nate_sf

240 hours until Palm Springs! And still waiting for spring in central Ohio, so the minutes cannot fly by fast enough.

I gotta get a van...

I gotta get a van...

I gotta get a van...

To those still on the fence, I'll say if not now, when? Don't delay and don't regret, just say yes. It's a really good time, even for (or especially for) introverts like me to bust out of our shells.
 
The first PS weekend I attended, I got in town Saturday morning in time for a meetup at a leather shop with others from the forum here. I hadn't met any of the guys before, and was pretty scared shitless, but mustered up my courage and found I was immediately welcomed. @Ace helped me pick out my first pair of leather pants, and it was off to the races. Though I've never been to an Elk's Club meeting, I'm betting this is way more fun.

All right, all of you are too much fun, so I'm taking the plunge. I've just booked four nights at the Canyon Club and even if I'm too late with my convo to Oliver to be part of the "formal festivities", I'm looking forward to being part of this weekend in whatever way I can. It all sounds like too good of a time to miss and by mid-April, I'm going to need a few nights away more than you can imagine. It may or may not be the craziest thing I do all year, but at least it's a start. Looking forward to it.

RSVP email sent this morning.

The end of an era: after 39 years, the hot tubs on Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco closed at the end of February. Over the years I'd been there more times than I could count, both on the clock and off. It was always good to know it was there as an option for a rendezvous. Though in concept it seems like it could be kinda nasty, and hard to believe such a place could exist, I always found the rooms to be really clean and well suited to the need at hand. Definitely had some fun times there.
 
Anyone else been there over the years, memories to share?

To those still on the fence, I'll say if not now, when? Don't delay and don't regret, just say yes. It's a really good time, even for (or especially for) introverts like me to bust out of our shells.
 
The first PS weekend I attended, I got in town Saturday morning in time for a meetup at a leather shop with others from the forum here. I hadn't met any of the guys before, and was pretty scared shitless, but mustered up my courage and found I was immediately welcomed. @Ace helped me pick out my first pair of leather pants, and it was off to the races. Though I've never been to an Elk's Club meeting, I'm betting this is way more fun.

The end of an era: after 39 years, the hot tubs on Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco closed at the end of February. Over the years I'd been there more times than I could count, both on the clock and off. It was always good to know it was there as an option for a rendezvous. Though in concept it seems like it could be kinda nasty, and hard to believe such a place could exist, I always found the rooms to be really clean and well suited to the need at hand. Definitely had some fun times there.
 
Anyone else been there over the years, memories to share?

A lot of good comments here. I'll add mine:
 
I think that what @Eric Hassan said is very important: counting not only calories but also macronutrient ratios (protein, carbs, and fat) is very important for two reasons:
 
1. Not all foods have the same number of calories. There are some foods of which you can eat a lot and not eat that many calories; however, other foods, even "healthy" foods, can be very high in calories. For example, if you Google the nutrition information for 100 gram servings of foods, you will see that per 100 grams:
 
Tomato: 18 calories
Apple: 52 calories
Banana: 89 calories
 
 
As you can see, for the same amount of food (as weighed in grams), you can eat a lot more tomato and apple than banana. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't eat bananas if you want to lose weight: you definitely can (they are a good source of potassium, inexpensive, always in-season, etc.), you just have to be aware that they are more calorific than almost all other fruits and vegetables.
 
2. Even though a lot of people have had success with low-carb diets, the scientific research actually suggests that your body more easily stores a fat surplus than a carbohydrate surplus. In fact, there is a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showing that in a 14-day study in which people were purposefully overfed calories, one group overfed with carbohydrates and the other overfed with fat, the group overfed with fat gained MORE bodyfat than the carbohydrate group. The difference was especially pronounced in the beginning of the study since humans have to fill up their muscle glyocgen stores in order to convert a significant amount of carbohydrates to body fat. Here is a link to the study: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Fat-and-carbohydrate-overfeeding-in-humans%3A-differ-Horton-Drougas/cfd2e37527960bd37f0e011c7e0e3aca55eee9ee
 
Research into de novo lipogenesis, the conversation of carbohydrates to body fat, suggests that most of the body fat on a person's body likely comes from dietary fat and not dietary carbohydrates, so the results of the study aren't surprising.
 
Also, if you look at the issue from an anthropological perspective, high-carb, low-fat cultures (ie. Japan and other Asian cultures) have much lower rates of obesity than Western countries in which many people eat diets combining a lot of carbs with a lot of fat (pizza, pasta with cheese, hamburgers, cake, etc.).
 
 
 
Once again, I'm not saying that a low-carb diet won't work: it definitely can. However, the scientific research indicates that carbs may not actually be the enemy: the enemy may actually be COMBINING high-carb WITH high-fat.

The end of an era: after 39 years, the hot tubs on Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco closed at the end of February. Over the years I'd been there more times than I could count, both on the clock and off. It was always good to know it was there as an option for a rendezvous. Though in concept it seems like it could be kinda nasty, and hard to believe such a place could exist, I always found the rooms to be really clean and well suited to the need at hand. Definitely had some fun times there.
 
Anyone else been there over the years, memories to share?

I am considering opening an onlyfans account associated to my blog, to post interviews, amateur porn I would make with some of my boys, and special events like whatever I will be able to document out of the PS event.
 
All the research I did was contacting Timarrie to ask about his experience with OF. He told me OF only keeps 20% of the money and had no problems with payments so far.

As far as I can tell it doesn’t seem like gay escorts really screen their clients beyond using their intuition over the phone or whatever. So if you wanna fit into the “social norm” for gay escorts then you would probably wanna go along the lines of not requiring any “formal” screening.
 
I personally do require screening information from my clients. I used to work as a female escort and continue to feel I am exposed to the same risks of stalking and violence since I advertise in both M4M and straight-oriented ad venues (because bi & heteroflexible guys are a still a large portion of my current client base). I don’t feel comfortable giving up my screening practices. I expect any of the gay clients who want to meet me to follow my screening requirements, which probably severely limits the number of gay clients who contact me about a booking. My pricing is also really abnormally high for a gay escort too, which I’m sure is an additional factor.
 
I do feel your question is phrased in a somewhat unhelpful manner. There are absolutely no established industry norms for how FTMs operate because there is no sector of the industry specially for us. If you plan to work the gay side of the industry exclusively then you need to be asking how gay men screen, not how FTMs screen. If you plan to copy their methods. If you plan to ignore the industry norms and implement your own methods, then you can do that too. Just know that lots of gay clients will be turned off by it and probably avoid booking you.
 
My gay friends who escort have insisted that their clients are not much of a risk of stalking or violence to them. Now that I’m transitioning and seeing the difference between how people treat me as a guy compared to how people treated me when they thought I was a girl, I’d say it’s generally a male privilege thing. Men get to escort without being subject to the same level of risk regarding violence and stalking as a female escort would be. So generally Male escorts don’t seem to screen.
 
Transgender escorts are, however, subject to some of the highest levels of violence in the industry. This is mostly MTF escorts as I understand it. But at this point in my transition I’m much more likely to be booked by trans-fetishists (the same guys who are booking MTF escorts) and heteroflexible/bi/straight men, so I still consider myself to be at risk for these types of violence. If I was being booked almost exclusively by gay clients then I might feel less at risk and change my tune about requiring screening.
 
Best of luck deciding what to do!

@PrettyboyJake, there are several other FTM escorts in the forum, and they post frequently. I'm sure they will contact you either on here or separately. I won't presume to name them.

To those still on the fence, I'll say if not now, when? Don't delay and don't regret, just say yes. It's a really good time, even for (or especially for) introverts like me to bust out of our shells.
 
The first PS weekend I attended, I got in town Saturday morning in time for a meetup at a leather shop with others from the forum here. I hadn't met any of the guys before, and was pretty scared shitless, but mustered up my courage and found I was immediately welcomed. @Ace helped me pick out my first pair of leather pants, and it was off to the races. Though I've never been to an Elk's Club meeting, I'm betting this is way more fun.

Welcome @PrettyboyJake to the forum!
 
You're right, screening with male escorts is much different than female escorts, from my understanding.
 
From my experience as a (cis) male escort seeing male clients, the screening is done through the communications and is not usually formal. But each guy has a way about it, trying to establish a comfort level through the communications and looking for red flags along the way. It's based on a lot of intuition and with practice and experience you start to see patterns of where things might go sideways.
 
From my advice, the basic questions that need to be asked and answered to set up an appointment are a variation of the old journalistic rule of thumb of answering who, what, when, where, and how. The goal is to get those figured out to a degree of comfort and certainty, and look for any trouble along the way. Who will you be meeting, where will you meet, what will you be doing together (at least a general direction), and how will you confirm the appointment. You may not be able to get everything answered, particularly the what if either side is being cautious, but you'll at least need the bulk of the info to set the date.
 
The communications technology keeps evolving, and different folks (both clients and providers) have different preferences and requirements for phone calls vs text vs email. Some people, both providers and clients, prefer or require a phone call at some point to book an appointment. This is useful for screening, and also for building some trust and bonding that will help make a better appointment. Personally I like email, since you can have a decent exchange with some substance and get a sense of who is on the other end. Until fairly recently texting was frowned upon for its perceived flake factor, but now lots of people are comfortable with texting and it's possible to have a decent exchange and get to know someone (and look for potential trouble) through texts back and forth. There are generational preferences, so be sensitive to that and try to be accommodating.
 
I can't speak to screening for FTM escorts and how it might be different, but glad to see @FTM Zachary Prince has chimed in.

Welcome @PrettyboyJake to the forum!
 
You're right, screening with male escorts is much different than female escorts, from my understanding.
 
From my experience as a (cis) male escort seeing male clients, the screening is done through the communications and is not usually formal. But each guy has a way about it, trying to establish a comfort level through the communications and looking for red flags along the way. It's based on a lot of intuition and with practice and experience you start to see patterns of where things might go sideways.
 
From my advice, the basic questions that need to be asked and answered to set up an appointment are a variation of the old journalistic rule of thumb of answering who, what, when, where, and how. The goal is to get those figured out to a degree of comfort and certainty, and look for any trouble along the way. Who will you be meeting, where will you meet, what will you be doing together (at least a general direction), and how will you confirm the appointment. You may not be able to get everything answered, particularly the what if either side is being cautious, but you'll at least need the bulk of the info to set the date.
 
The communications technology keeps evolving, and different folks (both clients and providers) have different preferences and requirements for phone calls vs text vs email. Some people, both providers and clients, prefer or require a phone call at some point to book an appointment. This is useful for screening, and also for building some trust and bonding that will help make a better appointment. Personally I like email, since you can have a decent exchange with some substance and get a sense of who is on the other end. Until fairly recently texting was frowned upon for its perceived flake factor, but now lots of people are comfortable with texting and it's possible to have a decent exchange and get to know someone (and look for potential trouble) through texts back and forth. There are generational preferences, so be sensitive to that and try to be accommodating.
 
I can't speak to screening for FTM escorts and how it might be different, but glad to see @FTM Zachary Prince has chimed in.

To those still on the fence, I'll say if not now, when? Don't delay and don't regret, just say yes. It's a really good time, even for (or especially for) introverts like me to bust out of our shells.
 
The first PS weekend I attended, I got in town Saturday morning in time for a meetup at a leather shop with others from the forum here. I hadn't met any of the guys before, and was pretty scared shitless, but mustered up my courage and found I was immediately welcomed. @Ace helped me pick out my first pair of leather pants, and it was off to the races. Though I've never been to an Elk's Club meeting, I'm betting this is way more fun.

"No. It hasn't."
 

"Fashion has changed..."

"Fashion has changed..."

"Fashion has changed..."

To those still on the fence, I'll say if not now, when? Don't delay and don't regret, just say yes. It's a really good time, even for (or especially for) introverts like me to bust out of our shells.
 
The first PS weekend I attended, I got in town Saturday morning in time for a meetup at a leather shop with others from the forum here. I hadn't met any of the guys before, and was pretty scared shitless, but mustered up my courage and found I was immediately welcomed. @Ace helped me pick out my first pair of leather pants, and it was off to the races. Though I've never been to an Elk's Club meeting, I'm betting this is way more fun.

Welcome @PrettyboyJake to the forum!
 
You're right, screening with male escorts is much different than female escorts, from my understanding.
 
From my experience as a (cis) male escort seeing male clients, the screening is done through the communications and is not usually formal. But each guy has a way about it, trying to establish a comfort level through the communications and looking for red flags along the way. It's based on a lot of intuition and with practice and experience you start to see patterns of where things might go sideways.
 
From my advice, the basic questions that need to be asked and answered to set up an appointment are a variation of the old journalistic rule of thumb of answering who, what, when, where, and how. The goal is to get those figured out to a degree of comfort and certainty, and look for any trouble along the way. Who will you be meeting, where will you meet, what will you be doing together (at least a general direction), and how will you confirm the appointment. You may not be able to get everything answered, particularly the what if either side is being cautious, but you'll at least need the bulk of the info to set the date.
 
The communications technology keeps evolving, and different folks (both clients and providers) have different preferences and requirements for phone calls vs text vs email. Some people, both providers and clients, prefer or require a phone call at some point to book an appointment. This is useful for screening, and also for building some trust and bonding that will help make a better appointment. Personally I like email, since you can have a decent exchange with some substance and get a sense of who is on the other end. Until fairly recently texting was frowned upon for its perceived flake factor, but now lots of people are comfortable with texting and it's possible to have a decent exchange and get to know someone (and look for potential trouble) through texts back and forth. There are generational preferences, so be sensitive to that and try to be accommodating.
 
I can't speak to screening for FTM escorts and how it might be different, but glad to see @FTM Zachary Prince has chimed in.