Sports Interlude: How Good Does It Feel?

If you happened not to have seen the Super Bowl last night, the New York Giants, My New York Giants, beat the previously-undefeated, perennial recent Super Bowl winning, ready to be crowned best team of all time New England Patriots, 17-14.

My girl iris is a huge Giants' fan too, and last night we talked a little about where this win ranks compared with other big wins by our teams in our memory.

I told iris that "this feels as good as 1994." That's the year that the Rangers (that's hockey -- sheesh, keep up here!) won the Stanley Cup after a 54-year drought. It's hard for anyone but Ranger fans to understand how big 1994 was.

I told iris that this was "bigger then 1996." 1996 was the first year the Yankees won the world Series in almost two decades, and it was big for Me since it was the first win I could experience and appreciate as a thinking adult. 1996 is huge for Yankee fans, young and old.

So why is last night bigger than either of those two?

1. It was unexpected. The Giants were double-digit underdogs. They kept winning road playoff games, despite the odds. They were playing a team that was 18-0, in a game that the "experts" with few exceptions were billing as the Patriots' coronation.

And the road here wasn't so smooth. The Giant's started 0-2 and looked bad in the process. They then reeled off six wins but mostly against inferior teams. Then it got a little rough again, and Eli Manning looked fair to bad, with a couple of very bad games too. Entering the playoffs as the #5 seed at 10-6, everyone said they needed to win one playoff game or the season was a failure and the questions about Eli would intensify.

2. The game itself was a classic, as a football game. It was an incredible, involving, thrilling game to watch, irrespective of rooting interest or lack thereof. Arguably the best Super Bowl ever and certainly in the top handful. That adds to the intensity, the joy of having won it.

3. The Boston thing. Lately, Boston (Foxboro, where the Patriots play, counts) has been leading a charmed sports life. The Red Sox have won two World Series in four years -- they are the new Evil Empire. The Patriots had won three Super Bowls in six years, and this year had as dominant a season as could be drawn up, especially early on, crushing everyone in their path en route to an 18-0 record. The Boston Celtics made some key acquisitions this past off-season and are currently terrorizing the NBA and looking very good in the process.

So, lately in professional sports it's all about the Bostons.

Until last night. And it's impossible to convey how good that feels, that the Giants, out of nowhere, threw a monkey wrench into the increasingly arrogant and distasteful Boston sports juggernaut.

How good does it feel? Words fail me.

Go Big Blue.

Helpful, Powerful, Cliches

I'm constantly amazed at the utility and power inherent in certain cliches.

The other night I was talking to someone who wasn't in a very good way. Her concerns were real, and serious -- she wasn't exaggerating or making things up. There were good reasons for her to be upset and depressed.

And I found Myself eventually saying something along the lines of this:

On any given day, there are 244 reasons to be depressed, but only one reason to be happy. The trick is to embrace the one and to reject the 244.

She of course asked what the one reason to be happy was.

The only reason to be happy is that today, you wake up, alive and healthy (presumably), and you have an opportunity today to feel, and to be, someone different from the you that you're unhappy about/unhappy with.

I have no problem saying those things, corny as they might sound. Because I honestly, totally, unreservedly believe them to be not only true but also incredibly important. I strive (not always so successfully, alas) to live that way. That they are much easier said than done in no way lessens their value.

But the surprising part is that those statements helped My friend a lot. Not because she had never heard them before -- I'm sure she's heard them in similar forms a hundred times. But there are times when, reminded of something simple but undeniably true, the simple cliche takes on a meaning far beyond the surface sensibleness being communicated.

I don't attribute that amplified effect to any wonderful magical abilities I might have, certainly. I attribute it to the fact that we are constantly in a torrent of emotions, thoughts, and feelings, both our own and countless foreign ones as well. It's not unlike diving into a pool heavily packed with objects of various consistencies -- some bounce off of us, some buffet us and change our path, others are capable of truly injuring us.

And in that environment, when we lift our heads up and focus on something not in the pool with us, it has the capability to really reach us, quickly, deeply, and efficiently. And when that thing we "run into" in that state is something that does have underlying truth and value and a certain inarguable quality to it, its impact is magnified greatly.

The utility and power of certain ridiculously simple ideas truly can be staggering.

You Tube Tuesday: The Perfect Pop Song, Crossover Funk Division

Tonight's entry is "Brick House" by the Commodores, a brilliant little jewel of a song -- every time I hear it I just have to hear it again.

Now, about the video.

I love how many crazy creative people there are out there. Someone got the idea of trying to match up the lyrics of "Brick House" to mouth movements in clips from the Star Wars movies!

To call that non-obvious is the understatement of the decade, but the video is really pretty funny in parts. If you are one of the 12 people on Earth who has never seen any Star Wars movies, um, never mind and just enjoy the song.

Goin' to the chapel and . . .

News Item: Piper's Gettin' Hitched!

Congratulations of course to Piper and Steve.

I wonder, though, what becomes of Piper's crazy poly adventures now. While theoretically, marriage doesn't have to change anything, in reality it often changes everything.

I'll still love reading about whatever you choose to blog about, Piper -- and while I know you said you don't want it to become an "all things wedding" blog, don't go too far the other way and starve us of all the good wedding-related stuff.

All the best to you and Steve and however you work things out, I can't wait to read about it.

YouTube Tuesday: The Cowboys Have Fans Allllllll Over, It Seems

I love football, specifically the New York Giants. And one of the best parts of making it to the Super Bowl (coming up a week from Sunday) was beating the highly-favored, #1 seed, Dallas Cowboys in the process.

Some Cowboy fans in high (low, really) places were not pleased. The first time I watched this the tears were literally running down My cheeks from laughing so hard.

Find more videos like this on www.truveo.com.

Discipline and Motivation and the X Factor

One blog I look at regularly is Submissive Journal Prompts.

Every week there, luna posts five questions/topics/quotes, intended to spur the reader for the reader's own journal. I find it's handy not just for submissives -- I use it to sometimes get unblocked.

This week, the following quote is listed:
The secret of discipline is motivation. When [one] is sufficiently motivated, discipline will take care of itself.” -Sir Alexander Paterson

Taken at the first level, that's certainly true. Many of us have experienced the phenomenon as children, with musical instruments. I liked playing the piano, so practicing wasn't an issue -- My mother never had to nag Me about practicing. I had many friends who went through every instrument in the orchestra and failed at all of them because they were being forced to do it by well-meaning parents. Almost no amount of cajoling can overcome a lack of desire.

It's the same in D/s. If a girl is a bratty bottom, let's say, no amount of punishment or lecturing is going to make her into a submissive (and will likely be counterproductive). she will either become something other than she is as a natural consequence of time and experience, or she won't.

So on the level of raw desire, yes, certainly motivation creates discipline. We are drawn to what we like and want.

Taking up the case of Me and the piano again, My devoting time to practicing wasn't an issue, but a funny thing happened. I never really got very good and over time My interest eventually waned and disappeared. This was frustrating and hurtful because My desire to play well was no less than it had been; I just ended up feeling as though I wasn't capable of it, that perhaps I lacked the appropriate artistic temperament or "God-given gifts."

All of which, I later learned, was nonsense. The reason I hit a wall and eventually lost momentum was because I had teachers who did not help Me to practice correctly. Thus much of My practice time was wasted and might even have been hurting My progress. I of course was in no position to understand this at the time, nor were My parents. It was no one's fault -- a classic case of the operating principle of the universe: Stuff Happens.

submission is not so different from learning to play the piano. Desire to succeed fuels the investment in practice time, and the presence of a knowledgeable teacher is extremely important. Not so much (but partially) to ensure that "practice time" is efficiently used, but more to provide a clear and consistent groundwork for the submissive to follow and refer back to. To help the submissive understand that progress is going to be so slow as to sometimes be imperceptible in the short term. To set the submissive back on the path when s/he falters. To not tolerate sloppiness or laziness and to immediately correct those. And to properly reward achievement.

That outside influence, in the piano, in submission, in many other human endeavors, is the X Factor. Motivation may create discipline, but often too late we discover that for long-term success, discipline will sometimes create motivation, and said discipline often must come from outside ourselves.

How terrible, and how absolutely wonderful, is that?

(Still) On The Way There

Daddy's lil pig wrote:

i have debated heavily as to if i was going to write this post. For a number of reasons i have gone back and forth as to if i should or not. One of those reasons, is that i think that i will come across as a bore. Once again the silly slave lamenting about her woe's of life...i really hate coming off like that. Also, another reason is that as i reread portions of this blog over the past year, i find these entries that were written months, even over a year ago..that strongly resemble how i feel now. And that frustrates me, because it give me the feeling that i have not grown much, or that i am sinking, or that i am just floundering.

I think the things she worries about are fairly common among submissive women. [This is one of those rare areas where I draw a strong distinction between male and female in D/s terms -- for whatever reason, in My experience male submissives always feel entitled to their feelings, in a way that female submissives often don't.]

Her first concern, that she will come across as a bore, is almost universal. Few of us are narcissistic enough to never wonder whether the minutiae of our lives and emotions are as fascinating to others as they are to us.

For Me, it's not boring. How a submissive deals with his or her role, the struggles, the triumphs, the sidesteps, missteps, and backsteps, the glories and horrors of this life, are endlessly intriguing to Me. I learn from what I read of others' journeys, and since submissives blog more, and with a greater degree of heart-on-the-page intensity, I learn more from them.

Then lil pig mentions the concern that she hasn't moved or grown, or has even gone backwards, because her emotions today seem so similar to emotions she wrote about a year ago. I can certainly understand the concern -- personally I have a hard and fast rule that I never go back and read old posts. Some things I'd rather not re-discover!

But here again, that the emotions are similar isn't a sign of lack of progress, necessarily.

The process of touching one's submission, then wading in, then finally jumping into that vast ocean isn't predictable. There are rough road maps, guides of sorts, but no one can really predict for a given person what will come easily, and what will be a monumental struggle. Certain activities, certain ideas, will need to be learned 100 times before they fully "sink in." Given that, should it be surprising that one finds one's self feeling the same way (or close to it) over and over?

It's very difficult to come to terms with that. There is a natural tendency to feel that we need to be constantly moving ahead -- and when the "competition" is with our own idea of ourselves, or with an abstract idea, the self-flagellation can be truly frightening.

The truth is that there is no linear path to or through submission. Heck, there isn't even a destination, really, in the sense we've come to know that word in other walks of life. It's a narrow, rocky, dangerous, shaky path, full of rickety bridges, lava pits, enticing detours, and things that go bump in the night.

Remember to enjoy the ride, especially when enjoyment is the furthest thing from your mind.

YouTube Tuesday: Volcano Girls

Tonight's clip is a very well put together montage of clips from Buffy The Vampire Slayer, featuring Buffy and Faith, the show's two poles, set to the snappy "Volcano Girls" by the late and lamented (at least by Me) Veruca Salt.

Intentionally done or not, it's a nice fit. The lyrics talk about pressing on and giving up both, just as the protagonists in Buffy often seemed caught between their committment to their increidbly important mission and the gnawing, growing possibility that it's all for naught.

Leave me Lying here
cause I donlt wanna go

Tell me tell me what you really want from me
Youve got me let me know
I'm falling off and I need you terribly
One down and one to go
Volcano girls we really cant be beat
Warm us up and watch us blow
But now and then we fail and we admit defeat
We're falling off we are watered down and fully grown

Leave me Lying here
cause I donlt wanna go

A million miles of running and I hit the wall
I bounce back and I run some more
But this is it, Im giving up, Im calling quits
So get down and meet me on the floor
Way to go to flip off everyone
I steal your thunder then I try to bolt
But I could stand a little pity now and then
I'm falling off I am watered down and fully grown

I told you bout the seether before
You know, the one thats neither or nor
Well heres another clue if you please....The seethers Louise

Leave me Lying here
cause I donlt wanna go
Go I donlt wanna go
I don't wanna go
I don't wanna go
I don't wanna go

Keeping A Lid On It

The often-repeated old saw about how a Dominant must exercise a great deal of self-control came up in conversation the other night.

It's been on My mind.

It is, 100% true of course. But as with many simple, well-circulated, and non-controversial concepts, a funny thing happens: We stop thinking about the idea in question, and assign it to some convenient but not necessarily primary part of our brains, somewhere between the times tables and the lyrcis to the theme song from Cheers.

In this particular case, letting the idea of Dominance and self-control sit unused in the attic does us a disservice -- there is a lot of value hiding, or at least not obvious, there.

And what's hidden is this: The value of self-control for a Dom/me lies not only in controlling the negative emotions but in controlling the positive ones as well.

Sounds . . . ridiculous, perhaps. It fairly easy to see how not reacting in anger is key for the One in control, but why should One ever hold back any positive emotions?

Because . . . everything is temporary. Anger fades, as it should. And when angry we rarely put forth what is truly deeply inside us. But euphoria is equally temporary; I have seen many more bad decisions made when people get caught up in the moment (of intense happiness or closeness) than when people are angry. We seem to have (most of us, anyway) a certain innate recognition that anger will soon cool, but no corresponding warning flag that suggests to us that our current state of absolute happiness is not likely to last in its intensity either.

Both anger and intense positive emotoins create states in which decision-making and judgment are impaired.

The Dom/me shouldn't trust any intense states when deciding on reward, puinishment, or certainly any "big issues" concerning the state of the Owner/owned relationship. Who each person is, is shown, over and over, every day, in the mundane, otherwise unremarkable, ebb and flow of a being in each other's presence. And that real person is known to us, without words, without having to think about it.

The rest might look good and feel great (or look really bad and feel horrible). But in the end it doesn't matter so much an hour later.

YouTube Tuesday: Dani California

Great song, and a cool video, wherein the Peppers channel various bands starting with Elvis and working their way forward.

And more insight into the Peppers' love/hate relationship with the place they call home.

"She's a lover baby and a fighter
Shoulda seen it coming when it got a little brighter
With a name like Dani California
The day was gonna come when I was gonna mourn ya
A little loaded, she was stealing another breath
I love my baby to death
California rest in peace
Simultaneous release
California show your teeth
She's my priestess, I'm your priest"

YouTube Tuesday: Happy 2008

This post and video have nothing to do with New Year's, specifically, but New Year's (which I pretty much loathe) gets Me thinking about the obvious stuff -- what's old and what's new, but also about how starting over really means pulling the best out of the worst, sometimes be recovering what we once had and sometimes by being something completely new. Of course. we're no different just because the calendar changes, but we cling to the possibility that we can be, that we might be.

That's the brilliance, and the hopelessness, of humanity both at once.

But, you might rightfully ask, what's a video of the Beatles performing on a rooftop got to do with any of that?

The rooftop concert was a completely spur of the moment thing; basically they said let's do it, got the equipment hauled up to the rooftop of the Apple Records building, and played a few songs before a growing crowd of midday Londoners.

It took place in 1969, very close to the end of the group. Too much fame, too much money, too much infighting, too many drugs, and too much of everything had long since determined the outcome -- that the Beatles actually stayed together as long as they did is surprising. By all accounts that last eighteen months of the Beatles' existence was a living hell for all concerned.

And yet, out of that morass of negativity, rising straight up for a brief moment out of that vortex of fear and loathing, four guys from Liverpool who never expected to do much more than make enough to get by on rose above, and just made music, like they used to, what it was always supposed to be about. With a sense of fun, with reckless abandon, with no tickets, no agents, no contracts, no groupies, none of it.

And we get to go along for the ride, on film.

Happy 2008 to all. Get back to where you once belonged.

YouTube Tuesday (close enough): Christmas Edition

Rock Christmas songs . . . generally suck.

There are a few (very few) exceptions, and the best of the entire lot never gets any airtime at Christmas, by and large. And that's "Father Christmas" by the Kinks.

Leaps and bounds better than Springsteen's goofy, boozy cover of "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town," not even worth a comparison to that Christmas rock junk from the 50s and 60s, "Father Christmas" is the goods.

I couldn't find a good quality video of the Kinks performing the song, but this video is fun, set to the Kinks' version.

Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays to all.

"Forces Of Chaos And Anarchy"

"We are forces of chaos and anarchy
Everything they say we are, we are --
And we are very proud of ourselves."

Those Jefferson Airplane lyrics are almost forty years old now. The 60s are longer ago than most people realize.

But on hearing the song by chance the other day, I got to thinking about D/s, and "forces of chaos and anarchy."

D/s clearly is a disruptive force in society, or could be, and I mean "disruptive" in the best possible way. That D/s is not a political entity is solely the result of its practitioners being overwhelmingly, tightly, closeted.

D/s people are not in a dissimilar place to where gays and lesbians were when the Jefferson Airplane was singing "We Can Be Together." And our society is just as uninterested and hostile to exposure to any form of alternative sexuality as society was 40 years ago regarding same-sex love. But D/s people rarely if ever feel like an oppressed minority, since most are happy to be private or at most involved with small groups of trusted like-minded people.

Nor are we monolithic; a D/s voting bloc is not ever happening -- I've met plenty of people in this life who I wished I lived in the same state as simply so that I could nullify their vote with Mine. I have no illusions that D/s people, numerous as we might be, will ever be a political "force" in traditional terms.

But as forces of chaos and anarchy? As an invigorating disruptor beam fired into the increasingly conformist, complacent and rapidly darkening, hardening, collective heart?

It's not an unappealing thought . . .

[In the spirit of anarchy, no YouTube Tuesday post tonight. Hey, it's a start!]

YouTube Tuesday: Too Hot For YouTube

Tonight's video was created by yours truly, and actually was posted on youtube for a couple of days before the youtube sex police caught a glimpse of partial nudity and the video was taken down.

Anyway, here it is in all its unabridged glory. It's just a little slide show, the theme of which quickly becomes evident.

YouTube Tuesday: 80s Rule, Part 4

I was sitting here, drawing a total blank for YouTube Tuesday, when it came to Me: "Dancing in the Sheets" by Shalamar.

This one's got it all . . . disco Zorro, a swashbuckling guitarist, headbands that defy description, a little robot dancing, and 80s wonderfulness by the truckload. Plus it ended up on the Footlose soundtrack -- I mean, is there any higher 80s honor?

It seems like yesterday I would listen to this song and 1) wish that I were old enough to go to cool nightclubs, and 2) probably thought that stuff like that actually happened in said cool nightclubs.

"grab your coat and wave goodbye to your friends
i wanna take you where the night never ends
i feel the need to sweep you off of your feet
you and me we should be dancing in the sheets"

Change Time

Every season there is a day heralds the change. The day can fall right at the "right" time or it can fall way early, or way late.

It snowed yesterday morning, an inch or so. But yesterday wasn't the day that winter jostled its way into My thoughts to stay. That snow was followed by a dreary drizzly misty day and by this morning no trace of the white stuff remained.

But today was the day that snubbed out the last embers of fall. Cold, blustery, a peek of sun in the morning and then slate gray overcast the rest of the day. It doesn't matter that some trees still have leaves on them. It doesn't matter that the first frost was three weeks ago. It doesn't matter that officially, it's two weeks plus until the Winter Solstice.

Fall is dead. Winter is here.

I find my thoughts wandering to that day, so far away it seems now, that drives a stake through winter's heart and tells Me it's spring.

YouTube Tuesday: 80s rule, Part 3

Tonight belongs to 80s hearthrob Rick Springfield, soap opera hottie turned rock star. It was close between "Jessie's Girl" and this selection, but "Don't Talk to Strangers" won out by a teased hair.

Springfield just sells this song so well . . . he doesn't betray one iota of being in on the joke, which would've ruined the whole thing. And, is that two of the band members doing a little homage to the Hall and Oates "Private Eyes" video there for a couple of seconds?

Well, you could never reach the pop icon status that Hall and Oates ascended to, Rick, but, for a little while you were the 80s. Hubba Hubba.

"Now who's this someone I been hearin' of?
Love hurts when only one's in love
Did you fall at first sight or did you need a shove?
I'm beggin' you -- please! -- don't talk to strangers . . . "

Reasons To Be Thankful

In no particular order . . .

1. I am thankful that I live where I live. For all its faults and missteps and often hideous policies, the United States still offers the most freedom and opportunity for the most people.

2. I am thankful to live when I live. I've been blessed to live in an age where technology accelerates seemingly on a daily basis, and it's truly exciting to see what will come next.

3. I am thankful to have what I have. Like everyone, I fantasize about winning the Powerball, but when I start to think that what I have isn't enough, I realize how different it all could be.

4. I am thankful for the opportunity that this blog and the Internet medium provides for Me to put My thoughts and feelings and creative endeavors out there. The value of being able to do this simple thing, so easy to take for granted, can't be underestimated.

5. I am thankful for being alive, for the chance, however small it might be, to touch My entire potential and to become something more.

6. I am thankful beyond words for the love, devotion, and submission of iris, storm, and tasha. That they are who they are, they they've become who they've become, is a constant source of humbling amazement for Me. I love them more than I know how to express, more than I can fathom. And I thank them from the bottom of My heart for all that they are and do.

I wish everyone a very happy and joyful Holiday season.

Spaiku

The following are haiku composed entirely from the subject lines of spam e-mails I've received. Presenting the wit and wisdom of . . . Spaiku.


1.
College sluts on cam
Young gal ruthlessly gangbanged
Viagra by mail!


2.
Tax refund notice
You've won Polish lottery
Christmas is coming.


3.
Young whore gets tit-fucked
Chubby grandma gets boned, icy,
hot, and everything.

YouTube Tuesday: Not The Usual Cute Cat Video

There are, I think, 2.4 billion cat videos on youtube. If I'm not careful I can get sucked into a KVV (Kitty Video Vortex) and hours might go by while I watch clip after clip of the world's most wonderful creatures.

This one is a little different. No balls of string. No 4-foot vertical leaps into the crotch of unsuspecting humans. No frenzied dashes. No feline Ultimate Fighting.

In this video, Kona and Hilo take on the big issues.

And yes, cats are capable of making phone calls, texting, and operating a remote.

Yeah.

Roadside Flare

One day so easily blends into the next. Before I know it I'm staring at the fact that the last three posts on this blog have been Youtube Tuesday entries. YTT is supposed to be weekly fun filler, not the entree here.

It's difficult not to feel guilty. I tend to think of Myself as someone with plenty to say and, well, no one would have a blog if she truly thought that what she had to say was totally worthless, would she?

So, plenty to say. It's worth saying. So . . . where's all the posts?

There is no simple answer. I start 4-5 non-YTT posts for every one that eventually gets published. (You will have to be the judge of whether the fact that what you see here is the product of intense scrutiny/selection is heartening, or depressing.)

There is work. There is the rest of life. There's all the usual other reasons. In the end I fall back on what I always say, rendered no less true for being familiar: I'm working on it. When the posts and stories are ready, they'll pour out. In the meantime, I'm reading you all, even if you don't see Me, thanks to the feed reader, and following your adventures avidly.

More soon. Really. KAHTATUS.

YouTube Tuesday (One Day Late): The Best Reason To Watch NCIS

I like NCIS. The mysteries are . . . well, let's just say Arthur Conan Doyle isn't feeling the heat form beyond the grave. But the writing is decent, the acting is pretty good, and there's a little humor here and there amidst the drama. Mark Harmon is getting a little frayed around the edges but he's perfect in this, Lauren Holly still looks damn good, and there are some fun supporting players.

But the best reason to watch NCIS is Abby. And at least one youtuber feels the same way.

YouTube Tuesday: 80s Rule, Part 2

Tonight's trip down 80s Lane is "Sex," by Berlin.

This helping of slick synth-pop has it all -- lyrics that got it banned in some places ("banning" is a quaint notion that the youngest adults might not recall), instantly interesting subject matter (sex, duh), and two icons of 80s gorgeousness, John Crawford and Teri Nunn.

The drama! The clothes! The hair! The accessories! 80s Rule!

YouTube Tuesday: 80s Rule, Part 1

Tonight's video is Falco's worldwide smash "Rock Me Amadeus." Aside from being a great, fun song, Falco makes a sharp comment on the nature of hero worship and opines that Mozart was the world's first rock star.

Falco died in 1998 and never tasted lasting success in the US, but he had a solid career in Europe and best of all, produced at least one bona fide 80s gem.

I have no idea how accurate this may or may not be, but Google translates the lyrics as:

He was a punker
And he lived in the big city
It was in Vienna, was vienna
Where did it all
He had owe because he drank
But he loved all women
And every exclaimed:
Come and rock me Amadeus Come and rock me Amadeus

He was a superstar
He was popular
He was so eccentric
Because he had flair
He was a virtuoso
Was a rockidol
And all cried:
Come and rock me Amadeus Come and rock me Amadeus
Amadeus, Amadeus .. Amadeus, Amadeus ...

It was around 1780
And it was in vienna
No plastic money anymore
The banks against him
Where did owe the
Was well known anyone
He was a man of women
Women loved his punk

He was a superstar
He was popular
He was so eccentric
Because he had flair
He was a virtuoso
Was a rockidol
And all cried:
Come and rock me Amadeus Come and rock me Amadeus
Amadeus, Amadeus... Amadeus, Amadeus ...

Rolling Your Own And Enjoying It Less?

A girl came into the room yesterday. A first-time visitor I'll call saturnia (not her real nickname). Those who have ever visited #Enchanted_Palms know that I really bend over backwards to be welcoming and gracious to first-time visitors (sometimes to My own detriment, but that's another story). I do have, however a few very simple rules.

So saturnia comes in . . . she seems pretty normal, nice, etc. Great.

One of My simple rules has to do with the use of "Sir" and "Ma'am" by submissives when addressing Dominants. [The purpose of this post isn't to explain why, but there is a short explanation and a long explanation. The short explanation is "because it's My room and I say so." The long explanation is considerably more enlightening, well thought-out, and, umm . . . longer.]

I do, however, attempt to convey what the rules are in the gentlest way possible. I honestly do find I catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

So, after waiting a couple minutes, and being addressed just by My name, twice, I say, and I quote:

Lenora smiles . . . it's Sir/Ma'am in here, saturnia . . . thank you

saturnia says "Oh!," "Bye," and leaves.

I understand there are bottoms and there are submissives. I understand that each person feels free to define his or her submission however s/he sees fit and to pursue opportunities to experience that uniquely-defined submission, in day to day life, on-line, in one's fantasy life, etc.

I get all that. And in and of itself it's perfectly reasonable and probably healthy.

But I do cling to the (apparently unpopular) notion that "roll your own"submission is inherently limiting. There is a value in submitting to a situation in which one is not being catered to to the nth degree.

When I say "submitting," I mean . . . bending one's will a bit, not surrendering. Anyone who doesn't understand the difference between submission and surrender shouldn't be exploring any of this in the first place until s/he learns that difference.

Submitting to the situation means putting aside for a little while that idealized menu we all carry around in our heads, and looking, experiencing, considering, another way. Not to change everything about one's self, but simply to add something new to the inventory. Perhaps it's discarded soon afterwards, perhaps not -- in either case one is richer for the experience.

Exploring submission is not like learning basket-weaving or auto repair or real estate law. Unlike just about any other field of human endeavor, exploring submission of necessity entails moving outside of the totality of what one thought one wanted to do.

I am not talking about exposing one's self to anything illegal, dangerous, damaging, etc. I am talking about stopping a moment, considering the possibility that 100% self-defined submission might not be all there is, since it lacks the essential "other" element: that entity to be submitted to. And in that, the realization that there is not only a value, but a real beauty in simple, non-dramatic, garden variety, non-surrendering submission. And along with the beauty, afterwards, a quiet sense of accomplishment that can feel very warm and real.

YouTube Tuesday: Fast-Forward Bondage

A fun little clip of a girl getting tied up . . . very professionally done, but the speed has been turned up quite a bit. Seeing the normal speed version might actually be good as an instructional piece, but the frantically-paced clip is fun, and the music, "Tear You Apart" by She Wants Revenge, works nicely.

On Delurking, Feed Readers, and The Big Gap

Recently there was a "mass delurking" day in the sex blog world, a day when those who regularly read but never comment were supposed to leave a comment, letting the author(s) know they existed. It's a great idea . . . I know how many visits I get a day (100 or so, typically) and I know how many comments I get (one or two a week); it would be nice for more readers to make their existence known.

I didn't know about this particular delurking day and if I had I'd have made a "please delurk" post, but frankly, I wouldn't have expected much; I've asked people to delurk before and the response has been, shall we say, underwhleming in the extreme.

That got Me to thinking about My own lurking. We all (or just about all) read a lot more blogs than we comment upon. But I've found in My case, and I suspect the experience of others might be similar, since I started using a feed reader, I lurk even more and comment even less.

For those not totally familiar, a feed reader "pushes" new posts from each blog (or site) you subscribe to, so that you see the post in your feed reader screen (Google Reader, in My case), as opposed to having to visit (and remember to visit) every blog on My link list.

It's very convenient -- one never "leaves home," as it were, and automatically stays current with all the blogs one wants to.

But it has its drawbacks.

One, I think it encourages lurking. There is no way to comment upon the pushed post without navigating to the post in its original environment,. It's just an extra step and extra steps always limit use, at least to some degree.

Two, one can not see the comments left by others, only the original post. To see them means, again, going to the original post. See above.

Three, one doesn't see the layout of the original page. I enjoy seeing who has changed layouts and how often/why. There are many blogs on My link list for which I've read every post made the last three months but for which I have not landed on the actual site once since setting up the feed.

Three-A, not seeing the layout means not seeing the link list either. Some of My best finds were from the link lists of blogs I link to. As blogs appear and disappear, I miss that source of new inspirations.

So, the reader environment is convenient in the extreme, but limited and sterile.

The other differing aspect of using a reader is that I am not recording any "visits" to the linked-to blogs and thus not being shown in their counters for visits, page reads, etc. I assume that there are some stats being kept somewhere regarding how many "reads" there are via the feed, but it's not the same. By using the reader I have ceased to be part of that constantly-aggregating number at the bottom of the screen. And something about that I don't like.

So, if your blog is on My link list . . . I am reading, actually more faithfully than I was prior to setting up the feed reader (Piper -- set up a feed! yours is the only blog on My list I can't find a feed for!) . . . and I'll make a more concerted effort to jump over and comment more, and/or just to poke around and see what's new, graphically and link-list wise.

Sigourney Weaver?

Piper recently wrote about a funny thing that happened during sex. Piper had coaxed her partner into talking about a fantasy of his, and it involved Piper and another woman. Piper of course just has to ask who that other woman might be and gets the pull-up-short answer:

Sigourney Weaver.

My reaction was an audible "What the ----?" followed by a good laugh. I'm not sure why I laughed, but I do agree with Piper's assessment:
"No offense to Ms. Weaver. I actually think she is quite attractive. She has a unique look and is not the classic Hollywood bombshell. It's just that I could have guessed 100 actresses and she wouldn't have been a blip on my radar."

And there is just something really funny about her name being the answer to that question. I don't know what it is . . . but . . .

Look at the bright side. He didn't say someone really old, someone really young, or someone who's dead. He didn't mention anyone related to him, currently serving time for a violent crime, or related to you. He didn't say your best friend, an ex-, or your worst enemy (not that you'd actually have any enemies).

So in the grand scheme of things "Sigourney Weaver" is actually a pretty good answer.

But in general, Piper, the trial lawyers' dictum applies well here:Don't ask any question you don't already know the answer to.

Happy weekend, everyone. KAHTATUS.

YouTube Tuesday: The Perfect Pop Song, Irresistible Disco/Pop Division

Back we go in pursuit of the Perfect Pop Song, and tonight's entry is a strong contender, "Rock DJ" by Robbie Williams.

This is pop: Singable, dance-able, bouncy, infectious. Clever lyrics you just have to learn and then easily forget a week later.

This just might be the one.

Disclaimer: The video might be kind of disturbing to some. Let's say Robbie takes the concept of "stripping" to its (il-)logical conclusion.

"Singin' in the classes
Music for your masses
Give no head
No backstage passes
Have a proper giggle
I'll be quite polite
But when I rock the mike
I rock the mike (right)
You got no love then you're with the wrong man
It's time to move your body
If you can't get a girl but your best friend can
It's time to move your body "

What Sounds Good . . . Is Good?

swan writes here on the subject of poly relationships. It's a longish post, and to really get the best out of it you'll need to also read an externally-linked short story, but the investment in time is well worth it.

swan discusses briefly, the "easy" notion that "more love makes more love":

Poly people are fond of saying that "more love makes more love." It is one of those cute, clever, insider slogan-ish bits that we toss off to try and make things sound bright and easy and palatable to all the ones from outside who would look into our lives and make negative judgements. It is right up there on a par with the ubiquitous BDSM slogan, "SSC" (Safe, Sane, and Consensual). It really doesn't mean nearly as much as it seems to on the face of it, and once you start to know a little bit about the reality of things, that quick, glib, clever little throwaway line starts to pale some.

I have to say . . . yes, and no. The reason we "make things sound bright and easy" is not only to deflect negative judgments. It's also because 1) being positively-oriented is inherently less draining than being negatively-oriented, and 2) we sense the grain of truth in the "easy" statement, and we can't help responding to that, even though the wizened, hardened folks we want to think the world has made us would dismiss the idea completely.

In some cases more love actually does make more love. All? Most? No, I won't go there. Life and jealousy and sickness and petty annoyances and all those negative (if mostly silent) judgments do get in the way. And certainly, as swan notes, there is no standard configuration, no neat, logically-consistent (albeit tenuous) hierarchy of infinities like those that govern transfinite mathematics. So, to say it trivially but truthfully, your mileage will vary. A lot.

But it occurs to Me that the most radical thing one can do in this is to be the romantic. Wow. I wonder how many of us are strong (or foolish?) enough, often enough?

In any event, I encourage you to read swan's post. Poly or not, you'll find it thought-provoking and intelligent. And the story she links is to pretty entertaining as well.

YouTube Tuesday: Goth Girls Are Easy

A fun little music video I found while prowling around the dark corners of youtube this evening. The band is called Lesbian Bed Death . . . but fortunately they're better at music than at coming up with good band names.

As for goth girls being easy . . . I'm sure they're not all that way, but it's an appealing thought . . .

Lesdership Styles In D/s, Part 2

I brought Part 1 to an abrupt end with this:


"The Leader (Coach/Manager/Dom/me) has to be confident enough to be flexible enough."


Flexibility is a very tricky area. Many (including Me, on this blog, on several occasions) mention the importance of consistency, particularly in D/s interactions because the emotions are so exposed and magnified. And consistency is hugely important. How then to be "flexible" and consistent?

I see two parts to the answer: 1) to understand that consistency of strategy doesn't have to always mean consistency of tactics, and 2) to have the confidence that 1) can be implemented and that whatever misunderstandings might ensue as a result can be worked out.

Disclaimer: There are a lot of Dominants who are confident in their abilities who actually shouldn't be. I'm going to embrace a rare (for Me) "consumerist" point of view here and caution all submissives that confidence is often inversely proportional to ability and understanding, and to be very careful.

Consistency of strategy vs. consistency of tactics . . . in other words, understanding that while the destination doesn't change, there can be many roads that lead to it. The danger is that the submissive may get hung up on the change in tactics and begin to feel set adrift, unsure of the ground beneath him or her. [I don't like to draw a lot of gender differences in these things but in My experience a female submissive it seems is more likely to fall into that trap.]

What prevents that from happening is the vigilance and understanding of the Dominant. It's incumbent upon the Dom/me to be watchful for changes in the submissive's behavior that signal that either 1) the different tactic isn't working, and/or 2) the submissive feels abandoned.

And of course the Dom/me needs to be smart and at a certain point stop what doesn't work. The good Dom/me is constantly "making things up," as in . . . finding new and different ways to deliver the same message; S/He isn't tied to one approach, one tactic, while the underlying message remains totally and comfortingly consistent.

Lastly, "communication" rears its venerable head. The Dom/me has to be confident enough to admit that S/He isn't possessed of all the answers, that S/He is constantly searching for the best way to lead and to communicate, and that S/He is committed to all those improvements, short and long term.

While we all have Our leadership styles, the important thing is to realize that the one(s) we lead, their well-being and growth, are more important than holding fast to a style. And that in pursuit of that, often, many different styles are necessary.

Leadership Styles in D/s, Part 1

Sports analogies carried forward into business and real life can be overdone and certainly often are. But every now and then something that happens in the world of sports gets Me thinking about situations in D/s.

As you may or may not know, the New York Mets recently blew a large lead in the last two weeks of the season and ended up out of the playoffs. The "collapse" was historic in its proportions. And what's a good collapse without assigning blame?

Listening to sports talk radio in the wake of this debacle, hosts and callers and "experts" have various theories about who should get how much of said blame. And many want to lay a good portion of the blame on the Mets' manager, Wilie Randolph.

One thing that the Willie-blamers say is that Willie's personality is too low key. He doesn't get in players' faces; he doesn't argue much with umpires; he's not the locker-room tirade after a bad loss type.

The classic response to those who want a more fiery Willie Randolph is: "He has to be who he is. It's not his nature to be 'fiery.' "

And there, finally, is the point (I could hear your impatience).

To those who toss out the old chestnut that "That isn't Willie," I respond:

A good leader is less concerned with holding to some abstract conception of Him- or Herself and more concerned with eliciting the desired results from those S/He is leading.

Meaning, in baseball, in business, in D/s, the boss has to do what's necessary, to be who S/He needs to be, to get those being led to respond. Within the normal strictures of course of what is moral/legal/safe bla bla bla . . . let's not lose our way in Disclaimerville.

The Leader (Coach/Manager/Dom/me) has to be confident enough to be flexible enough.

More on that in Part 2.

YouTube Tuesday: PostSecret

By now most know about Post Secret, a website where collected secrets that people have sent in on postcards have been blogged.

There have been various video collections of postcard secrets made -- this one is one of My favorites, set to, appropriately enough, "Dirty Little Secret" by the All-American Rejects.

Like Post Secret itself, this clip is by turns funny, touching, off-putting, and heartrending.

YouTube Tuesday: 60 Years of Racing

A little something different for tonight's clip -- a Shell gasoline promotional film celebrating the 60 years of Shell's work with Ferrari.

A race car starts in Rome and tools around various worldwide locations, evolving as it goes. Gorgeous film making, incredible pulse-quickening race-car sound.

A 2-minute thrill ride for the eyes, ears, and imagination.

YouTube Tuesday: I Wanna Be Sedated

A little break from the "Perfect Pop Song" awards, because today was one of these days where you reach the end of it and "I Wanna Be Sedated" just sums up how you feel.

Neat little video, too . . . The Ramones calmly sitting there while everything goes nuts around them. Would that I could've been the one sitting calmly while everything went haywire today. Maybe next time I'll be luckier.

Soap Opera

1. Finally I've caught up with My reading and, while everything's different of course, everything's the same, or at least similar. More on that below.

2. I've removed the dead blogs and the gone blogs by the link list . . . sadly, I see that Brazen Brunette either was hacked or deleted her blog and gave the account away -- a single post in a foreign language now sits where Brazen's riveting, wrenching entries used to reside. Last I had read she seemed to be doing better -- I sincerely hope that she still is doing well and that losing the blog was a natural step in her progress and not a sign of something having gone wrong.

3. Using a feed reader made catching up convenient and and at the same time slightly horrifying . . . all that, all at once, from so many different sources.

But in the end it all works out . . . the big soap opera that is the blogosphere rolls on. Things do change, as they must, but the bigger thing, the community that no one will admit to belonging to, remains. Pieces slide in, pieces drop off, or change their shape, their frequency of appearance, but the whole morphs in tiny increments, just like the "real thing."

And when I say "soap opera," don't get Me wrong -- there is not a hint of negativity or condescension in that phrase. It's a soap opera, and that's a truly wonderful thing, because unlike an actual soap opera it's not only an escape, but entertaining and informative as well. It is something we create, out of whole cloth, out of the fabric of our lives and experience, and maintain. We learn from it, grow with it, change it or kill it when it no longer works.

It is . . . alive, and we make it live. Sometimes it's healthy to stop and not take for granted how amazingly cool that is.

YouTube Tuesday: The Perfect Pop Song (Tearjerker Division)

Tonight's entry is the Perfect Pop Song, Tearjerker Division: "The Last Worthless Evening" by Don Henley.

I can't listen to this song all the way through without crying . . . and a talented youtuber set the song to a collection of clips from Gilmore Girls, and it's well, perfect.

Happy Anniversary

Today is a year since tasha returned. A year officially, but in My heart she's been there from the beginning.

Milestones are deceiving things, sometimes, in that they can lead us to focus on the wrong thing, i. e., what's gone before as opposed to what's to come. The latter is always more important. I learn from the past (hopefully), but I'm not beholden to or trapped by it. Numbers and dates are important to recognize and remember but in the end the most important number is the next one, the most important day, today.

Happy anniversary, tasha. I love you, more than ever. And thank you for your love, service, and devotion, for the past year, and before. And for all the days to come.

YouTube Tuesday: The Perfect Pop Song (Power Pop Division)

After much thought and highly scientific analysis, I'm eager the winner for The Perfect Pop Song, Power Pop Division.

The winner is "Did It In A Minute" by Hall and Oates. I could have picked "Private Eyes" or "Kiss On My List" or any number of other H&O masterpieces, but "Did It In A Minute" for Me, is the best of the lot.

[Note: You'll notice that this video doesn't come from youtube. "YouTube Tuesday" I hereby declare "Web Video Tuesday." I'll still call it YouTube Tuesday because it has a better ring to it.

"Well I still can't say I know
When a love is real or touch and go
And if two can be one
Who is the one two becomes oh oh
Am I quick enough to see
When I'm ready and it's right for me
I say, I say, I say, I say that I want it
(I think so anyway)
Everybody always laughs at love
But what they want is to be proven wrong
Then you came along

Oh you did it
You did it, you did it, you did it
You did it in a minute
I know you did it
You did it, you did it, you did it
You did it in a minute"

It's Not Like Signing Up For A Gym Membership

thisgirl recently wrote here about slave contracts and wondered what contracts for Dominants would be like.

The entire contract thing is tricky in one sense since these contracts, being legally unenforceable, lack the ultimate hammer (i. e., legal recourse) and thus ultimately lose much of their potential force. But they are important and I'm sure in most cases feel "enforceable" in emotional terms (and certainly can have emotional consequences). So the area is interesting and important in this realm.

thisgirl proposes a "Dom contract" that goes like this:

I agree to be your dominant.
I agree to look after you and to not abuse the control you have given me and the trust you have put in me.
I want to help develop and nurture your submission and help you understand this side of yourself.
I want to control you without taking over your life or ruining the parts of you that make you the woman I love.
I will never make you feel worthless or put you down. Though i cant promise not to say ‘your bum looks big in that’ because I will always be honest with you.
I will always be imaginative and inventive and most of all devious.
I will torture your body and push it to your limits but not overstep your boundaries.
I will keep the play interesting and not let it get boring or stale.
I will *never* wear a leather waistcoat, a flogger on my belt or parade around topless in fetish clubs but do my best to make *us* look and feel good.
I will show off my property and be proud always that you belong to me.
I will use you for my pleasure but make sure you get pleasure back (unless you’ve been really bad!)
I will loving control your body, your orgasms and your mind.
I will love you when you are bad just as much as when you’re obedient.
In return i want :-
Your submission
Your obedience
Your love
I want to share my fantasies with you and most of all to have fun and be happy together.

she then asks: "So . . . would he sign it?"

My answer to that is "I don't know if He would sign it but what submissive wouldn't?

And that's My problem.

thisgirl points out that these contracts are "relatively one-sided." Exactly. They're supposed to be. The relationship is inherently unequal. Master/Mistress and slave are "equal" as human beings, they are equal under the Constitution and the law, but they are not, in the terms that these contracts seek to address, in any way equal. That such contracts have no legal enforceability under US law emphasizes the point that the contract describes (and seeks to maintain) a state of affairs that is not equal. The quid pro quo aspect of typical contracts does not apply.

So for the submissive there has to be some "risk" in signing the contract, some area or factor(s) that leave at least a hint of uncomfortableness. Without that element the contract feels like a cubic zirconium engagement ring: important perhaps as a symbol but of extremely limited value.

All the usual disclaimers apply: If you submit when you feel like it, if you are casual play partners, if your Dom/me gives off weird psychokiller vibes, etc., then signing a contract isn't on the menu. Presumably, if the parties are at the point of contract signing, the "worthiness" of the Dominant is a settled question.

So, while I can't speak for any other Dominant, I wouldn't sign the contract thisgirl proposes.

Happy Anniversary

August 31 marks three years that iris has been with Me.

I know I repeat Myself often here when I talk about the girls -- how amazing and wonderful they are, their incredible love and submission and devotion. But it's all I can do; it's simply true, and words are inadequate to describe how I feel at times like this so I end up using the same ones over and over.

iris, thank you for three fantastic years. To see how much you've moved and grown, how every aspect of your submission has deepened and expanded, is truly thrilling to Me. I love you, so much. Owning you is a joy, every day.

YouTube Tuesday: Bulls On Parade

Tonight's clip veers way off in the other direction -- "Bulls on Parade" by Rage Against The Machine.

I can't say I endorse Rage's politics, but their videos are some of the most evocative, effective four-minute propaganda films ever made. Taken simply as art (or as craft, if you must), Rage's videos represent some of the better examples of the art form in terms of images fusing with message.

"Weapons not food, not homes, not shoes
Not need, just feed tha war canibal animal
I walk tha corner to tha rubble that used to be a
Library
Line up to tha mind cemetery
What we dont know keeps tha contracts alive an
Movin
They dont gotta burn tha books they just remove em
While arms warehouses fill as quick as tha cells
Rally round tha family, pockets full of shells"

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, tasha . . . I love you so much. Thank you for being you, and for everything that you are, and do.

Update

1. I finally got around to going through the link list and removing the dead entries.

So the link list to-do list now looks like this:

Check link list for dead links
Remove dead links
Subscribe to feeds from linked blogs
Catch up on linked blogs
Look for new links
Leave comments/Link-whore

2. As you may have seen, I posted the first part of a new Lenora X story last week. More soon.

3. My health issue continues to remain manageable/good, so that's a huge plus.

4. The thought occurred to Me yesterday that it's seven months since I last smoked. I don't necessarily feel tremendously better physically as a result but it does feel very good to have accomplished quitting.

5. Some significant events coming up in Lenora-land soon: tasha's birthday and iris' third anniversary. As always, iris, storm, and tasha are My inspiration, My pride, and My joy. I love them so much.

6. I hope everyone is well and happy. KAHTATUS.

End Of The (Sitemeter) Era

I don't know all the gory details and background, but it's come to My attention (a few months late apparently) that sitemeter, the hit counter you (used to) see at the bottom of the page, has been allowing the placement of spy tracking cookies in the sitemeter code.

Apparently, sitemeter will move users to a special server if they don't wish this to happen, or I could revert to the non-Javascript version of the counter.

The easier solution for Me is to just use a different counter.

Not that I think that third-party marketers are necessarily clamoring for My meager readership, and certainly I'm not selling anything. But on principle it seems to Me the right thing to do is to dump sitemeter.

The counter that now appears at the bottom of the page is spy-cookie free.

YouTube Tuesday: Don't Talk About The War

Tonight's clip is a snippet from Fawlty Towers, perhaps the best sitcom ever created on either side of the Atlantic. There are, I think, only twelve episodes of Fawlty Towers. Watching them, on realizes that the reason for that is that there are really only twelve basic sitcom plots, and Fawlty Towers does each and every one to perfection.

In this clip, Basil (John Cleese) tries to "not talk about the War" as he waits on a table of German guests. I must've seen this twenty times, and I still laugh as hard every time.

YouTube Tuesday: Hesitation Blues

A little too much soul-searching in the YTT clips lately . . . I had intended to resume the search for the World's Greatest Pop Song but then this caught My eye.

Tonight's clip is Hot Tuna performing one of the many many recorded versions of "Hesitation Blues."

As simple as it gets. A guitar and a bass. A blues song that is as straightforward as they come. But what Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Cassidy are able to do with these simplest of ingredients really is magical.

YouTube Tuesday: A Case Of You

Tonight's video is a little slide show, but I chose it for the song.

"A Case Of You" by Joni Mitchell.

"A Case of You" is Joni at her mesmerizing best, showing why she's head and shoulders above any of her so-called singer/songwriter contemporaries. Listen to Mitchell's voice in this video and it's clear (no pun intended) she sings Judy Collins or Joan Baez or anyone else of that era (or this) under the table. Her songwriting is on a par with anyone's . . . "A Case Of You" is a perfect little bittersweet bullet of a song, pure -- one of the few pieces of music I'd ever consider applying the word "luminous" to.

"You are in my blood like holy wine
Taste so bitter and so sweet
Oh, I could drink a case of you
And still be on my feet . . .
I would still be on my feet"

My health troubles of late have kept Me from doing much here aside from doggedly maintaining the weekly YouTube Tuesday video clips (I can tell from the barrage of comments on each one how much that's appreciated).

A bit more on the health stuff. It is serious but not life-threatening, ranging in severity from annoying to semi-debilitating. Good days and bad days. I do go to work every day, and I make it to the end most days.

So I still have a more or less normal life. The problem is that by the time evening comes, the energy I have I put into being with My girls and the odd baseball article for armchairgm.com. Plus, on some evenings I take a pain pill and well, responsible bloggers don't blog under the influence of controlled substances. Weekends I need the extra rest.

It is slowly getting better, however, and before too long I expect the health issue to be pretty much an afterthought, and I'll have more energy for the thought pieces and the fiction.

Until then, you are in My thoughts . . . and I look forward to really settling down and being able to catch up on everyone's lives, update/clean up the link list, and resume link-whoring with vigor.

KAHTATUS.

YouTube Tuesday: Black Mountain Side

A board, a deserted road, and gravity.

Freedom.

YouTube Tuesday: The (Analog) Digital Music Video As Performace Art

Tonight's clip is a video of a vinyl record playing on a turntable.

That the song, "Blank Generation" by Richard Hell and the Voidoids, is a major favorite of Mine ends up being almost an afterthought.

Perhaps it's just Me, but I sat and watched that turntable spin for three minutes and it felt like thirty seconds. It was hypnotic -- watching (and listening) to the analog . . . digital . . . something about it carried Me away.

And the song, well . . . I love the song.

"I was sayin' let me outta here
Before I was even born
It's such a gamble when you get a face
It's fascinatin' to observe what the mirror does
But when I dine
It's to the wall that I set a place . . . "

The Cosmic Pep Talk For The Cosmic Pep Talker

I was talking to a girl who had just broken up with her Mistress, and I mean just, at the time we were talking.

I've written before of The Cosmic Pep Talk, which can be summarized as follows: Not everything that happens to the submissive is about the submissive.

And that is meant in both the positive and negative senses, in that, not only is everything that goes right not necessarily the sole result of your wonderfulness, but also everything that goes wrong certainly isn't a result solely of your horribleness. It's amazing how easily a submissive will accept the first part yet have a very difficult time accepting the second part.

In this particular case I didn't deliver the Cosmic Pep Talk per se. The breakup was a little too fresh . . . it wouldn't have had the appropriate impact, I thought.

But being in that situation, talking to someone fresh from the loss and the hurt (and the anger, simmering beneath the surface, but there) ends up being good for Me, because it reminds Me of the simple truth and overwhleming importance of the Cosmic Pep Talk.

Because, after all, if everything that happens to the submissive isn't about the submissive, then there's no escaping that everything that happens to the Dominant isn't about the Dominant, as difficult as it can be at times for My ego to accept.

YouTube Tuesday: Who Do You Love?

One of my favorite things about youtube and its ilk are the videos where someone just decides that X might go with Y, even though X and Y are so seemingly different.

Tonight's clip is a great example of that. Take clips from the movie adaptation of Anne Rice's Queen of the Damned and pair them George Thorogood's perfect, rollicking cover of the Bo Diddley classic, "Who Do You Love?" To call that non-obvious is an understatement.

It's hot, it's creepy, it's nutty, by turns. It works. Kudos to its creator.

Brief

Health issues have been more or less consuming lately, and the blogging/writing energy just isn't there.

Will be better soon. KAHTATUS.

YouTube Tuesday: Sabotage

Sometimes, it just has to be the Beastie Boys. They've been around a long time in a crushingly competitive, relentlessly forward-moving genre where acts come and go like fireflies.

They've done that by maintaining a unique sound while not coming off as inflexible. Their videos are far above the hip hop standard for creativity, and they can still write and still rhyme.

"Sabotage" takes 70s cop shows (particularly Starsky and Hutch, I get the feeling) as its inspiration. It's fun, ridiculously exaggerated, yet somehow reverent to that style at the time.

"I can't stand it I know you planned it
But I'm gonna set it straight, this Watergate
I can't stand rocking when I'm in here
Because your crystal ball ain't so crystal clear
So while you sit back and wonder why
I got this fucking thorn in my side
Oh my, it's a mirage
I'm tellin' y'all it's a sabotage"

YouTube Tuesday: Super Freak

Tonight's clip is "Super Freak" by the late Rick James.

There are things in life that one might describe as "compellingly hideous" (or "hideously compelling," I suppose), but few can match early 80s style in that category.

Rick James, with "Super Freak" takes it all to some other level. The girls. The clothes. The glitter in his hair. The song about sex, more or less, that is incredibly non-erotic.

This video takes the carbon of a time and style and presses it into a cheesetastic diamond of pure, wildly enjoyable, horribleness.

Enjoy. You will feel physically dirty after doing so. But at the same time, so right. I promise.