Six Years

Five fingers, and a thumb? Maybe this explains why I haven't been writing/typing? Well, probably not.

Six years of blogging. Well, 5 years of blogging and then the last year of owning the blog but barely using the blog. I am surprised, and pleased, to see that people are still visiting the blog even though I have contributed little to it over this past year.


I am certainly not done with Frederick and Agnes although I have left them alone for over a year and I wonder what has developed between the two of them. We will have to watch and see.

The whole landscape of Dominance and submission and BDSM seems changed over the past six year. So much more prevalent and accepted these days, more outlets for opinions and perspectives; things like FetLife, Shades of Gray, and a gazillion blogs, so much more "out there" than it was six years ago. I am not sure if that is better or worse?

And there has been a nearly complete turn over of the blogs I discovered and followed 3 and 5 and 6 years ago. I know many people say, 5 years is a good run for a blog. Perhaps I have run my course? Who knows, I certainly hope not.

Five Years

Five years blogging, one half of a decade, seems like such a long time although in truth the time has flown by. It has been a quiet year for me blogging, somewhere about mid year I lost my fire and have not found my voice. Ideas percolate but never seem to issue forth or get mired in drafts.

Part of it was the “demise” of Flash Fiction Friday (FFF) which helped keep me inspired, and it is coming back. In fact it has been around being kindly shepherded by a couple of good souls but I had lost my visibility to it. I will welcome it back as it was helpful in keeping my mind engaged. Previously there was a dedicated blog that housed/hosted FFF but that owner/host has been overwhelmed by circumstance. Hopefully it will find a permanent home again soon, a place where people can be directed to and get ensnared into the game. Tomorrow, 12/7, I will be posting another FFF offering, based on a picture I found that sparked my imagination.

Another pending loss is e[lust], which will go silent at the end of this month unless a new mistress(es) can be found. e[lust] was a resurrection of the idea behind Sugasm, a monthly collection of blog posts centered on erotica where bloggers submit their favorite pieces each month and some sort of evaluating is done and monthly top choices are made. Even if a piece is not selected, all of the stories submitted receive very wide distribution and I have found some of my favorite new authors or undiscovered writers through their inclusion in the e[lust] monthly offerings. It will be a greater loss than we realize even now.

Neither of these, or other prodding were my impetus to write, but they were like snacks along the way. They were/are tasty little treats that sustained the energy level and kept the creative juices simmering. I still have every intention of continuing the story of Frederick and Agnes, and other little projects like 100 words.

So it is a much more subdued recognition of the annual marker this year but rest assured I am still here even if it is currently more as a blog reader rather than blog writer. I will accept that writers’ energies wax and wane and forge on.

I am pleased to see from my statistics that there is a steady stream of friends/readers/visitors passing by each day, your interest and participation is greatly appreciated.

Four Years - Fore!!

Thanks Sweet girl

Beware: the coming of Krampus!

Four years, wow! Who'da thunk it?
When I started this blog it was with the intent of gathering and collecting a list of interesting blogs to follow, "For now this will be a repository for links rediscovered, and read and appreciated." I still have a fairly extensive collection at my Blog Roll a ways down in the side bar, but this space has come to mean so much more to me over these past four years. Some know me as a carguy and I have always been very fond of Datsun/Nissan, whose motto for many years was, "Life is a journey, enjoy the ride." Thank you all for coming along with me on this journey, I have enjoyed the ride and see that many others have also. When I last looked at my hit meter I was hovering just below 120,000 visits.

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I was reading back through previous Blogaversary posts and was reminded of this comment:

Anonymous said...I have been meaning to write to thank you. I found your blog about 1 year ago. In you, I recognized a man I had known 25 years ago, and had run from because I didn't understand who I was. I found him recently and am now happily owned. I would not have had the courage to look without your writings.

I am so happy to present an image, that would evoke such a reaction. It humbles me.

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I have really enjoyed participating in the Flash Fiction Friday series of writing challenges and making new friends there. Because of the generally limited word count available and a picture to evoke ideas, it is an excellent exercise in imagination and expression. I really do encourage everyone to look it over and give it a try. It is all in fun, there is no right or wrong way to do it. I often further challenge myself to pick a specific number of words and write to that count. That has led me to start a little writing project called 100 Words. Small enough to knock out in an hour or two, and long enough to depict a full scene or interaction, or explore a thought or frame of reference. We will see how that goes.

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Of special note this year, I am very excited to have been selected by Rori for inclusion in her list of the Top 100 Sex Blogs of 2011. I started this blog to express D/s thoughts and ideas and quickly recognized that there were multiple, overlapping realms. Just over a year ago I made a conscious decision to focus on writing stories rather than essays/articles and express ideas and views through examples. I am honored to be included in Rori's list this year, thanks to those who nominated and selected me.

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And what is ahead? I am not sure. Likely more of the same, some more Frederick and Agnes assuredly. More, shorter pieces in the 100 Words style. I have tried some different presentation styles this past year and the one before; things like I Like Your Dream, an audio, and an attempt at a visual impact with The Path. I will continue to look for others.

Again, thank you all for coming along, this blog has been my pleasure and will continue to be. So, let's lock arms and stride forward toward the future, whatever it may bring.

Year Three

"It has always been one or three, never two, never stop at two - - three, or more, is best"

The past three years of blogging have been a wonderful experience for me. An engineer and a technocrat; discovering an ability to write, to conjure up images, to construct fantasies, and tell stories, and humor, and interact with a readership that has been more than generous and kind.

This year has been an odd mix of articles and stories - like the continuation (and perhaps the end) of the Consensual Stalker series, even a "reading" and a couple of very expressive songs, particularly Far Far. Also, I included a fanciful zany, but wonderful little song that was "given to me" that you can find in the sidebar, Love Letter To Japan - - - - The Bird And The Bee.

This past year, I have tried to add in some new approaches, like the music, even including a reading. The one that made it to the blog was a reading of a story from a collection of erotica, Curled in a Ball. I have recorded a couple of my own writings but they were never posted, perhaps in the coming year they will show up.

I had vowed to myself to write more this year but not surprised, I didn't. In fact I have the same number of posts in 2010 as in 2009. In an effort to rectify that, I intend a couple of collaborations in the coming year, and I have recently started participating in Flash Fiction Friday, a weekly discipline that I have enjoyed so far and plan to continue, and invite you to join.

Writing this blog has brought me great pleasure and satisfaction. I am flattered and humbled by the acceptance of my offerings and thank you all, each and every, one and many.

Year Two - - - Year One - - - In the Beginning 

deux ans - dos años - twee jaar - due anni - two years

(731 days -175,000 hours - over 1 million minutes)

I said this last year and it is twice as true now - I have gotten to know many new and interesting people. Too many have come and gone, but are not forgotten. Some have retired, others have found other direction in their lives. They will be missed, but I am better for having known them, and shared a small slice of life. However, so many more are still here and I look forward each day to hearing what they, what you, have to say, it nurtures and sustains me, thank you all, so very very much.

A catalogue of visitors from quite literally all around the globe, and last year I was amazed by a counter of over 20,000 visits, and that number is now over 55,000 and it boggles my mind.

I have received wonderful and supportive feedback from so many people. I have written less this year than I did the first, considerably more fictionalized encounters, story lines continued beyond First Meeting, to the One Day Visit story line and the whole Consensual Stalker BS series. I had never tried that style of writing before, and frankly I continue to be humbled by the acceptance and response. I have particularly liked these stories because they have given me an opportunity to illustrate through words, rather than discussions of D/s concepts, how I view the connection between a Dominant and his submissive partner. I am also particularly pleased to have written other pieces including A New Master, Prolongation, What's In It For Me and Labels and Dogma.

I was speaking with a friend as I was writing this and she summed it up quite well, "And, what a lot of fun in those two years!"

Thank you all, thank you very much.

366 days, 8800 hours, half a million minutes

While I have been browsing around online services and the Internet for more than a dozen years, this past year blogging has been the most enriching and satisfying year ever. I have gotten to know many new and interesting people. A few have come and gone, but certainly are not forgotten. Some have retired, others have found other direction in their lives. They will be missed, I am better for having met them, and shared a small slice of life.

When I started a year ago, I had really only intended to recapture a list of links to other blogs that I had been reading from a source that had disappeared. I could not have imagined how this would turn out.

I have been visited by readers from all around the world, literally, very humbling. In just the last month, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and 36 of the United States.

The statistics counter shows well over 20,000 visits, it boggles my mind.

I have received wonderful and supportive feedback from so many people. In the middle of the year I decided to try something different, and seem to have stumbled onto an interest in writing fiction, or imagineering. I had never tried that before, and frankly have been startled by the acceptance and response.

It has been a wonderful year.

Thank you all, thank you very much.