Donny’s Ramblings: Diary of a Former Porn Producer

Written yesterday while on a jet flying to Ohio. Gotta love Journler.

I’m on an airplane bound for Columbus, Ohio. Tomorrow morning Jason Harper and I will be speaking at a Porn and Pancakes event in Dayton. Jason will then fly home to celebrate his son’s birthday. I’ll stay in Ohio for an event I’ve been looking forward to for several weeks. It’s been tough to keep quiet about it, but now that the airing of the event on Nightline has been postponed I guess I’ll tell you about it before it happens:

Live in front of 3,500 students at Ohio State University, porn stars Ron Jeremy and Nina Hartley will be debating Craig Gross and yours truly on the topic of Pornography. Craig and Ron normally debate each other. This time it’s two on two at the request of the crew from Nightline. Martin Bashir from Nightline was supposed to have been the moderator. Unfortunately, filming has been postponed, as Martin was called off just yesterday to a story he’s been following for quite awhile. I’ve been assured the planned filming will happen in the near future, but for now we’ll debate in front of those in attendance. I’m very excited about it. When he first found out the tv crew wasn’t going to be there, Ron’s agent wasn’t sure if he’d be okay with Nina and I appearing at the debate… and at first he wasn’t. But this morning I received word from Craig that Ron had changed his mind and is welcoming us.

To be honest, I’m not all that disappointed at the lack of TV cameras. When the new date is scheduled I’ll have had one “practice” debate, so to speak. Wait, that kinda sounds bad. Please don’t take it that way. This debate is just as important without the cameras as it will be with them. It’s just that I’ve been feeling a bit nervous, not knowing what to expect. After this weekend I’ll have a better idea of the keypoints Ron and Nina use for their “pro porn” arguments. I like that idea.

I’m flattered Craig invited me to be at his side (thanks, Craig). The debate begins Sunday night at 8pm eastern time/5pm Pacific Time. If you’re of the praying persuasion, please talk to God for us.

Amusing (to me anyway) side note: I have my iTunes playing songs at random. Guess what just started playing? Yep. Turn The Page by Metallica. That song was sent to me through iTunes several months ago by a friend who was giving me a hard time as I told her I was on my way to a speaking engagement. She was warning me against getting a “big head”. I really find it funny that it started playing as I wrote about yet another speaking engagement. The lyrics go something like this:

Here I am,
On the road again.
There I am,
Up on the stage.
Here I go,
Playin’ star again.
There I go…
Turn the page.

That may be amusing, but God, I never want to feel like I’m a “star”. I never want that to happen. There have been a handful of people in my life who have asked me if I ever start feeling that way, and I want you to keep putting them in my life to keep me accountable. But I do thank you for giving me a battle to fight. Every man needs one because it makes us feel like our life means something. Thank you for using me in this one.