Had a busy day, so todays post is kind of rushed. Videos are quick, so I hope you enjoy this one. (sound quality isn’t the best)
MV
Oral Sex Leading to Tonsil Cancer Increase?
I ran across a little story in the USAToday that says that the incidence of tonsil cancer has basically tripled over a period of time that saw smoking decrease. It appears that a possible reason for this is the transmission of HPV (human papillomavirus). I would suggest that you have your doctor look at your tonsils on your next visit as this particular type of is nasty and usually goes undetected until it has spread. Little or no symptoms it seems.
Her research has directly linked the increase in tonsil cancers to the human papillomavirus (HPV). There are more than 100 different types of HPV, some of which cause cancer. One, for example, is responsible for 99.7% of all cervical cancers.
The study found that patients with HPV in their mouths are much more likely to get tonsil cancer than patients who don’t have it. In fact for patients who are HPV-positive, the rate of tonsil cancer has gone up seven times since the ’70s, Dalianis says. It takes between 20 and 30 years for an HPV infection to result in cancer, so the people getting sick now were infected in the ’70s and ’80s.
I really suggest you check this article out.
MV
BDSM 101: Your First Club Event
I wrote previously about going to your first munch. There are other types of BDSM events as well. The next one I want to look at is the Club Event.
BDSM clubs meet in various hotel rooms, leather bars and whatnot across the country. They are more focused on education than your average munch group. A munch group may teach, but it is more likely to be in the form of one on one tutoring, rather than a presentation during the munch. That said some munch groups are clubs and some clubs behave like a munch group, so don’t get hung up on a name. Also, unlike a munch, a club meeting is not usually focused on food.
Imagine a hall filled with chairs, all facing the same direction. A podium or a table is at the end of the room, and everyone is focused on the animated speaker that is discussing one area or another of our perversions. There may be a demonstration model in some sort of bondage, while the presenter talks about the finer points of how to lay the rope or tie a knot.
The people in both of the events are the same, folks you wouldn’t notice out of place in your local grocery. But in the privacy of a meeting room, people are slightly more likely to wear more fetish gear. Nothing truly naughty, but maybe a corset, or a collar. Leather vests are certain to be found, and many may be mistaken for bikers.
A club also is likely to have business meetings before or after the presentation (generally before), and often have a play party afterwards in a nearby hotel, home, or dungeon. Vendors may also be present, often local craftsmen and women who make wonderful little toys to abuse your partner with.
So, what about your local club? Tell me about it, in the comments.
Foundations in Mastery by Catherine Gross
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
Organizational Resources
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.
Foundations in Mastery
This weekend I am heading to an interesting event. Catherine Gross, a highly respected Lifestyler, Mistress and educator, is debuting her new Foundations in Mastery class. I have sent my girl to her Servants Retreat (I) back in January, and it was very much appreciated by her. I sent esclave to the class mainly because Catherine has been a big influence in my style of dominance plus I have heard so many great things about the class from those that I knew that attended it. I am looking forward to participating in the class this weekend and benefiting from the Dominant’s version. Frankly, some of the best times I have had have been in a group of Dominants who have left their egos at the door.
If this sort of thing appeals to you, Catherine’s Foundations in Mastery class will be coming to Atlanta, GA (August 7-9th, well really close to Atlanta anyway) and to Maricopa, AZ (October 9-11th). Last I heard, there was one slot open for this weekend, but that slot is probably gone by now.
I will report back on my expierence this weekend, but I am also interested in hearing from those of you who have attended her classes in the past. You know where to put your words, in the comments.
MV
(As an aside, I found her website to be very well put together, and easy to navigate so I wanted to say kudos on the design)
The House of Void 