el tercer ojo

Leaving Las Vegas

[okay, let's see how typing with my thumbs in the moving car goes.] I'm going to try and do a more organized party report once we get home. Pablo and I are headed home from what is, I think anyway, my 14th Shadow Lane party. Since there's been 29 total. I'm catching up to 50%. There's just no way to claim newbie status anymore. Who'd have guessed? Before every party I'm nervous enough to wonder why we're going, even though I have never regretted attending a single party and have always been sorry when we've had to skip / miss one. it's not about the play (though some of the most amazing scenes I've ever been part of have been at SL parties) -- I'm fortunate to have married someone happy to spank me as much as I can stand. it's the chance to spend a weekend away from real life stress and surrounded by and celebrating spanking and how damned much fun it is that makes the parties such great events for me. The economy in the past 18 months has made it difficult for some of our friends to travel for pleasure. This made it all the more wonderful that so many were able to make it this time around. I especially enjoyed the sadly too-rare chance to hang out with some of the folks from FL Moonshine and SSNY. it'll likely be a while until we can do it again. Meantime the friendships continue on and offline. The afterglow feeds Pab and my feelings toward each other. My most heartfelt thanks to Butch, Eve and Tony for working so hard so their guests can play so much. And with that, we're almost to Baker and lunch. NV is behind us for now. -- This entry was sent from my iPhone.

Shadow Lane: Saturday Morning Shopping

For whatever reason, I woke up at 6:30.  Spent a few minutes online and then decided to shower, go down stairs, get coffee and blog.  A latte clutched to me, I settled on a comfy bench and pulled out my beloved MacBook and stuck my earbuds in my ears.

I have to confess that part of the reason I plugged in my ipod was in the expectation that this would mean someone would come and talk to me soon.  Even so, it was a huge surprise to look up and see Niki standing their with her partner HH.  Apparently she had already spoken to Bailey (who was coming down soon) and Pab (who was not, though had woken up enough to confirm that I wasn't in our room). Niki's instinct to search for me near coffee just shows how well she knows me.

A quick conversation showed I had no plans.  Niki did.  She wanted us to go over to the mall at Planet Hollywood and explore the Betty Page shop there.  That sounded like a great idea to me. We collected Bailey, dropped the MacBook in my room, told Pab where we were going and headed out.  (okay, I know the picture is from the film and isn't really Betty Page.  But it's cute anyway, isn't it?)

At the cab stand we ran into Dr. Dan who was also headed to the mall (he was looking for dance music).  He shared a cab with us which was a good thing for a few reasons.  First, Dan is a very nice guy indeed.  Second, once in the cab I realized I had left my wallet on the table in the hotel room (!!!) so it was great that my sponging was spread a bit thinner and third, I could talk with him about having forgotten one of my medications. Ever the helpful gentleman, he offered to get the information from me later and call the 'script into a local pharmacy. 

After wandering around the casino for 10 minutes like mice in a maze, Niki, Bailey and I finally found the mall and then the Betty Page shop. The store was a treasure trove of wonderful dresses.  My forgotten wallet seemed like a wise decsion as I looked on the lovely dresses.  You see, I've gone up a size recently and, while trying not to be crazy about my weight as nothing is as tedious as me whittering on about body image, I didn't really want to buy a lovely dress that would, by summer, (hopefully) need to be altered in order to fit.  Bailey, like me, was admiring the many lovely things while Niki actually tried some on. She found a fantastic dress (well, actually she found many fantastic dresses, but this dress looked especially amazing and so she bought it.

While Niki was busy in the dressing room, Bailey found the spanking bench / machine discretely located in the back of the store behind velvet ropes.  Its shiny red leather surfaces looked unworn and like a prop so we didn't ask even to pose on it.  This would prove to be a mistake as, apparently, had we bought an "I was punished" t-shirt, we'd have been entitled to a go on the machine.   Ah well, got to save something for next time.

We couldn't linger because we had meet Dr. Dan (remember, shared cab) to be back for the suite party / demo Northern Spanking was hosting. Niki was going to be in the demo, but only as the crime "victim" as she wasn't planning on playing this weekend and she warned me that the suites were smaller than at the SunCoast so arriving early would be important. Even though crowds are sometimes a problem for me, I very much wanted to watch so I could see the NS girls in their uniforms.

On the way out the four of us (Dan, Bailey, Niki and me) were so caught up in our happy chatter and in such a hurry to get back that we basically threw ourselves into a taxi van, talking at full volume.  As we pulled out, the driver pointed out a MASSIVE queue of people we'd somehow missed and, in our oblivious state, had jumped ahead of.  We were mortified, especially when the driver told us that she'd been trying to hold the door closed to keep us out. 

Oh the shame of it all.

Still, it did mean we got back to the hotel right on schedule.  This was where and when I found out I wouldn't just be *witnessing* the NS scene.... (to be continued).

Countdown to London

After a weekend spent caretaking an elderly friend so his wife could have a bit of a break (they have a pool so it's been fun as well as a bit challenging), Paul and I are off tomorrow for a trip to Britain. We're leaving in less than 24 hours and I'm not even packed.  Though we're only going to be their two weeks, the time seems packed with an almost disorienting combination of visits with relatives, scene friends and a trip to the Edinburgh festival.

It will be important not to mix the scene friends and the relatives up -- I had a dream last night where in a jet lagged blur I absent-mindedly wore my new gymslip to a dinner with my inlaws. This  couldn't really happen only because I'm not taking my gymslip. (It's with me after all at the request of my beloved -- so the danger persists.)  Otherwise I'm completely capable of such a mistake.  The only bright spot in the nightmare was the knowledge that Paul would be even more
embarrassed than me.  Trust me, that doesn't happen very often.

I'm not planning on bringing my laptop -- my mac powerbook is a creaky 10 this year and I can't justify the 8 pounds of excess weight (maybe Santa will bring me a macbook air) so my internet access will be only as frequent as I can pry Paul's laptop out of his selfish, hard and large hands.

It's been a great weekend though.  My birthday present finally came. It's a new bike -- a hot pink Hello Kitty beach cruiser (picture here -- you can click for a larger version).  This very special gift, even cooler in person  and speaks to my Hello Kitty desires which I will try and remember to write to you about another time.   

Sadly, I've barely had a chance to actually ride it yet and only just around the block, but whenever he's missing me, Paul goes into our friend's garage and finds me stroking it in a loving yet slightly disturbing fashion.

Anyway, we're about to leave for London as I write this.  I'm bringing a journal so with any luck I'll be able to write some dispatches as computer and 'net access allows.  In any case, if I go silent for a few weeks, you now know where I am.  If you miss me, tell Paul to share his computer.  (Note: he's not selfish.  We share everything else.  But our computers seem to be a share too far.

When we get back it will be almost time for Shadow Lane in Vegas.  I'm looking forward to getting together with some of PB authors (Iris, sparkle and Bridget will be there) and (hopefully) getting to call the others at the same time so we can all wish Iris much happiness in her coming (and happily spanko) marriage.

August looks to be a very good month.