Last night’s webcam was awesome for me. I really put Bettie through the wringer, and got that bitch all tied up! She’s really good at suffering and looking pitiful. It was a really long evening, over four hours. Later, Binder G. stopped by, messed with Bettie some more, including lots of spanking, and then finally he got both of us tied up together. After he left, I tied Bettie up some more, took a few pictures, and generally tormented her for a while with some breath deprivation and caning on her thighs. I don’t think she really minded too much.

Well, it’s time for another online bondage webcam show. I’m going to be on Wednesday night starting at 7:00 PM Pacific time. I’ll post links for both the free cam and members cam on the Ts in Trouble homepage just before we get started.

I’m looking forward to this one quite a bit. I have a friend, possibly two, stopping by and it should be a bit different from our usual play. Swing by and say hi if you can.

I just heard about this website that’s an archive of dead MySpace users, MyDeathSpace. It is pretty morbid but I found it wasn’t as gross as I initially thought it would be. Looking through the Directory list I’m struck by how young everyone is and all the horrible ways that young people die – lots of auto accidents, suicides and shootings.

Speaking of auto accidents, fast traffic scares me. I have to admit, I’m a slow driver – one of those people puttering along in the right lane that gets honked at. Years ago one of my best friends was killed in a major accidents – in fact he, his wife, and young child were all wiped out by a semi that crashed into them. That was years ago, so I’m over the grief, but the whole thing really left a mark on me. I think as a society we’re kind of in denial about how unsafe cars really are. Thousands of people die on the highways every year and it’s just accepted as the way things are. Just last weekend I was coming back from the suspension bondage party, probably cruising along at maybe 55 or 60 in the slow lane – this was at two in the morning – and someone pulled in behind me and started flashing their lights to try to get me to drive faster. And the freeway was open. They could have simply passed me. Weird. Luckily, they didn’t start shooting.

Hey, it’s that time again. I’m going to be presenting the Rope
Bondage Workshop at HollywoodLand Studios this Sunday in N.
Hollywood. Come check it out and let’s do some tying. I’m planning
to cover some basic chest harness ties like the Yoke Harness and
Bikini Harness, and also do a few different crotchrope ties. It’ll
all be very hands on. You can bring your own rope and safety
scissors if you have them, or I’ll have plenty of rope on hand to
share.

Rope Bondage Workshop at HollywoodLand Studios

Sunday June 25, 2006
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Hollywoodland Studios
11300 Hartland St.
North Hollywood, CA 91605

http://tinyurl.com/fnwd7

Notes:
Open to all interested members of the BDSM Community. Join Sandra to
learn the basics as well as some new tricks! $5 for Threshold
members and affiliates, $10 for non members, proceeds going
to Threshold.

CharlyB gave a great demo on suspension bondage over the weekend at Threshold. There was a nice turn out and he hung up a couple of volunteers. He really knows his stuff and shoots some fabulous pictures.

After the demo, my friend Bettie Cho and I stayed for the party and Charly was nice enough to help supervise a nice suspension of Bettie. I’ve never suspended anyone before and the whole idea of it makes me kind of nervous, since the potential for serious injury is so high. So I was glad Charly was there to offer his guidance. I put a couple of heavy thick wraps around Bettie’s chest, waist, thighs and ankles, and bound her wrists behind her back.

In no time at all Charly had her dangling about four feet off the floor, laid out flat with her chest facing down towards the floor. It was really bizarre having her hanging there. I could spin her around and swing her from side to side. She stayed up for a fairly long time – probably a half an hour, and reported that it wasn’t too uncomfortable. I only completely relaxed once her feet were back on the ground though.

Afterwards I did some more ties on Bettie (non-suspension). I put her in a few pretzel shapes, had her gagged and blindfolded, and watched as she squirmed and tried to reach the knots. She was able to get her wrists untied after a while, but the chest tie was unforgiving. So I manhandled her for a while and after an hour or so it was getting late and the party was winding down.

I ate too many cookies before calling it a night.

I just wanted to mention another good bondage demo this Saturday. I’ll definitely be checking it out. Here’s some information re-posted from the Threshold Yahoo Group.

The Pope of Rope!

CLASS PRESENTER:
CharlyB

http://www.adventureroticimagery.com/

CLASS DESCRIPTION:
Safety basics and techniques of rope suspension featuring a
suspension master.

BIO:
CharlyB has handled rope most his life – as a fisherman, ranch hand,
wrangler, logger and trucker. In recent years he’s taken to
developing his craft as a fetish photographer and rope suspension
artist. CharlyB is affectionately known as “the Pope of Rope” – and
has worked with many (if not most) of the fetish models who frequent
the most popular fetish night clubs in SoCal. CharlyB is currently
the staff bondage artist for such fetish promotions as Malediction
Society’s VIP room performance troop “the Severe Society” as well as at the monthly promotion DV8. CharlyB has also performed at such promotions as the Basement and BondageBall, DomCon and Hex-Hollywood and will be performing at Club Hell on the weekend of June 10th. “I try to keep a rig as comfortable as possible because if it’s a photo shoot or play, I want it to last as long as possible. My foremost concerns are safety and comfort.”

Saturday, June 17, at 7:00 PM
Hollywoodland Studios
11300 Hartland St.
North Hollywood, CA
$5 for Members
$10 for Non-Members and Guests

http://tinyurl.com/fnwd7

It was a fun weekend. Yesterday I shot more pictures with Bettie Cho, who’s so petite and can take some really strenuous poses. We shot for about three hours and then we decided to go out to the Threshold Party in N. Hollywood. They even had food there – Chicken! I was starved, so after a little break we did, well, more bondage.

All the private rooms were filled, so we grabbed a couch in the front room and I tied Bettie up a few times. I’m really not that much into Japanese bondage, but I recently got a book called “Shibari You Can Use” that’s really good. So I tried out some of the ties I saw in there. Sometimes overly complicated bondage can leave me a little cold – I tend to like good ol’ damsel in distress ties with white clothesline and duct tape – but for a party environment, trying something new can be fun and a good challenge. I used a ton of rope on Bettie and we were definitely in the mode of what I sometimes teasingly call “art bondage”: Those ties that are so complicated that the main point seems to be to say, “Hey, look what I can do!” Well, yeah, I’ll cop to it: I’m a total show-off and exhibitionist. I think I also secretly worry that during one of the monthly bondage workshops that someone who knows way more than I do will show up and say, “Hey, you don’t know crap!”

Anyway, it was getting late and I was beat by the end of the evening as we drove back down the 101. I love L.A. traffic when it’s late and not so heavy, and you drive along and wonder where everyone’s going.

Okay, not to be political or anything, but lately I’ve found myself occasionally thinking about those scary Supermax Prisons. I’ll be outside enjoying life and think about those poor bastards locked up and wonder what it must be like. I would go completely insane. Now, I’m not trying to diminish anyone’s crimes. Obviously, a lot of these guys have done some really awful things to be there. But the whole concept gives me the chills – the idea of being locked up 23 hours a day in isolation, constantly monitored and given minimal physical and mental stimulation.

There was a good article on these places in the L.A. Times last month when Moussaoui (apparently the world’s most incompetent and annoying terrorist) was being sentenced.

I have to imagine that if by some horrible twist of fate, I ended up in one of these places, I would be completely psychotic within six months and would probably make multiple suicide attempts. I don’t know how a person could stand the treatment. I know if I’m inside for a couple days and away from people I’ll start feeling depressed and unhappy and a little bit out of touch mentally. And I have a TV and radio and music and a back patio where I can hang out and Chinese and Mexican food at the corner if I’m so inclined. The idea of that kind of isolation scares the crap out of me, and I forget sometimes what a joy it is to just be able to go wherever you want to go.

Every Friday I see this ad in the L.A. Weekly and I always pause for a few seconds. I think I have a little crush on “L.A.’s Dopest Attorney.” I bet I’m not the only one.

This weekend was just too much. Saturday was the TransGiving Event, where I had a part in the Glamour Boutique Fashion Show. I heard later that the response to the show was quite good, but my own performance falls somewhere between bad dream and fiasco. Delilah and I were supposed to do a bondage routine, with Delilah tying me up for a while and then both of us continuing on with some more subdued bondage play in the background while the models walked the runway up front.

I was supposed to walk down a few stairs onto the stage with my hands tied together in front – probably not such a swell idea in retrospect. I wasn’t wearing my glasses and couldn’t see a thing. I thought I was down all the steps, but misjudged them by one, and nearly took a nose dive right onto the stage, letting out a gasp as I stumbled and nearly went down. Talk about humiliation. But it gets even better. I just barely kept on my feet and continued on, walking with shaky legs across the stage. Just a few feet away there were several speakers set up on stage, but the electrical cords for them hadn’t been taped down to the floor. So about five seconds after nearly going kersplat on the stairs, my foot catches a cord and over goes one of the speakers, crashing onto the stage – BOOM! It had to be one of the most humiliating experiences I’ve had in a very long time.

Delilah was doing a good job soldiering on, but by this point I’d nearly lost my will to live. The entire time I was onstage I felt like the supreme idiot of the room. When that speaker fell over I just wanted to stop and say, “Okay, let’s just call it quits, shall we?” But of course you can’t. I bore the discomfort, did as well as I could to continue on, and got off the stage with my cheeks burning.

There’s something to be said about embarrassment. It does serve to ground you and remind you of just how shaky our illusion of control is – it just stings so bad at the time.

In any case, I was completely deflated after my “performance,” so I didn’t stay for much more – just gathered up my stuff, gave a ride home to a friend, and slinked back to my bungalow. I read the paper in bed for a while and turned in early, with an empty feeling of, “I can’t believe that actually happened…”

It was only after a good night’s sleep that I can look at it now and see the humor. It really was one for the books, and I start giggling every time I think about that speaker crashing down. I’m just thankful I didn’t sprain an ankle or anything. I almost wish it had been videotaped, but it’s probably best that it wasn’t or I’d have to post the damn thing online.

So this morning, after a quick jog to clear my head, I got ready for the bondage workshop, thinking, “Well, today can’t be worse than last night.” And yes, thankfully it went pretty well. I was a little nervous at first, but got into the swing of it as we went on. It was a fairly good turnout too for this being the first time, maybe fifteen to twenty people. I knew that I wouldn’t have to maneuveur any stairs or speakers in five inch heels, so compared to last night it was a breeze. Now I have to come up with something good for next month – maybe some chest harnesses and crotchropes.

After all that, I’m looking forward to the boredom of a lazy Memorial Day Monday.

It’s been a busy week, but I finally put up some basic bondage techniques pages on my site, in preparation for the workshop that I’m giving on Sunday. Someone said that we teach what we need to learn. So true, just the process of sitting down and trying to explain my own ways of doing things (and I’m no expert by any means), has really helped with my tying. I know I’ve gotten faster just the last couple months.

I’ll report back how it went, and hopefully I won’t pass out or anything.

It was a pretty busy weekend of kinky fun. Friday night I went out to Club Fantasy and got laced up in a heavy leather straight jacket by my friend Paul, and then later my new friend Wendy stopped by and she ended up getting locked up in heavy chains and cuffs. My favorite moment was when we were both forced to squeeze into this little cage that you can only stand in. We were standing back to back and could hardly move at all. At the end of the night, Paul added the heaviest, strictest hood I’d ever seen. It was made out of hardened leather and totally cut off my sight and speech. All I could hear was this whining sound as my breathing went in and out of these tiny holes at the nose area. At one point I was thinking, “What if someone slipped you a mickey and later you woke up wearing all this gear?” I would completely freak out. As it was, I had to keep telling myself to relax and focus on my breathing. It was like being entombed.

Then Saturday night Delilah and I spent the evening at Dragon’s Gate in Orange County. Delilah practiced some tying on me, lashing me to a pole, and later doing a nice hogtie. We’re supposed to take part in the TransGiving fashion show, next weekend, though at this point I’m not sure what to expect from it. I just saw on their site that it’ll have “explicit sexual content.” Say what?

I also chatted with LadyBadger for a while. She keeps the best Yahoo Group of kinky events in the area.

Later in the medical room, there were two girls doing something evil to some guy, but what really caught my attention was the beautiful black and white dress one of the girls was wearing. It was kind of a 1950s style vintage number with really nice details. The dress itself was the sexiest thing in the entire dungeon and I thoroughly coveted it.

I love this…

Wow, it looks like it’s official. I just got an email notification of the rope bondage workshop I’m giving at the end of the month. I’m a little nervous but looking forward to it. Deep breaths.

Rope Bondage Workshop with Sandra Gibbons

Sunday May 28, 2006
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
This event repeats on the last Sunday of every month.
The next reminder for this event will be sent in 5 days.
Event Location: Hollywoodland Studios
Street: 11300 Hartland St.
City, State, Zip: N. Hollywood, CA 91605
Notes:
Open to all interested members of the BDSM Community. Join Sandra to learn the basics as well as some new tricks! $5 for Threshold members and affiliates, $10 for non members

I heard this today on NPR and it’s pretty amusing. This guy was at the BBC to interview for an IT job (elsewhere reported as being a cabbie) and was mistaken for an expert on internet music downloading. Next thing he knows he’s on air being interviewed. His reaction is priceless.

Site with the video

NPR Article

Last night’s webcam self-bondage session was a big challenge. I stayed tied up for over 3 1/2 hours, using rope and shiny electrical tape for a gag. For my wrists I used handcuffs with the usual ice cube trick, using 26 cubes this time. That sounds like a lot, but I’ve found that once you reach a certain number it doesn’t seem to add that much more time. The difference between, say, one cube and three cubes is huge, but when you start using more there’s less impact per cube. Last time, when I used ten ice cubes it took about three hours to melt, and now this time with 26 cubes, it only took 3 1/2 hours. Of course, I’m sure the room was a bit warmer, what with summer being right around the corner. To really make it last longer, I’d have to use larger ice cubes, say, a small dixie cup or something like that frozen solid.

Okay, enough geeky talk about ice cubes. The session itself was really tough to endure. After about an hour into it I was thinking, Oh my, this is a bitch. Here are some pictures:

It was pretty cool seeing Julie Simone up at Threshold over the weekend. I’ve been a big fan for years and she put on a nice bondage demo. I find her pretty intimidating but finally worked up the courage to go talk to her afterwards and she was really nice. She has a real quiet and mysterious manner about her, which just adds to her appeal for me.

Later that night, I stayed for the party at Threshold and had a fun time tying up some friends. There were a lot of familiar faces. Kelli and I tied up Beverly in a nice chair tie. She looked fabulous in her 1950s-style wool suit. And then we all went to work on a really sweet and cute Asian girl named Wendy (whom I’d been emailing the last week or so). She looked so cute all tied up with hemp rope and a leather blindfold and gag. I was beat at the end of the evening, but in a good way.