Concert - Raleigh North Carolina - Saturday, May 31st

And you can tell people one day - "Yeah, I was there when . . ."

So, what is this all about? Kat Robichaud was a contestant on the TV show, The Voice, and was one of the Top 10 finalists for season 5, fall of 2013. She had previously been in the band, The Design, which has disbanded. They produced two albums, Laziest Perfectionist and Young America; you can listen to samplings at Amazon.com and on iTunes, and other places I am sure.

After the Voice she started a Kickstarter project (a crowd-sourcing-funding website) to record and produce her first solo album. You can see more about the project on her Kickstarter page. And yes, I confess, I am one of the 880 people.

One of the promises she made as part of the funding program was if her second stretch goal was achieved, she would be having a concert in Raleigh, NC on Saturday May 31st. So was borne An Evening with Kat Robichaud. Included in the show will be all of the songs from her new album, which she has just finished recording. Much more about the album and concert is here on her Facebook page. Tickets are like $10 and $12 - cheap at twice the price.

Obviously being in Las Vegas I am not going to be able to attend a Saturday night concert in Raleigh, NC but would suggest that you do, I think it is going to be really awesome. It will include a couple other performers/bands, a costume party with awards for best costumes and a number of vaudevillian acts, both on stage and roaming the floor. The entire concert/show will be streamed live on Youtube, so if you are going to be there, let me know. Maybe I will see you on Youtube.


(Unfortunately, I can't make the lovely little Box play bars anymore)

That is one of her more mellow love songs, but you can find more of her music, more raucous rock on her Youtube channel.

So, if you are anywhere on the east coast, or even NY or FL, head on over and have a great weekend in Raleigh NC which I understand is a beautiful place and a great place to spend a weekend if you are going to a Saturday night concert. And if you aren't in the east coast somewhere but are flexible and mobile, go ahead and go anyway.

And if you are inflexible like me and can't make it, but find the whole idea interesting, join me on Youtube that Saturday night, May 31st!!

Post No Bills

I am sure we all get the spammers who attempt to attach a comment to your blog post that has some nearly nonsensical verbiage that has nothing to do with your post and then encourages the reader to check out their website. Like this:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Timeless in a Window's Light":

Hi, all the time i used to check web site posts here early in the break of day, for the reason
that i enjoy to learn more and more.
Also visit my site ... get more views

This is the digital blog equivalent of the kinds of actions that resulted in the Post No Bills signs being plastered all over billboards and other signs "back in the day".

Well, it occurred to me that since I am not writing anything of substance these days, that I could at least use this space, and the kindness of my readership to "post bills" about some projects that friends of mine are involved in. Things that I think are interesting and worthwhile, and perhaps entice you, the reader, to look into it and give it some consideration, perhaps even enough to become an active participant.

More to follow...

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.

Violence and Sex

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Bullies

I am a tall man, maybe what some would call a big man, and through a practiced demeanor, very immune to the likelihood of being bullied by others. However, growing up I was lanky, and awkward, lacking in social skills, even shy and reserved. Because of that I was subject to negative attention from others who found in me an opportunity to exert their power over someone else. I hesitate to call it bullying because I do not want to co-opt the sense of helplessness so many young people must feel when they are singled out by others and treated badly.

Over the past couple years I have followed this issue of bullying in the various media and come to recognize it for what it is. I have my notions about what it’s origins likely are and see that those origins are not an excuse, and are not permission, to treat others badly.

A friend recently posted the following remarks on her Facebook page and I wanted to give her thoughts an additional venue and add my voice to it.

That girl you just called fat? She's overdosing on diet pills.

The boy you just tripped? He is abused enough at home.

That girl you just called ugly? She spends hours putting makeup on hoping people will like her.

That man with the ugly scars? He fought for his country.

That guy you just made fun of for crying? His mother is dying.

As a dominant man (not that dominance has anything to do with it really), I am ashamed of the way so many people treat others but feel a sense of powerlessness to do anything about it, I really have no solution. I can be an example and I can step in if I witness that kind of behavior and I can speak up when I have the opportunity. I am taking this opportunity.

I suspect I am preaching to the choir here, but perhaps something here will affect someone somewhere and it will have made a difference. I hope so.

Meditative Head Space

While reading some discussions on FetLife I came across a description of a state of mind that transported me back over 30+ years in time. A woman was discussing a condition where she was present in the moment but “separate” from the activities going on around her. It does not seem like an out of the body experience, or even that thing that many refer to as “sub space” (more on that later). Here is a link to the FetLife discussion - Mental relating to Physical... where you can read her full posting and all of the various comments by others.

I am sub-setting the conversation for those who do not FetLife, and in the likely case that the discussion might disappear or be archived at some point in the future.

Mental relating to Physical...
by MasterCharles_pet - August 17, 2011

"Just recently, I met my Master and sister slave for the first time. They came to determine if We All...fit Together, which, I am proud to say, We did."

"Something happened that I wanted to share, and see if anyone else has had a similar experience... "

"After a very physical session...well, as physical as One can get in a motel room...I felt myself seem to go into a state very very similar to subspace... I got totally quiet...eyes closed and deep within myself... I could hear Master and donna talking, but it was as if I was removed from the situation... though physically, I could not have been closer to Master, my entire body touching His. I could not answer questions .... until I was "Brought around" by Master asking if I were alright. I wanted to explain to Him that I was much, much better than simply alright...that I felt almost euphoric. That was not the worst beating I have ever been through...far from it... but it seemed so amazingly intimate, as if I gave myself over to Him..."

- - snip - -

"What I feel is that I have learned an introspective skill...where I can actually disappear inside myself, and there keep the joy and hope I have found in being a slave to a Master... and it is hypnotic, calming, possessed... I wish I could share this ability with my sister slaves, friends etc., so they could let themselves go and retreat inside themselves this way."

There follows comments and discussion, and then she adds:

"Understand what everyone is saying....and yes, perhaps it is...simple enough to be defined as subspace.... but I have been there too...and it was brought on during a mind fuck...an intentional act....this was more like a dream, less physical...less a loss of control, and more a deliberate...escape. If it were subspace, I would have recognized it as such, and hardly needed to expound upon it. This was more of a meditative, introspective state...not brought on by pain, or confusion....but brought on by a need to remain...intact."

As I said, I was particularly impressed with the "altered" state of mind she discusses. I understand her distinction between this meditative state of mind,and what she knows as sub space.

Many years ago, I was in the Galleria, in Houston, Texas, where I was living. I was standing at the railing on the top level, looking down into the open spaces below. It was a weekday afternoon, not particularly busy or crowded, but there was a steady flow of people around and the attendant background noise you would expect from such a shopping crowd. I was leaning my arms on the top of the railing and had a foot resting on the lower bar of the railing.

As I stood there I “de-focused” my eyes and let my mind break concentration from specifics. I felt myself shift into a state of mind where it was if everything going on around me was a cloud. Not a series of distinct and individual occurrences but a greater mass. Hearing everything going on, I remember the thought coming into my mind, “This is the noise that humans makes.”

This feeling lasted for a short period of time, probably less than 5 minutes, although I was not sure how much time had really passed. It was very much like she talked about above, “ it was as if I was removed from the situation”.


From my own perspective, this state of mind was not unexpected. I had been reading “The Teachings of Don Juan” by Carlos Castaneda, and other books in the series. In his writings he talks about the concept of “stopping the world”. Which I see as stopping your participation in the world, disconnecting from active or passive involvement from the goings on around you and being apart and separate from everything while being thoroughly in the midst of it all. (For more depth you might want to read the Introduction at Carlos Castaneda's Don Juan's Teachings).

So, it was something that I had been thinking about and in the de-focusing and clearing of my mind, I had actually hoped for such a state to be induced. After a few minutes the feeling cleared and I was back in the present moment, in the midst of a mid afternoon crowd of shoppers.


The similarities of these two events and the various notions of sub space have caused me to wonder about methods for reaching meditative states.

Have any readers had a “sub space” experience similar to the one reported above, something that went beyond what we collectively think of as sub space? What was it like and how was it different? Have others found that sub space functions as a state of mind that leads to a deeper or different meditative state? How, if at all, has it affected your submission?

I am also curious if anyone was a reader/follower of Castaneda and his books about his adventures with the Yaqui Indians, or might have practiced/attempted any of the mental states he discusses in his books?

Humble Pie

Humiliation vs Humility

Given a circumstance in which you need to humble yourself; you can have two reactions, ego based denial, or self revealing acceptance.

Apologize for inconveniencing another/others, taking responsibility and having that conversation with the offended party. You often fear that they will think less of you, not trust or value you as they did before you screwed up, and that can cause you to avoid, or excuse, or deflect, or deny; or, you can stand up and say, yes I did it. Thank them for the opportunity to set it right and demonstrate you have learned a lesson; which will raise your value and integrity in their eyes immensely, and within yourself as well.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day

(From XKCD)

Tentacle Sex "Tentacle Dreams"

"The phrase "tentacle sex" evokes a standard trope of Japanese animation, featuring hideous demonic creatures having their way with helpless sailor-suited schoolgirls. The genre is a perfect example of unintended consequences; there was a time in Japanese cinema when any depiction of a penis was forbidden. Having penis-shaped appendages do the work instead of the actual item was the solution that the movie producers took to evade the rule, thus creating depictions that some would argue are far more graphic than the banned material could have been."

"The fact that this style of animation continues to be produced after the rules were changed, is evidence that there is a strong connection between sex and horror. In our imaginations, it is safe to ponder the sexual innocent taken by an inhuman horror and driven to the heights of ecstasy, beyond the limits of propriety. The ten stories in this anthology take that theme and run in a dozen different directions." 

I know some of the writers in this anthology, and have read some of the stories, they are beyond ordinary erotica, and very good. I encourage you to go to Tentacle Dreams at Republica Press and get a copy for yourself.  It is quick and easy, an immediate download, offered in a variety of reading formats.

While you are there, check out Hearteater, another anthology, including many of the same authors, inspired by the trigger, "Don't let someone take & eat your heart".  All proceeds from Hearteater will go to the charity WaterAid.

A Submissive Test?

I think most of us enjoy these various internet tests that give us a chance to evaluate or validate or gain some kind of insight into our personalities. I have featured a couple on this blog:

Myer-Briggs Personality Sorter

Inclination to BDSM

What Kind of Weather Am I

I recently came across "The Submissive Test", which appears to have been made up by someone over on OKCupid. Thank turiya over at Spirited Meanderings for bringing this to light, have some fun with it. I don't know how scientific or accurate or fair it is, but these kinds of things are always fun to take and show to our friends and say things like, "See, I told you." or "Wow, that really surprises me." So, to give credit where due, if you want to take the test, and why wouldn't you? Here is the link, go take the test, you know you want to:

Submissive Test

I took the test, on the premise that even as a dominant, if I answer the questions honestly and indicate my likes and dislikes, perhaps it will provide some kind of insight into what it is about submissives that excite me. I found some of the questions difficult to answer for a couple reasons, one perhaps being that I am not a submissive and so the mindset for the answer is not clear within me, but also I found some of the questions did not offer a good clear choice, and so I selected the closest answer, or the least un-favorite answer. I guess this is likely true for many of these kinds of multiple choice quizzes.

At any rate, it was kind of fun, I don't put a lot of stock in the answers, but I agree that it offers a fair insight.

Oh, yea, yes, of course, sure I did, she is most likely:

a Submitter

You scored: 30% Humiliation, 67% Submissiveness, 39% Service, and 42% Pain

Yea, pretty much, I'd say, sounds pretty right?

The Key to Making a Successful Blog

I started this blog with the stated purpose of collecting a bunch of links that had been lost with the disappearance of another blog. I wasn't sure what I was going to write about, but I had some experiences and opinions that I thought might be worth sharing. I quickly began building a relationship with some of my readers. But part of that relationship was making posts good so that people would want to read them, and would come back. Then I took a shot at writing a story, an enhanced description of a first meeting, knowing it would be less but wanting to convey the desire, and energy, and anticipation, the affection. And, so, now, 2-1/2 years later, I am curious, what brings you here, and brings you back? So, for fun, please take a couple minutes and complete the poll over there in the right margin. Leave a comment if you would, just ticking a box or two is too easy, speak up! But, most of all, thank you so much for coming back, again and again, for whatever reasons you do.

cartoon from xkcd.com

Poll results = blog list - 10%; wisdom - 35%; stories - 40%, recordings - 5%; cmnf pictures - 10%