend since I’ve never done this sort of thing before, but it was not to be. I walk to the SWOP meeting place, which of course means I got lost and walk an extra mile or so – carrying a heavy bag (I didn’t bring my backpack because I somehow thought it would look dorkier than my crooked back and slumped shoulder as I carry a 20lb bag my right hand).

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hard candy

I heard about Hard Candy when it came out, but since I couldn’t catch it in the theater, it fell off my radar. Last night in Blockbuster it caught my eye. Mainly, I was hoping for something that would be a fair trade for staying up past my bedtime.

Instead, I ended up with a movie so good I was pumped after seeing it.

There isn’t much plot to the movie. It is an exploration of two people, one of them not at all what they seem to be. It’s a bloodless, sexless horror movie that is and isn’t about blood, sex and horror. Rarely has a movie taken me through amazement, revulsion, sympathy, laugh-out-loud black humor, reversal of loyalties, suspense, horror-movie satire and genuine horror too. This post contains some small spoilers, so don’t read past here if you plan on seeing it.

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update: strip clubs and the $2 bill

I wrote about strip clubs using the $2 bill and its effect on the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing (the Mint).

According to a Newsweek article this week about the declining use of actual currency, notes that in 2006, all US currency totaled $784 billion with an estimated $400 billion in actual circulation. This article also stated that in 2007, the government will print about 9.1 billion individual bills, 95% to replace worn currency.

According to the article referenced in my previous post, in 2005 the orders for $2 bills totaled $122 million (and the number is expected to rise). That’s not a significant percentage of the amount of currency in circulation, but I’m betting it’s a significant percentage of the bills to be printed. I wish I had access to all the numbers and information I want to be able to accurately determine the effect of the adult industry on the US Mint, but that probably won’t happen.

It’s fun to speculate, though.

modern chivalry

Here’s a book that I think might intrigue my male readers. Brent Kenton Jordan has written The Chivalry Code: Discussions on Becoming a Man in a Modern World. Now, before you think this is another “be a man” guide, remember that this is the same man who wrote Stripped: Twenty Years of Secrets from Inside the Strip Club.

A discussion on chivalrous philosophy created by a man who has spent most of his life watching men at their worst is an intriguing idea – to me. The Chivalry Code is on my buy/read list. It sounds like a Robert Greene-style of book with a less-than-academic twist.

This is blatant free plug for Brent’s book. I know him. A little. I approached him cold, through e-mail, more than a year ago. He’s been very nice to me and has patiently answered my questions. We’ve never met. The book would be on my list even if I didn’t know him; it’s just likely I would not have heard about it.

reasons to work at hooters

Newsweek recently interviewed Sanjya, the American Idol contestant. (I don’t watch it but I sort of know the plotline.) The interviewer seemed intrigued that his sister worked at Hooters. Sanjya defended her by saying she needed a job, as if it were an unusual reason for working at Hooters.

So…all the rest of the girls who work at Hooters are there feeding a deep-seated personal need to serve messy food and beer to middle-aged men who want to date them? Might it not be because they need the job too?

Sometimes it’s amazing how far stupid stereotypes extend. (Correct me if I’m wrong in assuming that most Hooters girls work there for the money.)