SL Party Report...

We will see how far I get today:

Thursday:
The drive was nice, though I am not sure I am the long road trip sort. Last year I was able to share the duty with D and an automatic transmission rental car. My financial stars were not so well aligned this year, so I was the sole driver of my stick shift pickup. We arrived at the hotel, unloaded the truck, and promptly ate. After that I started to look for fellow party goers. I was debating with myself already whether to crash in bed or find the party. I got to reconnect with Mr. Shiny a bit after a year and also got to know our delightful room neighbors. After this D, myself, and a couple of other folks went off in search of The SL Thursday Group--or at least a group. It was at this point fatigue proved itself to be the better part of my valor. I was just not up to socializing and felt some funky energy off the group we kept running into, so I excused myself and turned in.

Friday:
I got up with D, got cleaned up, ironed my shirt, curled my hair, ate my breakfast (yes, this dry recitation of my AM routine DOES have a point), and tidied up the room. I then announced my departure. D looked at me with his innocent and genuinely puzzled blue eyes and asked why I was in such a hurry. The man was still in his tighty whities, unfed, unbathed, and watching the news. I debated whether or not to stay while he ate--quiet room breakfasts were supposed to be part of this trip. However, the rambling MSN cable health care debate was now giving me a headache and I wanted to meet some people already. So I excused myself and went to the cafe downstairs.

I ran into a couple of my Phoenix friends who had arrived after I had retired for the night. They had just ordered their breakfast. They asked where D was and without much thought I stated he was "dawdling." The breakfast came and they ate as I sipped coffee. D came down just as they were leaving and appeared genuinely shocked that they were off so soon. We sat and talked to others as the tables simply changed SL hands. I then helped a friend sort out his SL group lunch plans as the restaurant he had intended to use was not going to be open. We then had a delightful lunch with about 25 SLers. The group was growing even as I left for my first session.

It was after this I had my first scene with an LV local. This was a spanking/punishment enema scene and the energy was just as good as it was last year. This fellow does not fly--he just howls (evil giggle). Yeah, I had fun. I am not sure what attracts some bottoms to more punishing scenes (I am not that kind of bottom). However, I am certainly glad such bottoms exist.

I was pretty spent after this so I sacked out for a nap, then got ready for the Vendor's Faire with Dana. I wore an austere black outfit that apparently brought at least one fellow back to his catholic school days. From what I learned some nuns were allowed to ditch the habit in more recent years for something akin to what I wore.

It was here that the party finally caught up with D. Now, my Phoenix friends have (had) this wonderful paddle made of a Hawaiian wood. It met an unfortunate initial demise when it first met D's behind and finally gave up the ghost on the next behind it encountered. What I did not know is that C (one of my Phoenix friends) sent the paddle back to it's maker for "recycling." She recovered enough of the orginal wood to make a smaller piece--then backed it up with a slightly softer wood for greater durability. The resulting paddle has since been dubbed "Gemini." The maker looked at me innocently and told me it was a "heaven and hell" piece as one of the sides *is* made of a softer wood. After seeing it in action I decided that "hell and purgatory" is a more accurate descriptor. This puppy is not gonna break.

"M"--my other Phoenix friend--weilded it with enough of a vengeance to get to my experienced, kevlar upholstered partner and at one point brought him to his knees. Few things truly get to D--but he was rubbing his posterier like a truly chastened little boy after this encounter. Of course M and I spent the rest of the Vendors Faire reminding him that his *real* session was coming up afterwards!!

I attended the switch men vs women party afterwards without much of a thought to D's fate. That event was quite a hoot. Since the women were outnumbered 2 to 1 we got to choose our spankers when we lost a competition and use implements on the losers if we won. I was nice (hey! I can be nice!) since I did not know many of the guys there. Well, mostly nice. Sorta. I did leave the canes alone.

I went in search of D afterwards and eventually found him in our room. Now, like many male bottoms I have met, D has been in search of the elusive cathartic scene for most of his scene life. Apparently, he got it. He was in a *very* chastened place that also happened to orbit the planet Pluto.

I deconstructed it later with the top. Now, remember I had briefly mentioned D's "dawdling" earlier in the day. She used that to scold him, and as the scene progressed whaled on his already tenderized butt with canes. Apparently the "dawdling" scolding hit some deeper places within him and he was able to let go.

This definitely gave me pause. Now, I am quite able to do cathartic scenes, help people release their guilt if that is their desire, and also do punishment scenes *if asked* by the bottom. Where I fall short though is in *creating rules* and then enforcing them. It is not that I can't create rules--it is just that placing another person under *my* authority gives me the squicks. I have enough skeletons and ghosts in my closet regarding authority figures to populate an entire haunted house. Feeling evil in the real (albeit false) sense does not make for good top space.

Yet--I did see how D benefited. He is *not* the sort who is ever going to ask directly for discipline. He does need it though. I talked to M about helping me. In the long term I am not sure if I can get past this block myself, or if I am going to have to send D to someone else on occasion to give him what he needs. M, fortunately, is someone who I trust enough to go either way with.

I will say though that D did not dawdle for the rest of the trip--and I did not have to book a separate room to avoid non-stop news related headaches.

More later...

Back From Vegas

I will write some party reports when I feel less tired and dizzy. Went over the damn Dam which cut at least an hour off the return trip but it was still bloody long. I ended up staying an unexpected extra day which was rather nice.

More later...

Shadowlane

I couldn't stand it. I just joined so I am waiting through the 48 hour processing period. D has been getting a bit of work so it was just time. I think joining just after a party is good too. Everyone will be there and I won't be chewing my thumbs off over missing a future party.

A technical glitch

I am no longer on the SL board. Nope--has nothing to do with SL. Has everything to do with money.

Still trying to find D a job.

I will get back on the board as soon as feasible. No March party for me either. Hopefully we do make it to Labor Day. Dunno with the way the economy is going though....

Thank you to everyone who has e-mailed me over the last few months.

SL 2008 party report

'Spose I better do this before it becomes old news...

Now, I don't post names. Next year I may ask permission to post a few, but if you were one of the people I bonded with at the party, know that I valued your presence and energy.

This was my first Shadowlane party. I joined the member's area of the SL site a month and a half before the party and started participating on the bulletin board and chats. I taught D how to use a chat room and soon enough he was addicted.

Soon I had made e-mail contact with 2 people and we planned appointments for the party. In the process I got to know them as friends and traded several wonderful messages about spanking and life.

We chose to drive up to LV from Phoenix and rented a car for the purpose. After several delays and issues we were on the road and arrived in Vegas about an hour before the Mexican dinner which had been arranged by one of the other guests.

The Mexican restaurant had seen our crowd last year and took it all in stride, but soon we had 4 packed tables. What started with small talk ended with conversation that probably got the attention of some of the 'nillas. I stuck around until almost everyone had left and got invited to a gathering to listen to Obama's DNC speech. I was expecting more get to know you small talk and perhaps a few liberal/conservative debates, but when we went up there the spankings had already commenced, and it was obvious that Obama's speech was not the center of attention. The kind founders of the American Spanking Society had made their toys available for play, so it was not long before I was swatting D with the meanest paddle they had. Then a fellow came in with some unique loop handled floggers he had made. I asked to see them and he invited me to use them on him. Before I knew it I had a line of guys. I played with them, made my acquaintance with the Party Brat, then proceeded to cane D. with a sweet thick synthetic cane that was also available on the table. All of this public topping lead to my first private scene, and I felt comfortable enough with the fellow that I ended up bottoming as well as topping.

Friday I hit the ground running with one of my scheduled private scenes, and the rest of the day is a bit of a blur. I know I ate some clam chowder, played with goodness knows how many people, went to the newbies dinner, and then went to the vendor's fair. I had vowed not to buy *another* paddle (I am swimming in the darned things) but an Australian lacewood spoon shaped number plaintively cried my name and it ended up going with me. It was so finely made and smooth that I wanted to sit and pet it almost more than I wanted to use it. I bought a few other items, socialized, swatted the other Party Brat with a very large paddle, then ended up in a suite party where I connected with a pair of friends from Phoenix who had just arrived. I was in the door no more than 5 seconds before I got sucked into a role play with this pair regarding toys that had been hidden. D got pulled in, I pulled up a chair, and did not leave it for 3 hours as I got to spank D and several other wonderful bottoms. I gave one person his first taste of leather. The highlight of the evening occurred when someone brought up a couple from the gambling area and introduced them to our group. She turned out to have a hell of an arm and after some questioning I found that she plays tennis. Those transferable skills have served her well.

Saturday AM I blundered downstairs with D, inhaled some McBuffet food, and went upstairs for my second appointment of the weekend. This one turned out swimmingly as I was able to introduce this fellow to a Victorian punishment that he had been wanting to try. The hotel rooms all had large glass windows. We were up on the 9th floor, so I opened the drapes and spanked this fellow in front of Vegas! After this I got invited to a charming 3 couple OTK spanking session with D in another room, then off to demonstrate toys at a midday vendor party. Over the course of the weekend we had several meals with the folks who had invited us to the impromptu spanking session and ended up talking about travel, Canadian deserts, Quebec, and anything else we could think of.

I had scene drop after that so I went to take a nap. Around 6 PM I heard what sounded like a frat party going on next door. Doors were being slammed, people were bellowing, and when D went out to investigate, he told me that a bunch of young people had moved in and were drinking and whooping it up, leaving beer cans in the hall. Worse, a few of them had underaged kids with them. I was not amused and after muttering threats about adding a hazing ceremony to their festivities I tipped off the guard downstairs on my way to the dinner. When I came back 3 hours later it was quiet as a tomb. I was definitely glad nobody saw fit to complain about all of us!

Dinner involved very good company and some spanking. I ended up at a suite party afterwards and a rather heavy bottom who had seen me in action baited me to out do her. Fine. I took out the Canadian Prison strap--the one made from shoe sole leather with holes. She did concede to me in time after a lot of hard swats and even more laughter and jokes. More spanking happened with other wonderful bottoms when we dropped in on another suite party.

Saturday night I watched the Gustav reports with more than a little concern, then snuggled with D in bed.

Sunday was the Bad Boyz party and I was lucky enough to score an invitation to top. I probably played with 7 male brats. The Party Brat finally met his match with my sorority paddle as I gave him several hard strokes. He did quiet down after inviting all the men there to experience what he was experiencing. No, he had no takers. I got to cane again--yay! D had finally been spanked out--he squirmed with only preparatory taps.

Sunday was my comeuppance, plainly. I mostly top. My default mode is cordial, but definitely not submissive. However, some of these folks had really earned my trust. They lacked the oversized egos that I see too often elsewhere and after a weekend of sharing meals and talk with them they ended up melting me. Two of them wanted a crack at me after I had dealt with them earlier in the weekend. They turned out to be wonderful tops and we mutually agreed to seek each other out next party. The third had been wanting to spank me all weekend. He was not a heavy player and after 2 scenes I was far enough into bottom mode that I relented. I usually don't bottom to those who only top, but this fellow turned out to be sensitive and nurturing. I was sore though, so it did not go too far. It was then off to a suite party, where I had the honor of witnessing an incredible cathartic scene involving some friends. We were invited into the aftercare cuddle puddle and all of us nearly ended up in tears as we laid hands on our friend.

Monday I slept as late as I could, then D and I hauled our stuff downstairs. I found out that gamblers really don't give a rip if you haul an IV stand through the hotel. They truly don't. I am not a gambler, so to me that whole scene resembled an immense neon colored experiment in the psychology of intermittent reward. I kept expecting to see the maze and cheese at any second... OK Pot, meet Kettle. But still..

We had a charming dinner at Red Rock with some of our Phoenix friends and one of the folks I had bonded with at both ends of the paddle. Then we reluctantly headed home.

We got stopped by homeland security at Hoover Dam for a random check. The officer saw my IV stand, inquired about it, then got a big twinkling grin on his face after I told him I had used it as a clothes rack to haul clothes (but I *had*!!). He made sure our water jugs just had water in them and moved us on without troubling to fondle the paddles. The other Phoenicians had the brains to go home via Laughlin...

Party drop started by the time we got to Wickenburg. We ended up in a McDonald's with what seemed like half of Phoenix, along with a bunch of teenagers with nuthin' better to do. Urgh!

Stuff I learned about punishment enemas this weekend

I've passed the steepest part of the learning curve with regards to administering enemas, but I am still at the point where I learn at least one thing every time I do it. I did a scene at SL which actually taught me quite a bit.

I had never played with this person before, so as a matter of being a responsible top I let him prepare the water. It turned out to be a very useful trick. For one thing, this guy's eyes were almost bigger than his backside and he mixed up quite a brew. So when he complained I reminded him of this, informing him that obviously he thought he deserved it. I can see myself playing this technique out further with a little sink discussion of what is going into the bag and how that balances out with whatever "offense" is being punished. May not work with everyone, but could likely work with the more submissive sort who is easily influenced, not to mention the overly eager.

OTK enemas are awesome. Now, obviously a good retention nozzle and an experienced bottom are in order (otherwise you need a kneeling towel and bathtub). I had not considered this at all until the bottom requested it, thinking that there would be too much pressure placed on the midsection. But I found that when this is done on a couch the bottom can adjust accordingly.

There was also the Hobson's choice I stumbled upon. Now, I already had a mean mix in the bag created by the bottom himself. He wanted a pause after a certain amount of solution, so I took the opportunity to pepper his backside with some hairbrush strokes after I clamped the hose. I told him I would quit when he took more solution, so I ended up with him begging me for more solution on a few occasions. That was a nice power trip. I am used to folks begging for the water to stop--not begging for more.

Threatening the party brat with an enema is definitely an effective technique. Now, I liked this fellow a lot, but he was certainly jonesing for some sort of comeuppance. It was rather amusing though to see the wheels turning when I brought the e-word up--not what he was expecting. He did calm down after that.