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By Fireman Chris, August 30, 2006 11:08 PM

My darling wife wrote in her party report that “Chris seems to have gotten an education in topping that I didn’t really intend for him to get when we went…”. This was apparently triggered by the spanking I gave her last night for one too many smart-alec comments.

The fact of the matter is, I do somehow feel different after the Shadow Lane party, and I’m still trying to figure it out a bit.

As I mentioned way back in my first entry, my interest in kink and general and in “the scene” got reawakened sometime this past spring. As I mentioned then, I first started exploring the scene about 12 years ago, but gradually faded out into a more subdued, personal involvement sometime around when I met Sparkle and our relationship began. The only reason I can think of to explain that is a combination of putting all my energy into said relationship and several disappointments with the scene from my vantage point (and no, I don’t plan on going into details here after all this time).

In any event, since May, when I resurrected this blog, and really since last October, when I first started getting involved with spanking discussion forums again, my “intellectual” interest in spanking has been steadily expanding. FlinchFlower asked in a post on happytails how much time people spend thinking about spanking. My answer there was that it was pretty much constantly off-and-on throughout the day, and that’s true, but only really has been during the time frame I mentioned above.

Since coming back from Vegas, its definitely been at the forefront of my mind. Sparkle says that I haven’t “come down” from the party yet, and I think that’s true to some extent. I’m still reliving the fun, remembering the things I saw and the people I met and/or got to know better and thinking about what I want to do differently next year.

But to a greater extent, I almost feel that the party awakened something in me, or perhaps more realistically , added another layer to my existing kink interests.

The fact of the matter is that, regardless of how “experienced” and “together” in terms of kink I felt I was before the party, it was something of an eye-opener. I was pleasantly surprised by how many people I did know, but even more so, it was somewhat amazing (even though I knew it intellectually) to see such a large group of like-minded people interacting in such an environment that was at once both perfectly normal and strangely surreal.

Walking into a hotel room where 3 or 4 people are being spanked simultaneously in front of many more onlookers is something that I’ve not experienced before.

What does it all mean? I’m not really sure. I’m definitely thinking about spanking more right now. I’m definitely feeling more of a top. I’m feeling as though I want to push my exploration of kink even further and find out if there’s more to the experience than what I’ve already experienced. I want to “out” myself to someone and see what sort of reaction I get (I have a particular someone in mind and already have my own theories about her potential kinkiness). I want to be more of a disciplinarian and top to Sparkle than I have in the past, something I’ve struggled with before.

In short, I want to grow as a spanko.

Maybe this desire will fade as the time since the party increases. I hope not.

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By Fireman Chris, August 29, 2006 3:02 PM

Where to start, where to start?

The Shadow Lane party was a phenomenal experience. Not only was this the first one Sparkle and I had been to, it was the first kink event in general that we’d been to. Oh sure, we’d gotten together in small groups with like-minded friends in the past, but nothing’s quite like being around 300 or so other spankos that you don’t know, but are into the same thing you are.

The drive in was actually pretty good, much better than I expected for a Friday night. We hit a bit of traffic getting out of town, but then the majority of the drive was full speed and we got there in about the best time we ever make. Still, it was 11 PM and we weren’t sure what if anything would be going on at that time.

Oh, such newbies we were.

We got our luggage into the hotel and before we’d even gotten to the check-in desk, we’d already positively identified at least three spankos and tentatively a half-dozen more. We were given a room on the 25th floor (24 through 28 were all pretty much entirely SL people) and as we walked down the hall from the elevator, I had to chuckle at the distinct smacking sounds coming from behind most of the doors we passed. It was made even more surreal by the fact that the hallway was entirely deserted (which was relatively rare the rest of the time).

We got into our room and decided to take a few minutes to freshen up. Sparkle went first and I quickly unpacked while she did, then while I changed, she called our friend Mija, who said she’d be right down to get us. I was still in the bathroom when I heard the door open and Mija’s and several other voices and Sparkle’s “We’ve got company”. I came out to find not only Mija, but also our friend Iris and two other women we hadn’t met before, one of whom looked very familiar. The first was Librarygirl, who is just wonderful and a lot of fun. Sparkle and I both read her blog, so it was great to meet her in person and put a face with a name. The other, the one I recognized, was Bailey, who’s one of the models from Real Spankings. She is just so cute, and a wonderful person as well.

Oh, I should add that Mija and Bailey were both in school uniforms, and might I say, looked absolutely adorable together.

Sparkle, I don’t think we’re in [insert name of our quiet little town] anymore.

After the introductions were made, this foursome led us off to the suite party being hosted by Florida Moonshine. This appeared to be the place to be at 11:30 on Friday night. We worked our way through the crowd to one of the bedrooms where we found Iris’ M spanking the hostess on one bed and a couple more spankings on the other bed. Iris introduced us to a few people amidst our trying to take in the scene (in all senses of the word). Then Sparkle’s cell phone rang and she had to run because a certain top was waiting for her back at our room and, as she put it, she felt it best not to keep him waiting (I’ll let her share those details if she so chooses).

I stayed behind and tried to find a spot out of the way. About this time it dawned on me that the guy sitting in the chair in the corner of the room was none other than Dallas from Dallas Spanks Hard and that I recognized more than a few of the women in that area of the room from both his site and Sierra’s blog (she herself appeared a few moments later). Around this time, M finished his scene, so I got to say hi to him and meet our hostess, Princess Gail, who introduced us to a few more of the Florida Moonshine folks. Iris and I sat and chatted with her and watched the rest of the goings-on. A bit later, I was introduced to a British gentleman named Ian, better known as The London Tanner. Very, very nice guy.

After watching quite a few spankings and finally starting to settle into the overall atmosphere, Iris and Princess Gail mentioned that a few people were going to eat and asked if I wanted to come along. I glanced at my watch and saw it was going on 1:00 in the morning, and realized I was rather hungry, so we proceeded to head down to the 24 hour restaurant in the casino. Our other dining companions turned out to be Librarygirl and her boyfriend/top Matt Anglen and another gentleman that I hadn’t met yet, but who looked familiar.

As well he should…it was Butch Simms, one of the owners of Shadow Lane. Another great guy. He even bought us breakfast.

We had a nice meal, chatting, telling stories and just having a great time. Right after we ordered, Sparkle called me to tell me that her spanking was done, so she came down and joined us.

Just as we were getting up to leave, Mija and Bailey showed up, so Sparkle and I ended up joining them after saying goodbye to the first group, and we were joined a short time later by Ian, who regaled us with some wonderful stories. By the time we’d finished again (I didn’t eat this time, but Sparkle did as she hadn’t the first time around), it was about 5 AM, so we decided to go get some sleep.

We purposely left the blinds open a bit so we wouldn’t sleep too long. I didn’t think it would only be two hours, but by 7 I was wide awake and smacking and fondling Sparkle’s bottom. We used to love playing in the morning, but its been awhile since we’ve had that luxury, so we took good advantage of it before sharing a shower and heading down to the lobby again.

We immediately ran into Mija at the coffee stand by the elevators, so we grabbed a table and sat and chatted. Over the next hour or so, our table steadily grew as Ian, Matt and Bailey each appeared and joined us. Several other people stopped to chat (mostly with Ian) and after a bit, everyone decided to go have breakfast. Sparkle and I excused ourselves to go do the parent thing (calling my sister who was babysitting for us and making sure the night went OK) and then decided to do the Vegas thing and hit the casino for a bit. We played video poker for about 10 minutes and I won $50, so we cashed out and decided we needed to eat.

After lunch, we headed over to the vendor fair. Because of our late arrival, we’d missed this Friday night, but thankfully it was open for a couple of hours Saturday as well. And it’s a good thing I won that $50, because there were just too many nice things to buy. I think there were about 6 to 8 different implement vendors, plus several others selling videos and internet subscriptions. As it was, we just ended up buying three new implements. Our first stop was The London Tanners…after having gotten to know Ian the night before, we really wanted to see his work. We ended up buying his newest creation, the Nanny Paddle (a hairbrush-sized leather paddle) and a CP Ruler Paddle, which is very similar to one of the first implements I ever played with and something I’ve been looking for since. His implements are gorgeous and It was hard to limit ourselves to just two. We also bought a lovely heart-shaped paddle made out of lacewood from Satinwood Paddles.

I’ll post a review of these new toys a bit later, after Sparkle’s bottom has gotten to feel them a few times.

At the vendor fair, we met up with Iris and M and ended up going up to their room and hanging out with them for awhile. Mija and Paul joined us after a bit, then Matt called and invited us to their suite where we hung out some more and watched Matt give a punishment spanking to another friend (I think he wanted an audience). We were also joined by Davo, who Sparkle had been playing with the night before, and Bailey. The ten of us decided to sit together at dinner, and set a time to meet in the lobby so we could go in together. We then went our separate ways, though we ended up in Davo’s room for a little bit with Mija and Paul, then headed back to our room to rest and get ready for dinner.

At 7:15, we all met in the lobby, except for Iris and M who said they’d meet us inside, and headed to dinner. We got a table, but while we were waiting for Iris and M, we found out we needed a couple more seats to accommodate Bailey’s roommate, Cindy, and Ian, so Sparkle and I ended up moving to the next table with Iris and M. We were joined by few other people at that table, including Clare Fonda, who runs the Spanked Sweeties, Girl Spanks Girl and Kara Prepare Yourself websites. We didn’t get to talk with her much, but she did a stand-up routine on stage as part of the entertainment for the evening and was hilarious (especially her description of why she had to do a “stand-up” routine).

After dinner during the music, we mingled a bit, and ended up meeting the gang from Happytails, including mgtgirl and Belt Boy, LV Racer, LilWildKat and OTKspanker (we’d actually met them briefly earlier in the day) and jujubees. I really wish I could have spent more time with these folks. This was the first party for mgtgirl, Belt Boy and jujubees, and they were having an absolute blast.

By this time, I was really starting to feel the effects of 5 hours sleep over a two day period, and not really up for a loud dance, so Iris, M and I decided to head up to one of the suite parties, though Sparkle again disappeared for a session with Davo. We split up to change and then Iris and M met me at our room. I’m not sure who the host was for the party we were at, but it seemed to be the most popular one with a fair number of SL “celebrities”. M went off to play, but Iris and I just sat and chatted and watched again with Librarygirl.

Awhile later, Mija and Bailey joined us for a bit, then we all went down to hang out in Iris and M’s room. Sparkle and Davo joined us there after their scene was over, and we hung out until about 2 AM before all heading off to bed.

Everyone slept in until a decent hour Sunday morning. Sparkle and I got up around 9 and packed up what we could (I had to leave Sunday afternoon, but she was staying until Monday and coming home with Mija and Paul). We then headed downstairs, got a couple of gifts for my sister and her boyfriend for babysitting, and then went to breakfast with Mija and Paul. The four of us went back to our room for my last 45 minutes in Vegas, and Sparkle and Mija both ended up getting spanked a bit by Paul and me. Iris, M and Davo joined us, and then I had to say my goodbyes and get on the road. Good thing I left when I did, because traffic was horrendous going back and it took about an hour and a half longer than the drive in did.

The whole weekend was fantastic (except for the drive back), and we’re definitely hoping to attend next year, assuming childcare can be worked out. Its definitely an experience and something of a combination of fantasy and a really cool cocktail party. We came away from the weekend with several strengthened friendships and several new ones. I’m sending them a personal note as well, but I want to personally thank Eve Howard, Tony Elka and Butch Simms for putting on such a great event and being such wonderful hosts.

In closing, if you haven’t been to one of these parties before, I would strongly recommend that you try it at least once. I’m going to try to put together another entry along the lines of suggestions based on our experiences, particularly for new attendees like us. These are big parties, but they’re very welcoming and fun. Part of me wishes we’d started going a long time ago, though realistically, I think this was a really good time for us to start based on where we our in our own life together.

Viva Las Vegas.

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By Fireman Chris, August 29, 2006 10:29 AM

One year ago today.

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By Fireman Chris, August 25, 2006 3:39 PM

We’re off to Vegas and our very first Shadow Lane party in a couple of hours.

I’m very glad that we live close enough to drive, because I don’t think I could handle the airport right now with the current post-August 10 security hype. Additional security usually doesn’t bother me at the airport, but I think the current round is a bit too extreme. 9/11 happened right when I was in the middle of my last job, which required flying, on average, one (and sometimes two) weeks a month, and I flew less than three weeks after that day, so I’ve seen the whole gamut of the security changes and approved of most of them. But I digress.

Today’s pretty much been a wasted day as far as work goes. I’ve gotten the few things off my desk that needed to get done today, but not much else. I’ve never been a good afternoon traveler. Even though I’m not a morning person (as I mentioned in my last entry), I much prefer to get up and going early when traveling. Sitting around and waiting to leave doesn’t do good things for my concentration, especially since our departure time is still unsure and at the whim of my sister (she’s babysitting for us, so we have to wait until she gets here).

That all being said, I’m so looking forward to this weekend. Our friends Mija and Paul will be there (are probably just about getting in, in fact) and Iris just called to see what time we’re getting in. There’s a whole score of folks I know from happytails who are coming (some have been pre-partying for a couple days now) and that I’m looking forward to meeting. And, of course, there will be new people to meet.

So, the bags are packed, the truck’s fueled up, and I’m getting nothing done. Think its time to synch the MP3 player and maybe swat Sparkle’s bottom a few more times.

I’ll let you know how the party was sometime next week.

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By Fireman Chris, August 25, 2006 1:24 AM

As those of you who read Sparkle’s blog probably noticed that she tagged me with a me-me…this one:

Once you have been tagged, you have to write a post with 8 facts/things/habits about yourself and say who tagged you. In the end, you will need to choose the 6 people you tag and list their names. No tag backs.

So, here goes.

1) I’m a night owl by nature (evidenced by the timestamp on this entry). My perfect schedule would be to get up around 10-11 in the morning and go to bed around 3-4. I actually lived that schedule for one semester in college, and it was great.

2) I started college as an architecture major. About halfway through the first semester, I decided I hated it and picked my new major by reading the course catalog cover-to-cover, which turned out to be a much better choice, and I’m still working in that field.

3) Several of my ancestors emigrated from England in 1630 aboard the ship Mary and John. In fact, you can find my last name on the “certain or highly probable” passenger list. I also had several ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War and one who signed the Declaration of Independence.

4) I’ve battled a fear of heights most of my life, particularly relating to ladders. Kinda strange for a firefighter, huh? I’ve gotten much better with it over the last 10 years and don’t let it limit me, but its always there in the back of my head.

5) I am a major Simpsons fan. I have the first 8 seasons on DVD (Sparkle just bought me #8 last week) and usually watch an episode most every day at lunch (I work from home most days).

6) I’m a single malt Scotch aficionado. Some of my favorites are The Macallan, Laphroig and Dalwhinnie. However, there are still many more to try.

7) I played football in high school as both an offensive and defensive lineman. I even got to play against a future Heisman Trophy winner once (he creamed us).

My musical tastes are eclectic and my MP3 player includes country, heavy metal, some rap, show tunes, swing and blues, but my all-time favorite group is Oingo Boingo. I even got to see them in concert the Friday before their final show (Monday).

So there you go. Now onto the tagging:

1) mgtgirl
2) jujubees
3) Ruby Redd
4) Flinch Flower
5) SpkrBryan
6) Abel and Haron

Have fun.

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By Fireman Chris, August 14, 2006 1:44 PM

Bear with me, I’ve got to lay a little groundwork here, but this post does get into some items of interest to most of my readers…eventually.

I’m a big fan of David Weber’s Honor Harrington series. Honestly, its probably my absolute favorite science fiction series of all time, though its probably better described as “space opera” than true sci-fi. I’ve read the first ten novels of the original series (the 11th is out in hardback and I’m waiting for paperback), the two spin-off novels, and the four compilations of short-stories written by other authors set in what’s affectionately known as the “Honorverse”.

For those who aren’t familiar, the Honor Harrington series has been likened to as Horatio Hornblower in space. Oh yeah, and with a female Hornblower. The series centers around Honor Stephanie Harrington, an officer of the Royal Manticoran Navy (the Star Kingdom of Manticore being a planetary system/government founded by colonists who left Earth in the year 2877) and takes place towards the end of the 40th Century and the beginning of the 41st Century(using current reckoning…I won’t get into the calendars used in the books).

The book in particular that I wanted to discuss is Crown of Slaves, which is one of the two spin-off novels I mentioned above (its actually co-written by David Weber and Eric Flint, who’s written a few of the Honorverse short stories as well). The title itself could suggest something of interest to the uninitiated, however, it refers to the practice of “genetic slavery” that exists in the Honorverse, namely the breeding of genetically-engineered humans born into slavery.

Without giving away too much plot, there’s a VERY interesting romance between two of the characters, Lt. Thandi Palane of the Solarian Marine Corps and Special Officer Victor Cachat of the Republic of Haven’s Federal Investigations Agency. If you don’t want me to spoil even the few details and dialogue I am going to share, stop reading now and order the book.

Throughout the book, Thandi is attracted to Victor, who’s the somewhat-typical strong, silent, mysterious secret agent. Thandi’s no shrinking violet herself. She’s an officer in one of the largest military forces in the Honorverse, and is from a heavy gravity planet originally settled by colonists of Bantu descent who have evolved into quite physically powerful examples humanity. Thandi is easily the strongest, fastest and most powerful character in the book, however, her internal dialogue suggests that she’s attracted to Victor because of his dominant personality, and she repeatedly admonishes herself for being “kinky” in her fantasies about him, though these fantasies are only alluded to initially.

A bit past the midway point in the book, however, Thandi and Victor do *ahem* pair off, and the initial verbal foreplay between them suggests what’s to come. Victor jokingly says “I suppose resistance would be futile, huh? How could I stop you from ravishing me?” to which Thandi replies “As it happens, Victor, my inclinations run entirely the opposite direction.”

Now normally, in a Weber book, this would be about all of a “sex scene” as you’d get. His books don’t tend to be very graphic in that regard, and when sex does occur, its in passing as part of character development, but certainly not what one would call graphic.

However, about 20 pages later, the reader is treated to a fairly extended discussion of just what Thandi and Victor were up to.

“For a brief moment, Victor gave thanks that Thandi Palane enjoyed being sexually submissive. If she hadn’t, he’d probably be a corpse. ‘Dominating’ her had been like a mortal ‘dominating’ a goddess – a feat which was only possible because the goddess willed it herself.

“‘I’m a pervert,’ he thought bleakly.”

A few pages later, Thandi and Ginny Usher, the wife of Victor’s boss and a former genetic slave, mercilessly tease Victor, including the following lovely quotes:

“Have you had a chance to do any window-shopping here yet, Ginny? I’ll bet a place like this has a great leather shop.”

“- I’m thinking I’ll have to get Victor some kind of whip. Nothing heavy-duty, of course. I’m not really a masochist, I just like to play at it. But I’ve seen those cute little velvet things. The couldn’t do more than sting a bit.”

Ahh, I love it when two of my favorite things mesh so nicely. Aside from the scenes described above and the repeated use of the word “kinky” (I honestly lost count), this is one of my favorite books so far in the series and is already planned to lead-off a sub-series of its own.

Now I just wonder…are we ever going to get to see Victor’s whip?