Another chance to buy SEAF art!

This Saturday, July 31st, the Center for Sex Positive Culture is having a Vendor Fair. The CSPC is where the Foundation for Sex Positive Culture hosts the majority of it's events, except for the Seattle Erotic Art Festival due to the sheer size of the event.

SEAF is going to have a booth at the Vendor Fair and I will be there selling SEAF shirts, posters & catalogs as well as with a smattering of art from 2010 and previous years' exhibition. Art prices are negotiable, so don't be shy about making an offer. Come by, buy some art or that t-shirt you didn't get a chance to pick up at the Festival and visit me.

There will be lots of other fun vendors there, as well. Jim Duvall will have a booth with his art for sale, including both large and small pieces. Kinky Medical will be in attendance with their naughty wares.  Come visit Kinky Caesura, owned by Sparrow, and check out her hand crafted Rattan Canes in variety of lengths and colors.

The 'Back to School' Vendor Fair

What:

Socialize and shop at our free vendor fair

Schedule:

Saturday, July 31, 2010

When:

11:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Where:

1602 15th Ave W Seattle, WA map

Who:

18+.

Cost:

$3 to $5 Suggested donation at the door but not required for admission. CSPC membership NOT required to attend.

Quote of the Day

"You know when you are talking to someone and you can tell they aren't listening to you? Of course you do- you're in a relationship with me. So, anyway, you know what I'm talking about..." 

Yay for art!

Whenever I get the chance to assist with a photo shoot, I jump.  I love being on the backside of producing an image and I find doing prep or make-up or being an extra set of hands to the artist is immensely satisfying. Often more satisfying than modeling.

Last night I helped Jim Duvall with an image he has wanted to do for years.  I was in charge of painting the "puppy" and making sure the girl had a tan and a tan line. It's a pretty damn good job to have!

2010-2331 by *JimDuvall on deviantART

The puppy play fetish fascinates me, now. Before hand, my reaction to it on an intellectual level is neutral. I was unprepared for my reaction to the reality of it. I suddenly felt like a little kid with an impulse to pet and play with the "puppy".

When Jim declared the shoot a success, he asked if Alex wanted any shots as a puppy before cleaning up. After a few shots, I burst out "Can I have my picture taken with the puppy, too?" They indulged my request and I have the goofiest grin while petting this painted, hooded human pretending to be a puppy. It was delightfully freeing to sink into that headspace of petting and cooing over a puppy that was happy for attention, leaning into me, returning my affection just the way a dog would. It was really cool. I get it.

A Summer Public Service Announcement:

Alexa Ara and her whimsical and practical Beginner's Guide to Romp & Tromping.

I'm a grown up!

My first grey hair!

No one I have shown this to in person has been excite or interested. This is a right of passage! This marks the beginning of a new period of my life. At least I have always assumed that going grey would mean something.

I associate grey hair with mature individuals who are responsible and distinguished. I'm definitely responsible. Distinguished is fairly open ended in my case. One can have many different things about them that are distinguished, right?

Oh I give up. Grey hair is hot! I don't need any other reason than that to be excited.

More theater!

When a dear friend of mine put out the call for an audience for the final dress rehearsal of Pageant Play, I figured why not help out a friend. When you have been working on a piece of theater, you get to a point when you need a fresh audience to test out timing. Also, Kerry promised me it would be funny.

And she was right. Oh my! We laughed so hard and about a variety of things. There were a lot of gags and lines that I both laughed and cringed at simultaneously. I mean, let's face it, child beauty pageants are both horrific and hilarious; the production did the subject matter justice. I absolutely loved it!

The acting was superb! Normally, you get to dress rehearsals there is the idea that everyone is still settling in. Not this cast. Each one gave clean deliveries and were entrenched in their characters. Both men play dual roles, a pageant coach and a husband. At the end of the play, there is a section where all the characters are running through a large house and these two guys are running by as "Bobby" and then as a husband with literally 30 seconds in between. The characters were so well differentiated that I didn't realize that the only difference in one actor's costumes was his shirt. It wasn't until he came out once and you could see the hem of one shirt peeking out from the other that I noticed the 2 characters had almost identical outfits. The physical acting was so strong, I didn't even notice until there was a slip up!

They made full use of multiple entrances throughout, especially for set changes. Often a character would set up or strike a set in character as part of the play. I like that convention of maintaining the illusion. There was a bit of breaking the fourth wall, and it was done in context. I have mixed feelings about this, so I am pleased it was worked nicely into the play without becoming dependent on audience participation.

I want to write more, but I am too nervous to give away anything. It was a real joy experiencing the twists and turns in the plot. You have every Friday and Saturday from now until August 14th to see for yourself. You can buy tickets online or at the door. I recommend purchasing online because Theater Schmeater only seats 49, an that fills up fast. They also keep a waiting list at the door, which I have had good luck with in the past.

Embarking on an adventure.

I posted my first personal ad. I am terribly nervous and excited.

The idea of putting something like this online for the whole world to see, to ignore or reply to, is daunting.

Squeeeeee!

There is a fun podcast series that I enjoy called Dr. Dick's Sex Advice. I first started hearing about it earlier this year from some friends of mine, so I did what everyone else does and followed their links to it and was charmed by his easy going manner and wit. Dr. Dick has a lovely interview style that reminds me of Bill Moyers in that he leads, steers and prods his guest gently so that the information and conversation flows beautifully.

So I got a note from him asking me if he could talk to me as part of his Sex Wisdom series. Me? Really?! That's so cool! After a few moments of fan-girl-ing out, I collect myself and gave him a call. I managed to not blurt out that he really doesn't want me on his show, as I didn't want to imply he had bad taste or anything in what/who he found interesting. It's more a matter that I am a bit concerned that I will not be up to the level of people he is used to working with and scared that I am not that interesting.

We had a lovely chat that culminated in how talking to people about anatomy in relation to their sex lives is something that doesn't come up near enough. Looks like we might have a topic! More details when they are finalized.

The story of my Injury.

I realized that in all the hubbub of reporting on the status of my healing toe, I have neglected to share how I came to be in this state.

Short of it:
I tripped and broke my pinky toe.

Long of it:
I was just trying to be safe. Really! I was suspending a dear friend of mine and was doing my very best to be safe. We had wrestling mats down and I had taken off my heels. After much frolicking, we got a little more serious and the movement become for aggressive on both our parts. I gave him a strong push. Stepping back to avoid his arms reaching for me as he sung back toward me, my foot caught my high heeled shoes. The baby toe on my right foot was pulled back and away from the midline.

The pain was awful. But then, stubbing your toe is always worse feeling than the damage you sustain. The pain persisted. I reached down to squeeze my toe, knowing that putting pressure on an area that is painful often settles the sensations down. I heard and felt a crunch that was immediately followed by more pain. At this point, we called the scene.

I motioned for his partner to come over and promptly sent her for and ice pack. In the mean time, I stood on one foot and untied my bottom. He's a rigger when he isn't being tied up by me, so he tried to help. I let him undo a few of the up lines, and insisted I could finish taking the rope off of him while we both sat. He fussed over my foot, that I was dutifully icing by this point, and I untied him and coiled my rope. It is quite important to me to have that resolving act. The swelling slowed, then began going down, giving cause for relief.

At first, because of the sound and movement upon grasping my toe, I assumed it was dislocated, put back in place and I was only dealing with a sprain injury. Not terrible, but an awful long recovery ahead of me. The fact it was the pinky toe made it not as big of a deal. I had an appointment with a chiropractor the next day already scheduled, so I asked his opinion about getting it x-rayed. His was the same as mine: if it's broken, the doctor will just tell me to tape it up. If it's sprained, they'll tell me tape it up. He handed me some tape and sent me on my way with the advice of keeping shoes on and walking was ok.

Well, walking was/is not ok. I was throwing my hips and low back out of alignment walking in such a fashion so as to not increase the pain in my toe. So I went and bought crutches. Now that got me around much faster, which makes up for the inconvenience. Shouldn't have gotten rid of the pair I had after the last foot injury a  year ago.

As the swelling has gone down, I realized that my toe was noticeably crooked. Ok, then I broke it. This is the first bone I have broken and I don't have a good story to go along with how I got it. The Mean Man says I can honest say that I have only broken one bone and I set it myself. That sounds pretty burly. I can roll with that. I'll just gloss over the fact that it was a toe and I tripped.

Still with the hurt toe.

Toe Update!

Ummm, I think I broke it. As the swelling keeps going down, I can see that my baby toe is crooked. It wasn't crooked last week.

I am still on crutches and I figure I will stay on them a little while longer. While at home, I tend to not use them as it's a wee apartment. Please don't lecture me about moving it as much as I can to keep the circulation going; I hobble around quite a bit. Enough to make it hurt and remind me that I should be on the crutches.

Shine: The Musical

I should confess that I was somewhat conflicted about hearing of this production. On one hand, I LOVE musicals. On the other, I really don't care for burlesque. Really, it's a bit on the rare side to think "wow, I can't believe she took her bra off!" when watching burlesque. Dan Savage wrote a thoughtful article that addressed the danger that the Seattle burlesque scene is currently courting. His article soothed my conscience in my decision to whole-heartedly endorse Shine: A Burlesque Musical.

I was invited to attend the final dress rehearsal and I was blown away. I loved it! The premise is not terribly original, but I contend that a familiar plot line makes for easier likability. You have the thought "Oh, I see what kind of story this is going to be" and you settle in. The story has a few surprises that were completely unexpected and still very much in the spirit of the characters and story. I love it when I can't see something coming in the plot.

The music, written by The Wet Spots, was fun and well done. The singers smoldered and thankfully the tech supported them nicely. (Too often in smaller productions the sound and or light systems detract from the quality of the performance. I am pleased to report that was not the case in Shine.)  The choreography, by Inga Ingenue who is an incredible dancer and burlesque artist in her own right, was a real treat. All the dance numbers were sexy, crisp in execution and engaging. I honestly enjoyed every one.

Best of all, Shine has a beautiful message of honouring and expressing one's sexuality in a way that is neither trite, nor preachy.  As a production associated with the Foundation for Sex Positive Culture, they can rest assured that Shine follows their mission. Their 18+ notice on the website says it quite nicely: "SHINE is an adult-oriented show which contains nudity and themes of healthy sexuality. The producers and writers of this show think this is a Very Good Thing."

 "

I highly recommend you go see Shine, either this weekend or the next. Tickets are available online, and if you are free this (Friday) evening, the 10:30pm show is having a 2-for-1 special if you use the secret code: LuLu.

Day 3

The colours visible on my toe are much more vibrant today. Most likely because I spent 7 hours on  my feet teaching.  I wasn't able to go out and get crutches before my classes started. On a healing stand point, that was bad. On a teaching stand point, it was way better not having to maneuver around as a 3 legged creature. By the end of the evening, I was in a fair amount of pain that even elevating and icing my foot didn't reduce.

It was worth it, though. My classes went really smoothly. I am already getting emails and tweets of thanks. One person wanted to let me know that he has "already put the theory into practice, with quite favorable results.'  Squeeeeeee! It's comments like these that really light me up. Spreading and increasing joy is why I teach.

*an hour later*

I am pleased to report that I have procured a pair of crutches and I am ready for the rest of my day. I had to strike a deal of putting my foot up for most of the day in exchange for getting to go to the nursery and pick out plants for our mini-garden. Then it's a mellow day of planting, BBQing and friends.  Everyone have a safe & happy 4th!

Palpation opportunity!

Good news for y'all who are coming to the palpation class today!

I sprained my little toe really bad and I have some decent inflammation going on there. The picture was taken yesterday afternoon and it is worse now due to a silly re-injury last night. This means that everyone who attends will get the chance to palpate inflamed tissue; an invaluable experience for being able to recognize the presence of the inflammatory response when there are no visible signs.
 
My life is in the service of science.

All ready!

Finished the final rewrite of my Palpation for Rope Play class and I am finally very happy with it. I have been fussing all week long; vacillating between two versions. I had a conversation during lunch today that settled my indecision. This is going to be good!

The Anatomy 101 for BDSM, which I meant to rename Anatomy 101 for Kink, has been updated a bit to reflect some information that I seem to be repeating a lot when people come up to me with questions.

This will be a full day of learning fun stuff, starting at 12:30pm for the Anatomy class. An hour break between classes and then back to it with the Palpation class starting at 5:30pm.

See you there!