Well, we were supposed to have the monthly bondage workshop yesterday but I wasn’t expecting much of a turnout due to the Academy Awards going on at the same time. Sure enough, only two regular attendees showed up, and they had been there already, hanging out after the D/s Discussion Group, which precedes the Bondage Workshop. We hung out for a while chatting, and I practiced a couple body harnesses on “R,” who usually makes the workshop, and then we decided to call it an evening and just do the workshop again next month.

It’s funny – I had been a little nervous actually going into it so it was kind of an anti-climax, but still it was fun just hanging out at the dungeon for a while even though not much was going on. I’ve been working a lot lately and been feeling a little socially isolated, so it was nice just to hang and be out of the house.

Then driving home I avoided Vine St., since I knew the traffic would really suck in Hollywood. It was a Mickey D’s night and I caught the end of the Oscars back at home.

It turned out to be a good weekend. Friday night at Club Fantasy was a blast. I’m doing the rope bondage workshop again this Sunday and am supposed to talk about and demonstrate “decorative” bondage, such as harnesses you can wear under your clothes while you go about your day and things like that. I’m a little unsure about what to present, so I was able to practice quite a bit at the party. Then later, a lovely girl named Jennifer whom I’ve been talking to for a while made it to the party for her first time, and tied me to this big spider web made out of chains that’s in one of the smaller rooms at the dungeon. Wow, it was great. I sooooo needed that. I think I’ve been working too much lately or been stressed or something, but being tied and felt up at the end of the evening really touched me deeply. I was floating the rest of the night.

Then last night my good friend Kim and I had a nice time at Blue Moon Nights. It’s an upscale kind of club (hence, expensive), quite large and with an outdoor covered smoking area that was really comfortable. I’m not a smoker but it was a good place to hang out in and the music was at a reasonable volume out there. Buying a drink is ridiculously expensive in these clubs, even a diet coke is three or four dollars. Then there’s the infamous “bottle service,” where ordering a bottle of booze and a nice table for your own little group starts at $175 dollars (yes, $175.00) – not something you’d want to do without first reading the menu very very carefully and perhaps calling your accountant to clear it. I don’t know how these Hollywood types live like that. Well, yeah, I guess I do – they’re all rich or in debt up to their eyeballs. Needless to say, my indulgence for the evening was two diet cokes at the bar (aren’t I exciting?) They also had an attendant in the women’s restroom, a very nice lady she was, but I felt kind of sorry for her. What an awful job being in a bathroom all night.

Okay, this all sounds a bit negative but it was actually quite an enjoyable evening. You just have to know what you’re getting into. Kim and I saw a lot of the local girls again who used to frequent the Lodge, so it was nice seeing some familiar faces. Sunday night’s obviously not the best night for going out clubbing, but hopefully they’ll be able to keep it going. There were rumors too of a possible new Saturday night tranny venue in the works.

You know how on some of those sites like MySpace that require you to put your age, how sometimes people will put down “99 years old,” just to fill up the space. I guess I understand the impulse to do that, but I always figure that if you just tell the truth it can’t bite you in the ass later. Not that I always take my own advice. Hell, I lie and shade the truth as much as anyone. But age is one thing I can deal with. I’m 44. Yeah, I’m getting older and the body inevitably fades, but that’s just how it is. Avoiding revealing the truth isn’t going to change anything. Besides, I was miserable in my twenties and thirties and am much happier now than I’ve ever been.

In the scheme of things my life’s actually pretty good and fairly easy compared to the lot of so many people in this insane world, where just basic nourishment and shelter is an ongoing struggle. Somehow this awareness of how much worse things could be plays into my desire to try to be more honest about who I am, including not hiding my age. I’ve noticed how occasionally for no reason at all I’ll avoid telling the truth on some inconsequential thing and then later ask myself, “Hmm, I wonder why I did that?” Not that it’s wrong, it’s just a funny tendency we all have.

So I say, state your age proudly and let it go. I could say I’m 37 but the gods would know otherwise.

Tomorrow night (Friday the 16th) it’s time once again for the next Club Fantasy in North Hollywood. Last month’s was pretty good, a slightly smaller turnout than usual, maybe 20 people, but everyone was in the front room and there was a lot of fun interaction. It was probably one of the most enjoyable ones we’ve had so far, from my perspective. I need to practice some ties for this upcoming Bondage Workshop that I’m doing on the 25th, so I know what I’ll be doing at the party (besides hopefully getting tied up.)

New L.A. Tranny Night?
I just heard that this Sunday night, February 18th, there’s a new venue also in North Hollywood that’s having a tranny night, a place called Blue Moon Nights. Wow, nice website. Might have to go check it out. Ever since the Lodge closed here in L.A., the TG nightclub scene has been pretty spotty. It would be great to have a new place to go. We shall see.

I’m not really very sexually active but I agree that if you’re not in a monogamous relationship it’s a good idea to get tested for sexually transmitted diseases every now and then. Since I have a few routine health tests coming up (just a check up), I went over to the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center and got a full work-up of tests run for STDs, all for free. They provide some really excellent services, and you don’t even have to be gay or trans or whatever to use them. When I first moved to L.A. a few years ago and was pretty depressed, I even got a therapist there for about eight months at a fraction of what it would cost to see a shrink in private practice.

They’ve gotten really fast with the HIV test. They just swab the inside of your mouth and in twenty minutes you have the result: negative (which I had no reason not to expect). You have to wait five days for the results of the blood tests for those good ol’ fashioned diseases like gonorrhea and syphilis. It’s been at least two months since I’ve done anything even remotely risky, so unless you can catch something from your computer (or your right hand) everything should be A-OK. I’m kind of into tests and statistics, though, so I sort of enjoy the process and reading those little pamphlets they give you.

That astronaut story is so bizarre. It kind of shows what craziness “love” can lead to. I kind of feel sorry for the woman who allegedly did this, but jeez, you can’t go around pepper spraying people and sneaking up on them with a bunch of rubber tubing. I saw there was one of those polls online asking, “Should she be allowed to fly again?” It sounds like she’s going to be going away for a long time first. And then that horrible mugshot is going to follow her around for the rest of her life too. What a nightmare.

Last night I was out at a meeting regarding some of the local kink events here in L.A. and had the funniest conversation. A nice woman whom I’ve briefly chatted with before was asking me about Trannies In Trouble and the Club Fantasy parties. She said there’s a TG girl online whom she occasionally talks to, and that she had mentioned the parties to her but then after that never heard another word from her.

I could tell she was choosing her words carefully and she finally said, well, maybe this girl is put off by the name “Trannies In Trouble.” I paused for a moment thinking, Hmm, no one’s ever said they were offended or anything but maybe so. I asked her if she’s seen the site and then realized that she thought Trannies In Trouble was a counseling service or some kind of outreach for, well, TG girls “In Trouble” – like living on the streets or experiencing job discrimination or something. I nearly burst out laughing and had to explain that, well no, it’s a bondage site! You know, “In Trouble” as in bound and gagged! Suddenly it clicked and she let out an “Ohhhh….” I could see she was a little embarrassed, but it was really really funny.

I hate to be insensitive to people’s fears of terrorism, but have to say I love this marketing ploy scare that happened in Boston. I mean, it’s really pretty funny, and definitely a huge success as a marketing campaign. Now everyone knows about “Aqua Teen Hunger Force.” And I love the artists and how they’re having fun with the whole thing. Gotta love a good troublemaker.

I don’t know if I’m reading the news stories correctly but it sounds like these cartoon “devices” had been up for something like three weeks before they caught any attention from the authorities. But what I really want to know is, where can I get one of those things? I want to hang one on my wall, right off the foyer would look nice.