Friday Hodgepodge

Can't believe it's Friday already. This week slipped by in a haze of party afterbuzz.

First... people have been asking about the video that Richard and I shot. There is something going on with Spanking Tube -- Rich told me that he has uploaded the video twice, and it still hasn't shown up. He is going to contact them after his work day and try to find out what the problem is. I have every confidence that it will be up soon.

Next... my book has been reviewed on the blogs of Zelle, Bonnie and Dana Kane, and now that latest is Cassandra Park. Thank you, Sandy! You and I go back several years and I appreciate your kind words greatly. ♥

I thought I would address one of her comments here, since it's quite a legitimate question and deserves an answer.

...since she has written that her dad was a well-known Hollywood comedy writer, and that there were actors and other famous writers at his parties and in her life, I was hoping for a little more about the issues of maintaining anonymity in the face of these associations.

You know, it's never been an issue, and for a simple reason: These associations are long gone. My father passed away in 1998; Erica Scott didn't come to be until 2000. Sadly, over the years, most of my father's peers in the industry have died. I am quite removed from the Hollywood crowd and have been for years.

In my book, I mention a writer/producer cousin, one who was once partnered with my father many years ago and who had helped me a great deal when I was young. He is still with us, but he is in his late 80s and has several children and grandchildren... a second cousin is not on his radar. I haven't seen him in years. So I don't worry about him either.

Who knows... maybe someday, someone from my old life will discover me. If that happens, I'll deal with it. But I'm not afraid of it.

Next up, a couple more photos from the Shadow Lane party. Here is the aforementioned shot of Sarah Gregory, Clare Fonda and me from the Friday vendor fair:

Rich was kind enough to take a nice picture of John and me with Mir and S, but unfortunately, I cannot show them. But I wanted y'all to see how handsome John looked in his suit anyway. :-)

Also, I'd neglected to mention this earlier, but another couple I met at Shadow Lane were Kaelah and Ludwig, from the Rohrstockpalast blog. This was their first SL party and they'd traveled all the way from Germany. They were lovely! Soft-spoken and sweet, and both very attractive. I think I amused Kaelah, because I kept looking at them and exclaiming, "You two are so CUTE!"

Finally, back on the subject of my book, I have a huge favor to ask. For those of you who read it and like it, will you do something for me? Drop over to the Amazon page and give it a rating and a review. It doesn't have to be lengthy; even a few words will suffice. So far, two friends have given it five stars and a lovely writeup (thank you!!), and I'm hoping others will follow suit. The blog reviews have been wonderful, and having the positive words on Amazon, where the mass public will see them, will be so helpful. Thanks!

John and I have no plans this weekend, and I'm not complaining. I think my post-party drop is physical this year, rather than emotional... I am so damned tired. All I want to do is sleep, and when I'm awake, I feel sluggish. Perhaps that's due in part to the heat as well. I was telling a friend that it was a shock to come home on Monday and discover that So. CA was actually hotter than Vegas had been! Blech! Yesterday, there was a massive power outage that affected Orange County, San Diego and other parts of So. CA, all the way into Mexico and Arizona as well. About five million people, on one of the hottest days of the year!! But Los Angeles County was not affected. Feel like I dodged another bullet.

Have a great weekend, y'all. :-)

Shadow Lane 2011, Finale

Another quickie party moment I forgot from Friday. When John and I got off the elevator on our floor, we saw Naughty Freckles sitting in one of the lounge chairs, knitting. Knitting?? At a spanking party? We greeted her and I asked what she was doing. She explained that her roommate was doing a session, so she was having a bit of decompression time, catching up with her knitting.

As we started to walk away, John looked back at her and asked, "So, what are you knitting for us?" That's my man... everything is about him! Before I could think about it, I pulled him toward our room and said, "Come on, honey. Maybe if you're nice to her, she'll knit you a cockwarmer. But she'll need a ton more yarn."

I could hear NF cracking up as we rounded the corner. John pretended to be mortified, but I know better. I don't know what gets into me sometimes. Chalk it up to party feistiness.

Later in the ballroom, NF sidled up to me and quipped, "So, what color does he want?" ROFL!

On Sunday after showering and dressing, John and I wandered down to Cafe Siena once again, figuring we'd run into someone or another while there. We got into the line outside the restaurant; in front of us was an older couple (70s-ish, very all-American grandma/grandpa type), and ahead of them were Dr. L and Ten. We greeted them and chatted a bit back and forth, around the older couple, very carefully avoiding the "s" word. However, the conversation was still a bit suspect, as DL mentioned how late they'd partied and how he still had a ton of beer left, so we had to drink up tonight! Then he grinned and held out his palm, showing me a dark spot in the center. "Did I do that?" I asked, knowing full well I did. Finally, the man in the couple asked John and me if we wanted to go ahead of them, and DL generously said, "No, how about you guys go ahead of us?" They demurred at first, then smiled and moved forward. As they passed, the man turned back to us and said, "I want that room number!" :-D

We had a fun lunch, yakking away with DL and Ten, getting to know them a bit better. Two hours slipped by easily with many laughs. John insisted on picking up the check, which I'd had a feeling he'd do. DL tried to offer up some tip money, but John waved it aside. "Are you kidding, man? After all you've done for us this weekend? Put it away."

The afternoon was low-key; we slept through a lot of it, since we didn't have any 411 on where the afternoon suite parties might be and none of our pals seemed to be around. After we woke up and started thinking about what we might do for dinner, I realized we hadn't seen Craig since Friday night. So I texted him, asking what he was up to. He texted back that they were going to dinner at PF Chang's at 7:00; I asked if we could join them and he said yes, but be forewarned, we're walking there and it's very hot out.

Back on the subject of John pestering me when I'm trying to get ready, he insisted on taking this picture of me when I was putting on makeup. I have no idea why.

After meeting Craig, Lizzie and Beth by the elevators, we headed off to PF Chang's. Craig had said it was about a 1/4 mile... uh, would you believe it was more like a mile? In the desert heat? On a slight incline? Oyyyy. Funny... men usually overestimate length, not underestimate it. ;-)  Anyway... I was grateful for the bottle of water I was carrying. By the time we got there, the last of it was warm.

That was so much fun! I got a chance to catch up a bit with Craig, we all had fun doing party dish, and Brad joined us shortly after we got there -- always great to see dear Brad! The food was delicious; I had steamed salmon with miso-ginger sauce on a bed of vegetables.

Thank goodness, Brad had his car! Craig and Lizzie opted to walk back, so John, Beth and I followed Brad out to the lot. As he walked ahead of us, he passed by a parked car and its lights flickered. Assuming that was Brad's car that he had just remotely unlocked, I walked to the rear door and put my hand on the handle... then I caught Brad's eye. "Uh, Erica," he called out, pointing ahead. "My car is over there." I dropped my hand and looked around, just in time to see the owners of this car approaching, giving me very quizzical looks.

Oh my GOD. I was so embarrassed! "Oh, I'm so sorry!" I babbled to them. "I'm not trying to break into your car, honest! I thought it was his!" The woman laughed. The man looked at me like he thought I was an ass. My face flaming, I dashed away from their car and headed to Brad's.

Did my three car-mates get a good laugh at me on the way back to the hotel? You betcha. I am such a dork sometimes!

Next stop, DL's suite once again, around 11:00 -- this time for karaoke! People started pouring in and once everything got hooked up, the singing started, with Kyle acting as DJ (he did a great job, too!).

No, I didn't sing. I know better. But we had some lovely surprises. I knew Sarah could sing well, and she did a couple of numbers beautifully. However, I had no idea DL had the most incredible voice! He opened the show singing "My Way," and we were all mesmerized. Kyle sang a few numbers too, also displaying an impressive voice.

All weekend, I kept bumping into Fineous (our Flogger Extraordinaire) and he said we absolutely had to play, that it wouldn't be a complete weekend without our scening (I felt the same way). So here it was late Sunday night and I kept hoping he'd show up, but I didn't see him. I was starting to resign myself that it wouldn't happen this time. Then, Jersey John came over to me. "Fineous is looking for you!" he said. "Where IS he?" I blurted. "He's in 560!" "Ohhhh... please tell him to come here!" And he did. Thank you, JJ.

Within minutes, there was Fineous coming in the door, and we went off to one of the bedrooms, where I stripped down to just panties and lay on my stomach on the bed, waiting for him to work his magic with his two floggers. Yummmmmmm.

Afterward, when I was flogged into oblivion, he finished with a nice massage. Sadly, I had to get up and dress... I could have drifted off to sleep right there. But it wasn't my bed, after all.

Back in the main room, the karaoke wound down and the playing kicked back in. I did a fun scene with Alex (aka IMLX). For reasons completely unknown to me, people surrounding us kept throwing me under the bus, telling Alex I'd said bad things about him, and -- even worse -- had cast aspersions upon his mother. I was totally innocent of all these accusations, but of course, no one listened to me. (sigh) Alex is a sweetie and he made me laugh, a lot.

Shortly after Alex, I found myself right back in the same position, same spot on the bed, this time with Tubaman Paul. Poor guy didn't get to play full bore with Sarah or Kat, since they were both shooting with SL the next day and had to be unmarked... so he had a lot of excess energy. Lucky me! So it was much to my chagrin that when I was just getting into it, he started to pull my skirt back down.

"That's IT??" I blurted, and an "oooooooooohhhh!" rippled through the people watching. Paul yanked me up and plunked me onto the bed, then dashed out the room, returning post-haste with a leather paddle in his hand. Back I went. As I often say, me and my big mouth!

Damn, that was fun. :-)

My final scene of the weekend was with Jersey John. In his effort to prove how ambidextrous he is, he kept picking me up, flipping me around in midair and then plunking me back down facing the opposite way. He did this three times and I felt like I was on a carnival ride. I swear, that man is strong as a bull! We have seen him at parties for years and years, and it's always a joy to see his beaming face. He says I never change. I wish that were true, but it's nice to hear!

It was 3:30 when we finally said our goodbyes, hugs all around and went back to our room. Because we were both still keyed up, we decided to do most of our packing then, so we got to bed a little after 4:00. I was so dead to the world at 7:30, John said he'd had to call my name, shake me, then kiss my ear to get me to wake up. He was ready to check to see if I was still breathing. Ugh! Just barely!

We finished packing and John took everything down to the car (he wouldn't let me help), checked out and then went to the bagel place to get a quick breakfast before hitting the road. The last person we saw was Richard Windsor -- perfect sendoff! :-)

The ride was smooth, no major tie-ups. We'd started at 9:00, so I guess we beat all the traffic coming home from the holiday weekend. I shuddered when we drove past the fire area -- everything was blackened. So, so scary, and how close we came to being stuck in that.

So... another SL weekend. I played 12 times, but had no marks and aside from a slightly squirmy ride home, no residual soreness. I marked one hand. I sold all the books I'd brought. I made new friends and enjoyed seeing old ones. I shot a fun little video. Overall, despite the emotional peaks and valleys, I'd say it was a damn good weekend.

Thank you, Tony, Eve and Butch. Thank you, Dr. L and Ten; Tom; Jules, Mike and Miranda; and anyone else I'm forgetting, for opening your suites to us. Thank you, Spanking Scene, for bringing me joy like I've never known, again and again. :-)

Shadow Lane 2011, Part 4

Aside from returning the rental car, I haven't done a damn thing today but edit photos, answer email and write blogs, FetLife posts and comments. Welcome to Day After Party syndrome; you're fairly worthless, but it's fun.

Before I continue with Saturday night, I forgot this little tidbit from Friday night. In both Jeff's and Dr. L's rooms, along with the beer and wine, there was this unusual find:

That's right, Kinky Liqueur. It is vodka with several fruit juices, and although it's hard to tell in this picture, it is bright orange, like a ripe cantaloupe.

I was sitting and yakking with Sarah, and she said we had to try that liqueur. We got the bottle and she poured some into a cup, tasting it, then handing it to me. Gaaaaaaaaaaaaa.... sweet! Very sweet. But with a hefty kick to it. She decided to make a mixed drink of it, adding ice cubes and Diet Coke. I know, to some of you it may sound gross, but I kinda liked it, so she made one for me. Yes, Erica had a drink. Just enough to get a quick, giggly buzz. How can you be at a kink party and not drink Kinky Liqueur? :-)

Back to Saturday -- Djinn and I went back to Dr. L's room, which was packed. In one of the rooms, the guys were having sort of a Mad Men gathering, smoking cigars. OK, I have to admit, I hate the smell of cigars. But I was in such a mellow mood at that point, I barely noticed them.

I approached Michael, the newcomer I'd mentioned in part 1, and we started talking. He was leaning in the doorway of the smoking room, but he wrapped his hand holding the cigar around the back of the doorjamb so that I didn't notice it. He told me about what an amazing time he was having so far, and I told him about all the different types of party scenes, including the one I'd just had. I said that they can't all be that special a connection, but it's OK, because sometimes, fun is just that -- fun -- and it's lovely to play just for playing's sake at these gatherings sometimes.

As we talked, I could feel the pre-spanking tension build... we were going to play, I knew it. But he took his time. Said he wanted me to savor the feelings from my scene with Djinn for a while, that he didn't want to tromp all over that. I liked that. So we kept talking, until he suggested we go into the other room. It was time.

Wow. What a great scene we had! Just a hand spanking (I experienced very few implements this weekend), but we connected well. He looked down at me a lot, leaned down and spoke to me, and I was able to tune out the noise in the room, even though things were rather raucous at that point. He was in a suit, and as things escalated, he stopped for a minute to shrug off his jacket and roll up his sleeves. Getting serious here! :-) He laid his jacket neatly next to me. "Don't touch my jacket," he warned.

Of course, I touched it. Repeatedly. I made a show of poking it with my finger. He reacted appropriately.

"I said, don't touch my jacket!"

I poked it some more.

"Are you still touching my jacket??" Yup.

"You do realize," I laughed, "that your telling me not to touch your jacket just ensures that I'm going to touch it, right?" Then the light bulb went off. I knew how to kick this up a notch.

"Hey," I added. "If your jacket is out of reach, I can't touch it." Then I grabbed the jacket and threw it on the floor.

Ohhhhhhh, my. He got out from under me, got onto the bed on his knees next to me and hunkered down, putting his full arm into it. I thought I heard someone off to the side say, "Wowwww...." but I'm not sure. He was really letting me have it. And of course, I loved it.

When we were done, it took a long time for me to get up, and he didn't rush me. He laid next to me, put his arm across me, stroked my hair, my back and neck, let me come down. Eventually, all the noise finally got to be a bit much and I sat up, reluctantly. We hugged and he retrieved my glasses from the nightstand, even thoughtfully stopping to clean them with his tie before handing them back. Lovely!

I went back into the main room and found John on the couch, so I sat next to him, sprawled against him and stretched my legs out, propping my feet on the arm of the other couch. And there I sat quietly for a while, smiling. Michael came out, saw me and wandered over. Leaning down, he whispered, "As great as that scene was, I think I like this even more -- knowing I put that smile on your face."

A while later, I saw Dr. L and I just had to approach him and express my gratitude to him, for these awesome room parties. If it hadn't been for him and for Tom in 960, I don't know where we all would have gone, honestly. He was sweet, said he loved doing it -- then asked if I'd like to play. Absolutely!

Holy moly. It wasn't a long scene, but it was freaking amazing. Can I just tell you that Dr. L's hand is a force to be reckoned with? I do believe that if we did a lengthy scene, he'd join the short list of men who can make me say "mercy" with just their hand. No lie. He picked up the pace and strength and by the end, he had me hollering. In a good way.

After he wound down (and after I could speak again), the first thing I did was turn my head, look up at him and breathe, "Damn! How is it I've never played with you before??" I think he liked that.

And then I was done playing for the night. I knew I'd had three incredible scenes and I didn't want to push it, trying for more. There was still another day. So, after some odds and ends of chatting with others (which has become a blur), John took me back to our room and poured me into bed. I forget what time it was. Late. Maybe 2:30?

Yeah, I know. That's early for the all-nighters. What can I say, I need sleep. :-)

More to come!

Shadow Lane 2011, Part 3 (this one's kinda long)

You guys know me well enough by now to know I share the downsides as well as the upsides of these gatherings, and the parts of myself I'm not overly proud of when they emerge. Emotions run high during these weekends and sometimes, it's like being on a roller coaster. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way, but I still wish sometimes it didn't happen. However, this time, I was in the best of hands when Meltdown 2011 occurred.

It's no secret that, despite all the work I've done on myself over the years, I still have a persistent insecurity streak that will probably never be completely eradicated. And without going into too much detail, there are certain types of people who push every insecurity button I have. One such person was at this party; someone I have seen before and was hoping I wouldn't see again. And I gave her way too damn much power. Which pisses me off, because I'm sure she was completely unaware of MY existence.

Anyway... Saturday night, back in Dr L's suite, I was hanging around in the kitchenette with Sophie and Djinn. I'd played little so far, I was feeling a bit unsure of myself, and this person was very much there, so I got a bit snarky. OK, more than a bit. Not proud of that, folks. Sophie and others had laughed at my pithy comments, but Djinn did not -- he just gave me searching looks and knowing smiles, which unnerved me a little. He then said, "If I take you off and spank you, who's going to watch over Sophie?" (He was very protective of her and didn't want her to be deluged, which she would be the minute he left.) I said, "John will!", so Djinn recruited John, and off we went.

I was happy about playing with him, as he's a great spanker and reads me amazingly well, considering we've only played once before, but I was uncomfortable too. I was beginning to feel a bit ashamed of my bitchiness, and felt absolutely mortified when he revealed that the person in question was a friend of his. Ugh!

"You must think I'm a catty bitch," I moaned, wanting to shrivel up and disappear. He assured me that he most certainly did not, but I still felt awful. As we went into my room and he pulled a chair out, I kept babbling. "I'm really not the kind of woman who tears down other women, I hate women like that, I don't usually do this, it's just that blah blah blah..." He just looked at me. "You can't let this go, can you," he said, his tone calm. "No... I can't!" I blurted, feeling more foolish by the minute.

"I'm not angry at you, I don't think badly of you and I care about you. I'm going to give you a good spanking because you clearly need one. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Yes, what?" I didn't answer at first.

"Erica, you know how to behave. Answer me." Instantly subdued, I murmured, "Yes, sir."

He has a very strong hand and didn't need implements. The spanking went on for a while, I don't know how long, and it varied in intensity. All the while, he spoke to me in the same measured, calm voice, saying kind and soothing words to me, and, much to my ultimate embarrassment, I lost it. I clung to his leg with both arms and wept, tears dripping off my nose onto the carpet. He knew I was crying, because he could hear me sniffle. And he treated my tears with the utmost respect and sweetness. Slowly, I felt the tension ebb out of my limbs, my back, my neck.

"Do you have anything to say to me?" he asked, as things were winding down.

"Thank you," I whispered. "Thank YOU," he answered. He kept me in position for a while. I still felt a little embarrassed and I was in no hurry to get back up and face him, but I definitely felt much better. "I don't know what gets into me," I mumbled. "These parties mess with my head sometimes."

"Me too," he said. "Really? You're not just saying that?" "No, I'm not."

Such complex creatures we are.

Finally I got up and we hugged. He stayed with me while I fixed my face, made sure I was OK before we went back to the party. I felt restored and calm, all the tension and nattering in my head gone.

Thank you, Djinn.

I think I will end Part 3 here.

Shadow Lane 2011, Part 2

Saturday morning, as per usual, I slept in while John headed to the gym. He dragged me out of bed and we showered, dressed and went down to Cafe Siena for lunch. I love that place! They have great breakfast stuff and they're so accommodating of us all, our big groups and ever-expanding tables.

This time, we were joined by Mir and S, and Mija and Pablo, and had a nice meal with lively discussion and lots of laughs. Later in the afternoon, we went to the Strictly Spanking New York suite party, which was crammed wall to wall with people. They were showing a series of their film shorts and we caught the last few -- hilarious! I so want to go to their Boardwalk Badness party next April. I did a couple of quickie scenes there, including with Mir's S, which was great fun. When the party wound down, John and I went back to our room to relax a bit before preparing for the evening's activities.

You know, it's laughable how jittery I am while getting ready, after all these years. Thank goodness for John... My dress tied at both shoulders, and I had to recruit him to tie each side in a neat bow. And of course, he hooked my garters, since with my shaky hands it would have taken all evening. However, he does like to torment me while I try to do my hair and makeup -- stands next to me and preens/makes faces in the mirror. I finally had to say, "Honey, I see you. Yes, you look great. I love you. Now will you please get the hell out of here!" LOL

The ballroom buffet/dance was a blast! Everyone looked smashing, as usual -- lots of suits on the men and beautiful dresses on the women. Got a few pictures -- Here I am with the incomparable Sarah Gregory. How about her dress, huh? Wooo hooooo!

With "Tubaman" Paul -- we shared a dance, too:

And here I am with Richard Windsor -- the much slimmer version!

I danced a little, but mostly I watched, and chatted with others all around the room until it was time to head for suite parties once again. The buffet was delicious, as always, but who can eat that much?

Before heading to Dr. Lectr's, I went to Rich's room so we could shoot a fun little video promo for my book. He'd come up with a very cool concept (I won't spoil it; you'll just have to see it when he puts it up on SpankingTube), and it didn't take too long. In fact, I spent more time chatting with him then I did shooting. Can't wait to see the finished product. Thank you, Rich!

You know what? I think I will finish up Saturday night in Part 3. I had two very special and intense scenes and I don't want to just tack them onto the end of this; they deserve their own portion.

Shadow Lane 2011, Part 1

Another Shadow Lane weekend is a memory. As usual, I'm struggling a bit to gather my thoughts and put them in order, but I know I want to get it all down before I forget details. As it is, I'll probably forget some anyway; so much happens in so little time.

Remember when I wrote on Friday morning that I thought being Chrossed was a good omen? I do believe I was right. John and I normally hit the road for Vegas around 10; for whatever reason, this year we decided to leave a little earlier, so we were on our way by 9:15. The ride was smooth and clear, and even with a stop at Enterprise to add John's name to the rental car agreement and one bathroom/snack stop in Baker, we made it to the Suncoast by 2:00. After we arrived, we found out we'd dodged a major bullet. Around 12:30, a fire had erupted on the I-15 and shut down the freeway, snarling traffic for hours and burning over 1,000 acres. The specific area on the highway was the Cajon Pass... which we'd driven past it about an hour before the fire started. If we hadn't left earlier than usual, we may very well have been stuck in the thick of it. And I would have had the meltdown to end all meltdowns.

We got checked in and unpacked and tried to nap, but I was too wound up to sleep. I'd brought my carton of 15 books, plus the 4 that had the cover imperfection (I was selling those for $7 instead of $10). We changed clothes and headed down to the ballroom for the vendor fair; once there, it was the usual whirlwind of hugs and greetings. I found Kitty's table and set up my books in stacks on the area of the table she'd cleared for me. I really didn't know what to expect. At first things were a little slow, but then Bob the DJ, Kitty's hubby, announced the book over the loudspeaker and directed people to our table.

People came over in droves, and the books sold out. Even the "defective cover" ones. And nearly everyone asked me to autograph their copy. I was over the moon. :-)

I was then able to get up and mingle, go to all the other vendor tables, get tons of hugs. I love that part of SL, the greetings! Seeing friends I haven't seen in a year, or at least a good long while. I went to Sarah Gregory's table; she was dressed up like a cheerleader and when she saw me, she shrieked. We jumped up and down like little kids and hugged each other so hard, we nearly fell over. Kyle Johnson took a cute picture of Sarah, me and Clare Fonda; she put it up on her FetLife page.

So many names, so many dear faces. I was happy to hug adorable Sophie to pieces, and to see Djinn from Vancouver again. Our SLBFF Mir was there -- it wouldn't be a party without her! -- and we got to meet her squeeze S. Got to see Craig, always wonderful, and I finally got to meet Beth, his Lair play partner. What a cutie! There were a lot of new faces and I met several of them. And of course, many friends who couldn't make it were missed. (sigh)  But it was to be expected, given the economy.

Soon, it was room party time. Here is where I'm going to give huge kudos to a gentleman who goes by the name of Dr. Lectr on Fet -- he had booked a suite, and he decided to open his room to all of us for suite parties. Which nights? ALL of them... he had a party Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, each one a different theme. He had music, decorations, tons of food and drink, and he was such a gracious host. I told him he really made this party for many of us this time, and I meant it. He was rooming with Ten Amorette -- gawd, that girl is too cute! On Friday night, the theme was Hawaiian, and they had piles of leis on the table. Ten was greeting everyone who came in, wearing her hula skirt and a big flower in her hair, and asking us all if we wanted to "get lei'd."

And as always, party veteran Tom opened his suite to us as well. So both 1031 and 960 were hopping. And I was itching to play. Who would be my first scene of the weekend?

Backtrack a bit -- three years ago, I had a missed connection with a man named Jeff from FL; he'd come to his very first party and he had a suite, which he opened up to us. I really wanted to play with him and although we'd chatted a bit, we hadn't quite connected enough to get to the "Wanna play?" stage. So late on Saturday night, I screwed up all my courage and flat-out told him I'd love to play with him the next day, if he was going to be around. He said yes, and he'd love to. But... as often happens at SL, we missed each other. Sundays tend to be very unstructured and it's easy to lose track of people. I was bummed, but oh well.

Aaaand... there he was, at this party. :-)  OK, Erica. Make it happen, dammit.

In DL's room, I noticed a container of spanko fortune cookies, the same ones the Spanking Court folks sell. Selecting one, I opened it and read my fortune: "75, Bottom's Choice." That meant implement, of course, but I decided to use it for something else. Seeing Jeff across the room (and standing by himself!), I walked right up to him, held up the slip of paper and said, "I just got this fortune that says I have 'bottom's choice.' Can I choose you?"

He grinned and said yes, thank goodness. (damn... being the asker sucks. It's nerve-wracking. How do guys do it all the time??)

So we went to his room and had a fun little scene with his hand, a paddle and his belt. Nice way to break in the weekend!

Back in DL's suite, I was chatting with a man named Michael, who was just "coming out" in the scene and this was his first party. He and I had had some correspondence via email (he referred to me as his mentor), but this was the first time we were meeting in person. He was having a blast so far, meeting lots of people, and it was fun to see his excitement. I think he gave me way too much credit, saying how much I'd helped him, but it was nice to hear. As we talked, Craig came over and said hello, and I introduced him to Michael. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to interrupt," Craig said. Michael assured him no, not a problem, no interruption. "Well, in that case, would you mind if I take her away and spank her?" "Not at all, have fun!" Ah, I love spanking parties.

So Craig and I had a great OTK scene in one of the suite's bedrooms, with lots of people watching and much enthusiasm around us. I couldn't stop giggling... it was fun to be playing with him again. I'd forgotten how powerful his hand is! He was so sweet earlier at the vendor table, telling me twice how proud he was of me about the book. Always nice to hear those words.

The rest of the evening is a blur of talking and laughing -- I didn't have any more scenes on Friday night. Overall, this was a relatively low-key weekend for me, play-wise. Some parties are like that. Still, I ended the evening by losing my voice -- always a sign of a good first night!

Part 2 to come tomorrow (and pictures too). In the meantime, before I forget -- thank you thank you THANK YOU to both Bonnie and Dana Kane, who each wrote wonderful reviews of my book on their respective blogs over the weekend. I really do have some amazing friends. :-)

Off to Shadow Lane

The car is packed, and I'm having a bit of breakfast before I leave for John's. So far, all has gone smoothly, so I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that we don't hit bad traffic. We're leaving plenty early to allow lots of time.

I discovered this morning that Chross posted his weekly list extra early, and I'm on it. I'll take that as a good omen. :-)  Thank you, sir.

Because I'm such a dinosaur and don't have a laptop, a Smart phone or a tablet, I won't have Internet access over the weekend (unless I borrow someone else's laptop). So I won't be posting any updates or answering comments until I come home. Maybe it's just as well that I don't have any of those toys with me. I'd probably be on one of them every other minute, and I'd really rather focus on the party and the people right there with me.

As always, after I come back and gather my thoughts, I'll post reports, and pictures if I get any good ones.

Be safe, play nice, all that stuff. Have a great holiday weekend, y'all.

All over the map today

The pre-party jitters have settled in for the duration. I probably should have passed on the caffeinated coffee this morning. Besides being keyed up over SL, I'm still on a high from the shoot last week and my book coming out, so there is a bit of overload happening. Deep breaths, Erica. I know I'm setting myself up for a spectacular drop, but I'll worry about that later.

The preparations are in gear. Already got the pedicure (I don't bother with manicures; my fingernails are hideous, so I just cut them short) and the haircut, and banished those pesky gray hairs. I tore my closet apart yesterday, trying on outfits. Usually I buy something new for these parties, but this year, money is especially tight. So I'm recycling.

Today is laundry day and my last trip to the gym for a few days. Tomorrow will be a whirlwind of last-minute odds and ends. Yes, I know, I'm only going away for three days. I'm not moving to Siberia. But this is what I do.

Anyway, I have a bunch of shout-outs today. The wonderful Zelle is at it again, singing my book's praises on her blog. I nearly fell over in my chair laughing when I saw her clever Photoshop of me emerging from a coffee cup (go look). Thank you, my friend! What are your publicist rates? I owe you a bundle by now.

There's a new book in the spanko world! The Spanking Writers (Abel and Haron) have put together an anthology of spanking stories from various writers, entitled The Spanking Collection. And here's the best part: all proceeds from the book will be donated to cancer research. Please check it out.

Sending out my best wishes and warm hugs to the beautiful Pixie, who is home recovering from surgery. She's had a tough year and I hope things look up for her very soon. I really am fond of that girl.

This week, The Villain and Dana Kane are relocating to Las Vegas. Las Vegas's gain is definitely L.A.'s loss! (sniff) But they have both assured me they will be back here regularly, including for Spanking Court shoots. Last week when I told V, "I don't want you guys to move away!", he laughed and said, "Ah, we're just over the hill!" Over the hill, he says. I wish I were so laid back about a 4-5 hour drive! Anyway... I wish them the very best on their move.

Last but definitely not least, that wonderful UPT (Ultra-Popular Top) Richard Windsor offered to shoot a little book promo video with me at the party, to put on Spanking Tube. You'll see a very different Richard from the one who shot the interview with me last year -- a lot less of him, to be specific. What is it now, Rich -- 80 pounds down? Somewhere around there. :-) Fabulous.

All right... must go be productive.

Tonight's Lesson: Watch My @#$%ing Language

New Guy showed up on the dot of 6:30 (have I mentioned lately that I love how on-time and utterly reliable this man is?), and although we did make with some small-talk about the Oscars (gawd, didn't James Franco suck?), it wasn't long before I was horizontal and face down.

You know how sometimes you're more sensitive than other times to pain? Tonight was my night. At least that's how it started out; it took me longer than usual to warm up and adjust. Unfortunately, he felt the warmup should be short. Short? Try practically non-existent! :-Þ

So can you blame a girl for blurting out a couple of cuss words? I mean, come on. It hurts, for God's sake. But he thought it was very unladylike of me and we soon dispensed with the OTK and went right for the ottoman. Once I'm moved onto there, I know he means business.

Ow. Paddle, strap, flogger and this nasty biting thing I later found out was a quirt with three tails. He switched up the count thing -- this time, I had to count AND spell. Spell what, you ask? I'd said the f-bomb once and damn twice. So the count went along these lines: "One, f, two, u, three, c, four, k, five, d, six, a..." and so on.

(but no, I didn't have to say I was sore-y. Snicker)

You'd think with all those implements and my seemingly reduced tolerance, I would have been eager to have it done, right? But when he leaned down and asked, "Is it time for me to get the lotion?" I hesitated. I didn't want to say anything sassy; I was past that. But I didn't want him to stop, either. I turned my head and looked up at him, and he waited patiently, brushing my hair out of my eyes.

"I think... I... um... I think I..."

"Yes?"

"I think I need a little bit more," I whispered. (Why is it so hard for me to do that? Ah well, it just is. I did it anyway.)

So he finished me with a hard strapping, and then I was done. Well, for the moment, anyway. Aftercare was sweet, as always.

After I recovered, we moved to the couch and I put on a DVD. I have so many of them he hasn't seen, and he loves Samantha Woodley (who doesn't, really?), so I chose Sting Operation, Part 2. She was at her absolute bratty best in this one, playing a student who cheated by downloading a paper off the Internet and then got caught by her teacher. She kicked, she fussed, she was defiant, and of course, I was cheering for her. New Guy? Eh, notsomuch.

We'd been sitting side by side, but when Samantha pinched the teacher's leg, I laughed and said, "Hey, I'll have to remember that!" -- and whoooooosh, over I went again. And there I stayed for the rest of the freaking DVD. When she got smacked, I got smacked. When she got the paddle, I got the paddle. And guess what?? I had totally forgotten about this, because I haven't seen this DVD for a while, but... She calls him a bastard, and he makes her spell it out to him while he whacks her with the paddle. How funny, considering that NG had made me do the exact same thing earlier.

I pointed out to NG that she said bastard, I didn't say bastard. But he didn't care. Argggghhhh. OK, fine! I figured I get it whether I cuss or I don't cuss, so what's the difference? Soooooo... when she said my favorite line in the whole DVD: "I said I was sorry! So forgive and forget, and f*** off!"...yup,  I said it along with her. :-D

Professor Lance finally let Samantha up -- however, NG said, "You stay right where you are." So much for following the video. The second spanking of the evening continued long past the end of the DVD, and after one hard flurry, I breathed, "Jesus!"

I felt him freeze, and I screeched, "That's not cussing, that's not cussing!" He said, "Yes, it is." I got so frustrated, I lost my head. Again.

"It is NOT! It would be one thing if I'd said 'Jesus f***ing Christ,' but I didn't!"

I am such an idiot. Yes, I had to spell out all three words, 18 whacks.

Someday, I'll learn. Or not.

But you know that edgy, crabby, unsettled mood I mentioned last Friday? No sign of it now. Whaddaya know. Who needs Xanax when you have a spanker extraordinaire?

T - h - a - n - k    y - o - u. :-)

Post-party odds and ends, and a dumb question

OK, here's the dumb question first: How do you guys, my readers, see my blog? I'm talking purely visuals here.

Let me explain. I have viewed my blog from my AOL browser and through Internet Explorer, and I've viewed it signed in and signed out of Blogger. No matter how I look at it, I see the same thing: All the print, the photos, etc. are on a white background. Then, surrounding that white background is a red-and-pink floral border.

This weekend, a friend came to me and said that he loved my blog but found it a bit hard to read with the floral background. Huh? I said the background is white and the flowers only surround it, but he said no... the entire background is floral and all the copy sits over that. Ugh!

No one else has commented about the readability or the overabundance of flowers, but that's certainly not what I want. I am not that girly! So please let me know what you see. It frustrates me to think that I'm seeing one thing and everyone else sees another.

The post-party drop is setting in. Nothing too heavy, no weepiness or anything like that, just a general blech. Perfectly normal after so much excitement. The party feedback, comments and messages have been flying all over the Shadow Lane board and on FetLife, and I've been having lots of fun with them. I got my blogs out rather quickly (I have to, so I won't forget), but others are just starting with theirs, so there is more fun reading to come. 

Oh, and Mike Tanner sent me the cell phone shot taken of my bottom on Saturday. It had already slightly faded, but here I am after five with the "family strap":

And allow me to amend something stated previously: I had said that our friend CO Carolyn had taken 20 with the family strap. She had not; she only took 18. That wimp. :-D

OK... I really do need to do something or another that's not post-party related. This week has been a complete wash!

Shadow Lane party, Part 4 (Sunday)

You know, I was going to start this installment with two items I'd forgotten to mention earlier, but now I've forgotten one of the things I remembered I forgot. Ugh. Oh well, it will come back to me. The other thing I neglected to mention was from Friday night in the ballroom. On FetLife, I jokingly have chocolate listed as one of my fetishes. A very sweet man named Ben, one of my Fet buddies, greeted me that evening and presented me with a box of chocolates! Nice, huh? Thank you, Ben. :-)

Oh! Just remembered... On Saturday night, the NS people also had a suite party, which we went to first and spent some time before hitting 901 later. Thanks, guys! You're the best, and it was wonderful having you all here again.

I slept in until 11 on Sunday morning, then showered and dressed. We were supposed to meet Mir for lunch but she was running late, so we met her in the gym and told her we'd keep a spot for her at our table. I needed to eat, because I had a throbbing headache and had to get some Advil into me. Down at Cafe Siena, we found Danny and Sophie and joined their table; shortly thereafter, we were joined by Ann, a newbie to parties who had bravely come by herself and Tony had introduced her to D and Sophie, who took her under their wings. Craig was at the table right next to ours, with Gia, Lizzie, Jada and Missy. J leaned over and whispered to me, "Ask Craig why he has only four women with him." LOL!   

Very strange thing: Even though we were one table apart, our party had a different server from Craig's. While we had the best of service and got our food immediately and accurately with all the special requests observed, Craig's group had been seated before us and they were still waiting for their orders when we were nearly done. I don't know what happened, but I think the five of them were ready to eat their napkins by the time their food came. Fortunately, they had bread. But what a pain! Some people don't like Cafe Siena because the service is hit or miss, but I love it. And I like the food too; they have healthy choices. Plus it's right by the elevators and a main walkway and has an open plan, so people can find you easily as they go back and forth.

After lunch, we headed for 901, where Strict Dave was once again holding his famous CP Court. When he had them at FMS and SSNY, he was able to use a hotel conference room, but this time he had to make do with a large suite. Bob the DJ generously set up the sound system so it worked out well. J, Mir and I got there early to grab a good seat and we were able to snag one of the couches. Turned out to be a good move, since the room got packed and most people had to stand.

I love CP Court! CO Carolyn was the defendant twice, and so was Craig. Craig had purposely arranged to get his fire kit to SL so he could do fire play with Carolyn, but when apparently when the designated time for their scene came, she had put body lotion on and you're not supposed to do that, so Craig told her she had to go shower. She didn't feel like doing so at the moment, so there was Craig with all the stuff set up. He asked if anyone else wanted to do it, and Kate (of Kate and Michael) stepped up. She loved it... but unfortunately, she instinctively did exactly what Craig told her not to do. You have to remain stock-still, but she felt the heat and wriggled around, making the fire spread. He doused it immediately, but she still got a faint burn on her back. Craig felt awful, but Kate didn't blame him -- she blamed Carolyn! (playfully, of course) As for Craig, he got called up for "irresponsible texting" -- he's already told that story on his own blog. :-)

When it was over, Andy and a couple of others said to me, "Why weren't you up there?" I just smiled sweetly and answered, "Because I didn't do anything!" I cringed for a moment, waiting for the lightning strike, but it didn't happen.

After we all cleared out of 901, AZ Carolyn and I went back to her room to have some girl-talk time. We so rarely get to chat and we had lots of catch-up to do. So many times on these weekends, I say I'm going to make time to just talk with my friends, but it ends up not happening because of all the other activity and distractions. I'm very glad we both made it work this time!

Back in our room, I found J asleep so I joined him. After our nap, we got up and I changed into a white skirt and black-and-white top. I had the cutest pair of black-and-white checked panties with little blue hearts on the waistband. We were supposed to meet AZ Carolyn and Sue for dinner at Senor Miguel's in the hotel, so I texted Craig to see what he was up to. As it happened, he was already there with a big group of people; did I want him to hold seats for us? Is there room for four more? I asked. No problem.

So we went down to the restaurant and found our group -- what a fun table! Twelve people, including Craig and Gia, Sophie and Danny, etc. I sat at one end and we made two spaces for Carolyn and Sue, but then Carolyn called J and said she wasn't feeling well, so they didn't make it. I felt a little lonely at the far end, but both Danny and Craig made it a point to get up and come over to sit with me and visit, so I got to schmooze a bit. Mostly I listened while J and Missy talked about biking; she's an avid biker too. Unfortunately, the conversation veered into their experiences with accidents, which I could do without! However, when the food came, they dropped the subject.

I don't like Mexican food as a rule, but I can enjoy a simple dish like fish tacos. These were wonderful -- seasoned broiled red snapper, cabbage and tomatoes on corn tortillas, with a squeeze of lime. They gave me a sauce too, but I pushed that aside. Creamy AND spicy; blech on both counts! I know, I know... such a fussy eater I am.

After dinner, suite party time! Matt opened his room to us, so several of us convened there and it was quite the lively time. I sat at the bar chatting with several people, then Sophie got it in her head that Danny should give me another spanking. "Oh, you think so, huh?" I said. She did. I don't remember who said what after that, but sure enough, there was Danny, yanking me off the barstool and pulling me over to the couch, where he bent me over the back. He had several new toys he'd purchased at the vendor fair, including a cane with bright shiny red material wrapped around the handle (he called it the "Judy Garland cane," because the red stuff looked like Dorothy's ruby slippers in Wizard of Oz).

No warmup this time; he got right down to business with the implements. And it wasn't enough to just lift my skirt; oh no. He had to take the damn thing off. We made it quite the raucous scene and people were watching and throwing out comments. Then he gave me the first strike with his new cane, a hard one. The tip flew off. Another strike, and another piece broke off. And again, and again. All in all, five pieces snapped off and flew in all directions. He gave up and proceeded to take off his (brand-new) belt --- ouch!!! He'd forgotten his well-worn, familiar old belt at home, so he'd bought a new one. Ugh! New belts hurt like hell! But of course, my endorphins didn't let me down.

My Shadow Lane party was now complete, at least in one area: I'd broken an implement. :-D  After the scene, and some cuddle time on the couch with D, I gathered up the broken pieces -- well, four of them. The fifth one disappeared and we couldn't find it. But here I am with the evidence:

A while later as I stood chatting, Craig came up behind me and said ominously, "I think you need to come with me right now." Mmmmm... how could I refuse? We went into the bedroom, but both beds were being used. Someone pointed toward the bathroom area and said, "How about back there?" We walked in and found a large, open dressing room/bathroom area; as I recall, I'd played in a similar bathroom with Djinn last year. (Dammit! I didn't get to play with Djinn this time! So disappointed. But he left Sunday early afternoon, and our paths simply didn't cross at the right time.)

Anyway, Craig sat on the edge of the oversized bathtub and pulled me over his lap, giving me a folded towel so I could brace my arms on that instead of the cold hard rim. (so thoughtful!) He then produced this nasty wooden paddle he'd bought at the vendor fair.... ugh! You know how I feel about wood to begin with, and by Sunday night at a party weekend, I'm so tenderized I can hardly stand a powerful hand, let alone wood. Fortunately, after a couple of swats with that paddle, Craig heard the distress in my voice and put it away, going back to his hand. (thank you, sweetie) We had a nice long hand-spanking scene, then I sat in his lap and we chatted a while, winding down before we rejoined the crowd.

Lots more talking, blah blah blah, laugh laugh laugh... it grew later and I was getting tired. I hadn't seen Fineous all evening and I still wanted a flogging from him, so I texted him and told him where the party was. At midnight he finally showed up, but he didn't ask me to play, just joined us in chatting. I waited -- I had made it known that I wanted to play with him, so I didn't want to push. Craig then texted a few of us and invited us to his suite for a small party, so we prepared to head off, saying our good-nights. Fineous then approached me and whispered, "Do you think it would be OK if I came with you guys?" I told him I was sure it would be, and he replied. "Good. I don't want you thinking you were going to get away without your flogging." YES!!

Once at Craig and Gia's, Fineous first bent me over the dining room table for a brief spanking, then took me into one of the bedrooms where I stripped off my skirt and top and lay on the bed. What can I say about his floggings that I haven't already said in my rhapsodic tones; he's a wizard with those things. He started lightly, then built up and up, flogging all over my back, bottom and legs, varying the tempo and intensity, until all my nerves were singing and I was making animal noises. When he wound down, I was mush. I didn't want to move... I could have shut my eyes and slept there. He gave me lots of time, sat next to me and gave me a nice massage while we talked.

Finally I was able to get up, put my things back on and come out, but my legs would barely hold me up and I was spacy. Several other people had come in and I remembered I'd told Michael earlier that I'd love to play with him, but now I knew I didn't have it in me; I was well and truly done. I looked for him, but he'd left to play with Lizzie and I couldn't wait. It was around 2:00 by now and we had to get up very early.

I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye to Danny and Sophie, so I texted him to see where they were; they were in 660 again. We said goodnight to everyone in Craig's room. I'm sorry it didn't work out this time that I had my final scene of the weekend with Craig, but at least I did have my first one with him, and we had four total.

Room 660 was hopping, people were playing "Spanking Blackjack" and beer pong, but I just sat like a lump, struggling to keep my eyes open. We stayed for a few minutes watching the action, but then, reluctantly, we decided to call it a night. Many hugs in the room and at the elevator, and off we went.

Monday morning, J got up before me and took some of our stuff down to the car. We showered and dressed, packed up the remainder and headed down to checkout. Our intent was to eat a quick breakfast and be on the road by 9:00, so we could beat the Labor Day traffic. And this time, we met our goal. Even with seeing Richard Windsor, CO Carolyn and a couple of others, we still managed to get checked out, grab a bagel and coffee, and we were in the car heading out at 9:00.

We got as far as the main boulevard next to the hotel and my phone beeped. I then read the text from Craig: "I need to give you my fire kit." AAAAGGGHHHH!!!! I'd completely forgotten about that! I cried out to J, "Dammit! We forgot Craig's fire kit; we have to go back!" He immediately did a U-turn and headed back, and told me to text Craig back and tell him to meet J at the elevators in the lobby. I was so rattled, my fingers were fumbling and I kept screwing up the text, but finally got it finished by the time we parked the car. I stayed there while J ran in.

All was well; Craig found him and gave him the kit, and then J saw Mir and chatted with her for a moment. We hit the road for real at 9:30. And naturally, we hit traffic on and off all the way home! I really don't believe the extra half-hour made that much difference, but naturally J used it to his best advantage, saying that we made it here in four hours, so I was going to get one swat for every second (not minute, second) that our trip was past four hours. Whaaa?? I protested so mightily, he finally conceded and said, "OK. Tell Craig that he has to give Gia a swat for every second past four hours." Double whaaa?? I said, "Gia? What the hell does poor Gia have to do with this?" He said, "Well, Craig's a top, we can't blame him, and someone has to be punished!" Ladies and gentlemen, Top Logic at its finest.

The trip home took 4 3/4 hours; not bad, really. We went to J's first and got all his stuff out of the car, I said goodbye and headed home. Another party weekend was over.

Oh, and by the way... I have a faint bruise on my left upper thigh. And oddly, the backs of my calves are peppered with tiny bruises; I can only figure that those were from the flogger. My bottom? White as the day I was born.

Tony, Eve and Butch -- congratulations on another great party, and thank you so, so much! Thanks to everyone I played with, and to all who opened their suites to us. Over and out on the Shadow Lane 2010 party report. :-)

Shadow Lane party, Part 3 (Saturday)

Before I get into Saturday afternoon/evening, I have a couple of tidbits I forgot from Friday.

When J and I got to the hotel, we unloaded the car and straggled through the hotel lobby with most of our stuff (two trips were required). Once at the registration desk, I became aware that after over four hours of sitting in the car, I had a major wedgie going on. So, while J did the checking-in process, I idly slipped my fingers into the back of my shorts and grabbed at the waistband of the offending underwear, attempting to flick the material from between my butt cheeks. I know, I know... real classy! Then I heard a voice boom in my ear, "Keep your hands out of your pants!" I turned around and there was Fireman Chris, grinning at me. I gave him a big hug... and that, ladies and gentleman, was my first greeting of the weekend. Oy vey. :-)

Also, forgot to mention that several of the ladies of Northern Spanking entertained us with a song-and-dance routine in the ballroom. They were excellent! I love these people; they have such positive spirit and just seeing them makes you smile. Oh, and Lucy and Paul brought their baby boy, who was so beautiful. When I first saw him in his stroller, I crouched down to get a closer look. He was sound asleep, and I couldn't resist lightly touching his soft baby hair with the back of one finger. Without waking up, he reached up and swatted my finger away like it was a pesky fly! Sooooo cute...

Anyway, back to Saturday afternoon. After the shoot, I first went back to our room to change into shorts, and then I headed for the SSNY suite, which was having a party from 11 to 5. That room was packed and I found J there. I did a scene with Jon (JSpanks on FetLife), whom Craig had dubbed BonJovi because he is a musician and has a similar look to the rock star. What a cutie! After that, I was sitting on the couch talking and Mike Tanner (of the SSNY Tanner Reformatory) approached me and said I couldn't leave Las Vegas without experiencing the "Family Strap."

I'd heard of this strap -- it's quite legendary at these parties. And I admit, I was a little bit scared at the thought of it. I knew the challenge of it was to take full-on belt strikes, and while I'm partial to being strapped, I wasn't sure how I felt about taking this particular strap, especially on a party weekend when I had so many other scenes I wanted to do. However, my curiosity won out over my trepidation, especially since Mike was so nice.

He took me into the bedroom and said I could choose a number between 2 and 20. Our friend CO Carolyn had taken the full 20, but she has a tolerance that is far beyond anything I've ever had. So I played it safe and said I'd take 5. Funny -- he'd shown me the strap beforehand. I'd expected it to be this big, thick, monstrous thing, but it looked like an ordinary belt to me. Looks are deceiving... ohhhhhh my, that strap hurt. He spaced out the strikes, though -- gave me plenty of time to recover between each one. And after I'd taken all five, he gave me a very nice compliment; stood behind me and said, "I could just stand back here and look at this for about 24 hours." :-)  He said I had beautiful red stripes and I would have liked a picture, but naturally, I left my camera in our hotel room. Someone took a cell phone photo, but those don't usually come out very well. If it gets sent to me and it looks halfway decent, I'll post it.

From what I've heard, many people mark from the Family Strap. However, even though I felt it for a while, the redness faded almost immediately. Oh well.

We stayed for a while after that, watching some funny "instructional" videos that SSNY had shot, complete with Jules narrating in a cheesy, soothing voice like the ones you used to here in those old high-school instructional reels. Then at 4:15, we headed back to our room -- it was nap time.

At 6:00, I woke up, showered and washed my hair. I'd bought a dress super cheap at Tar-Jhay -- a simple shift dress, form-fitting cotton/spandex, gray with skinny black stripes, scoop neck and cut low in the back. I couldn't wear my usual boyshorts under it because they made lines, so I wore a little gray thong and a gray bra with padded cups. After I got myself into all this, I stared in the mirror and had a "What the hell was I thinking" moment. Who was I kidding with this dress?? It was meant for a 20-year-old! And horizontal stripes? With nervously shaking hands, I managed to blow-dry my hair and put on makeup, got my shoes buckled on. J put on his suit and looked smashing as always, and after he took a few pictures of me in my dress, I shooed him out ahead of me to go down to the ballroom and get us a table. It took me several minutes after he left to get up the nerve to leave the room. I figured, OK. I'm either going to look hot, or I'm going to look like a damned old fool trying to be a teenager.

Here you go, Jade... 'cause I promised:

I made it to the ballroom, of course, and relaxed once I was there and got positive feedback. We got a table right by the dance floor, and were joined by Danny and Sophie, Chelsea and Larry, Mir, Norm, Jada, and Andy. The buffet was marvelous; all sorts of healthy goodies, including my favorite, salmon. I ate very lightly at dinner, saving room for dessert -- Shadow Lane always gets spectacular desserts and this year was no exception. There were several cakes, including chocolate fudge and German chocolate cake. I love the latter, but this time, I opted for the former. Damn, that was good.

J and I danced, and Craig asked me to dance as well. I wandered about the ballroom, visiting with others, oohing and aahing over the clothes. The theme for Saturday night was "Mad Men" and some people really looked amazing.

Later in the evening, it was time for another round of suite parties. As on Thursday and Friday nights, Tom opened his suite to us once again and it was action-packed. I stood around talking with CO Carolyn, AZ Carolyn, Iggy and others. CO Carolyn, that brat, had had the nerve to buy a couple of ginormous rice paddles, bring them to the party and give them to tops, including Craig. "What's wrong with you?" I screeched. "How could you give tops implements like that? Where's your spanking sister solidarity?" She just kept repeating, "They were only $4.99! $4.99!" Over and over, as if that was a good excuse. I told her I didn't give a f*** if they cost 49 cents; she was evil for bringing them! Of course, she just laughed at me and repeated once again, "$4.99, Erica!" Arrrrggghhh!

I did my third scene with Craig in the bedroom; Jenni Mack was on the other bed being caned by Miss Chris. Once again I sassed him relentlessly, and I got to experience that @#$%ing rice paddle for my troubles. Damn, that thing sucked! I screamed and kicked and nearly clipped Miss Chris with my heel. "Have a little respect for Miss Chris," Craig said. "You almost kicked her!" "I have plenty of respect for Miss Chris!" I snapped back. "I just don't have any for you!" As always, our scene had wonderful energy and we played well off each other.

I had written in my Florida Moonshine report that I'd played with Strict Dave, and he and his lovely partner Stacy had come to their first SL party. So I was quite eager to play with him again. He asked if this time, instead of the sensation play with various implements, if I'd like to do more of a discipline-type scene with a roleplay, and I was game.

He thought for a few minutes, then came up with the scenario that he was my boss and I'd been caught using the company computer to surf spanking sites. OK, I could do that. So we had some improvised dialogue and then went into the punishment, a brief but hard strapping. Hot stuff! Dave is so good at what he does.

Later, I did a lovely hand-spanking scene with my friend David. That brought me up to 10, and that was it for play for me, that night. But the evening wasn't over by a long shot. Such a blur of activity and socializing, so many people! When 901 shut down, we ended up in 660, which was hosted by Paul (known as Tubaman on the various boards). He was a sweet host and asked to have a picture taken with me, and I happily obliged. Lots of familiar faces there, including pretty Sarah Gregory and Fineous, a great guy I've played with three times before and a Flogger Extraordinaire. He asked me if I was up for a flogging, but I was too wiped out by then and asked him to please, please find me tomorrow.

Craig had left the party to go do a private scene, but he said he'd be back in about a half-hour and asked us to wait for him. But by 3:10 a.m., he hadn't come back and I couldn't wait any longer... I was falling asleep sitting up. So we left, intending to text him, but then we ran into him in the hall, so all worked out and we got to say goodnight in person.

Back in our room, after chowing down on some peanuts and a couple of Pepperidge Farms Chesapeake cookies, I brushed my teeth, washed my face and fell into bed, feeling wonderfully drowsy and sore, welcoming J's comforting arms.

Part 4 (Sunday) coming tomorrow.

Vegas, here we come

Sitting here with some morning coffee and mentally going over the list. All outfits with requisite accessories, shoes, underwear, etc.? Check. Toiletries and makeup? Check. Bathing suit that I never wear but J insists I bring anyway? Check. Camera, charger, phone charger? Check. Snacks and bottled water? Check. My pillow? Check. (I hate hotel pillows. Too poufy.) CDs? Check. Wooden paddle? HELL NO! That's staying in the drawer where it belongs.

Head to J's, pack up his stuff, go to the nearest Enterprise to add his name to the permitted drivers of our rental, and then we are on the road. No traffic, please. No accidents. I heard this morning on the radio that a freight truck "lost its load" on the 101 (where I have to drive to get to J's.). However, that should be cleared up by the time I leave.

I can't wait to see everyone! :-D

Wish me luck with the Richard Windsor interview and the Northern Spankings shoot, please! I won't have a computer with me, since I'm a dinosaur and still use a desktop (and my cell phone doesn't even take pictures, let alone access the Internet), but friends will have laptops and I will probably check in over the weekend.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend, y'all.

Fun Shadow Lane party article

In anticipation of the party this week, Eve Howard's latest "Eve's Corner" is a primer on what you can expect to see and do at these gatherings, plus some dos and don'ts. Each segment is cleverly illustrated with photos from various SL videos. If you're going, or even if you're not, check it out. It's a fun and informative read.

As I perused the article and photos, I did a double take toward the end: Hey! That's me! It was a picture I hadn't seen before from Spanking Professor, with the splendid Steve Fuller. Above the photo, Eve had written:

This photo introduces a matter worth commenting on, namely, taking a girl by hair. It is quite possible to do this without feeling unpleasant, by gathering the hair close to the head, etc., and many people seem to like it, however, never grab anyone by the hair without first discussing the subject and getting their permission to do it. Even if you know what you're doing, the act of grabbing someone like that if they are unprepared could be very disturbing, and if you don't know what you're doing, painful. So check first. And this applies to every type of exotic variation on standard over the knee spanking.

Very wise words. I happen to love a hair grab. Not a hair yank so much -- I don't have a whiplash fetish. But the feeling of a man's hand entangling in my hair and then his fist closing... mmmm. Don't get me started. But never assume a woman will like that; some consider it an abusive gesture.

However, here's MY question: Just what the hell is going on with my mouth in this photo??

Correspondence Hall of Shame, 8/27

Here are a few goodies for your reading pleasure. I won't have a CHoS next Friday, because at this time next week we'll be on our way to Vegas. (butterflies starting to feel like elephants...)

OK, before anyone gets on my case for being mean, I am aware that the first offering is from someone whose first language is not English and he no doubt used some online translator that screws everything up. That's not why I'm including him. He clearly did NOT read a word of my profile, knows nothing of me and this is some stock thing he sends out to any woman whose picture he likes.

i am aroused and very intrested about you ,i prefer the arousing Body and expression and high love ,all day long..i prefer the world of common excitement and love nearly off limits,that thrills and causes high level life enjoyment to both of us ......i would like to see your soul as well ,would like to present you a total change and nymphomanicial lust ,and to open Pandorras box.. i would like to open and get opened a new deep world of real fun,i am an athletic and healthy ,well hung alpha dom ,educated music engineer and architect, and of high experience and unique antique and modern lust-techniques and specials, but i also like to give you sensual well smelling massage with a delicious massage bar or oil ,while lust torturing,about hours,have ultimative and high drive and looking for the special high drived girl to dive with her into the world of arousing darkness and nymphomanicial lust, causing a fleed of orgasm and drive your pulse to the maximum , ...also intrested in longterm and quality life with you in my large house... ,i am real and expect the same and can show you my all possibilities

Oh, my head. Where do I begin? Nymphomanicial? Fleed??? Oooh... long-term and quality life of lust torturing and diving into arousing darkness and ultimative thrills. Am I now supposed to abandon my own life and book the next flight to Germany?

I know I've asked this many times before, but it bears repeating: Does any woman ever actually reply to this sort of drivel?

Hello ... I am just your friendly neighboorhood pervert .... who loves spanking female asses ...B) and fucking them ... LOL

Note his spelling of neighborhood. There is truth in typos.

baby I would take you over my knee and spank your bare ass naughty girl. I would also suck your toes and lick your pussy all night omg your so sexy.

Keep that mouth and tongue the hell away from me; I can't even begin to imagine where they've been. And again with the pussy thing. I told you, leave my cat alone. She doesn't like you.

Shadow Lane next weekend! My shoot with Northern Spankings is set for 1:00 Saturday afternoon and my interview with Richard Windsor will most likely be on Friday evening (live webcam, too!) But first things first -- J's and my 14th anniversary is this coming Monday, so we're going to celebrate this weekend. I know he has some sort of plan for me, but I have no idea what it is. So I'm going to pack my little weekend bag and go along for the ride. Who knows, maybe I'll get a well smelling massage. :-)

Have a great weekend, y'all.

Erica has the last word on wood

Me again! You know, with the Shadow Lane party coming up in three weeks, I thought it was time for a friendly little PSA (Public Spanking Announcement, that is). :-)

These weekends are quite the extravaganza, and people attend for different reasons. Some enjoy socializing with their friends from around the country and beyond. Others are shameless spank hos (raising hand sheepishly) who love to play as much as possible, along with the aforementioned socializing. However, despite my reputation for being Little Miss Hard-Ass From Hell (as Razor Ryan once called me), I have learned from painful experience that pacing is absolutely essential. I need to last for three days. And while the spirit is willing, the flesh is sometimes rather uncooperative, especially if it's been pounded on with heavy artillery.

So, regarding those frat paddles and other heavy wooden slabs some of y'all call toys?

(Thanks to my buddy Zelle, who created this graphic just for me!)

That's right, folks. On these weekends, my bottom is a no-wood zone. OK, canes are an exception, as long as the wielder knows what he's doing. Or even some lighter, thinner wooden implements, like a lightweight hairbrush, that sting but don't feel like you're hitting me with a table leg. But leave those frat paddles et. al. in your toy bag.

Mind you, I'm not speaking for all spankees, just myself. However, you may want to take heed: Many of us bottoms endeavor to enter the weekend on a lighter note and then build up. These heavy implements tend to mark and bruise, and even if they don't, they impart a whole lot of pain. And it is usually considered very poor form to mark a bottom at the onset of a three (or four, or five, for some) day spanking weekend. Oh, you can do it, if you're absolutely determined to do so. But you might find that everyone but the most diehard masochists will treat you like you had garlic and onions with limburger cheese sauce for dinner: they will stay away. Many other tops don't like to spank a bottom that is already all bruised up, so these poor prematurely marked spankees will be deprived. Not nice.

I don't care how finely crafted the implement is. Some of you actually make these things yourselves -- I don't care. I don't care how long you sanded, polished and smoothed it. I don't care if you even cut the fucking tree down yourself. The answer is still NO.

Yeah, I know your hands hurt. Our butts hurt more. Boo hoo. If your hands give out, then go for some leather. Or, here's a concept... (gasp) Don't spank so @#$%ing hard, maybe? :-D  Just a thought. Could work. Or not.

So, what's our mantra for the Shadow Lane weekend? Pace ourselves! Happy hands, happy bottoms. Win-win.

Oh, and that last word I mentioned in the blog title? Here ya go; any questions?

Think you're pretty tough, huh?

Not so tough now! Say bye-BYE....