For me, celebrating the New Year came down to a choice between celebrating with two very dear friends or celebrating kinky at a private play party. As per my usual lack of decisiveness, I was regretting not doing the intimate friend thing as I was driving to the kinky thing. Though I'm a good talker and always find fascinating people to chat with, I don't enjoy the idea of going to events alone.
So I brought my favorite alchy beverage (Bailey's) and instantly mixed it with Amaretto for a couple of shots. Then found my way to the "surprise shots" -- an ice bowl in which precious shot glasses filled with clear liqueurs sat buried in the ice. The contents of the glasses could be anything from banana to crab apple liqueur and the only clue was in the smelling. Well, the shot I selected tricked my nose completely. Smelling ever so sweet, it must have been the notoriously lighter-fluid tasting ginseng liqueur everybody had been warning me about. Needless to say, my drinking for the evening stopped there.
The party had a dungeon going on downstairs (fucking machine and all) and on hand the absolutely ingenious craftswoman who builds dungeon equipment, having donated a few of her choice pieces for the evening. From hydraulic medical chairs to so-soft and flexible buffalo hide floggers (with swivel handles that make flashy figure-eights) she either had made it, loaned it or brought it in her toy bag. As she was loading up her car at the end of the night, one of my new found friends was eying up the dark wood of a tall-backed bondage chair with lots of metal eyeholes for threading rope. She'd left the chair outside on the deck while she loaded up her car. "I wouldn't mind giving that a try," my friend murmured. The domme heard him, and as he offed his shirt, she gladly obliged him by tying him tightly to the chair with ropes around his legs, belly and chest. The coup de gras: she cuffed his hands together in a pair of mits shackled behind the chair back. He instantly began squirming and worming his way out of them. Turns out he's an escape artist. "I've never seen anyone put him in a bondage he couldn't get out of," said the dungeon domme. "He never stops moving," she explained his surprising abilities. "And he always believes he can get out of it."
Lo and behold, he did get out of it. It took him about 25 minutes. A nearby sub said he would be disappointed if he could get out of his bondage. That's the wide world of BDSM for you.
The evening also featured some fire dancing. Once earlier in the evening, with a repeat performance following a not entirely enthusiastic rendition of "Auld Lang Syne." In fire dancing, the dancers swing wick-like objects dipped in flammable fluid at the ends of chains (poi, originally part of Maori dance tradition) and the tracks of light they make in the darkness form amazing momentary designs. The thing about fire dancing that struck me that night was the sound made by all that flame whisking through the air. The fire dancer had pictures of friends who ate fire, used fire sabers, and did other acrobatic things with fire -- the kind of show and tell you don't get at many vanilla parties.
One of the partygoers had brought a 12-foot whip that another domme found entirely irresistible. Everyone stood back as she attempted to crack the long-range whip across the yard. Beginners luck: her very first thrust created an authoritative crack! After a few fizzles -- none of them uncoordinated or self-inflicting (like the moves of a beginner) -- she came up with a few more consistent cracks. Overall, a showing to be proud of for someone who hadn't cracked a whip of that length in a long time.
The best thing about this party was the tone of friendliness and openness. Many of the fifty or so people knew each other from other local parties, so it was comfortable, not about impressing, and a great place for everyone to show and share. No, I didn't do any flogging or get my bottom spanked, but I left feeling pretty satisfied with myself for bringing in 2007 kinky. It kind of made a statement about opening up the year to hot, new things.
