Yay! Hanging out with LOCK folk

Well after being so sleepy all week, I had told myself I could finally sleep in this morning. Then I set the &^%$#@!! alarm last night out of habit like an idiot. Man was I pissed when it went off this morning. And of course, due to my contradictory nature, I came wide awake. Any other day this week, I could have rolled over and gone immediately back to sleep.

Just as well I guess. I had a million things to do today, and had to be at the hotel for the seminar about 1pm.

I packed and mailed Cindy's lamp this morning, along with a birthday card, and the biscuit cutter she had been looking for. Her birthday was the 10th, but this is the first chance I've had to get to the post office, and since she usually doesn't send me anything for my birthday, I figured late was OK. I noticed when I switched the lamps out that the one I bought at the flea market had a chip in the shade. I hadn't noticed it before. After a while though, I know it won't bother me any more.

I pulled the shower curtain out of the washer and put it back up after cleaning the shower stall.

I picked up my dry cleaning from Metropolitan Dry Cleaners, who had once again performed a miracle by de-Croonerizing my good navy wool peacoat. I really didn't know if it could be saved after he used it for a cat bed, grinding white cat hair into the nap of the fabric and getting dried kitty-snots all over it. It looks like new. I was amazed. But then I am always amazed at the things they can do. They have gotten old, dried ketchup out of good silk ties for me. These people are amazing. So after praising them extravagantly, I left. Oh and for the parting of the cat-hairs on navy wool? The cost was $10. That is just pretty damn reasonable for a miracle.

So after running a few more errands, I came home and straighted up a few more things, then got ready to go.

***

The seminar was very interesting. It was on "consensual non-consent". A complex topic, since of course all responsible BDSM play is consensual at the core. These are very complex scenes to set up, and even more intensely psychological than the usual scenes. Harder to read, and easier for things to go wrong. But for committed and experienced couples, they do add a whole new level you can play within.

The first presenter was Lady D. She lives in Atlanta, and has four people in service to her. She is a very experienced Domme, and a former hypno-therapist. She is very good natured, and fun loving, and is the first one to laugh at herself, but she is a serious player nonetheless. I find that generally the more secure people are with their talents and self-image, the more relaxed they are, and the easier they are to get along with. This is true of just life in general I guess.

Lady D brought two of her people with her for the demo. A man named dax, and a woman named gypsy. After she did a lecture, there was a fairly tame scene with dax. Frankly, I was a bit let down. I had been expecting something much more exotic and interesting from Lady D. With her red herring out of the way, she and gypsy then went into the real scene, taking me by surprise. I'm sure most of the others realized long before I did that we were witnessing the true scene. It was really compelling, and very well done.

After a break, Boomer did a scene with a lovely young woman he brought with him named lisa. Boomer, despite his reputation (he is one of the premier men with a single-tail whip in the Southeast, if not the country) is always nice, and invariably approachable and friendly. His scene, while very stimlating, was pretty much a typical scene (if there is such a thing). I felt kind of embarrassed, because people were not as quiet as they probably should have been, and were moving around and stuff. Regardless of what was happening, I felt people should have been more respectful of his time and effort.

The spoken presentations for both classes weren't as informative as I had hoped they would be. They were heavily laced with personal anecdotes, that, while interesting, weren't always at the heart of the subject. I can understand that though. Dominants may work from the heart and mind, but they tend to express with their hands, like artisans. Such people often have difficulty expressing themselves verbally. Additionally, BDSM sex is bi-lateral, happening on both the spiritual and physical plain, and in ways that can be highly specific to each person. Public speaking is hard, even for people experienced at it, and just because you can do something doesn't mean you can teach it. Trying to speak publicly about something so personal, intense, and complex is a daunting task.

Nonetheless, the classes were very interesting, and I had some exposure to an area I previously had known little about. I was glad I was able to go.

After it was over, we all went to dinner, which was nice. I LOVE to see the LOCK people. They are all such interesting, open-minded, compelling people. Since I know them now, it's like seeing family when we all get together. Carmina and adder were there. Kevin and his finacee jan were there. Boomer and Anne and the girl lisa was there. Lady Beth was there, looking better, but I noticed she didn't eat very much. Kay was there. Miss Kitten was there with a beautiful man named Jason, who came with her from Atlanta. And of course Russ and Billy were there. Lady D was also there with dax and gypsy.

We had a nice meal, with lots of conversation. My only problem was that there were too many people for me to get to talk to them all I wanted. I got to eat with Carmina and adder, which was good since they weren't coming to the play party later. I have really grown very fond of Carmina and adder. Carmina is a very no-nonsense and plain-spoken person, which I like. You never have to worry about where you stand with Carmina, she will let you know. She's also almost stereotypically the "gruff exterior with the heart of gold" type of person. adder, unsurprisingly, adores her. She also has that ability to project her Domme personality into everything she does. It was fascinating to watch her take control of our waiter and basically just exert her will. He saw to her every need in a most interesting fashion.

I have also developed a special fondness for Kay, a newer addition to the group. She was sitting across from me. She came to us through a group called KEY, and she is very much a unique type of person in the scene. To quote a movie, that girl is pure sunshine. An exuberant, zaftig girl, she refreshingly doesn't seem to have a lot of baggage about her weight, and always dresses beautifully, and in colors she likes. As is typical in the scene, I find, she wears beautiful shoes. She has a shiny curly bob of thick chestnut hair, and a perpetual smile on her face. She also doesn't have issues with being a switch. I would really like to have a scene with her one day - I think it would be so much fun.

I got to talk to Anne, and meet lisa. Anne is another particular favorite. She always praises my cooking to excess, which is always the fast lane to my heart. But even aside from that, she is always so nice, and genuinely interested in how I'm doing. As a partner with Boomer, she has a lot of people wanting to approach and get to know her. I am always touched that she takes an interest in me. She asks me questions that lets me know she remembers my situation. Plus, she is always gorgeously dressed in clothes that I wish I could wear.

Despite the typical restaurant issues at that Ruby Tuesday, we had a lovely meal, except for jan, whose steak was underdone, and then they messed up their check. We won't be taking a group to that restaurant again. Russ and Billy eat there all the time because they can get Weight Watchers friendly food there, but they are burnt out on it, and after all the problems, we are going to have to find somewhere else to take people.