I am BACK!

Ok, so I know it has been a long time since I have posted, but for good reason(s). It is not my intention to make excuses. I focused on bringing one of my favorite male models/friends, Fotios, into New Mexico to shoot with me over the Labor Day weekend. We went into the studio and got some pretty good shots. It was a combination of fetish and some wrestling stuff. So, I wanted to be a good host and show him around my favorite hotspots in New Mexico. He is an east coast boy, from Boston, a virgin to green chile, so I had to introduce him to some mild stuff first. Just our luck, there was an arts and craft fair in the plaza, which always attracts world class talent to Santa Fe. As we walked around on the beautiful warm sunny day, and perused the art in the tents, I was eyeing up some clothing that looked right up my alley. I stopped into the booth and was impressed with the cut, the fabric, and most importantly the sexiness combined with the "stretch factor". If there is one thing I hate, that is shopping for clothes and finding nothing fits, and what's worse, is getting stuck in them and nearly ripping them. I have been in positions where I have had to ask the salesperson to help me get out of something. When you are built like me, with a very healthy bust, back, shoulders, arms, etc., it's easy to get stuck in clothes. Not fun. So, the man inside this cool clothing tent asked me the proverbial "Do you train?" I looked at him, and said, "yes a bit". Then, he told me who he was, and I immediately recognized him. Lynn and his wife, Trish, owned the company called "Hotskins" and were based out of LA right near Venice Gold's gym. We immediately began talking shop about the good old days and their world famous lycra wear which crossed over into street wear and club wear. At one point in the early 90's, I had a wholesale account with them, and I would sell them at the gym when I was stationed in the military at Canon Air Force Base, New Mexico. In fact, the last garment I bought from Lynn was an all black catsuit that was originally designed for Chyna, the WWE wrestling superstar. And, you can see the catsuit on Rebecca Swanson in the post dated, July 8, 2009, next to me in the red catsuit. At the time, Chyna was at the top of her game, and she probably weighed around 200 or so when it was fitted for her. So naturally, it would fit myself or Rebecca like a glove. The good thing is, Trish lives in Taos now, and she can design for me once again like the good old days. I bought a few very cool items from her, as I could not resist, her stuff fits so well. Trish finally made it back to the tent, and shared all kinds of stories about how she got started in fashion. It's always interesting to hear how people got started in whatever they do. She told me that I am the first person in the "industry" they have had contact with since they left Malibu. They pretty much got fed up with the rat race in California, and just decided to retreat to Taos. It was cool talking to them, because the bodybuilding/fitness industry is like one huge extended family, and we all know each other. And, I was glad I was the first one they made "contact" with in so many years.

Trish is a real horse lady, too and she loves to train and ride her horses, so she invited me up for a weekend after my Europe trip. Truly, meeting old friends was the highlight of the Santa Fe trip. And, it often happens this way, as New Mexico attracts a lot of interesting, earthy people. And, I love mingling with the locals and artisans that visit. Unfortunately, we were running out of time, as we got a late start (as usual), and the sun was beginning to set, and a nice rain started to shower us. I really wanted to take Fotios to some of the cool landmarks and museums, and other interesting shops, but alas, that will have to wait for another time. Instead, I took him to my favorite retreat just a bit north of Santa Fe, a Japanese style spa/resort, Ten Thousand Waves. My favorite time of the year to go is the winter, because the contrast between the hot sauna and hot tubs, and lying on the deck in the cold winter is so invigorating. What's even more refreshing is that you can go totally nude there (except the common areas of course) and I love that since I am a natural nudist. I hate clothes. There are both communal and same sex areas. That's one of the things I enjoyed most about living in Den Haag. On weekends I went to this amazing spa on the seaboard of Scheveningen. And, Zurich has an amazing spa right down the street from where I usually stay. I must go there again while I am there! Yes, I am a spa junkie! And, the 10,000 Waves is at elevation, and the pines and the outdoor high desert fragrance of sage and other desert plants is refreshing. Generally, a couple hours of sweating, cold plunging, and the hot tubs work up an appetite. So, usually, I will go get sushi afterwards. Since it was so late, we did not get to indulge ourselves. One of the fun parts of the ride is coming back down the hill into Santa Fe, and I usually like to ride with the top down on my 32 SLK AMG hardtop Mercedes. Unfortunately, this time, it was in the shop for some minor repairs.

All in all, it was a great short day trip to Santa Fe, and Fotios got to sample a bit of my favorite things to do. We had dinner on the plaza just before the spa, and we got a nice view on the patio of the plaza. We went into the Overland shop to look at furs, hats and caps and had fun fooling around trying them on. I bought one that was on sale (of course) a black patent leather Russian fur cap. It's pretty sexy. I will take a photo in the winter somewhere with it.

And, of course, it has been nose to the grindstone in training. Since I know I will be in Europe for nearly one month, I am busting ass right now to stay big, hard and of course, sexy! So, Romeo took a photo of my back in the gym today after my session. I love back shots, probably because I can never appreciate or see it. I can see that my back has made some gains in width and overall thickness in the past couple of months. And, in such a short time, it's amazing what you can do with your body, up or down, leaner or more massive when you train hard and eat good clean food.

So, I am hoping with this post you will have forgotten and forgiven my absence from the blog, but as I stated, for good reason.