bandage and I have been spending a considerable amount of time lately working on bondage gear, made from clear acrylic rods and illuminated at the ends by LEDs.

Most recently, we’ve been working on a spreader bar, which I have finally finished putting together. This is just a prototype; I want to figure out a prettier way to mount the restraints, and a more attractive end cap to house the batteries and LED lights.

There is a set of LEDs in each end. The LEDs that light it up flash in a pattern of different colors, red, green, and blue, and the colors keep cycling continuously. A static image can’t really convey how it looks, but the effect is something like this:

Here’s one of the endcaps removed, with the electronics inside:

It’s not quite perfect yet, but I think it’s pretty damn cool. Now I just have to tie bandage‘s legs apart with it and molest her at the next S&M party.

I know a secret! Wanna know what it is?
You have to promise not to tell…

…clowns will eat me.

Monday, my friend J. spent the afternoon sleeping on my couch after an eleven-hour visit to the emergency room with abdominal pain.

Yesterday, it was my turn.

For a while, they thought they were going to have to take my appendix out; fortunately, that turned out not to be the case. I’m still in a lot of pain, though.

It’s been a turbulent week. Some memorable parts:

Fourth of July Fireworks with Shelly

This was a last-minute thing. Kelly didn’t really want to go, and we weren’t 100% sure where they’d be anyway.

As it turned out, we parked the car and wandered around aimlessly, and ended up in exactly the right place, right where the technicians wer setting them off, at exactly the start of the show.

I like fireworks. Explosives, burning things…hey, good stuff!

Partying

Saturday was Keirston’s birthday party. It was a blast–losts of people, lots of alcohol, that sort of thing. I spent a good bit of time talking to lightgatherer; I’ve met her before, but never really talked to her. She’s very cool.

Shelly didn’t really want to go at the last minute, for a number of complex reasons, some of which were related to her move to Orlando. 🙁

Moving

Sunday, Shelly and I moved her to Orlando. It’s probably the right thing for her to do, but that doesn’t change the fact that it puts her an hour away, and I’ve become used to having her around. I don’t like the idea that we’ll be able to spend less time together, but there it is.

Slavedriving

Shelly, upon whom I so enjoy inflicting pain, likes doing the same to me…in the form of exercise. She, Kelly (kellyasmith), and I are just back from the gym.

And the frightening thing is, I like it. I never, ever thought I’d see that day come!

Leaving on a jet plane

The business trip I’d all but given up on is once more back on the books. I will be in New York City the third week of this month. Shelly may accompany me.

Pity I don’t know anyone in New York. Anybody have any ideas about what to do? Any good S&M clubs in the Big Apple?

The compulsion to commit art

I have a set of negatives from a photo shoot two weeks ago with my friend K and a new model, which have been taunting me and teasing me. I haven’t really been in the mood to go into the darkroom, but the negatives have been calling me anyway, like a thorn in my brain.

Whenever I go more than a certain amount of time without doing any photographic work, I feel like I’m being poked with a sharp stick. I don’t really want to go into the darkroom, but I think I will anyway, just to get this stick to leave me alone already.

And then comes the party!

K is having a birthday party tonight. Kelly, Shelly, and I will be going tonight; if all goes well, I’ll get hammered and be obnoxious.

The Future

Major changes happening in my business. This time next year, I’ll either be very wealthy or struggling like hell, but it’s unlikely there will be any in-between.

Welcome to the world of the small businessman.

Saturday saw Kelly, Shelly, M and I headed out to the S&M party for the evening. M gave Shelly a new outfit, which she wore after I put a karada (a Japanese rope harness) on her:

Isn’t she cute? 🙂

At the party, Shelly and I took turns flogging M for a while. M also got her first taste of the crop, which was fun.

Then it was Shelly’s turn.

Occasionally, people ask me why I like inflicting pain on my lovers so much.

The answer, and another picture of Shelly, is here (warning: explicit and NOT work-safe!)

….aaaargh!

Too late.

Friday: Chaos

I love introducing new people to Mao. Friday, we played host to a number of friends (including lordfuckbeast) and I created a couple of new variants of Mao, both of which had provisions for creating new rules mid-game under certain circumstances.

It didn’t take long before the new rules involved clothing. I should have been able to anticipate that, really.

We had planned to go out to the Castle–a local goth club–but never quite made it. C’estla vie.

Saturday: The Day of Significant other’s Significant others

Shelly has anew potential romantic interest, D. Saturday, I got to meet him for the first time.

Shelly and I were working on turning long acrylic rods into illuminated bondage devices when he arrived. No sooner had he walked in the door when we announced that we had to run to Home Depot–my favorite toy store–to get some more parts for the bondage implements. We dragged D and our friend J along; to his credit, D didn’t even blink.

Which is always good.

Upon our return, it was time for all of us to head out to my “other” girlfriend M’s birthday party, where I got to meet her other boyfriend, also for the first time.

The nice thing about being involved romantically with people whose judgement youcan trust implicitly is that meeting their other significant others is generally painless. M’s other boyfriend is also quite cool, and by the end of the evening had offered to make J a new flogger.

The end of the evening came either too early or too late, depending on which way you look at it.

Too early–we all of us, D and J and Shelly and Kelly and I, bailed before the birthday floggings started. Too late, because we still got home well after midnight, which gave us only a few hours to sleep.

Sunday: Day of the Living Dead

You see, many weeks ago, I did something deeply, profoundly foolish.

I scheduled a photo shoot with Shelly and Keirston and a new model I met at an S&M party some time ago. Downtown. At sunup.

Normally, the only time I see the sun rise is if I am still up, not if I’m getting up. This goes triple if I’ve been partying the night before.

So, needless to say, when 5 AM rolled around, we all looked and felt our best.

Still, we made it downtown. The shoot went quite well; downtown was largely deserted save for a few homeless people, who got something of an eyeful, but everyone left us alone.

Then it was back home again for a couple hours’ worth of sleep before PolyTampa. Then off to dinner with the PolyT crowd at a Japanese restaurant, whose staff seemed rather overwhelmed by the crowd.

I’m still exhausted. Morning today was sheer agony. I never really feel sufficiently repentant for my sins, though. Which probably says someting about me, though I don’t quite know what.

Last night, with the help of Shelly, I finally learned to Florentine–use a flogger in each hand.

I rock! 🙂

Must…not…let…brain…melt…

From an article at The Register…

The marketing materials for a gizmo made by NewColorShop.com, a company selling laptop computer accessories, makes it crystal clear precisely what their product is used for:

“Fusing the material which is superior heat-insulating uses the material and the super superfine origin thread which had self adsorbability. With the appropriate thickness, 1.5mm the stroke impression and feeling good touch heat-insulating compatibility. Do not use the paste and the tape and peel, angle rub cleanly you do not give. To administer also photocatalyst processing, be superior in the anti-bacterial going out bad-smelling performance.”

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. I need to turn that into a Flash animation somehow.

Plastics make it possible

I tracked down a plastics manufacturer that sells extruded acrylic rods today. bandage and I want to start making bondage equipment, like spreader bars, made from rods of clear polished acrylic with LEDs embedded in the ends, so that they glow when you use them. I figure that’d be, like, totally lumpy.

And speaking of lumpy…

Shelly and I are trying to coin a new word in American vernacular…”lumpy” as a synonym for “cool” (as in, “I just got a new Porsche!?” “Really? Lumpy!”>

We aren’t going to be happy until someone uses this expression on an episode of “Friends.” Be warned…you will be assimilated.

And that’s lumpy. 🙂