Hope you get what you came for. Some
pics, some
stories
and the self-indulgency only a personal webpage can afford.
HAVE
YOU SEEN ME LATELY?
Well
maybe you have! I've met thousands of people through the parties and events
my wife Deven and I have hosted
as founders of BBWNorthwest.
We'd been
members of various plus-sized groups over the
years, but had felt less than comfortable at their functions. We felt
any group based on acceptance should be accepting of everyone of
every size, not a "fat admirer" group based on divas and
fetishists. Since its creation in 2000, we've had over 25,000 people
join. My blog
talks about the
local BBW scene, life, love, and various other bullshit.
BBWNorthwest has suffered some slings and arrows from critics, but it's the
terrific friends we've made that have encouraged us to continue working
toward fostering more confidence, self-respect and esteem for our king
and queen-sized members. Join us!
I've been a
professional DJ and party host since 1979 at literally thousands of
events for my company, Party Hits
Entertainment. Among my clients are Nordstrom, Macy's, Ikea, Dun & Bradstreet,
United Airlines, Jack Daniels, Budweiser, Nabisco, Texaco, and Microsoft. I'm founder of the Seattle Disc Jockey
Association, and blog about the mobile DJ industry
on DJTalk.com. Prior to me
coming to the Seattle
area in 1996, I did my DJ thing on radio stations including New Orleans'
WTIX, WQUE and KHOM-104 and
Mississippi's SL-100, WQID and
WXYK - KISS-FM.
There
are a certain number of benefits in being quasi-famous.
Like when Melissa Etheridge did the "meet and
greet" with me (though she seemed more friendly
toward the women) during her 1995 concert tour.
But the real attraction
wasn't on stage, it was in the audience. I was the morning DJ who
escorted our two female contest winners. The lucky
lipstickers were either very much in love or just wanted
to fit in with the rest of the crowd. They did
put on a convincing display in the limo though! I've also gotten to
shake hands with Barry Manilow, Chuck Berry, Rush Limbaugh, Wolfman Jack, Dan Aykroyd
and a Beach Boy (although I forget which one).
I'm
not embarrassed to admitthat I liked the 70's. Sure it's a cliché now, but to
those of us
who lived it - rather than watched the sitcom - it might have been the
last decade with a glint of innocence. Yes, that is
Sylvester Stallone. In 1976, thanks to a radio contest my friend
won, I was spirited to the
world premiere of Rocky II in Philadelphia all expenses paid;
including the party at the Art Museum building where ol' Rock runs up
the stairs in the film. Had a ball watching co-star Carl Weathers lust after every woman in the place!
And
then there's Ben, who's 14 years old and is embracing teenager-dom
with sullen exuberance. He's never shy about
making a precocious remark and then rolling his eyes, "because the
girls like it".
On
weekends you'll find him up until 2 am taunting people all over the
world on xBox Live, running the message board of his favorite WWII
online game, or writing his own futuristic novels.
He's given me much joy and a lot of
perspective. With me as his Dad, there's no telling how he's going to
turn out... but then after I became an adult I realized how nuts MY Dad
was, yet I haven't been sentenced to prison or a padded cell. Yet. Stay
tuned.