OTK Night Is On (Now With Update)

It’s not going to snow that much in NYC today as far as the people making the forecasts are concerned. The radar map doesn’t look too bad either. So it seems our friends to the south, especially in the Baltimore, D.C. and Pennsylvania areas took it on the chin for us here in New York. I just want to acknowledge that point and say, “Thanks”.

OTK Night and the munch that precedes it are on for tonight — a couple of inches of snow (maybe) are not going to get in our way. I’m bringing a couple of items for a door-prize raffle — DVDs and such. I ask that no one bring their own stuff to add to it but we will have a sort of swap-meet in the future some time. The only stipulation for tonight is that even though the tickets will be handed out at the munch, the actual raffle will take place at Paddles around 8pm.

I ask spankos in the NYC vicinity to come out tonight and support the new and improved Paddles — feel free to meet us at the Moonstruck Diner (on 23rd St. and 9th Av.) at 5:30pm to break bread. As always, we will be in the back room conveniently near the toilets.

Do I Fit In?

Do I care?

Franklin Spanks Computer

Edison? Maybe Tesla? Anyway, I’ve just spent a lovely week digging my way out of the wreckage left by a dead computer.

My previous laptop, bought from a company that is a four letter word beginning with “A”, decided to have its motherboard fry itself. I’m not sure what I did but I have an inkling that I may have overworked it by trying to run a program that overheated the old thing so much that it said “bye”. There’s nothing worse than that sinking feeling you get when a computer shuts down spontaneously and refuses to start up no matter what you do. After a little bit of online research, I quickly figured out the problem was not a faulty battery or power supply and realized the worst had happened. The computer itself is no big deal because one can go out and buy a computer with little effort or cost these days. The trouble is always the data that one had stored on the dead unit and whether it can ever be retrieved. Luckily in my old age, I’ve gotten a lot wiser about computers and less panicked when things go wrong.

I bought a computer (this time a four letter word beginning with “D”) and set about learning to use it while I researched what to do about my old data. I bought an enclosure for the hard drive in the old computer and after playing with the tiniest screws I’ve ever seen, was able to hook it up to the new laptop via USB and voila — I had all my data plus the added bonus of a new external 120 gig drive.

Now that I’m in the process of learning Windows 7 after years of using XP (no Vista for me), I can finally get back to my daily computer routines.

Privacy And Its Malcontents

Enough of this waiting. I’ve been writing and rewriting this damnable post for days and I’m honestly quite sick of it. I think my thoughts on this subject are as clear as they are going to be even if that means they are utterly opaque. Anyway, here goes.

When two or more people are involved in any activity but especially something as intimate as spanking, is there an expectation of privacy for what goes on between them? Should there be? Is privacy a quaint notion that is dead in this day and age?

Is Anyone Else Bored?

After weeks of intense spanking and BDSM discussions, arguments, conferences, engagements and acts, I find myself so bored with it all that I can’t think of anything to write that’s related to spanking. Honestly, right now I’m more excited that  that Star Trek® Online is going to start up in February giving me the chance to live, explore and battle in one of my favorite settings (not that I’ll have the money for the monthly fee). But spanking related discussion? Right now, not so much.

It might just be burnout or a brief respite from the spanko grind. My mind has been on other things of late, especially the daily creative work I do at my job. I am currently in a pretty good creative spurt and my energy seems to be focused on that. It’s not that I’m suddenly uninterested in spanking — not true. I still enjoy doing it and playing with people it’s just that the idea of writing about it seems, I don’t know, dull right now.

Party this weekend so at least I’ll get to actually do instead of merely talk. I’ll be in a spanking mood so all comers will be accommodated. You might have to talk Star Trek® with me but that’s the psychic price you’ll have to pay. Maybe I’ll have something to write about afterwards.

The Age Of Enlightenment

Although I got bitten by the spanking fetish bug early in life, I did not “come out” until the age of 41. I think about this a lot.

Are We Conservative?

This is something that has been in my mind about the spanking corner of the BDSM world. It comes from watching people in the public scene and their reaction to things around them. When compared with people who would consider themselves part of the larger BDSM scene, are people into spanking more conservative?

The Happy Recap

For some reason, I’ve been quoting a Michael Jackson song the past few weeks. Although it is probably my favorite song from his career, my quoting of it started out as a joke about the “philosophy” of the song. The line goes:

If you want to make the world a better place/Take a look at yourself and make a change

Calling All Paddlers

And I don’t just mean those people who enjoy using a paddle.

I’m putting out a call for all interested parties to come out to the NYC BDSM Community Open Forum, Saturday, January 9th, 7pm at Paddles, 250 West 26th St. (just east of Eighth Avenue). It will not only be a discussion about the future of Paddles itself but a lively discussion about the scene in NYC — where it was, where it is and where it’s going. My wife, Sandy/Cassandra and I will both be there along with kinksters of all ages and different groups.

I’ve already said my piece in the last post on this blog and in various places on Fetlife. What I’m hoping for is openness and honesty regarding the scene itself and what can be done to make it better. I’m also hoping it doesn’t turn into bickering between various groups and/or generations, each thinking that they are the “leaders” of the scene and bucking heads in the process.

On a personal note, I don’t believe in leaders nor have a desire to follow any. I sort of pick and choose who I listen to based upon whether I think they make any sense or not. I don’t go to a discussion like the one on Saturday night thinking that such and such person should be listened to any more than anyone else. I am just a firm believer in airing things out and seeing where the talk takes you.

Who knows? Maybe it will erupt into verbal fisticuffs or real fisticuffs (or fist fucks) — in that case it will be interesting enough for several more posts on the subject.

Crossroads?

As some of you have already seen by now, Michael, the owner of Paddles, put up an open letter in various places (the Paddles Yahoo group, Fetlife, etc.) regarding the NYC BDSM scene and the future of Paddles itself. Some thoughts on this after the flip.