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Heels over head:

In love or just lust. Looking forward the the weekends and its night time pleasures

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The Backside of Life Main tumblr is here

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Downside Up

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All Dressed up for the Weekend:

Or at least for Friday and Saturday nights. Not even sure if a tie is needed.

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Winter Approaching:

A cool autumn day in Tokyo makes me want to hurry to winter. Winter, although not especially cold in the southern area of Tokyo, is enough to give a special appreciation for the warmth of a hot bath. A public bath with others in "naked communication" or at home alone. Around New Years, a yuzu infused bath is especially refreshing.

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Rear View

From years ago back in the hills, a bared bottom was not something pleasant. It often meant the sound of the old man's belt unbuckling and being pulled out, followed by the swish through the air and the sound and shock of it hitting bare skin.

Later, in the initial military physical I went through in Pittsburgh, it meant a group o 30 or so guys entering a room and removing their jockeys or whatever they wore, being ordered to spread their feet should width apart, bend over and spread their cheeks so the doctor could walk behind the 3 rows and examine for hemorrhoids. I was worried about getting excited at the prospect of seeing all those other guys and being discovered as non-straight in an era when such a thing would have likely disqualified me.

Odd how things have changed over the years. Just the lines and view of that part of a human form are an indication of human beauty to me, no matter if male or female.

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Self Portrait:

Toritsudaigaku, Tokyo

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Dreams

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Hard Working Folk. The Satisfaction of Manual Labor, Skilled Work, and Builders of Things that Last.

I have no illusions that manual labor is not hard, tough work. I grew up doing it. Summer vacations were fun-filled trips to Disneyland or far away places. The best we could do was to hope for a 2-3 day trip to an aunt's farm in Oho. Otherwise, it was us working on dad's "projects": digging a hole for a new septic tank; digging a hole to move our outhouse to, plus all the planting, hoeing, harvesting. Then there was the acres of grass to be mowed with a push mower---there was no safe place to use a riding mower on the side of the hill where we lived. Normal for Appalachia. We often were lucky enough to put off house painting and roofing to early fall. You don't wanna do much roofing in the heat of the summer, even the pre-climate change heat.

Later, just out of high school, I started as an auto-body repair apprentice. All the veteran body men had big arms for a reason. But I decided to go into the military for training and ultimately college. The military was great (except for the prohibition on gay sex. You could be gay, but you could not have sex.)

Then I went to university and started a career that required NO physical strength or conditioning unless it waste get my butt used to sitting all day. Any physical stuff was relegated to my own motivation on my time off. While in the States, that was no problem as I still have plenty of heavy chores and labor to do. Plus, I could weight lift and go on long bike rides and races. Then to Japan. Any physical labor in Tokyo I do had been limited to a suitcase or two, or when moving apartments carrying some of the things movers need not bother with. All my physical "labor" is now weight lifting and running. Had to give up cycling because of the danger---real danger---on crowded streets. But the thing I miss most about physical work the lack of something tangible to show from my job. Tens years from now, the results of weeks or months of hard work will likely be invisible to everyone. Things I made or things I built or helped with from all those years ago back home are still there. I can see them. They'll still be there as long as our old place stands. I have the satisfaction of knowing I did that. My brothers and I and my mother can all see it and share in the memories. There seems to be a newfound respect for people in skilled trades in the US, well among some folks, mainly those who never lost it to begin with. The talent, intelligence required, the physical and mental skills are obvious. The talent, intelligence required, the physical and mental skills for planning some nonsense about embarking on a new paradigm is not obvious. One could argue that baffling people with bullsh*t is the most obvious skill required for that.

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Summer's End

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Clothing optional Sundays.

The last day off the weekend and it's too hot in Tokyo to do much outside. Staying in and relaxing with the AC on and all clothes off for the entire day. Actually a lazy waste of time, but nice every once in a while.

Of course those days only work when alone. When a buddy is with me enjoying clothing optional Sundays, the option to wear clothes disappears and no matter the season, it becomes an incredibly hot and sweaty day.

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After the Bath:

One of the nice things about Japan can be the public baths--sento. These are slowly disappearing as nowadays, unlike 40 or 50 years ago, people have baths at home.

Even in the summer, a hot bath can be relaxing and refreshing in spite of the already hot temperature outside. Nowadays, most of the patrons seem to be older or even elderly, but there are a few "super-sentos" around which still attract younger customers, especially on weekends.

Not to disappoint, but male and female baths are completely separate, so guys aren't gonna get the chance to ogle naked women. On the other hand, you're gonna get the chance to be naked with a lot of other naked men, and although that may be erotic to think of, the actual experience isn't about that---even for me. It is the communal feeling of being with others in a natural relaxed state with the feeling of hiding nothing. Total nakedness brings down the wall that Tokoyites tend place between themselves and folks they don't know. There's a term for that translated into something like "naked communication." That wall often comes down even for an unknown foreigner, especially once someone finds they can speak Japanese. There's nothing deep about these conversations that I have experienced with some descending into the tedious "Can you eat Japanese food," "Can you use chopsticks," or someone giving me disbelieving looks when they are informed that, "Yes, America has four seasons; Japan is not the only country that does," and similar. I can't say that my replies are always nakedly honest which they theoretically should be in naked communication---I don't give entirely honest answers to "What do you think of Japanese culture" and so on, because I have been here long enough to know both the good points and the very bad points about it. Like any culture. But being too naked about that sort of ruins the atmosphere. I generally just try to change the subject to avoid offending or disappointing my bathing companion and boring myself to death talking about that yet again.

And after the bath, lying naked in a cool, air-conditioned room alone is a reward in itself.

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Head over Heels

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Morning Stretches:

The flexibility needed for Tokyo nights.

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These hot August days have brought back a lot of memories of when I lived back in Appalachia. Many good memories, some memories of things not so good back when they happened but that have special memories now.

I remember the works and sounds dreaded when I was going to get the belt. The old man would start calling me "Mr. Buddy" for some reason and then if things were really going south, I'd be told to "Get in the living room or smoke-house and get 'em off) and stand there with nothing on waiting for him to come in. Then a "bend over and grab 'em) and the sound of his belt coming off, the buckle rattling and the sound of him folding it in half. A second or two later the sound of that things cutting through the air and landing on bare skin soon following by a stinging burning pain that built with each impact. That was usually followed by many more of the same at high speed in high impact. Soon the main sound was me sobbing, apologizing, and more or less blubbering.

I am not sure what lessons I learned from all that except a belt on the butt hurt like hell and that I had to be more careful and not get caught the next time. Still, I did repent of some things partially due to those whippings. One was smoking. So for me, it wasn't all bad. Now it is just a memory that younger folks for better or worse won't have.

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Still looking for something to replace tumblr that does not mistake simple nudity with adult content. (The censorship is bad for all, but said to be worse for transgender.)

Tumblr's (inconsistent) Fear of (mostly male) Nudity

Don't look!

(You'll find "adult" content all over tumblr with little effort. However, Tumblr seems to make little to no effort for consistency. It cannot even define "Mature or Adult" in a wya that even its employees can understand. I have challenged their labeling and won the challenge only to have another tumblr employee re-label a post as adult. Naked men are especially scary regardless on whether or not genitals are exposed. As we know, here in the 1950s, a glimpse of, or even the though of genitals, reduces any type of painting, drawing, sketching, and so on to porn.)