The Friday night of Pride Weekend found us at the Abbey in West Hollywood. I told a bunch of people to meet us there and while we were wading through the crowds to get a drink, my pal David spotted a tall guy at the other end of the bar. I had seen him looking over at us earlier but it was David who recognized him as former NBA player, John Amaechi - this year's Grand Marshall for the LA Pride Parade. Once we were rehydrated we made our way outside to talk to John. I read a couple of interviews he did last year with Outsports.com and I really liked what he had to say. His book has been on my reading list since it came out and after meeting him, I rushed out to get it.

I wish I read John's book "Man In The Middle" before meeting him. It's a quick read but such a compelling story of an outsider who gains acceptance by working hard to achieve his goals. I'm surprised by how much I have in common with John. I figured his closeted athlete experience would be similar to mine, but I didn't realize how extensive the similarities would be. It seems we both had to come to grips with body image, fitting in, getting bigger, etc and we both chose reading as an escapist/coping mechanism when faced with social ostracism. He seems to like Sci-Fi stuff as much as I do. He too has faced intellectual and cultural alienation as an adult, though I think I've fared better than he has in navigating the various aspects of gay culture.

We got back to the Main Stage area just in time to see Martha Davis and the Motels take the stage. They played a solid set and ended with their big hit, "Only The Lonely"

15 Seconds of The Motels

Martha Wash, giving it to ya...

While we were waiting for Martha Wash to take the stage, I went to get a drink and met a guy called Mike. When he's not acting as Farrah Faucet's PA he runs a website that reports local happenings in the Hollywood area. He was cool enough to let me borrow a pass from one of his pals and I got to go to the media section to photograph Martha Wash.