Devon Hunter

Tomorrow I leave for a week in Paris, and I’m fighting off an intense cold (which I think was brought on after a bout with strep throat last week). But you know what?? I don’t care – I am ready to be in Europe again! I have missed it SO MUCH! And, contrary to some Americans, J’ADORE LA FRANCE (et tout ce qui est français)! I just hope I’m not “that guy” who gives everyone on the airplane cooties for Christmas. At any rate, I will post pics after I get back January 2, 2012. In the meantime I wanted to begin breaking the silence a little bit about the projects I have been doing for the past several months.

Although it is an artificial deadline that I have created for myself (and therefore isn’t set in stone), I am hoping to launch a new gay adult website for Valentine’s Day, 2012. There is still a great deal to be done in the meantime, so I cannot promise that this date won’t change; however, we have been very busy putting together a site that specifically seeks to NOT be like any other I have ever seen or heard of. Yes, everyone says that, I know. But whereas the content of an adult site really cannot be reinvented all that much, the process can be (and that is where our focus lies). The who/what/when/where/why/how of this site definitely distinguishes itself from the typical porn pages. In fact, we won’t be making porn. You will understand what I mean once everything is in place and all the pieces are fitting together.

Something to note is that the interface for this new site will be drastically different from that which has become stereotypical to adult media pages. Because I am going to keep my blog at the same time (and because the two sites will be connected via links), I want there to be a sense of design continuity between my diary and the new content site. The pages won’t match per se, because they are two separate sites, but I would like visitors who go back and forth to experience something akin to a parallel interface. With that in mind the layout of this blog is going to have its first true redesign. Each year around January or February the blog gets tweaked and made more efficient and tidier. Generally it has been a fairly subtle rearranging and some color scheme changes; however, the next version of this site will be much different from those I have used before, and I ask that you please be patient and play with the new design once it is activated. It won’t look like Anteros Media, nor will it function just like the Anteros Media site either, but some of the concepts concerning organization will be implemented at a basic level, and that will require some playing/discovering on your part as a reader.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday season, that 2012 is full of success for you, and that wherever you are you know yourself to be valued and loved.

This past weekend I went to Mexico with a friend to both relax and get a little work done on a large upcoming project. It was simply amazing. Stunning! I flew from Charlotte to Houston, then transferred flights to Puerta Vallarta. After that there was a 2-hour drive out into the Mexican jungles, which ended (after some muddin’ in a big van with special tires) at a beach front nature preserve that also houses a resort with its own farms. ¡Bienvenido al Hotelito Desconocido!

Hotelito Desconocido is a green eco-resort. There is no electricity, the water is heated with solar panels, the food is grown onsite, and the rooms are individual huts open to the air around them. Simply enchanting. While in the shower you could look straight up at the stars. And the lighting at night came from candles. Anyway, I’ll get to all that.

Upon arrival we were greeted with fresh mojitos and then rowed across the laguna to El Valiente (the name of our hut, which was fitted out to celebrate the room’s theme of valiant Mexican rebels). The doors face directly onto the water, which was about 100 feet away, and the walls were constructed of branches covered with adobe. The ceiling was open construction, so it was possible to see the skeleton of the thatched roof. Some writing on the wall expressed the idea behind El Valiente: Perfiero morir a pie, que vivir siempre arrodillado (I prefer to die standing, rather than live forever on my knees). The huts are airy, single room dwellings with a closed-off toilet and a screened-off shower. The shower is open to the sky, and the entire structure allows the breeze to flow through almost without inhibition of any kind. It’s very obvious that this place will leave almost no footprint of any kind on the environment – the whole resort springs out of the earth and the materials at hand (and would immediately revert back if the property were ever abandoned).

Exploring was in order, so we took a long walk up and down the beach chasing crabs and being generally captivated by the sheer isolation and wildness of the place. That first night we were there they brought  a snack of fresh guacamole with chips as well as more drinks while we sat on the wraparound porch in the hammock and watched the scene change colors. We were rowed back across for dinner (which was YUMMEH!!) and talked into the night. Torches lit the trails everywhere. It was like a painting where the scene is bathed in golden light. To make it even better, we were the first guests after the renovation, and we had the place completely to ourselves (except for one heterosexual couple – the woman did Yoga each morning on her porch, performing the Surya Namascar to greet the dawn before settling in to meditate while listening to the waves). We went to bed listening to the surf, and when I woke up and looked down at my feet I could see the water directly behind my toes.

During the day I spent a huge part of the morning in the hammock on the porch while my friend went for a long run. I got some reading in, but mostly I was contemplating Monet’s concepts about color and changing light. I watched the scene change gradually as the Sun hit the water and sand from different angles. Breakfast was late (since we raised the red flag at mid-morning, had to wait for it to be seen, the food prepared, ferried across the water, and then brought to us by foot – LOL), but it was delicious. Fresh melon with a cinnamon-infused coffee, which had no acid or bitterness at all… quite remarkable – I’m not a coffee drinker, but I would drink that every day. The fresh squeezed orange juice was a vacation unto itself. It was finished off with a postre made of chocolate cake on bottom, flan on top, and drizzled with caramel. Now THAT is how to eat breakfast. The rest of that day was one calamity after another: More hammock time, splashing around in the pool (the undertow of the waves made swimming in the ocean impossible, which is fine since I don’t swim in the ocean on general principle – a single toe in the water sends me to the bottom of the food chain), a massage on the beach, and a great deal of talking and napping. I really don’t know how I got through it all… It’s a hard knock life. That night we had dinner on the beach (tuna as a first course followed by a nicely prepared steak), and (if I may quote Henri I in “The Lion In Winter”) the sky was absolutely pocked with stars. I’d not seen stars in so long I’d forgotten how amazing they are. The Milky Way was right there. We commented that it was easy to see why the ancients perceived them as diamonds hanging from the dome of the sky-ceiling – they looked like you could touch them.

The next morning was the same toilsome rigor of breakfast on the porch; however, this time there was a special chore cooked up to completely break my spirit and leave me in abject distress… We got to release baby sea turtles into the sea!!! I really was squealing, it was so fabulous. I named each one. We had seven little babies. They were newly hatched, and each could fit in my palm (and I have small hands). Remember that this resort is also an animal preserve: They specialize in caring for baby sea turtles, and one of the treats while visiting during the hatching season is to ensure that as many of the babies reach the water as possible. In the nest the eggs have to dodge innumerable predators, but when they hatch the babies have to get out of the nest without suffocating, dodge innumerable predators, get down to the water without dying of exhaustion, dodge innumerable predators, swim off the beach, dodge innumerable predators, and survive for a decade in order to come back and breed. The resort gave us seven to release, but on the way back up I found three more who had come out of a nest at that very moment. We put 10 into the waves ourselves. It was wonderful to watch – they knew exactly what to do: Run like hell.

After that I had to leave, so it was another ride back to Puerta Vallarta. This time I was better rested and found out that I am quite capable of an intelligent conversation in Spanish. The driver and I talked about all sorts of topics, including the confusion in English concerning the word “stuff.” It was quite interesting explaining the use of this generic term to someone. We talked about plants, women, the cost of living, and how to translate from one language into another while speaking. I had a great time, and I definitely need to make trips like these more of a priority. It was just marvelous.

I wanted to bring your attention to someone who contacted me recently, and who has a very interesting blog concerning adult entertainment. She updates frequently, she likes bananas, and she tackles issues ranging from health/diet to legalities, identity, and philosophy. Regardless of her being female, her insights can be very helpful to gay men (or anyone else who wants hear insider perspectives). Please consider giving her a visit! Her link is permanently listed under the links for “Interesting Adult Blogs” at the bottom of the screen. For simplicity’s sake within this introduction, you can also visit her by clicking here.

Also, I wanted to share a couple of pics from my adventure on the roller coasters. I got to use a VIP pass, so I didn’t have to wait in lines AT ALL, and I got a personal tour guide for the whole day! So, for nine hours I got to do about 35 rides! Not bad, considering an 8-hour day may get you only 4-8 rides when the lines are long or the attractions you want are spread out across the park and you waste time zigzagging and guessing the way to them. With Shelley we got bustled about quickly from ride to ride, because she knew the quickest path to each one, and she had a great sense of how to pack as much as possible into the day. Plus, I don’t think I had to wait more than one-three minutes for any ride at all throughout the whole visit (which is WAY better than one-three hours). For most of the rides I simply walked up and got into the next arriving compartment. AWESOME!! Also, the brunette girl guessed my age wrong (but we’ll take 26 any day of the week), so I got to bring home a black plush animal for Kitteh to snuggle with while I’m traveling out of town.

Note: I can do horizontal insanity all day long, but one spinning ride and I’m done for a while (see left). I don’t like spinning. I get car sick very easily – I always have – and being in a spinning ride makes me pretty queasy. At any rate, of the 30 or 35 rides I did only three were like helicopter blades and none were like spinning tops. The overwhelming majority of what I rode were coasters (the single corkscrews and various inversions don’t make me sick), as well as other rides that go forward, as opposed to around and around. Those types of rides feel like the exhilaration I get from gymnastics, trampolines,  and dancing: Falling, recovering, floating, flying, hurtling, darting, rolling, soaring, sailing, riding, etc… It’s like a drug, and movement makes me high (see right). If you ever have the chance to do a VIP pass at Cedar Point in Ohio, DO IT. The cost may look high, but when you look at all the amenities that come with it, you actually get a MUCH BETTER bang for your bucks.

I’m finally, finally, finally going to Detroit! I’ve considered going on so many occasions, but have never done it. I will be meeting a new client for the first time, and I’m very excited, because together we planned the trip enough to be full, but loose enough for improvisation as needed. What is going to be particularly memorable is that we will be spending a great deal of the time riding roller coasters!!! I have never blogged it, but I absolutely LOVE them. They are everything that I adore about movement, dance, and gymnastics: Falling, turning, flying, stopping… I get high on those types of rides. The exhilaration of sitting down is almost the same kind of anxious nausea I got before performances when I was in high school, college, and graduate school. Everything about them makes me burst with pure joy. I am especially excited, because I can’t remember being on roller coasters since I was living in Los Angeles, and that was 1998 – 2002 (so it’s been nearly a decade, if memory serves). I’m a bit disappointed in myself: We have Carowinds right here in Charlotte, and I’ve never taken the time to go… Boo!! I should really take better advantage of all the amenities my city has to offer. But, at any rate, this is going to be so much fun!

I haven’t been blogging much for a few months. I know that. And there’s  no reason, except that I just haven’t wanted to. Something happened a couple months ago, and I felt that I was tired of sharing. I think it was around the time of the Grabby’s. But, be that as it may, this weekend in Chicago has been very up and down, but it has ended on a very, very positive note. That is what I want to share.

To say that flakes and no-shows are discouraging/infuriating is an understatement; however, I did get to spend time with my friend J.P. Barnaby, I experienced the ENO platter at the Intercontinental Hotel, and I met Meghann. Last night was one of those nights where I felt like nothing I did was to any avail – it just wasn’t going to work out with this appointment, no matter how much I tried to be accommodating. That on top of my entire itinerary falling apart made for some frustration and self-doubt that I had to work against internalizing. I succeeded for the most part, and it’s because of the reminders that flashed up from time to time that everything is temporary. August, 2011 will shortly be in the books, and September will be so much better.

At any rate, when I finally gave up on this client it was nearly midnight. I was STARVING. We were supposed to meet at 11, he moved it to 9, then back to 11, then was an hour late, then at 11:45 said he wasn’t coming at all. I’d gotten ready at 8 pm, so four hours later I was bored, hungry, and irritated… and just about everything was closed. I was wandering around, trying to find some place that still served food, and then I saw it: TGI Friday. Oh, fuck my life… Really?? This is all there is?

Well, I’m glad I went in. TGI Friday likes to sell itself as being always in the festive Friday spirit. And, for me last night, it turned out to be exactly the encounter I needed. Meghann came over, and despite the late hour, was very kind and energetic. When she asked what I wanted to drink, I said, “Girl, it’s been a tough day.”

“Oh! Well… here is the drink list.” LOL Awesome. I selected a red wine, and the Michael Jackson song “I Wanna Be Where You Are” came on. Meghann saw how much I perked up to that. She went over to the juke box and said she had a surprise for me. I managed to find something healthy on the menu, and as I was jammin’ to Lady Gaga, Nirvana, and some other hits she peaked around the corner and said, “These next two are for you.”

OMG!!!

She set me up with “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” and “Smooth Criminal.” No. She. Didn’t. YES SHE DID! LOL That was it. I was done. She came over and we had a nice time singing and laughing to the jamz. I showed her my mad skills, all while eating the broccoli that my superhero powers had transformed into chocolate (transubstantiation is just another of my mutant abilities), and we had a GOOD TIME. Just like Friday is supposed to be. And she did this specifically because she knew I needed it. That is so amazing to me.

So, if you are ever in Chicago, you simply must go to the TGI Friday in Magnificent Mile. Ask for Meghann. She is a beautiful person, and she will put some Friday in your life. Her willingness to play with me completely eradicated all that frustration and self-doubt. September will be better. Today is better. Last night was better. Thank you, Meghann!