Victorian Sex Machines

YouTube 1911

2011-04-01T12:00:00.000-05:00

"The Wire" - Victorian Style

2011-03-26T16:41:00.017-05:00

"Mother fucker," said Mr. McNulty, indicating by this succinct
phrasing his understanding as to the work that would be required
in order to make sense of the sketches and the heinous nature of
the crime...

Some talented people have adapted THE WIRE into the form of a Victorian novel. Brilliant!

Woody

2011-02-01T17:58:00.001-06:00

Travel Godermiche

I missed this when it was in the news nine months ago. It is now "old news" - but somehow appropriate, as it pertains to sex toys over 200 years old!

Secret Cinema: Lawrence of Arabia

2010-09-06T12:15:00.001-05:00

'Bedouins' shout, "Damascus is near!"

When I arrived at Alexandra Park, I was surprised to find myself on a path full of nomads, bandits, musicians, and snake charmers. Some were riding camels or horses, while others were entertaining people with stories, warnings, and shouts of “Damascus is near!

After gathering on a hill below the Alexandra Palace, we were taken in groups to the entrance. Once inside we found ourselves in World War I-era North Africa. Rows of military desks were manned by soldiers in uniform while palm tree-filled courtyards were staffed with higher ranking personnel.

Over this past weekend, a performing group in the London area called Secret Cinema put on an amazing event surrounding their screening of the great film, Lawrence of Arabia. A blogger who attended, posted this amazing report about the event...

I admire and heartily agree with Secret Cinema's goals, who describe themselves as, "...a growing community of all that love cinema, experience, and the unknown. Secret audience, Secret locations. Secret worlds. The time is now to change how we watch films..."

Secret Cinema had this to say about the event aftewards, on their Facebook page:

Thank you to all the brave tribesmen who joined us in the revolt. Travel as one and be at peace.

I would have given my eye-teeth to have attended this magical event. To even know it happened, fills me with wonder. I find it apropos somehow that it is happening during the final days of Ramadan...

T.E. Lawrence: Study as an Enigma

2010-08-27T11:21:00.006-05:00

Triptych portraits of T.E. Lawrence, original owned by Maarten Schild, by Dutch artist Rob Jongbloed.

He was an extraordinary adapter of behaviour, tending to take on the characteristics of the person he met, being able to see through the other’s eyes. He did not seem to have a clearcut, one-dimensional identity (this is who I am), but only a fragmented one, almost like a multiple personality (I am many). He did not seem to choose between these different sides, saying different things all the time, contradicting himself, which ultimately makes him into an enigma, and a fascinating source of endless speculation.

- From The Boyish Side of T.E. Lawrence

Recently, an online friend named Maarten Schild shared with me a rough draft of something he had written. It is the first of a series on a subject near and dear to the both of us - the life of T.E. Lawrence.

He asked me my opinion of it, and I was honored to offer my humble insights.

That was one of the most insightful, enlightening, and moving articles I have ever read about T.E. Lawrence. It impressed and moved me on the same level as John Mack's A PRINCE OF OUR DISORDER, which in my opinion is one of the best biographies of TE. Mack's insights as a psychologist, and his obvious empathy for Lawrence, was one of my first introductions to him. And I'm glad it was, for I have filtered everything since then through that prism, always keeping in mind how TEL grew up, how it influenced him, etc.

I agree with your insights about why he did what he did, that he was being true to himself, and doing what he felt he had to do to keep his mental health. I think that TEL may have related in some ways to Michael Jackson and his Neverland. Neverland was Jackson's escape as Cloud's Hill was TE's. I admit TE may not have wanted such extravagance, but the idea and motivation was likely similar.

I am not nor have I ever been famous or notorious or wealthy, but for some reason I have always felt a kinship and have been able to relate to persons like Jackson and Lawrence - a feeling of 'other', of alienation, of needing/wanting more, or loneliness even in the midst of a crowd, or even in the presence and fellowship of those who love me and/or I love. I recognize I am a paradox and a set of contradictions like TEL has presented to the world. I am thankful for that. I would much rather be that, and have the attendant anxiety and constant discomfort and unease that brings, than a quiet, comfortable existence, just living a so-called normal life. What a waste of a life that would be, in my opinion! But that's just me...

T.E.Lawrence the Secret X-Flights

2010-08-25T14:13:00.001-05:00

T.E. Lawrence, aka "Lawrence of Arabia"

A fascinating new book reveals another side to the legacy and myth, of the very real T.E. Lawrence and the Arab Revolt...

J.J. Abrams Helms Steampunk Robot Movie

2010-08-02T20:11:00.001-05:00

"Boilerplate" - my favorite steampunk robot, who I have been following for several years online and then in print - will be coming to a screen near you...Boilerplate ROCKS!

J.J. Abrams To Produce 19th Century Robot Movie ‘Boilerplate’

Obscenity vs. Freedom of Expression

2010-07-15T13:45:00.004-05:00

From Reason.tv comes this piece on the new War on Pornography...

"When did women exchanging bodily fluids and a little light bondage become the most obscene thing in the land?" asks Constance Penley, a University of California at Santa Barbara professor well-known for her classes on pornography.

That question may be answered this week when porn producer John Stagliano's federal obscenity trial enters its second week. Stagliano faces up to 32 years in prison for distributing the adult films Milk Nymphos, Storm Squirters 2: Target Practice, and a promo reel for a trailer for Belladonna's Fetish Fanatic Five via his website for Evil Angel Productions (adults only).

Emboldened by the Stagliano trial, a group of anti-pornography organizations recently held an event to demand a new "War on Pornography." "We have a war on pornography and we're going to win it," declares Patrick Trueman, a former Department of Justice prosecutor and leader of the War on Pornography Coalition. "The pornographers know exactly what they're doing and they're not going to respond to anything but the stick of the law," adds Donna Rice Hughes, founder of Enough is Enough.

But Reason.tv speaks with others, including an adult film actress and fetish film director, who promise to resist the anti-porn crusaders. And there is a bigger issue at stake, says Marty Klein, author of America's War on Sex: The Attack on Law, Lust and Liberty. "The right to see South Park, may actually depend on the right to watch Butt Busters 3," says Klein. "If people want to have the right to do what they want to do, they have to protect the rights of other people to do what other people want to do."

"Sex at Dawn": Why monogamy goes against our nature

2010-06-28T11:40:00.002-05:00

I'm not sure whether I buy the monogamy is not the norm argument or not, although I can see their point somewhat...but I do love their ultimate goal, to get people talking more openly and honestly. I am ALL for that...

Teeth: Female Condom

2010-06-22T08:36:00.006-05:00

A South African doctor has invented a female condom with 'teeth' to fight rape...

No means No

2010-06-03T08:42:00.002-05:00

Female genital mutilation in the U.S.: No compromise

Amen...NO compromise!

The Story of V

2010-05-22T11:40:00.005-05:00

I am buying this book.

Female anatomy, especially genital anatomy, has gotten short shrift down through the centuries (especially in the West)...only recently has serious research started to give women good information about their own bodies. It's not that women here and there didn't know some of this on their own, but it was mostly self-discovered and not everyone was lucky enough to discover it.

Knowledge is power. Amen...

The Pill

2010-05-03T12:07:00.006-05:00

"...the ability to control human reproduction, he says, has done more to reorder human life than any event since Adam and Eve ate the apple." - Amen, and in my opinion, it's a very very good thing! Control of our bodies is control over our destinies...

All I can say is, thank heavens for effective, available, affordable contraception! Margaret Sanger should be a patron saint in my book...

The Mosher Survey: Victorian Sex Research

2010-04-03T15:52:00.007-05:00

Utterly amazing. Only recently dicovered in archives, an early sex researcher - decades before Kinsey or even Freud - a woman of the Victorian age...

Ultimately, Mosher's story is deeply ironic: She was a staunch feminist who remained aloof from sisterhood, a woman who rigorously researched sexuality and marriage yet probably experienced neither, a pioneering scholar who longed for recognition but did not live to enjoy it. Today there is an often well-rewarded place in our society for awkward overachievers, but Mosher struggled her entire life with her ungainly intellect and with being a woman in a man's research world.

"We need people to go before us, and she was certainly a way-shower for a generation that followed her," Griego says. "Even though she was not the kind of person that women of her time wanted to emulate, still she held out the possibility that women could be intellectuals, they could be scientists."

In her own writings, Mosher was acutely aware of her foresight, and of the possibilities that lay ahead for women once sex became less of a secret and gender less of a burden. "Born into a world of unlimited opportunity, the woman of the rising generation will answer the question of what woman's real capacities are," Mosher wrote in 1923. "She will have physical, economic, racial and civic freedom. What will she do with it?"

Resurrection Men

2010-02-08T16:04:00.003-06:00

I'm watching this right now, and it's quite delightful...I'm also looking forward to the new film on Burke & Hare that will be coming out...

"Kinky is not a diagnosis..."

2010-02-02T18:11:00.001-06:00

The diagnoses in the DSM-TR-IV subject people who practice BDSM, fetishes and cross-dressing to bias, discrimination and social sanctions without any scientific basis.

Amen...

The Real Belle je Jour

2010-01-27T16:29:00.006-06:00

The REAL Belle finally reveals who she really is - quite an amazing person in my opinion! She says "There is something about knowing someone sees you, quirks and all, and likes what they see... something rare and kind of overwhelming (in a good way)" (that's her talking about when someone tells her she's beautiful, that they truly mean it...) I agree, it's a powerful experience...

For more about who she is and what she's doing, check here...

Being Real

2010-01-07T08:14:00.006-06:00

Another questionable product.

In a review, the writer says something with which I can't agree more:

...The fact is that bodies change over time. As long as we continue to believe that those shifts are bad, as long as we continue to promote the notion that we have to look the same at 50 as we did at 20, we’re going to keep
reinforcing the same body-negativity and sex-negativity that have been plaguing us for so long.

Maria

2010-01-04T17:23:00.002-06:00

"Maria, lonely prostitute on a street of pain,
You, at least, hail me and speak to me
While a thousand others ignore my face.
You offer me an hour of love,
And your fees are not as costly as most.
You are the madonna of the lonely,
The first-born daughter in a world of pain.
You do not turn fat men aside,
Or trample on the stuttering, shy ones,
You are the meadow where desperate men
Can find a moment's comfort.

Men have paid more to their wives
To know a bit of peace
And could not walk away without the guilt
That masquerades as love.
You do not bind them, lovely Maria, you comfort them
And bid them return.
Your body is more Christian than the Bishop's
Whose gloved hand cannot feel the dropping of my blood.
Your passion is as genuine as most,
Your caring as real!

But you, Maria, sacred whore on the endless pavement of pain,
You, whose virginity each man may make his own
Without paying ought but your fee,
You who know nothing of virgin births and immaculate conceptions,
You who touch man's flesh and caress a stranger,
Who warm his bed to bring his aching skin alive,
You make more sense than stock markets and football games
Where sad men beg for virility.
You offer yourself for a fee--and who offers himself for less?

At times you are cruel and demanding--harsh and insensitive,
At times you are shrewd and deceptive--grasping and hollow.
The wonder is that at times you are gentle and concerned,
Warm and loving.
You deserve more respect than nuns who hide their sex for eternal love;
Your fees are not so high, nor your prejudice so virtuous.
You deserve more laurels than the self-pitying mother of many children,
And your fee is not as costly as most.

Man comes to you when his bed is filled with brass and emptiness,
When liquor has dulled his sense enough
To know his need of you.
He will come in fantasy and despair, Maria,
And leave without apologies.
He will come in loneliness--and perhaps
Leave in loneliness as well.
But you give him more than soldiers who win medals and pensions,
More than priests who offer absolution
And sweet-smelling ritual,
More than friends who anticipate his death
Or challenge his life,
And your fee is not as costly as most.

You admit that your love is for a fee,
Few women can be as honest.
There are monuments to statesmen who gave nothing to anyone
Except their hungry ego,
Monuments to mothers who turned their children
Into starving, anxious bodies,
Monuments to Lady Liberty who makes poor men prisoners.
I would erect a monument for you--
who give more than most--
And for a meager fee.

Among the lonely, you are perhaps the loneliest of all,
You come so close to love
But it eludes you
While proper women march to church and fantasize
In the silence of their rooms,
While lonely women take their husbands' arms
To hold them on life's surface,
While chattering women fill their closets with clothes and
Their lips with lies,
You offer love for a fee--which is not as costly as most--
And remain a lonely prostitute on a street of pain.

You are not immoral, little Maria, only tired and afraid,
But you are not as hollow as the police who pursue you,
The politicians who jail you, the pharisees who scorn you.
You give what you promise--take your paltry fee--and
Wander on the endless, aching pavements of pain.
You know more of universal love than the nations who thrive on war,
More than the churches whose dogmas are private vendettas made sacred,
More than the tall buildings and sprawling factories
Where men wear chains.
You are a lonely prostitute who speaks to me as I pass,
And I smile at you because I am a lonely man."

— James Kavanaugh (There Are Men Too Gentle to Live Among Wolves)

You've Come A Long Way, Baby?

2010-01-03T11:55:00.003-06:00

What was the most interesting thing you learned in your exploration of sex?

That there is still not a big place in our society for a woman who is deliberately sexual. As Kinsey put it, “A nymphomaniac is simply a woman who has more sex than you do.”

From Good Vibrations Sex Blog of Sex EducatorGuli Fager

More Than You Realized

2009-12-29T12:58:00.003-06:00

Punch Cartoons Blog

2009-12-21T02:00:00.000-06:00

Online Novel

2009-12-18T08:22:00.003-06:00

Zoya Holds Court

2009-12-03T22:34:00.000-06:00

I posted here recently about some amazing puppets created by Brian Flavin, based on characters created by a friend of mine, Vanesa. Her ultimate goal was to recreate them all in life-size versions.

Well this week she added another life-size version to her growing collection, for the character of Zoya. As with the others, Zoya is rather special, having not just eyes and mouth, ears and hair, even hands and feet complete with nails, but also detailed (and functional) genitalia.¹

Full Credits

Conceptual Design: Vanesa Littlecrow Wojtanowicz and Gypsy-Maria Lorimer
Construction and Technical Design: Brian Flavin

The saga of their construction from the very beginning can be seen here.

¹ -I have no idea how or if that will enter into any performance, but I'd love to find out sometime...!

Little Blue Moon Theatre

2009-10-09T18:57:00.004-05:00

I was doing an internet search for my friends, George and Ann Neff, and came across your blog on toy theatre, then followed to your Victorian Sex Machine blog. It seemed like you might be interested in our work, which kind of combines both (in some way.) We do erotic toy theatre. Our company, Little Blue Moon Theatre, began in an aphrodisiac factory 6 or so years ago. I have found that the static nature of toy theatre figures make them perfect candidates for bondage, something I didn't realize until a friend pointed out that most of our shows involve bondage...I realized that they don't move anyway, which makes it perfect for them.

Anyway, just thought you might enjoy looking at our site, since we don't ever seem to get to Fargo.

Best to you,

Michael & Valerie Nelson
Magical Moonshine Theatre

2009-07-25T21:42:00.001-05:00

I can't speak for other women, but I think I'd make sure I got stale coffee...heh...

Desperate Romantics Clip

2009-07-22T18:52:00.000-05:00

The Wilderness of Childhood

2009-07-20T19:24:00.014-05:00

Art is a form of exploration, of sailing off into the unknown alone, heading for those unmarked places on the map. If children are not permitted—not taught—to be adventurers and explorers as children, what will become of the world of adventure, of stories, of literature itself?

So concludes Michael Chabon in his essay about the modern demise of the freedom of childhood.

As the national feeling of guilt over the extermination of the Indians led to the creation of a kind of cult of the Indian, so our children have become cult objects to us, too precious to be risked. At the same time they have become fetishes, the objects of an unhealthy and diseased fixation. And once something is fetishized, capitalism steps in and finds a way to sell it.

Chabon recounts days spent freely exploring and pretending without a care in the world, imaginations running wild. I remember such days, too. For many children today, that is impossible because of what society has created in the name of safety. But is it worth it?

Cynical, you say? I don't think so. It's all, sadly, too true...

The Libertine Asylum: Sanitarium

2009-07-19T11:41:00.004-05:00

A friend alerted me to a recent event near me (alas, I could not attend...) Sure looked like fun! Take a peek at those who did...

Modern Hooker

2009-07-18T14:29:00.008-05:00

Philumena, a 4th century B.C. Grecian courtesan (or hetairaie as they liked to be known back then) once wrote this to one of her lovers:

Why do you bother writing long letters? I want fifty gold pieces, not letters. If you love me, pay up; if you love your money more, then don’t bother me any more. Goodbye! (Source: Sex in History, Reay Tannahill)

I’m sure any modern day hooker can relate to that sentiment on some level, what with the clients who insist on authoring a letter campaign equivalent to Barrett and Browning – declarations of undying devotion, poetry, and the like. However, this is not what this post is about.

So goes the latest post on a new blog I discovered today.

The writer is a professional sex worker, and she really has a great way with words, plus has a VERY funny comic she writes...Be sure and check her out...

Happy Birthday, Big Ben!

2009-07-15T02:00:00.000-05:00

Open Sound New Orleans

2009-07-12T09:25:00.004-05:00

I hear about this very cool interactive website featuring the sounds of New Orleans.

I am particularly excited about it because I've always wanted to visit New Orleans, and don't know if I'll ever be able to - mainly due to cost - not everyone has the financial wherewithal to be able to travel and see places they dream about. But there are still ways to learn, enjoy, and revel in faraway places. I have often armchair-traveled by reading books about the places I want to know more about. Of course, one can also listen to radio stories, watch television and film documentaries, etc. All of which I do.

But this new website is unique in that it has collected, and is continuing to collect, the individual sounds of a place. Sounds are in their own way just as powerful as sights. Maybe sometimes even moreso. I leave you now, to go explore New Orleans...by ear...

Diety

2009-07-07T19:03:00.005-05:00

I highly recommend this blog...

BDSM Rights

2009-07-03T02:00:00.000-05:00

I discovered this website today. I think they are behind a good idea, but it's an uphill battle, no doubt.

I'm unsure how much we should expect those who do not share our predilections to 'understand' us. I'll be content with 'live and let live'...

Eating Pussy

2009-07-02T12:13:00.003-05:00

I think just listening to him talk about eating pussy is one of the most erotic experiences of my life...seriously...but then I am such an aural slut...lol

Assignment

2009-06-30T22:21:00.011-05:00

I asked my Dom for an assignment. He's gone this week, and I'm bored (not to mention missing him like mad...)

His response:

i want you to learn the BDSM logo and tell me what it all means. there is a bit to it. also tell me in a report what predicament bondage is and how to apply it...

My answers:

While there are some differences of opinion on what the logo/emblem/symbol means, the generally-accepted emblem itself is the one based on the triskelion. The most well-known one is copyrighted by someone known as Quagmyr (who purports to be a one-man public-relations for putting out positive images of BDSM to the general public...) Beyond that, however, let me explain what most feel the meaning(s) of it are, in my own words...

1. Three sections symbolizing the various aspects/expressions of the lifestyle, i.e., Bondage & Discipline, Dominance/Submission, and Sadism/Masochism

2. Three main types of individuals (albeit not the only by far - that would be making things simplistic which the richness of human sexuality is far from being...) - Dominant, Submissive, and Switch

3. Three cardinal behaviors that guide (most) play - Safe, Sane, Consensual

Regarding predicament bondage? To sum it up - "You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't..." - To quote a literal definition, it is "...the art of restraining a person by bondage in such a way that there is a limited number of positions in which they can be, each of which are so uncomfortable that they are forced to shift their weight or position."

I have never experienced this on purpose, but I am familiar with the concept (and the experience) through unfortunate cirumstances. To add in the factor of a controlled environment, meted out with purpose and forethought...that would add in factors whose effect can only be imagined.

Your request on telling you 'how to apply it' I took to mean sharing a written example with you; I did some some research online and couldn't find a better set of examples than on this (wicked) website - the Dom who thought of these predicaments definitely has a twisted mind! LOL But I admit, he's damned creative. I would never think of this stuff myself...

I enjoyed the process of researching the answers (as I always do - I love researching for some reason no matter what the subject) and it got my mind off of being lonely...

Writing Sex

2009-06-15T20:06:00.004-05:00

"...making generalizations about any group's sexuality, or attitude towards sexuality, is a very bad idea" for the same reason "'porn for women' is such an unwieldy concept: women are not a monolithic group with one set of ideas about what is hot." It's amazing that these things still have to be said.

The truth, says Debauchette, is that "it's harder to find 'straightforward' writing from men [because] their sexual narratives are often, though not always, obscured by ego."

Read more here...

Medical Revolution

2009-06-11T01:55:00.002-05:00

"Hello? HELLO...?"

2009-06-08T12:51:00.001-05:00

Mgmt

2009-06-02T19:10:00.004-05:00

OK, I CANNOT get these guys out of my head. It's like a drug. I'm addicted...and I like it! LOL...

The weird thing is, they happened somewhat by accident. Don't you just love when that happens?!

Icon

2009-06-02T17:55:00.008-05:00

It says:

If you knew...that she got your letter just as she was going, all bare goldy head and frothy gown above shimmering slippers, all sweet smelling of poweder and flowers, OUT with another fellow, you would go heavy hearted! But, if your knew...that she turned away and held it, in the scented foam of her feathery collar, against the curve of her cheek, touched it, as she watched a play, wtih exploring little fingertips where it lay in her muff, and thought about YOUR all the while she sat beside him, then the heavy feet on that heart would turn into Cinderella slippers and dance there in your breast. - Nell Brinkley

I've been that position - being with one, but thinking about the other.

E-Play

2009-06-01T21:15:00.006-05:00

If you are curious about electrical play, or E-Play, there is no one better to study or consult than Uncle Abdul, or just plain Unc. As he likes to say, he literally wrote the book - JUICE - on it.

Electrical play is an art form, just as rope bondage is. It can be simple, or complex, and many things inbetween. I have had limited opportunities to experience it, but oh, like Oliver in Oliver Twist, said, "Sir, I want more..."

The Game is Afoot!

2009-05-25T02:00:00.000-05:00

Letter to my Dom

2009-05-24T02:59:00.005-05:00

Thank you for telling me how you really feel. I have looked at what you said several times to have it sink in.

I appreciate your patience, and guidance...and no, I am not going to ignore you. You know I couldn't anyways.

But, I won't pester you either. That means unless you say otherwise, I won't initiate contact.

It doesn't mean I'm not thinking of you, because of course, I am. But I know you need your space. You have made that very clear, and I will respect that. I will miss you inbetween the times we speak (and especially between the times we touch), but I will wait...

Humbly, me

Manalogues

2009-05-18T02:00:00.008-05:00

Lately I've been shaving in places I never shaved before (why does that make me think of the opening of Star Trek?!) and I admit it is for a man who asked me to do it. At first I thought it was dumb but I did it, and although it's nice in one respect, in another it's a pain in the you-know-where to maintain. If I didn't have to do it as a sign of respect for the guy, which I feel strongly I need to, I don't think I'd stick with it. Accountability, however, is a strong motivator; currently, the same conditions are motivating me to live a healthier lifestyle, i.e., diet and exercise, which in turn has me losing weight as well as coming off meds I no longer need because I am healthier.

That being said, now I come across these 'manalogues' on a commercial site and think, for pity's sake, men think women hate hair? Maybe some women, but I like hair on a man, it's sexy to me. Oh, I've been with the opposite kind, and that can be fun, too, I admit it, but when did people start thinking the opposite of what they did a generation or so ago?

I dunno, people, I think some people have waaaay too much time and/or money on their hands...

The Virginity Fetish/The Purity Myth

2009-05-16T10:14:00.007-05:00

I would say something, but the article says it well enough.

Oh hell, I will say something: Our cultures have GOT to get over this kind of shit - it's no good for any of us. In the meantime I won't hold my breath...

This video shows the author featured in the article explaining her point of view quite well...

Amen, Sister!

Temptation

2009-05-16T00:08:00.001-05:00

I saw this band with a good friend several years ago in a downtown night club in Fargo, North Dakota. Only a handful of people showed up, and she and I were the ONLY people on the dance floor. I thought, what the hell, these guys are GOOD - at that time I had never heard of them, but I felt so bad for the poor guys...! Anyways, I love the sentiment of the video/song ;)

Philosophy in the Boudoir

2009-05-13T19:07:00.008-05:00

I'm out of town on a training trip. During lunch today I walked the downtown I am in, in the lovely, warm rain. Wandered into a bookstore, and found a (fairly) new translation of Sade's Philosophy in the Boudoir. Cover (and back) is by a modern illustrator by the name of Tomer Hanuka - at once very libidinous, old-fashioned, and just plain hot. Very apropos for the book it graces. I am thrilled to have found this lovely edition, and am diving right in.

If you have never read the Marquis, you really owe it to yourself to do so at first opportunity. Be sure to read him in context of his time, and his own personal quirks/background. In other words, do your homework. If you do, you'll see what an amazing writer and man he was, and how rich the layers are to his writing...

Pocket Phonograph

2009-05-13T09:52:00.001-05:00

Steampunk Vibrator

2009-05-07T21:28:00.003-05:00

A thing of beauty - and function (oh, what function...) - the steampunk vibrator sends my heart all aflutter with its flawless skin of steel and brass, and heart of steam/air power. Be still my Clitoris...

Shibari

2009-05-06T01:47:00.002-05:00

To learn more, see here...

Calling It Like It Is

2009-05-05T21:00:00.008-05:00

The other night, we were in the playroom, cleaning up toys before bed, when Jessie looked down at herself and said, apropos of nothing, "I wish I had a penis."

My heart stopped beating, I dropped the handful of Legos I'd just scooped up and Sigmund Freud, complete with pipe and pocket watch, crashed through our ceiling to land on the couch, where he sat staring at us with a raised eyebrow. Thoughts of Jessie's feelings of inadequacy, of penis envy, of adolescent confusion and despair flooded my mind in a tangle of maternal angst and worry...

A very sweet essay about a mother discussing natural curiosity with her children about their own bodies. The mother was a bit nervous about handling it, but I think she did a lovely job of it. And NO euphemisms were used, thank goodness!!

You know, I had the same thoughts (as the little girl in the article) several times growing up about having a penis. For me, I thought God had got me wrong and I should have been a boy. I definitely did not have feelings of being gay or transsexual, but rather that I just should have a penis. I still daydream about what if I had been, but trust me, I have gotten to love being a woman!

Trust

2009-05-04T01:33:00.009-05:00

He had me come out to his home today to do something for him. I won't go into details but it was...very fun.

Things progress, and although very slowly, it is sure. He inspires trust in me and I just realized this weekend that outside of some mentors, friends, and family, I have never been able to say that about a man before, a man who is my lover and becoming so much more.

As I approach my 50th birthday next Sunday, I truly believe I have found the man I was meant for my entire life.

Hubba Hubba

2009-04-28T09:40:00.004-05:00

Hugh
Bloody
Jackman

Sex Enjoyable?!

2009-04-21T02:00:00.001-05:00

Study: Children Exposed To Pornography May Expect Sex To Be Enjoyable

Feuchtgebiete (Wetlands)

2009-04-18T13:48:00.027-05:00

Feuchtgebiete, which translates roughly from German as ‘wetlands’ or ‘moist patches’, aka female genitalia/pubic hair

The using the liquid as a perfume? Yeah. Brilliant! The men I know, privately, they all love the smell of the vagina. I grew up with only jokes that the vagina smells of dead fish, which is the worst smell you can think of. So I was always wondering, why do men like oral sex with women? It's only recently that I've thought the fish jokes have got nothing to do with the normal man and what he likes. - From interview of the author

As soon as I read about this book coming out in English, I knew I had to have it. It sounds fun, funny, and interesting, possibly even challenging, let alone erotic in places...and personally, I think that the vagina smells marvelous, too. Yes, I've smelled my own; I like to know my own body.

In Helen, Roche has created a character that promises a certain kind of liberation -- the right to be sick and sexy, the right to be damaged and confident, the right to speak about anything and everything without shame. To combine such earnestness with comedy is a tough feat, but Roche pulls it off with a rare charm... - From The Dirty Girl

Recently I met a man who has become very important to me. He prefers I shave my genital area. I have never done that before, but I thought, OK, it won't kill me. It is kind of nice in a way, but it is also a pain to maintain. I really identify with what Charlotte Roche, the author of Wetlands, says about shaving, in an interview...

After one of the readings I gave in Germany, a woman came up to me and said: ‘Charlotte, you’re right, there’s an unwritten law about shaving amongst women’. She told me that she is scared of having sex with her own husband unless she has shaved her legs the morning before. That’s not right, is it?

No, Charlotte, that is not right. But that's the kind of crazy mentality people get into about things like this. I'm as guilty as the next woman. No one is forcing us to do this, we voluntarily do it. So we can't bitch about it and keep doing it. Either quit shaving, or quit bitching...For now, I'll keep shaving!

Go here for an excerpt...

Woman, Know Thyself

2009-04-05T21:50:00.015-05:00

In my own experience, the description below is very accurate. I am a woman who ejaculates (for lack of a better term, as you will read below...) I didn't seek it, it's simply what happens to me when I'm fully stimulated and approach orgasm (sometimes at the same time...) It doesn't always happen, but more often than not it does.

As you have read in other posts here, there is a hell of a lot more to female genitalia and sexuality than is commonly known. It never ceases to amaze me the horrific ignorance women have about their own bodies. I'm only one voice, but I try to get the word out where and how I can, and this blog is one of them. When I say 'get the word out', I mean good solid information about our anatomy, and that getting to know your sexuality before you share it with someone else is a healthy and wise thing to do. Everybody has their own unique responses, desires, and needs. It's an essential part of who we are...
From Hot Pink Girls Guide to Primping, Passion, and Pubic Fashion

The best site I've found on the web (and the most accurate) is Female Sexual Anatomy and Function: Female Ejaculation, the Female Prostate, and the G-Spot

Bush Country

2009-04-04T12:07:00.004-05:00

I got used to the 70-100% shaved bush probably about 10 years ago. All the women I messed with had them. And I have to say I preferred it.

So one day about 6 years ago, before I met my wife, I was at a party and met a pretty and very funny Jewish photographer from NYC who liked to drink vodka, lots of vodka. I asked her to drive me home at about 3am, and when we got there I asked her in.

'On two conditions,' she said.

'Which conditions would they be?' said me.

'That you have frozen vodka and smokes.'

I had both, and in she came. After some nice sofa preamble, I made my move.

She said, 'I'll fuck you under two conditions.'

'More conditions,' I said. 'Caviar, bear rug?'

'No, I want a glass of icy vodka in one hand and a lit smoke in the other while you fuck me.'

'Done,' I said, scrambling for a lighter.

Once I got her the vodka and cigarette, I lifted off her weird outfit, some kind of muumuu, fully expecting a frumpy late 30's bod and ok with that 'cause I was no young man, but was met with this flawless creamy skin and great perky happy tits and cute stomach. I pulled down her panties and there it was: A bush the size of a pizza slice, pure black, full fur, with whisps stretching almost to her navel. At first I was shocked and almost said 'Now THAT'S a bush!', but I shut up, looked at it and boom, it was 1975 all over again -- all my mom's sexy thirtysomething friends hanging around the pool with pubes showing outside their bikinis and no shame, and me 16 and dying of sperm production overload. So I dove in, had a massive feed, thinking 'blast from the past, just go with it'. I really enjoyed myself, too.

We ended up having a spectacular one night stand, she flew back to NY the next morning and I never heard from her again. Ever since, I've been okay with the big bush, though my wife keeps hers well cropped.

But I think change and encouraging the girls to be comfortable with their bits is good for sex and everything else. And bush or no bush, for me, as long as there's hygiene, I'm in.

From comments on Salon, about story concerning Wetlands book...

Power of the Cunt

2009-04-03T23:00:00.000-05:00

There is a Catalan saying: 'La mar es posa bona si veu el cony d'una dona' - 'The sea calms down if it sees a woman's cunt'. This Catalan belief in the power of the vagina is, in fact, the source of the good luck custom of fishermen's wives displaying their genitals to the sea before their men put out on the water. The flipside of this faith is, logically enough, that a woman can cause storms if she urinates in the waves. Moreover, according to folklore, it's not just the oceans that are soothed by the sight of a woman's vagina. A flash of female genitalia has the power to calm other forces of nature too. For example, women in the southern Indian province of Madras were known to subdue dangerous storms by exposing themselves. And Pliny, the first-century historian of the ancient world, writes in his work Natural History of how hailstorms, whirlwinds and lightning are all quieted and dispelled by a face-o with a naked woman.

- From The Story of V: A Natural History of Female Sexuality by Catherine Blackledge

A Love Story

2009-03-20T20:28:00.000-05:00

Dominance / Submission

2009-03-17T02:00:00.001-05:00

I found two great sites, one written by a Dominant and from that point of view, and the other by a Submissive from their point of view. Both are intelligent, insightful, fun, and informative - things all too rare in blogs in general let alone blogs on these subjects...

In Training

2009-03-15T04:44:00.008-05:00

Over the past week or so, my training¹ has begun...

For now, it is limited and subtle due to temporary circumstances. However, I greatly look forward to a more robust experience in the future. It's only a matter of time...

¹ - A good explanation of what a submissive hopes to get out of training is found here...

Pornography

2009-03-05T08:29:00.012-06:00

I own the three-volume Lost Girls by Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie. It's an amazing work - fun, intelligent, VERY erotic, and the artwork blew me away. It challenges the reader to consider sexuality in a much more organic and healthy manner. Society in general really needs to get over their hangups - it's doing no one any good!

Below is a quote from a recent interview of Moore (which I highly recommend you read in-full...):

"Lost Girls," it represents a culmination of 16 years' work or more. "Lost Girls," as in a lot of the work I attempt, was meant to try to address what I saw, and what Melinda [Gebbie, Moore's wife and "Lost Girls" coauthor] saw, as a problem in the way our perceptions work and the way that we see certain parts of our being, notably our sex drive and our sexual imagination, that there seemed to us to be a kind of disconnect between people and their sexual imagination. It seemed to us that most modern pornography, it has exactly the opposite effect from the liberation that we were hoping to achieve in that it tends to make people feel guilty and ashamed and lonely and dirty. We wanted to make the enjoyment of pornography into a valid cultural act that people could enjoy and be proud of enjoying. We shall see how that pans out.

Be sure and check out an amazing interview of Alan and Melinda about the creation of Lost Girls...

Hendrick's vs Ordinary Gin

2009-02-20T10:10:00.002-06:00

Chaps Olympics Revisited

2009-02-16T02:00:00.002-06:00

Erotic Art Show

2009-02-14T22:06:00.001-06:00

0214091947a.jpg
Originally uploaded by Trishymouse

I attended an erotic art show in downtown Fargo where I live, tonight. Small, but it had some...interesting pieces.

The English Vice

2009-02-12T19:55:00.017-06:00

I have been looking for a certain book - The English Vice: Beating, Sex and Shame in Victorian England and After - considered a classic on the subject by some, for many years. It is hard to come by, and when it does surface, can cost a pretty penny. I shall not give up, however, since it is on a subject dear to my heart - spanking.

For now, I have found a few places online that quote it...

It could be maintained, no doubt, that the supporters of beating have simply not been, and are still not, aware of the sexual factors at work in the beating system. This lack of awareness could then be explained as the result of ignorance, or of sexual repression, or of both at the same time. But it is difficult to accept that the more educated upholders of the cane (particularly the teachers themselves) can have been, or are, completely insensitive to the dangers involved. Or of the pleasures -- for I believe that 'Y', whose testimony we have seen, is right when he asserts that 'If any man habitually canes without some stirrings of sexual desire, he is not full a man' (p. 85). The evidence suggests, I think, that most men would learn without difficulty to appreciate the joys of administering 'lower discipline', and it could be maintained that only hypocricy, shame and fear of exposure prevent this likelihood from appearing self-evident.

Bibliophiles & the City

2009-02-09T20:42:00.004-06:00

We watched a few random episodes of Sex and the City last night, which made me feel I should be writing a relationship self-help book (possibly tilted If I Can Do It, Anyone Can), especially in reaction to the question posed: "Is it better to 'fake it' than be alone?" NO!

Bibliophiles & the City

Sounds...Amazing

2009-02-05T18:14:00.000-06:00

Sex Positive

2009-02-05T17:57:00.000-06:00

Warning

2009-01-20T19:35:00.000-06:00

The Art of Manliness

2009-01-14T16:53:00.003-06:00

I must say that although a mere member of the "weaker sex" *snort*, I adore a certain blog called The Art of Manliness.

Just today, they posted an inspiring essay on one of my heroes, Sir Richard Burton...

You really should check them out - if you are a man, to know what a man should aspire to; and if you a woman, what is worthy of admiration in a true gentleman.

Egads!

2009-01-06T02:00:00.001-06:00

Professor Dantes and the Severin Conundrum

Manliness & Womanhood

2009-01-04T17:15:00.012-06:00

True manliness differs also from the false in its attitude to woman. Its knightly feeling makes it wish to defend her rights, to maintain her claims, to be her protector and advocate. False manliness wishes to show its superiority by treating women as inferiors. It flatters them, but it does not respect them. It fears their competition on equal levels, and wishes to keep them confined, not within walls...but behind the more subtle barriers of opinion, prejudice, and supposed feminine aptitudes. True manliness holds out the hand to woman, and says, ” Do whatever you are able to do; whatever God meant you to do. Neither you nor I can tell what that is till all artificial barriers are removed, and you have full opportunity to try.” Manly strength respects womanly purity, sympathy, and grace of heart. And this is the real chivalry of the present hour.

From True and False Manliness, by James Freeman Clarke (1886)

New Year

2008-12-31T21:40:00.000-06:00

Wassailing

2008-12-24T13:41:00.006-06:00

Origins lost in time, Wassailing is making a comeback of sorts, pockets of it popping up around the world again. I have to admit, it gets my blood going to see such traditions revived. I'd be there in a heartbeat if I could join the one shown in the video above! Now that's the way I've love to celebrate midwinter/Yule/Christmas...

Under the Influence...of a Book

2008-12-24T07:57:00.000-06:00

Ten Nights in a Bar-Room, and What I Saw There, by Timothy Shay Arthur was a temperance novel published in 1854. It was one of the influences on the general public that eventually led to Prohibition.

It was also a book that was part of my grandparents' library. I found it in a closet box of books as a child, where it had eventually been stored many years after being read and re-read. It was well-used and well-considered. At least by some. Although not as much by others!

Prohibition in Canada was a bit different than in the States, and was repealed province by province all the way into the late 1940's...

A Bastard of a Language

2008-12-17T16:10:00.001-06:00

Orgasmic Birth

2008-12-13T12:12:00.001-06:00

If I knew about this when I was having my children, I would definitely have had my children using this method...

Steam Gallopers

2008-12-06T21:30:00.005-06:00

The earliest days of this Tidman¹ set of gallopers are beyond human memory and there is a lack of any written evidence for the era. There are many ideas about the origin of the ride, but it is believed it was owned firstly by the Harris family c1895.

From Carters Steam Fair

¹ - In 1870, an English engineer-manufacturer named Frederick Savage found a way to improve upon his contemporaries' initial efforts to apply steam power to carousels, thereby increasing the feasible size and scope of these machines (the modification accelerated the switch from figures hanging by free-swinging chains to ones sitting atop a sturdy platform suspended from the center pole's arms). Within a few years of this enhancement, Robert Tidman, an amusement ride manufacturer from England, designed one of the first up-and-down cranking devices that gave the horses their now-familiar galloping motion.

From A History of the Carousel

Antique Vibrator Museum

2008-11-28T22:00:00.000-06:00

Vibrators were used exclusively by doctors up until around 1900. The first of such devices was made in 1869, when American physician George Taylor patented the first steam-powered massage and vibratory apparatus. Unfortunately, their use was exclusive -- the units were costly to manufacture, difficult to move and marketed for use by spas and physicians only. In 1880 the first battery-operated vibrator was designed by British physician Joseph Mortimer Granville and manufactured by the Weiss Company. Like their present-day counterparts, these battery-operated vibes were less expensive and easier to move and manipulate than their predecessors. By 1900 more than a dozen manufacturers began producing both battery-powered vibrators and models that operated from line electricity. In the newly electrified home, women were avid consumers of electrical appliances. First electrified was the sewing machine; the fan, the tea kettle, the toaster, and the vibrator came next.

Physicians employed vibrating devices in the treatment of "hysteria," which they viewed as the most common health complaint among women of the day. Hysteria was a medical term developed to describe a woman's display of mental or emotional distress, behavior then considered a disease in need of treatment. Though the existence of hysteria as a disease was debunked by the American Psychiatric Association in 1952, medical experts from the time of Hippocrates up to the 20th century believed that hysteria expressed the womb's revolt against sexual deprivation. Genital massage was a standard treatment for hysteria; its objective was to induce "hysterical paroxysm" (better known as orgasm) in the patient. Such treatment demanded both manual dexterity and a fair amount of time, so turn-of-the-century physicians were delighted with the efficiency, convenience and reliability of portable vibrators. In light of hysteria's historical legacy, we can see that classifying hysteria as a disease was a refusal to acknowledge female sexuality as a human trait on par with male sexual functioning, as well as a refusal to recognize orgasm as a normal function of female sexuality.

From the Antique Vibrator Museum

Lubrication is KEY

2008-10-21T17:45:00.000-05:00

The #1 Sex Toy

Japanese Erotica Lamp

2008-10-10T21:35:00.005-05:00

I stumbled across this lamp and just had to have it. When it is off, it looks like a normal Mica shade.

But when you turn it on, it looks like this.

The detail of the Japanese erotica art - or Shunga - is amazing, yet it is discreet when you want it to be...

All the Pretty Horsebreakers

2008-09-14T20:15:00.005-05:00

Catherine Walters was one of the last great courtesans of the Victorian Age. One of her tricks of the trade involved horses, which is a delight to me since I am a horse lover from way back...

Today's Female Sexuality Tidbit

2008-08-31T15:43:00.006-05:00

QUOTE: In women, the clitoris is reported to be the major source of sensory input, the pudendal nerve [bundle]¹ is its sensory pathway, and the "orgasmic platform" undergoes myotonic buildup and discharge during orgasm.

Oh my, there is SO much more to we women than most people realize...

¹ - The pudendal nerve carries sensations from the external genitals, the lower rectum, and the perineum (the area between the genitals and the rectum...)

New Babbage

2008-08-17T11:59:00.000-05:00

Those Roaring 20's Girls

2008-07-12T11:01:00.000-05:00

Secrets of a Pantomime Dame

2008-07-06T19:51:00.001-05:00

To learn more about the origins and history of Pantomime, go here...

Bleak Expectations

2008-07-06T19:44:00.002-05:00

Dr. Horrible

2008-07-01T17:09:00.002-05:00

Teaser from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on Vimeo.

Museum of the American Cocktail

2008-07-01T16:46:00.006-05:00

Ah yes...civilization...where people drink, smoke, fuck, and have actual conversations - maybe over a lovely meal *gasp*

One of my goals in life is to get to New Orleans, with a close second to get to Montreal. The French, even new world version, are a decent lot, bless them. They get far too much bad press.

Soon, New Orleans will have the grand opening of the Museum of the American Cocktail. Just as Absinthe is making its comeback in America, very appropriate I say.

CBJ Lyrics Discerned!

2008-05-29T23:20:00.001-05:00

Cup of Brown Joy
Lyrics as best as could be discerned

Love a cup…. I would… ah, God yes!
Ooh that is gorgeous. Yeah!

I need a cup of the brown stuff, the shade of an acorn.
Made warm by the same source that I take my cakes from.
Using a tea pot, a mug, or fine china…
Being hooked up to IVs, and constant supplies.

…and the ___ of my urges might verge on the verge of an earthy brown tea.
I’m certain it’s worth it.

We ___ to workers and use a fresh fountain,
I deserve brews from Peruvian mountains.
I’ve slurped up a cup from an elephant’s trunk
with a couple of monks who utterly stunk.

I’ve had bourbons with sultans and creams with queens,
and I’ve bathed in Earl Grey. I’m really that keen!
And missionaries dismiss me for my singular epiphany.
The difference between him and me is a simple sip of British tea!

So when times are hard and life is rough,
You can stick the kettle on and find me a cup!

Now when I say Earl Grey, you say yes please!
Earl Grey — yes please!
Earl Grey — yes please!

When I say Assam, you say lovely!
Assam — lovely!
Assam — lovely!

When I say ooh, you say ahh!
Ooh — ahh!
Ooh — ahh!
Ooh — ahhhhhh!
(muttering?)

I’ve been around the world in 80 brews
to see the place you take me to
to make the brew that tastes like the cream cakes made by angels do.

I’m not the same as you; get shaky with ___.
To swig amazing fluids, but don’t make it the same.
Now, using fine leaves, picked by pretty maidens,
in a bag knitted by a seamstress who lives in Copenhagen.

Brewed up in a pot made of semi-precious metal
And then let the bless-ed contents settle in my very special kettle.

Now, when I say Oo, you say long.
Oo–long!
Oo–long!

When I say herbal, you say no thanks.
Herbal — no thanks!
Herbal — no thanks!

Mmm….no! No, I want.. I want milk in it.
Strong though! I want to see that spoon stand up!

If you’re tired of tea, then you’re tired of life!
Ah-ha! I’m madder than a hatter. It defies my might!
Liken me to Earl Grey, Assam, or Ginger
Lapsang Soushong raise my pinky finger.

Keep your sodding coffee in a proper copper coffee pot.

…. and spot me loving teapot
coffee clocks, nodding off
lost a plot, sodding off
Need some caffeine added and a Batternburg to top it off.

Cut them off a different block. A different lot can take their pay on
80 cups a day, I haven’t slept for 80 years!
You can say I’m mad with tea, or, or just say I’m mad.
Oh, you can’t stay any longer? Oh..
Actually, I’m I’m quite glad.
All the more Battenburg for me!
I can barely pour, my hands have got a bit shaky from caffeine.
Oh, I love it though.
I’d sell my own grandma for a cup.
Well, I’d sell your grandma for a cup…

Professor Jerry Thomas

2008-05-23T13:07:00.019-05:00

When the Sun interviewed Jerry Thomas in 1882, the reporter couldn't help but note that, "two white rats that were pretty enough to be guinea pigs, and that would be taken as such except for their long and unmistakable tails, cut capers upon his shoulders, caressed him at the corners of his moustache, and mounted occasionally to the top of his Derby hat, when he removed them with a patient persistency that had no effect upon them whatsoever."

From IMBIBE! by David Wondrich

Hoax...or Genius?

2008-05-16T20:29:00.002-05:00

There must be something to this, since Artichoke is involved...but then, Artichoke has put on many legitimate spectacles in the past few years, and who is to say that a hoax itself isn't one?

Second Fiddle

2008-05-16T17:21:00.001-05:00

Damned Nazis!

2008-05-06T18:31:00.001-05:00

Tea Rap

2008-04-30T22:01:00.002-05:00

Elemental - Cup Of Brown Joy from Moog on Vimeo.

Colour Photos a Century Ago

2008-04-27T14:06:00.005-05:00

Revealed: The amazing pictures of Britain in colour for the very first time...

'Tis a Thing of Beauty...

2008-04-14T21:52:00.003-05:00

When Charles Babbage invented a massive calculating machine in 1849, he probably didn't count on the 150 years it would take to actually get the thing built.

At the Exhibition Opening...

2008-04-13T12:28:00.002-05:00

Brushing up on the Pre-Raphaelites while taking a break at John's opening on Friday night, April 11, 2008.