My whole career in the "adult entertainment industry" began with a simple misunderstanding. I'd recently gone off to college in the Bay Area when, to my surprise, I received a large and alarming tuition bill. If only I'd known that my grants, scholarships, and loans came in two, count 'em two, installments, my life might have taken a very different path, and the phrase "take that beer-can dick" wouldn't haunt me to this day. However, I can never rely on my common sense to trump my sense of adventure, so that's not the story I have to tell you.

I thought that I needed to earn large amounts of money fast, without taking up too much of my time, and preferred to do so in a fairly legal way. Stripping seemed to fit the bill, and the Nob Hill Adult Theatre, an all-male strip joint, was located just across the bay. I auditioned, they accepted, and six months after turning 18 and losing my virginity I was baring my boyhood to folks from across the nation.

This was definitely the low point of my "career." Having men who were oftentimes smelly, drunk, and unattractive stuffing cash in my socks (we were usually completely nude, save for the footwear) was not the biggest ego booster in the world. Particularly not when the dollars were singles. So here's a few tips for all of you out there who frequent strip clubs: bathe, don't drink beforehand, use deodorant, and make sure all of your clothes are washed; you might just find yourself getting more attention than you paid for.

And yet, I enjoyed the attention I received from the guys; I felt more attractive than I ever had. Simply knowing that men were willing to give me money just to take a gander at me naked increased my confidence. Being asked to make adult movies only heightened those feelings.

My video career began with the front desk clerk at "the Nob," who also happened to work the front desk at Falcon Video. He told me to come into the offices someday to fill out their questionnaire--what do you like sexually? what kind of men do you like?--and to have some nude pictures taken (no casting couch there, or with any valid video company). Not a month later, I was traveling to a farm in California's Central Valley to do my first video, Snap Shots.

My first experience went well enough that I was called back again, and then again with a different company, and on like this until I had made 12 or so videos with names like Dawson's Crack, Up Close, and Pillage and Plunder: The Cruise. I also began touring around the country, dancing in a few different cities and hanging up the phone when someone would call, asking my price. It would sometimes leave me crestfallen that people thought I was personally sexually available for a few hundred bucks or so.

The greatest threat to my well being, however, was a bit more physical. While disease is not a certainty, as my experience proves, it is without a doubt a dark cloud hanging over the adult entertainment business. By my unscientific estimates, one-third to one-half of all porn stars have at least one STD. Also, using drugs and doing videos seem to go hand in hand for a great many people, myself included. If the gay male population as a whole needs drugs and sex to escape their troubles, it is especially true with gay porn stars.

All the same, I wouldn't undo the experience I had, mainly because I am no longer in the industry, and I escaped relatively unscathed. Unfortunately, most guys don't. Most actors are too young to make wise decisions, or they crave the attention too deeply to do anything else. Personally, I fear for my current job, because I could lose it if my past comes out. So if you yourself wouldn't mind making a buck by doing a flick, try to keep your wits about you. Make decisions before you're presented with the situation. And never let anyone make you feel bad for what you've decided to do.

Finally, yes, the sex can be fun, though most of the time it's monotonous; and the money can be nice, though only as a supplement to an income. Being a porn star is neither all it's cracked up to be nor as bad as its detractors might make it seem. So remember, the next time you visit West Hollywood and see your favorite star, be nice, smile nicely, and if the opportunity arises, tip well.