Foundations in Mastery by Catherine Gross

30 03 2009

Ok, I am fresh back from my weekend seminar with Catherine Gross (check out last week’s post for some info on it). I have to say that it was one of the most unique experiences I have had while I have been in the Lifestyle. This was tremendous opportunity to be at the debut of a her latest Lifestyle development class.

I suppose that right now it is best to say a little about Catherine so you can understand why I would spend my weekend on an untested class. First, I should say that the class was the only thing that was untested. Catherine has tested the theory that she discussed by living it for most of her adult life. She is a PCC lifecoach (on of only 2000 in the country). She has been a BDSM educator for longer than I have been in the lifestyle. She co-produces the South-East Leatherfest. And frankly, she runs one hell of a House.

The weekend started out with a great deal of self evaluation, and self analysis. She taught that you need a solid, self-aware foundation before you can begin to develop your skills as a top. I spent a lot of time thinking about answers. There were piles and piles of forms. Each lesson built on the others (for a complete lesson plan look here). That basically made up the first two days.

The third day was different. We spent time reviewing our own creations. We dissected our protocols, analyzing them according to a system that she showed us. This made each and every one of the 30 tops in the room think about what we were doing and why we were doing it. I can frankly say that I walked away with a much larger toolbox that what I came in with.

Now, I could give you the details about the seminar. But I am not. There are two more events on the schedule. One in Georgia, one in Arizona. If you are serious about improving your skills as a top, and I don’t mean better beating, but becoming a better person, then you really should go to this class. Frankly I do not know of anything else like it. PERIOD.

Lady Catherine, if you do happen to read this, Thank you.

MV



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Categories : BDSM, Reviews, Techniques

Organizational Resources

27 03 2009

I am taking a page from Master and passing along some of the resources I use to help.

Part of my service to Sir is as an administrative assistant so to speak.  I schedule appointments on his calendar, set up reminder notices for these appointments.  Look up information on various topics and sometimes type up my findings.   I create spreadsheets for his budget and I created a presentation on how to set up a bar.

Two of the resources I have been using have been really helpful to me.

One of them is google calendar.  I really like using this feature on google as you can have multiple calendars.  I currently have a calendars set up for the kids, for Master, for Master when he travels, and for me.  I can see daily when I there is something anyone has to do and what time I need to be there.  One of  features that I really enjoy about google calendar is that it can send you a reminder to either your phone (via text) or your email.  You can have the notice remind you minutes to hours in advance of your appointment.   You can also tell it how many time to send you a reminder.  You can have the reminder not only go to you but to others as well.  So if I create an appointment for Master the reminder notice will go to me and to him.

Another resource that I am coming to really like is Remember the Milk .  I have found that this program is a great addition to using Google calender.  Remember the Milk is a program that allows you to add daily tasks for yourself.  Master asks me to add items for him to follow up on that the calendar would not be useful for.  This program also sends reminders to your whatever service you specify.  You can specify the date and time for your task reminders here as well.

Something else Master and i put together very early on that I have found very useful as an organizational tool is something called the Butler’s Book.  I’ll see if I can find a link to show.  This book is very indepth.  It has in it Masters clothes, food preferences, drink preferences, allergies, health information, travel information, toiletry preferences, music interests, bdsm interests, etc.  I thoroughly recommend this to starting M/s and D/s couples.  Keeps all useful information handy.


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Categories : BDSM, BDSM 101, General, Reviews, Techniques

Review: the ENSO by Orpheus

16 03 2009

Life has conspired to prevent me from writing this review, but I feel that I owe this author a fair hearing on my blog (and perhaps a bit of publicity would not hurt either).

Orpheus Black is a Dominant from the LA (California) area, known for exciting scenes and creative fireplay. He has been a presenter at BlackBEAT in years past and did a facinating demo blowing fire across his demo bottom.

His first book, the ENSO, describes his philosophy on the Lifestyle and focuses on educating submissives on how to best process their submission. Often times a new submissive is conflicted in her desire to serve and the script that runs through her head. This book seems to be designed to help her process her duties and cope with the dichotomy that is our Lifestyle and the rest of the world.

His perspective is distinctly Japanese in origin, and focuses on a balance approach. One difference between this work and others I have encountered is the use of the parallel between a samurai warrior and a modern submissive as the framework for most of the books discussions. He talks about the roll of the sub as a Priest, a Warrior, and a Poet. It is an interesting read, and may prove very useful for the novice submissive.

For me though, the best part were his D/s Parables that you find toward the end of the book. These 10 stories I found to be very educational, and at night, I sometimes read these to my girl.

I have to say that my one complaint about the book is the price. At $25 $20 for a 75 page book, I would expect it to be leather bound or something. Being a paperback, I would expect it to be in the $8 or $10 price range. Still, if you can get over the price, I do think it would be an excellent addition to your house’s library.

You can find the ENSO for purchase online here.

Have you read the ENSO? if so, let me know in the comments.

MV



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Another Book Review – Service Included

6 03 2009

back again with another book review.

one of the many things i am interested in becoming more adept at service and learning about fine dining.  for my birthday Master bought me a book.  It is called Service Included by Phoebe Damrosch.

when i first read the description i thought it would be a good story about a waiter in an expensive NY restaurant.  i thought at best i would get to read a good story.  from the moment i opened the book i was pleasantly surprised.  this book contained not only a good personal story but a lot of useful information about setting a table, the different utensils and what foods needed what utensils (pearl spoons for oysters as stainless steel gives the oyster a metalic taste).  i learned that the differences between jersey and ashrys cows milk in making cheeses. i loved the little tips at the end of each chapter.  for instance:  most white wine should be served at about 55 degrees and red wine at 67 degrees.

Grace depends entirely on keeping the focus on the guest, not on the server or the act of serving.  this was one of my favorite quotes from the book and summed up perfectly why i desire to become proficient in serving. eventhough this book is not a lifestyle book I can see myself using the above quote as a reminder for myself in this lifestyle.  My focus should not be on how well I do things but on how well it serves my Master.

by the time i finished reading this book (in 2 days) i was seriously considering taking a second job as a waitress just to get some hands one experience.  the book did not make it seem easy to learn these skills and tips but to me it was totally worth it.

i can see myself using this book as one of my many resources for service and I recommend it to anyone looking for an addition to their library.


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Looking for Slave Silks?

10 12 2008

Well I found some nice ones.  Coquetry Clubware has a decent selection of slave silks inspired by the works of John Norman.  It appears that the styles change, and apparently they are all hand made.

I really think you should check them out.

MV

Oh, and if you need some bangles for your slave….


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A Helpful Resource – Slave Craft by A Grateful Slave w/ Guy Baldwin (Author Edit)

6 12 2008

I am editing the title for this book reference as it should say written by A Grateful Slave with Guy Baldwin

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I have started reading a book in a slave group I belong to and I thought I would pass it along to you.  I hope some if not all find it helpful.

The book we have been reading is called “Slave Craft”.  This book is written by a male slave but reading it I found that it was hard to tell the difference as this book was written from a slaves perspective, not a male slaves perspective.   This was one of the things I enjoyed about this book…the way that it is written for slaves.  This book is not just written for those who identify as slaves but those who identify as submissive as well.  I think that subs and slave differ in the amount of control that is given to their Dominant or Master but that we can still struggle with the same issues of being a submissive or slave.

This book is not a how to book for slaves/subs in terms of standing positions, specific speech patterns used, or demeanor per se but this book gets to the heart of the matter of being a slave.   For me, this book spoke,  in a deeper way, to the why question of me being a slave.

Some of the topics in the book include:  The Myth of slave training, Seeing Slavery, The Principle of Indetity, The Principle of Obedience, and the Principle of  Transparency.

Here is a link to an excerpt from the first essay in the book:  The call to submission

I would recommend this book to anyone, those new or seasoned in this lifestyle.

MV’s angel~


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