Back in the Life

So, last night rae and I attended a fetish flea market and play party in D.C. It's been the first time in a while we went out and mingled with others in the lifestyle. Of course, my friend Vox next door and all our friends are in the lifestyle, so we are frequently among people like us, but this was the first time since about the start of summer that we attended a social event.
The Crucible throws these fetish flea markets and play parties about twice a year, and generally we make both of them.
The first half of the day is a big vendor's shop, with every type of BDSM accoutrements' that you can imagine. Corsets, whips, floggers, bondage restraints, jewelry, clothing, artwork, DVD's...You name it. If it's kink, it's probably there. Unless, of course, you are like me and have been saving up for one specific thing that you want. Then it's not there.
You see, I went to the Flea Market for one real reason: To buy a violet wand set. My last set was taken by my last slave without me knowing it. Something I'm still more than a little steamed about. Then, she claims, when she went to send it back to me it fell off the car and shattered. In return, she paid some bills that I was otherwise going to pay. But since then I've wanted a new set, of course. Violet wands are one of my specialties, one of the things I am known for in the scene.
For those who do not know, violet wands are electrical play devices. There's the "wand" itself, and various glass attachments that glow violet when the wand is turned on, kind of like those bulbs you put your hands on at gifts shops where the little rays are attracted to your fingertips. However, whenever you touch someone with the wand they receive a jolt of static electricity, like when you touch a doorknob after petting the cat. The difference is that with the wand it's constant and not just a zap. Different attachments give different types of shocks, and what's more, you can use a body contact to charge yourself, and everything you touch gets zapped, and everything conductive you pick up will become charged. So run your fingers along your lover's spine and they get a constant tingly zap. You can imagine the other areas you can touch.
I'm so adept with it that I've given demos at scene events, like at Vox's Heaven and Hell masquerade ball. I charge myself and use things like samurai swords and gently draw the edge along my slave's skin. The sword transmits the charge, and it feels like she's being cut (the smaller the edge, the sharper the intensity of the zap, so you can imagine what the fine edge of a katana can do...Interestingly, I'm the only one I've seen use a sword like that).
But I've digressed.
SO I went to the flea market to buy one thing: A violet wand set. Now, they aren't cheap. You are lucky if a starter set of just the wand and a couple attachments can be found for $300. And I want something deluxe. Last time we went there were at least three different dealers with three different models. So why is it this time when we go there's......NOT A SINGLE ONE.
I mean, c'mon, I've heard of Murphy's Law, but that is ridiculous.
After quite a bit of searching I found a place that sold them, but didn't have any with them. They only had one at the shop and it was a pretty deluxe kit, but it was on sale. So I forked over 5 benjamins, and they'll send it to me this week.
We also got our photos taken by a professional fetish photographer. Nothing wild, just portraits together that he's going to send us prints of.
Afterwards, we dolled up and went to the play party.
I ran into a lot of old friends, met a few new people as well, and caught up with the happenings in the lifestyle. There are a lot of upcoming events I want to go to, not the least of which is BR2006, the largest lifestyle event on the east coast. Hopefully rae and I will make a few of them.
After some waiting, we got an open station and got to play. Won't go into details on that...hehehe.
But much, much later, we came across a unique device. This guy was giving demonstrations of a vacuum bed.
Here's how it works: You get into this latex bag, more or less, and then a vacuum pump sucks all the air out (your head, of course, is free) until it becomes formfitting. Rae wanted to try it and found it a very interesting, actually calming, experience. I watched, and every time I see it I keep thinking it looks like Han Solo when he got frozen in carbonite.
Even though I've been really busy lately, I'd like this to be the first instance of a steady return to the lifestyle. And I can't wait til I get my wand set in the mail.....neither can Rae.

Feast or Famine

One of the frustrating things about being a writer is the way work comes at you. It's always either feast (meaning a lot of work all at once) or famine (meaning none at all). It seems to be really hard to get a happy medium going. When I first went freelance and landed a contract with cigar magazine, everyone was contacting me with offers, many of which I had to turn down simply because I did not have the time. For about a year I was living pretty high on the hog, with lucrative freelance contracts that were, in truth, pretty easy.
Eventually, it dried up. Nothing. Nada. It was rough. So I had to take a 9-to-5 (ugh).
Now, things are looking up. I've got a book deal with a company I've always wanted to work for...but associated with that deal has come four different, live, projects, through various avenues all at once.
I've told everyone which one is my priority, but it's still quite the load.
But this time I'm trying to do it differently. By staggering them out over time I, hopefully,won't fall into another feast or famine situation.
It's inspired me to go back into freelancing full time, but I'm going to hold off on that for the time being.
Here's hoping there's no famine in my future.

Birthday swag

Well, Tuesday was my birthday. I know a lot of you did not know, but I really don't tend to make that big a deal out of it. In fact, the older I get the less a deal I like to make of it. I doubt I'm very different in that regard than most people.
I'm now 33 years old. Looking back, I can't say I'm dissatisfied with the way things have gone, except my attempts at matrimony. However, being in a wonderful relationship now really takes the edge off those regrets.
Career wise I'm pretty happy with what I accomplished. I hit most of my major goals in the time I wanted to hit them. My last major goal, becoming a published author, is closer than ever. Sure, I imagined crazy stuff like getting a Pulitzer or a Hugo before I was 30, but I was too busy experiencing life in a wider spectrum to be that focused. As it is, my friends tend to think of me as a pretty focused guy. Oftentimes, among family and friends, I'm viewed as the "successful one" I think.
Sure, I have the usual amount of trepidation about getting older, but who doesn't? I am feeling the biological clock ticking away, however, and more and more I'm thinking about creating some mini-mes to make sure the human populace is sufficiently traumatized once I'm gone.
However, all that's minor. What's really important is....

BIRTHDAY SWAG BABY!

I made out like a fat rat! Best year I've had in at least the last 10 years. First, I got a 2 gig iPod nano from Rachael, which I'm sure she already regrets, as those little ear buds will have to be surgically removed from my head if I keep them in any longer. It has a 500 lbs capacity and it's not even the size of my old zippo.
Then, a good friend of mine, Vox, got me a new daisho set (katana and wakazashi, samurai swords for the uninitiated). Now, I have a half dozen already, but not like these. These were made in Japan the old fashioned way, folded steel, ray skin covered hilt, full tang. If you've ever held the typical katana you can buy anywhere, and then held a real one....man, the difference is trippy. Firstly, these have a LOT more mass to them than my other more decorative swords. But when you wrap your hand around the hilt, man I can't describe the difference. It's night and day. The only draw back is that apparently the guy who makes these in Japan won't sharpen them. SO it's not just that the sword is not sharp, the edge is actually flat. Someone told me it has something to do with Japan not making weapons after WWII due to it's constitution, but I didn't realize that would apply to swords.
On Monday, we went to the Renaissance Festival, where I got a pair of stainless steel daggers, with stainless steel sheaths and hilts. One hilt is carved into the likeness of Isis, the other, Osiris. The full-metal construction not only makes them very pretty, but also makes them really useful for electrical play with a violet wand kit, since they'll conduct a charge from wherever I hold them.
In addition to that, there's a shop at the Rennfaire called the Brass Dragon, that sells these dragon scultpures out of beaten brass and whatnot. Very beautiful and very expensive. I got a black and gold dragon pendant. It's gorgeous, and rachael is making me a chainmail necklace to wear it with.
On top of that, I snagged the "Super Dimensional Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love -- Perfect Edition" DVD off Ebay for a buck. A gift to my self.
Christmas will be hardpressed to top that!