sex beds with chains. a wall of dildos, anal beads ...and anal plugs. women walking around covered only with pasties and tattoos. and lots of lonely, lonely, awkward men shuffling around with cameras waiting to get a photo with their favorite. welcome to adultcon! a friend of mine was shooting something for a tv show he's on and asked if i'd like to come along. in my mind, the world of pornography ...or adult entertainment (that's more like it) isĀ a mystery as far as the performers involved. maybe they are sexually and emotionally liberated individuals who recognize the silliness involved in hiding our bodies from one another. maybe they understand something more subversive. the world is a ridiculous place to take seriously, so why not get paid to do the one thing that everyone enjoys doing? getting semen launched into your eyes (or whatever your deal is). maybe they understand the world on a much more profound level. nope. just sad childhoods all grown up. it's hard to place your finger on just what it is, and they will let you put your finger lots of places. it's not the sad little booths where aspiring stars sit swap-meet style behind a table littered with an assortment of their films. it's not the over-sized cutout of them directly behind them. it's not the throngs of middle aged men who meander around telling the girls they love their work. it's not seeing a woman stand with her legs apart while anyone with a camera snaps a shot of her vulva. it's not the televisions with highlights of her career playing behind her. it's just this weird feeling that permeates through the atmosphere. if you attend adultcon with someone - even if they are an avid porn watcher - they will stop and at some point say, "do you feel creeped out right now?" and you will. at one point, a brunette girl with a scar on her face motioned me over to her and then aggressively bounced her boobs into me a few times ...which sounds nice, except you didn't see the angry look on her face. fury. then when i didn't exhibit the appropriate response to that (which for me was to just smile and pretend to do a stupid dance) she said to me in a thick russian accent, "you need to relax." i don't know what that says about me when someone in that situation feels compelled to give me advice, but it didn't feel great.