Jun 182013
 

A participant practices her electrical play skills during the pro course

“The class was intense, amazing, fun and of course, extremely educational. From new techniques to spirituality, every subject was touched upon and discussed in a comfortable and non-judgemental way. I would highly recommend this class to anyone, from the seasoned pro to the novice.” ~ Mistress Chun Jae-Min, San Francisco (more pro testimonials)

Erotic Dominance Intensives: the Pro Course – Now In its 12th year!

This powerful and intimate three day workshop is for women with personal interest and experience in BDSM who want to hone their techniques and find their very own ethical style as professional Dominas. This Intensive will deepen your understanding of fetishes and appreciation of kink, including your own!

Who Dominatrix Training is For

You may already be a Professional Domme and wish to acquire new skills and refresh your style. Or you may be a private player wanting professional Mistress skills. In this powerful workshop you will learn much, not only from instructors but also from the combined experience of the other participants and the Academy’s seasoned male bottoms.

Major Subject Areas

  • Psychology and physicality of BDSM
  • Finding your authentic professional Dominant Persona
  • Scene dynamics: developing the scene, making it work, and what to do if it doesn’t
  • Understanding fetishes and how to use them as a Mistress
  • Expanding limits: yours and your client’s
  • BDSM play as a path to empowerment for you and your clients
  • Boundaries and ethics
  • Managing your business (legalities, taxes, marketing and more!)

Tuition | What it Covers

$900, covers the following:

  • 3 full days of lectures, demonstrations, hands-on exercises and real time scenes
  • Group and one-on-one instruction
  • Experienced volunteer bottoms
  • Snacks and beverages
  • Seminar and Q/A time for each subject area
  • Comprehensive workbook (100+ pages)

Improve your professional practice as a FemDom with hands-on BDSM skills training and business and marketing strategies that will make you a Domina everyone respects!

Questions?

Visit our FAQ page. Or call Cléo at 650.322.0124.

Next Course

The Dominatrix Training Intensive August 16-18, 2013 will fill up!  Click here to enroll.

Mar 222013
 


Heels on Wheels is a NYC-based queer punk art extravaganza touring from L.A to Vancouver March 22-April 7, 2013. The Roadshow combines multi-media, literary and performing arts, music, puppetry, participatory art, and fierce looks onstage to trouble the question: what is a femme? The show itself consists of five performers, local acts–and a dance party if you’re lucky.  The fearless artists rampage from hi-femme to femmedrogyny, dandy darling to ladybeast in a wild revue of visceral, poetic, performance, emotional escape plans in wild workout gear, dark whimsical puppetry, innovative intersectionality, and rocknroll you can sink your heels into!

Heels on Wheels emerges from an active anti-oppression, intersectional, liberatory standpoint boldy asserting: art can change our world. The people presenting art onstage and community organizing in their home city of Brooklyn all build power for traditionally-marginalized LGBTQ stories and people. The tour is working class-led and multi-racial, and includes cisgendered and trans folks, QPOC, mixed race folks, sex workers, immigrants: all fiercely political feminist queer artists whose work weaves punk herstories, survival strategies, and wild costuming into escape artistry. These are stories that do not have enough outlets on a regular basis and that’s one reason this tour is important!

The 2013 tour is the fourth, and features Damien Luxe, Adelaide Windsome, Heather Acs, The Lady Ms. Vagina Jenkins and Shomi Noise, with wrangler/visual artist Lizxnn Disaster. The Heels on Wheels Glitter Roadshow tours the US annually with a dazzling, diverse cabaret of performance art works and acts of resistance by queer folks of femme-inine spectrum genders.

Shomi Noise plays guitar and reads from her zine series “Building Up Emotional Muscle,” the story of her journey as a Bolivian immigrant navigating U.S. culture and finding herself through alternative music scenes. Damien Luxe invites the audience to participate in a satirical and sincere aerobics session for all bodies about dissociation and survival (complete with spandex and sparkle!). Heather Acs uses theatrical storytelling and scientific theory to explore the formation of stars and her working-class, Appalachian roots. Adelaide Windsome is a fabulist storyteller and puppeteer who queer-ifies fairy-tale structures into trans-narratives.The Lady Ms. Vagina Jenkins uses dance, movement, and performance drawing from traditional burlesque techniques to explore herstories of her working class, femme, sexworker ancestors, while interrogating the exotification of feminine bodies, race, and of exotic dance itself.

Heels on Wheels is a group of interdisciplinary performing artists who create performance-based cultural works and community events that have a feminist and radical agenda, are produced from sites of femme/inine-positive queer embodiment, and reveal the power in under-represented communities by including local acts, facilitating discussions on activist art, and touring social justice and anti-oppressive cultural works. By actively complicating what it looks like, sounds like, IS like to shamelessly and lovingly  represent femininity, dandyness, fey, femme and queer lady, this work confronts misogyny and sexism and uses cultural works to sabotage the status quo of gender, sexuality, and “feminine” appearance, replacing it with many visions and ideas of what thriving and surviving as femme folks can be.

Stillettos fly, gender justice prevails, and fairytales fracture as they travel through space, time, and stardust to the West Coast!

Connect with the Heels! Tour Calendar, Artist Bios, Glamour shots: http://www.heelsonwheelsroadshow.com // facebook.com/heelsonwheelsroadshow // @HOWroadshow

“The Heels on Wheels Roadshow is a glorious campaign to put femininity in the spotlight. I totally applaud and approve. It is a delicious combination touring glitterati and local sparkle that showcases some serious queer talent. Don’t let them pass you by!”
– Lois Weaver, Obie-Award Winning Performer, Lecturer Queen Mary University of London

Mar 112013
 

Down and Dirty Sex Secrets

My latest audio book Down and Dirty Sex Secrets: The New and Naughty Guide to Being Great in Bedis part of the The Bright List. Susie Bright has this to say about it:

I’m picky about sex advice, but this is one of the must-have’s.

Whether you’re happily vanilla or the type who’ll try anything, this book will probably give you a few ideas to make it even more satisfying and fun, either alone or with a partner (or two).

Read more: http://susiebright.blogs.com/the_bright_list/2013/02/get-down-and-dirty-with-tristan-taormino.html

If you’re a fan of audio books in generally, you definitely need to be following The Bright List, Susie’s blog on the topic is excellent.

 

Jan 022013
 

condom

A new study in Australia shows the risk of contracting HIV while engaged in the practice of topping or taking the “insertive role” in sex. This practice is thought by many to be a lower risk activity when engaging in unprotected sex, but the research is indicating otherwise. How is the virus being transmitted from the receiver to the person on top?

During anal sex, HIV can be transmitted to the insertive partner when a bodily fluid containing HIV from the receptive partner, such as anal mucus, enters the body of the insertive partner. This can occur through the foreskin and surrounding areas, the eye of the penis to the urethra (also a mucous membrane), or through tiny (often invisible) breaks in the skin of the penis.

Anal mucus is increasingly being mentioned in Australian campaigns as the infectious body fluid potentially infecting the insertive partner during unprotected anal intercourse.

This is a significant piece of the puzzle which reminds us about how HIV can be transmitted during unprotected anal intercourse. I recommend everyone read it to stay informed about transmission and share it with your lovers, partners, and friends. Full article here: It’s Time To Talk Top: The Risk Of Insertive, Unprotected Anal Sex

 

Oct 112012
 

E! Entertainment is producing a one-hour special about the real stories behind the “50 Shades of Grey” phenomenon.  They are profiling people who live the BDSM lifestyle, from engineers to housewives and shedding light on what has been largely an underground culture.  Among others, they are looking for stories about:  A) Someone who is going to “come out” to family or friend or workplace and willing to let us shoot that moment.  B)  Someone who has decided to enter the BDSM relationship (not just dabble) for the FIRST TIME.  C)  A story about a break up (not horror story) – we’ve been told that a breakup from a BDSM relationship is more emotionally intense in some ways because of the deep level of intimacy.  D)  A story about a male submissive.

They are looking for people who can speak very articulately and thoughtfully about their lifestyle and experiences.  They may be able to offer anonymity for anyone (except the “coming out” story).  If you or anyone you know may be interested, please contact Producer, Kyung Yu via email at KSunYu@comcastnets.com. [EDIT: e-mail address had a typo, it’s now been corrected.]

 

Oct 072012
 

 

[Attention folks near NYC! This Friday, October 12th, 2012, there will be a book release party for Roving Pack at Bluestockings. Details after the review. ]

Roving Pack, the debut novel of writer Sassafras Lowrey, follows a year in the life of Click, a trans kid in Portland navigating the meaning of family, love, longing, and belonging within circles of queer homeless and transient youth. The novel gives voice to a sea of characters that ring so true and familiar to those heard in our queer lives , but are so rarely depicted on LGBT pages. Click’s story begins with a heartbreak and keeps them coming; we follow along in the search to find a stable home for Click’s pack made up of daddies, boys, dogs, cats, and rats (with an occasional femme*) that come and go from Click’s life with the blazing hot intensity that often accompanies our exploration of new adult desires. Click’s sexual desires are honestly depicted by Lowrey in way that is deeply validating – this book fiercely shows the hotness, the complications, and the everyday details of leather and BDSM, as well as transitioning and genderqueer living – but the similarly complicated desires of home and loyalty are the main focus of Click’s story. Every moment is an opportunity for a character to disappoint or surprise both us and Click.

Roving Pack is told in the first-person by Click, with a blend of public online journals, inner friend filters, and the private diary. For those of us who came through the early-adopter Livejournal years, this book is like being included on EVERY filter, and seeing as much in the public face Click presented for the sake of loyalty as you do the private pains of difficult love. This intimate voice pulls you immediately inside the vividly depicted communities of trans and queer youth in Portland and the book soon becomes a compulsive read that quietly devastates you all the way to the end. Immediately upon turning the final page, I missed Click. I still want to hit refresh on my browser to see if another post will appear. And while steeped in contemporary culture and online narrative styles, the novel also reminded me of the smart and ragged intensity of Sarah Schulman’s early novels about dykes and fags in 90s NYC. There’s a universality to Click’s desire to belong, as well as the wish for home and looking for it within the faces of our queer loved ones who are supposed to understand us more than any one else in the world. There is also a shared devastation in those moments when our new queer families let us down. Roving Pack is an emotionally difficult read at times, but I couldn’t turn away from Click, nor from Lowrey’s elegantly rough and direct storytelling. Ze’s writing pairs the passion and authenticity of Click’s voice with sharp observations and strong narrative momentum.

*This book is for every member of the pack, though femmes be warned, Click and various other characters are very butch- and fag-centric, so there are occasionally some opinionated moments of ignorance. While they made me wince, they also felt true to the characters and the community.

~~~~~

Please join us at the official NYC release event for “Roving Pack” to celebrate the publication of this highly anticipated debut novel by Sassafras Lowrey (editor of Kicked Out)

OCTOBER 12, 2012
Bluestockings Bookstore – 172 Allen St. NYC
7pm

 

~~~~~

A. Raymond Johnson is a writer, shiatsuist, DJ, and karaoke aficionado. He received his MFA in Fiction from Antioch University in Los Angeles and has been awarded writing residencies at Ragdale and Millay Colony for his novels-in-progress. He has blogged since 2000, including at Out Magazine’s Popnography and I Fry Mine In Butter. His short story “Tammy Faye” is part of the upcoming book, The Collection (Topside Press, 2012).

 

Sep 262012
 

Honey Lube is, without a doubt, the most adorably packaged personal lubricant in the world. It comes in the standard bear-shaped honey-bottle, complete with a squeeze-top and a button nose. The only thing that could possibly make this lube cuter would be if it was delivered by a puppy. Holding hands with a kitty. Sitting next to a sneezing baby panda. So, as a sucker for smart marketing and cute animals, I had incredibly high hopes for Honey Lube—high hopes that it didn’t live up to.

That it not to say that this lube crashed and burned in my rankings (or in my vag), it just didn’t get an A+. Off the bat I was struck by the fact that this lube was unflavored. Ignoring the words “unflavored” clearly written on the label, I took a taste. Not only did it not taste like honey, it tasted straight-up bad. In other words, this is not the lube I would grab for oral play. To be fair, adding flavoring would probably require changing some aspect of its healthy list of ingredients—Honey Lube is glycerin and paraben free and contains honey extract, a naturally antibacterial super food linked to healing yeast infections.

Since it’s water-based, Honey Lube is compatible with condoms as well as most toys. However, if you choose to use Honey Lube with a toy make sure you clean the toy immediately afterwards. If you don’t take this crucial step your toy will turn into a fuzzy, debris-covered, fly-paper esque plaything—something that does not belong in your pussy.

The texture of Honey Lube is reminiscent of watered-down honey, the kind that slowly drips out from the bottom of a teacup. This was a pleasant surprise. I am always looking for a nice in-between lube—not to thick and not too thin. In the texture department, Honey Lube is just right.

Unfortunately, this initial texture does not last forever. It dries out quite fast and, once dry, becomes sticky. This problem can be remedied with the application of spit or water. But, being the lazy, stubborn person that I am, I prefer not having to stop mid thrust, pulse, flick, stick or vibrate to spit into my hand and reinvigorate my lube.

To be honest, if Honey Lube didn’t come in such a great bottle I would give it a clear stamp of disapproval. But the marketing folks got me once again! I loved reaching into my bedside table and lathering my partner with lube from a honey bear. The fact that this lube was mediocre seemed like a minor price to pay in order to have a honey bear involved in my sex life. So I recommend this lube for anyone who, like me, enjoys cute novelty products. But, if you’re just looking for a good lube, I’d pass on the honey, hunny.

~~~

Abby Spector is a recent graduate of Wesleyan University, where she majored in Feminist/Gender/Sexuality Studies. She is currently interning for Tristan, a job that allows her to write about sex, research feminist porn, and play with dogs (among other, equally awesome things). When she isn’t working, Abby enjoys comfortable nudity and salty foods. Her dream? A world where she could sit around naked and eat overly-salted french fries. Her blog is Sexy Awkward Times.