My good friend Kim and I had a fun time at the Oxwood Inn the other night (the photo here was snapped by Cici Kytten). We saw some friends I hadn’t seen in a while and had a nice chat with the bartender. I wish I liked bars more than I do, as we had a really nice time, but I definitely need a couple drinks in me to relax – let’s just say I had a couple and then a little more ;-) Will have to try to go back again sooner.
The trip to BoundCon and Paris with my friend Krystle was incredible! We met so many nice people, made some great new friends and had a fantastic time. I’d never been to Europe till now but this trip certainly made up for it and threw me completely out of my comfort zone, but in a very good way. The jet lag in Munich was tough the first day but we motored through it and forced ourselves to get onto the new schedule as quickly as we could and in a couple days we were fine. Munich is a very pretty town, smaller than I expected, and everyone was very friendly. Krystle speaks some German, which helped a lot, but I felt like a bit of a jerk because I basically only know “I’m sorry, I don’t speak German” and “Thank you.” It was still surprisingly easy to get by though as so many Germans speak some English and many people are fluent, though they often deny it. Krystle shook her head over the comments of some speakers, “Oh, my English is so bad. How do you say…uh, “multifaceted?” ;-)
After some sightseeing, BoundCon itself was a blast. We made some great new friends, including the very fun Marie Lissandro and the very skilled RopeMasterFrank, with whom I’ve emailed off and on for years and who was a true gentleman. Later we got to hang out with Katja (who has the very large breasts in the pictures below) and Daniela von L (with the red cane below), who were both a lot of fun. We met lots of other people including Mandy from Berlin (black and white and glasses) at the Meet N Greet, Renee the Bondage Crossdresser who was very nice, and a nice photographer named John from the UK, who took a few of the pictures below. Some of these were taken on an iPod and some on a point-and-shoot but John had a full-frame Canon, so the really sharp ones are probably his! Of course, I had to get another picture with the lovely Sandra Silvers – always great to see her at these bondage events. There were also quite a few random ladies walking around tied up and some great stage shows, and our new friend from the Netherlands (I believe) who transforms into an amazing Victorian lady.
Sub Rosa Dictum Official Party at Kesselhaus
My friend Krystle really wanted to go to the official off-site BoundCon party on Saturday night put on by Sub Rosa Dictum, (party photos here). I didn’t really have much expectation either way and just said, “Sure, that’s fine,” but it turned out to be one of the highlights of the weekend. This thing was crazy! We have some nice events here in Los Angeles but this was like on another planet! It was so kinky and full of latex and rubber everywhere you looked, a huge crowd of maybe 400 or 500 people and just a crazy decadent vibe, definitely the best party I’ve ever been to. The medical latex performance by fetish model Anna Rose (pictured below from her Twitter feed, photo by Heinrich Schimmer) was incredibly sexy.
Marie Lissandro and Daniela and some other friends hung out with us and Marie turned us onto a fantastic drink popular in Southern Germany and Northern Italy called a Hugo, made with sparking white wine and elderflower syrup. I have no idea what that is but it was like drinking liquid candy and then after a couple of those we were feeling Very Relaxed! At one point I found myself strapped to a cross and being felt up by two complete strangers. The guy in the full latex outfit and hood was fun and creepy in a good way but the other guy was, well, just creepy and became a little too familiar, but it was still okay as my friends were looking out for me and letting it go just to the point of almost too much. Later we met a fun German dominatrix and her female submissive and everyone was very friendly and completely cool with the language differences. I loved Germany and BoundCon and hope to go back again!
Off to Paris
The weekend in Germany flew by and in no time we were on a train to France where we pulled into Paris in the late afternoon. I took several years of French in school but still feel like a rank beginner, especially when Parisians would speak to me and I’d have that deer-in-the-headlights look. But I was able to communicate with the cab drivers and could usually order in restaurants till they finally took pity on me and switched to English, which happened a lot. The nice people at our hotel, in a non-touristy area, didn’t speak much English though so that was great practice forcing me to communicate as best I could.
Paris is definitely more of a bustling city than Munich, with the good and bad that goes with that, an energy and excitement but also occasionally that edge of aggression that you find in big cities, similar to being in New York, or L.A. for that matter. But the people we met were fantastic and very friendly. After our first night enjoying some Couscous and a bottle of wine, we finally met our new friend Christelle with whom I’ve emailed for years. Christelle is lovely and the nicest person you could meet and we had a delightful time, hitting it off right away. She directed us to the perfect tranny neighborhood, a very friendly hotel near the main tranny club and down the street from the Café Marcel where we ate several meals, including dressed up a couple times. It was extremely welcoming, very gay and trans friendly, fantastic food and drinks and although everything was “super” it didn’t break the bank either.
Later Christelle took us out shopping at Angel Modes just down the street, a fun little shop catering to CDs and trans girls and run by a famous seventy-year old “grande dame” who was very kind. Of course, we also had to fit in some bondage back at the hotel, where appropriately some of the scenes from the movie “Taken” were filmed. And that evening Christelle generously arranged for us to be driven around the city along with her friend Monsieur Charly, who was also a total gentleman. It was crazy hopping out and snapping pictures in front of all these famous landmarks. Much later we found ourselves on the famous Champs Élysées where a teenage girl with her boyfriend couldn’t stop laughing her ass off over the two trannies on the avenue. I actually found it a lot of fun blowing her mind, and hey, I’ve always enjoyed a little bit of humiliation anyway as anyone who’s read my stories knows. I think the sight of us was just so outside the norm that she didn’t know how to react, but yes, she was definitely laughing AT us too, which was fine ;-) Christelle was cool headed and got her to come over for a snapshot but sadly her boyfriend took it on his cell phone so I don’t have a copy. Then she hurried off still laughing and carrying on.
Christelle was only with us for one day but we had a truly memorable time and I hope we can do it again. The next day after recovering, Krystle and I took an afternoon trip to see Jim Morrison’s grave at Père Lachaise cemetery. I’ve been a fan for years so it was very moving to make the pilgrimage to see the Lizard King. Then it was time to dress again and go off to the famous Maison du Travesti, which we were able to walk to as it was only a couple blocks from the hotel, and we had a fun evening meeting people and drinking yet more wine. Appropriately it’s located on the Rue des Dames (or “Ladies’ Street”), a small little club but very friendly, and apparently it’s the main CD / trans club in Paris, more a private get-together than a loud nightclub. We did find out that there was a room downstairs for more “private” kinds of play, and I think you could get into quite a bit of trouble down there if you were so inclined. We checked it out but opted to stay upstairs this time, having gotten a little groped within minutes ;-) We were pretty tipsy by the end of the evening and stumbled back to our hotel with the party still going strong…
The trip went by so fast and had so many memories, truly an amazing time. In no time at all we were at the Paris airport and back to the states. Like a fool I timed my return to be right on the same day as the TEASE party. I made it through the night with a bad case of jet lag but it was totally worth it!
So I’m spending today finishing up packing for BoundCon. I’m having to travel lightly on this one (international baggage fees are really high, wow!) but I have enough outfits to get me through the week. I really have no idea what to expect since all the events I’ve been to before have all been in the US, so this will be a totally new experience. I am looking forward to meeting some European friends though whom I’ve emailed with over the years, so that should be exciting. And my friend Krystle thankfully knows some German so I’ll be able to rely on her for dealing with transportation and checking into the hotel; of course, everyone whom I’ve talked with who’s been to Germany before says that so many people in Europe know English anyway so we should be fine. The return trip through France may be a bit more challenging but I have my clumsy French from school to help me, though that was a long time ago in those classrooms. We’ll see…
I’m any case, I’m heading out of here tomorrow and am looking forward to a nice German beer in a couple days. I probably won’t be able to post any pictures here till I get back but if you’re curious look me up on Twitter later in the week and hopefully I’ll be able to at least tweet a few things if I can get a wifi connection. Oh, of course updates and everything will continue as scheduled on the site (in fact there’s a new Kyra the yoga girl set of pictures and a video coming up in about a week that was a lot of fun to shoot…) More to come soon…
I’ve been so behind on email once again, about as bad as it’s ever been, so if you’ve been waiting to hear from me that’s all it is. I know some messages will probably fall through the cracks, which I hate, but it reaches a level of overload where I find my brain just shutting down and saying, “I’ll deal with it later.” Actually one of the best places for me to stay in touch with people is on Twitter. If only all email were limited to 140 characters! Then I’d be caught up!
And you know, email really does seem like an archaic means of communication nowadays. It’s great for the details of setting up a shoot or dealing with specific actions and events but just for chatting and keeping in touch – it really does feel like something from the 90s. Some days I just can’t do it and I click on close and go back to editing pictures or, more likely, replying to email on Facebook, which has to be the lowest rung on the email foodchain, with lots of “How’s it going?” and “I’d like to get to know you better” from someone with a blank profile usually…So guess I still haven’t figured out how to deal with the constant inbox overload…Anyway, thanks for listening to my venting and it won’t get any better while I’m over at BoundCon; I’m sure of that! ;-)
It’s been a while since I’ve blogged here but things have been busy as usual with some fun shoots behind the scenes and a lot of editing and preparation going on. I have some travel coming up in a couple weeks, though, and am finally going to go to BoundCon with my friend Krystle so I’ve been cranking it out and trying to get everything ready for that. We’ll be away for a while but updates will still be covered as usual on the site. I will have my laptop and access to email for some of the time but there are a lot of unknowns so if I’m a bit out of touch the latter part of the month that’s all it is.
I’m hoping we’ll have some nice new pictures when I get back – I suspect we will :-) And I also wanted to mention that our next TEASE party here in North Hollywood will be on Saturday, May 31st, and everyone’s invited to wear a prom dress or party dress for the season. I’ll just be getting back for that. Our last party (our first one on a Saturday evening) had over forty-five people, so I’m really thrilled about how well the switch to Saturday night went over. If you’re in L.A. or visiting the area, come on out. No one is turned away and you can dress or come in boy mode or whatever is most comfortable for you.
So it’ll be a busy month but I’m very excited. Hope to have more news in a few weeks and I also hope to be able to Tweet a little on my iPod while I’m overseas, as long as there’s a decent internet connection. In any case here’s a snapshot of Kaitlynn from a TEASE party last year, nicely tied and hooded in the schoolroom. This is what happens when you misbehave – a long timeout involving a paddle, the Hitachi and nipple clamps!
It was a blast getting to shoot with Stefani Special a few weeks ago. She’s a popular TS pornstar who likes bondage and she’s terrific in front of the camera! She was visiting in L.A. recently, and we got to shoot some cute pictures and also did an extended full-length video with Otto Devoid appearing as a super-creepy photographer who takes advantage of the poor innocent girl next door who only wanted to take some glamour shots. This fantasy of being used and molested during a photoshoot has always been one of my favorites so when Stefani suggested it I knew we’d have a great scene. The full set will go up this Friday and the first of two video clips will go up a few days after that. Enjoy!
Silvia Snow looked amazing and so pretty in this set of pictures that we shot last summer and that I’m finally posting over on the site. I saw her red dress in some of her own pictures on Fetlife and knew she just had to wear it again for some bondage pics. I really like how the full set came out, with her hands taped up and lashed down on the bed at her hotel, wondering just what she’s gotten herself into. Silvia’s a natural and I really hope we’ll be able to get together again…Enjoy!
Well, here it is late March and once again it’s the anniversary of Trannies In Trouble, which first went online around this time in 2003. It always seems like it’ll take forever to reach the next one but then it flies by and here we are again. I’ve been shooting with a lot of new gurls lately and have been having some fun and interesting times. At the same time, I feel like I’m in a bit of a transition period right now as the years continue to pass. I’m still modeling, and I’ll still be appearing as Sandra the bondagette for a few more years, I’m sure, though perhaps not as often as I used to. Lately I’ve just been finding myself more and more in the Mrs. Gibbons / Aunt Sandra role, tying up all those wayward younger crossdressers and trans gurls (both of whom are delightful to subdue and torment) and I suspect I’ll continue in more of a dominant role like that for some time – but not completely, as this week’s update shows! ;-) In any case, I’m grateful for all the support and the many loyal subscribers and visitors here at the website; you make it all possible. Here’s to the next year – I’m planning on many more to come!
I love this blue leather outfit that Sharon Porter wears in this week’s update. She looked amazing when we got together at DomCon last summer and I had a fun time putting her in a really strict hogtie, with a rope running up to her head-harness gag to make things even more strict. Hogties are always a favorite because they make you feel so utterly helpless, and Sharon looked particularly hot and vulnerable restrained on the hotel-room floor. She wasn’t going anywhere – Enjoy!
I had a blast yesterday at the L.A. Marathon and although I’m a slowpoke I was still upright as I crossed the finish line. I had some doubts if I’d finish it this year, since I just wasn’t feeling strong with my training and the weather was warm yesterday in the 80s. I did come in about 20 minutes slower than last year but I was completely thrilled just to complete the race and put on a tiny surge to my trotting pace on the last miles, which are utterly miserable any way you cut it. I’d love to break the five hour mark at some point but it just seems really daunting at this point, maybe next year. The event itself is just so much fun though, with an incredible energy and an amazing crowd to cheer you on for miles and miles, and a course that goes by so many well-known L.A. landmarks. It just feels like a big L.A. lovefest and I hope to do it again next year.
One of the main reasons I keep running is that it’s a great way to keep the weight off, and as the decades pass it becomes harder and harder not to bulk up. If I didn’t work out I’m sure I’d be ten or twenty pounds heavier than I am now. So I’m no great athlete by any stretch but it does help with my vanity. ;-) I also tend to have better moods and just generally feel better about things if I stay active. I had a mild injury last September and didn’t run for an entire month and just felt awful. It was like withdrawal not getting my endorphin fix. It’s tough to get out to the gym or hit the track but I force myself even though I could totally be a couch potato. Anyway, it was an awesome race yesterday and will definitely be one of the high points of the year once again! Yay!
Diane and I emailed a while back and had the chance to shoot a fun and sexy scene last weekend. She looked fabulous in this leather outfit of hers and we shot a scene where she’s my niece being corrected for her wild ways. Here are a few framegrabs from the video; the whole thing turned out to be over fifteen minutes long with some intense Hitachi action at the end. I’ll post the video early next week and hope that Diane will be back for more stern but loving correction from her slightly demented aunt. There are a couple still shots also on the preview page at T’s in Trouble. Enjoy!
(The other day my friend Sybil and I were emailing and she very graciously agreed to write up a blog post about her life in Minneapolis where that girl gets up so many adventures with her friend the lovely Jean Bardot. Sybil’s always great fun to shoot with and hang out with and I always look forward to seeing her when our paths cross, which usually happens at least once a year, it seems. Thanks so much, Sybil, for sharing and hope we’ll see that video you mentioned one of these days, ha ha! *Hugs*)
Hello everybody, I’m honored to do this guest blog for Sandra’s website! I am amazingly lucky to call Sandra my friend. Being a lover of crossdressing and bondage, I contacted her out of the blue a few years ago and asked if she would consider me for a shoot with TranniesinTrouble and we made arrangements to meet in Hollywood at the Renaissance Hotel (now the Loews, I think?). I had never really done a photo shoot before, so I was super nervous! (I had shot with Jean Bardot before, but it was really informal as we have been friends a long time.) Anyway, I felt at ease with Sandra right away and I really enjoyed the experience. Sandra made me look really, really good, like way better than I thought I could! She understands as well as anybody how to catch her subject’s best angles. Since then I have tried to shoot with Sandra on every trip I make to the L.A. area, and it has mostly worked out for us. (With all the snow we’ve had lately in Minnesota, I need to get to L.A. soon!) Sandra and I have also hung out at Fetish Con in Tampa; the more time I spend with Sandra, the more I like her :-)
Here in Minneapolis, I’m just as lucky to call Jean Bardot my friend. I got to know her when I was a stage manager for a burlesque show – she was one of the performers I managed! As Jean and I got to know each other better, we became friendly and I started helping her with her business in a number of ways. I help her with managing her schedule, booking gigs, negotiating deals, and if she needs somebody to tie up on camera, well hey, I can help with that too ;-)
Jean has introduced me to fun and kinky people all over the world and I cherish some of the relationships I have made because of her. This past weekend, one of our dear friends had a milestone birthday with a party in the L.A. area. Unfortunately, schedule demands were such that we couldn’t make it out there for the party… We thought about sending flowers, a gift or something along those lines, but it just didn’t seem right. And then it came to us – we needed to make a happy birthday video clip, duh!! So I wrote up a quick script, ran it by Jean, and to nobody’s surprise, it would start with Jean saying Happy Birthday with a tied and gagged tranny gurl by her side. She would remove the gag long enough for me to say happy bday and then put it back in so I could take a spanking on behalf of the birthday girl. Before starting the video, Jean used leather suspension cuffs on my wrists to pull my hands above my head, and while she was doing that, I was saying, “Okay, don’t forget to *do this* and *say that*…” but as soon as she cranked my hands up with the winch, making me helpless, she grabbed the ball gag and said, “I don’t think I need any more help with this!” And she strapped the gag in really tight, so I just sat there waiting for her to do whatever she wanted after that. Then she cuffed my feet together and started the video rolling. I have included a few screen captures from the video to illustrate! Once the video was complete, Jean gagged me again and treated me to a little scene before she let me go and got that on video too… I’m not sure I’m ready to share that just yet, though!
Well if you’re still reading at this point, thanks very much for listening and I hope you have enjoyed it! I need to stop now before this gets completely out of control, but if you want to hear any more stories, thoughts, scene reports from Minneapolis, (or whatever!) please leave a comment or mention something to Sandra and I’ll happily write up another entry! Until next time…Happy tranny trails!
Xoxo, Sybil
I missed this last month but an online UK friend wrote with the news of crossdressing artist and potter Grayson Perry being awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace. Of course Perry showed up dressed and looking fabulous in a dark blue dress and hat. What an amazing person. I know my gender reference here isn’t politically correct but I love this guy!
For years I’ve meant to head down to Long Beach for the TGirl Nights put on by Jamie Jameson at Hamburger Mary’s, but with the schedule of the old TEASE parties and how they used to be on Fridays I never had enough oomph left over the next night to head down there (So glad we’ve switched TEASE to Saturdays!) So finally last night my friend Kim and I got made up and headed down the SoCal freeways to Long Beach. We got to hang out again with Cici Kitten and our new friend Fierce and we had a great time. Actually two weekends out clubbing in a row is very rare for me but it was fun and Jamie’s party has a huge turnout. If you’re into clubs full of trannies this is definitely one to check out and I’m sure we’ll be back again. They also do it on Tuesday nights for a karaoke party earlier in the evening and dancing later.
The last few months I’ve noticed a strange thing on Fetlife. I’ve heard from maybe five or six CDs who write to say hi. We might email back and forth casually a few times and then – Poof! – their profile is gone. Maybe they’ve blocked me, though I tend to doubt that. More likely I would guess they’ve maybe had second thoughts about being visible online and have simply disabled their own profile. Of course in either case they’re basically gone and it’s impossible to send them a follow-up email. It’s happened so many times in the last few months that it’s become a recognizable pattern. I don’t take it personally, as I really don’t think it’s about me at all. The way I read it, it’s just that there are so many closeted CDs out there with such mixed feelings about who they are and what we do. It’s similar in that regard to purging. Someone can come online for a while and talk about dressing and really admit to what they like, and then I’m guessing the fear and doubt set in and they pull away. I do get it and I understand the impulse but it is rather depressing to see this happen so often (along with all those faceless chopped-off-head crossdressing pictures). Obviously so many CDs are just so terribly conflicted. Or hey, maybe it’s something altogether different: I don’t know, maybe that Eastern European tranny-kidnapping ring really is preying on Fetlife CDs!
If I were going to give some advice it would be that it doesn’t have to be so hard. But at the same time I remember when I was younger I was probably just as scared and conflicted so I really do understand and sympathize. But after so many years of being out and visible it’s all become, not routine, but just not that big a deal. Yes, I still have my own moments of doubt from time to time, especially when checking into hotels dressed, but nowhere near what they used to be. I wish I could convince other gurls who are just starting out that if you take it easy and take some basic safety precautions when going out and meeting people, you’ll probably be fine. There is always risk in being more visible, sometimes big risk depending on the situation (meeting strangers from Craigslist for hookups, for example), but our own fears hold us back more than anything.
At the same time, like I said in an earlier post about coming out, I know it’s not easy and that everyone has to find find their own comfort level. I just wish these gurls could relax more, as it’s really just the disappearing without a word that’s so baffling. I don’t mean to sound scolding, as that’s not my intent at all, but I do know in the CD and trans community that this is very common behavior, almost a rule. Anyway, I’m not going anywhere so if anyone needs to reach me you know where I’m at (though the email piles up and may take a while!) But hey, if you’re cute and submissive and into being tied up and need to be comforted in your internal conflicts with some tight bondage – sorry, dear, but yes, your Aunt Sandra has to make it tight – well then, you’ll have a very good chance of hearing back from me…
Last night my friend Kim and I were able to get out to the latex party at the Oxwood Inn and we had a great time. A couple drinks in me and I was feeling very relaxed! We got to hang out with Louann Chen and Cici Kitten, both crazy party girls! I don’t get out to the Ox’ as much as I’d like but it was a good crowd, though as the music got louder and louder I found myself nodding my head and smiling whenever anyone tried to talk to me; with everyone including me being tipsy though it really didn’t matter! Fun night.
I’m always looking for new and interesting gags to purchase, especially panel gags which are a favorite. I recently wrote to JB Roper to see where he got this terrific gag in the picture below with Summer Peters but unfortunately it came from Autumn’s Sub Shop which is out of business. If anyone has any leads on other good panel gags or head harness gags to purchase online, feel free to post a link here in the comments below or email me directly. I recently bought a few on Ebay but they were mostly cheap junk, only one was worth it but I’m always looking for good new stuff, so do let me know!
I’d never heard the term “K-Pop” (for Korean Pop Music) till a couple years ago, and there’s a fascinating trend for many of the young male singers to dress as girls or do the androgyny thing. I admit I know none of the music at all but some of the performers are unbelievably cute. From the very little that I’ve read online, apparently in South Korean culture it’s much more acceptable for a boy to be “pretty” than it is here in the US. I found these pics just doing a quick Google search. I don’t know all the singers here but the first three are of Ren (yeah, his name’s right there!) who’s definitely one of the more spectacular of the crossdressing performers. A few of the other pics are also from variety shows where crossdressing is often used for humor and, well, because there’s just that undeniable fascination with the whole thing. Here’s hoping that at least one or two of them are also secretly into bondage!
Well, here we are again at the end of the year. I’ll admit 2013 has been another very mixed year for me. It did have some great highs and fun moments: there was the L.A. Marathon, which I never thought I could finish but nicely surprised myself; later in the year I dated a woman who’s one of my favorite people in the world, and although it didn’t last and she’s moving out of state for work I’m thankful that we’re still friends; the Indiana bondage parties put on by Donna Patricia Richardson were great fun and highly recommended; and there were also some very fun and sexy shoots during the year, and some great events such as DomCon (the best ever, thanks to Krystle!). There was also the Halloween parade in West Hollywood (pictures below), and a few TEASE parties that really stood out. But at the same time, not to dwell on them, there were also some real lows, challenges, and moments of doubt as another year passed.
I’m heading out in a couple days to Atlanta for my end of the year visit with my parents – my Dad’s not doing great but he’s hanging in there – and then it’ll be back to work in January. I’m also hoping that Mr. K. gets better in 2014. He’s a good friend and has always been so supportive, and although he’s having some health problems he’s slowly making a recovery.
What really stuck out for me this year though was the sense of the uncertainty of the future and of life in general, and just how quickly these years pass. Obviously, we make our plans but then life often has its own ideas. After a year like this one, which really wasn’t bad, just challenging, I’d be foolish to believe that I’ve really got it together.
I am very thankful, though, that the website continues to do well – thanks again to all the paying members who really are the ones who keep it going. If it was just me I’d have reached my limits long ago. I will probably have to look at the finances of it more closely next year as it continues to be more expensive to run since I’m shooting more with other models but it’s moving forward very well and I’m extremely grateful for that.
In any event, I’m still very happy to be back in Los Angeles, am planning more photo shoots, have some new bondage gear and photo gear to play with, and am really looking forward to making some new pics and videos in the year ahead and keeping the bondage fun going. All the best in 2014 and keep those ropes and gags tight!
It’s amazing to see marriage licenses being issued to same sex couples in a state as conservative as Utah of all places, one day after the decision in New Mexico from that state’s Supreme Court. Nine new states alone in 2013 in the US where same sex marriage is now legal, 18 total plus DC; things continue to change…
