The Week In Kink

Viva la Vida by Coldplay

All the best things I could find for you in one week, and some things I have forgotten to include for a while now.  I’m a little late this weekend, because I spent a little too much time socializing.  However, in my own defense, against myself, I would say that I have worked 18 hour days 7 days a week for …  what seems like an eternity.  Okay, enough self-rationalization.  I’m late, but no rabbit had to die.  Here is this week’s Good Things List - hopefully it’s a better version than Martha’s.

A Good Blog To Read!

Fanny Lucette is a Ph.D. psychology professor, with M.A. degrees in related fields. She has been a counselor and educator for many years. She recently wrote a guest post for me on Catalina Loves (thank you thank you thank you!!) and she will be joining the new community blog that will launch soon at bestsexbloggers.com.  Her blog is not a sex blog per se, but as she describes it on her page, “All of us have questions about relationships, sexual thoughts or behaviors. My life experiences and professional credentials will help you sort through it all.”  So take a look and hit your RSS feeds because you’ll want to keep up with Ms. Lucette once you’ve started reading.

A Good (Strap On) Dildo

Strap on play.  Three little words, but they can invoke an entire mental scene, can’t they?  Strap-on sex.  Imagine the scene.  Is it a lesbian scene?  Do you see it as a Domme/sub scene?  Is it a loving couple experimenting with assplay together?  It really can be any and it can be all.  The fact is, I have used strapons with women, as a professional dominatrix, and also as a loving wife (even a submissive loving wife, at that).  I choose the Corsette Harness as my new favorite strap on harness because it’s soft, velvety, black, feminine, and (important for practical purposes) it adjusts easily so it’s easy to slip in and out of gracefully.

A Good Podcast

Graydancer’s “The Ropecast” is the new home of the premiere rope bondage podcast.  This podcast talks about kinky sex, consensual adult bondage, and discusses dominance, submission, sado-masochism, and the iniquieties of the square knot in a frank, open, and entertaining way.  (I didn’t write that, by the way, but it is all true and well-written, so why re-invent the wheel?  I copied and pasted from The Ropecast site).

A Good Book

It’s going to become very obvious to you soon, so I’ll just ‘fess up now - I am definitely kissing Graydancer’s ass this week.  Why?  Because I’ve admired him for so long and I practically begged him to be a part of bestsexbloggers.com.  I told him that I would, in fact, kiss his ass, if he would join.  He joined, so here is Graydancer’s book, Nawashi - A Novel of Erotic Magic.  Take a lookee and buy a coppee.

A Good Educational Opportunity

Did you know that you can take free courses online from MIT (yes, that’s the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT).  Well, kind of.  Read carefully, but essentially they make their course materials available online and though you don’t get credit for it, you can learn for the sake of learning.  Now here’s the cool thing, to me, anyway.  I thought that MIT only offered courses in science and math.  I was wrong.  Here is the course description of the course I’m currently taking:

Este semestre la materia combina obras ya canonizadas de finales del siglo XIX y del XX con algunas obras de reciente aparición. De los géneros literarios, vemos poesía, el cuento corto, la novela y la autobiografía. También vemos una película de tema ficticio y dos documentales. El estudiante que se interese por hacerlo puede usar los materiales en la Reserva y en la red para familiarizarse con la historia literaria y cinematográfica de este período. Nuestro enfoque principal, sin embargo, será leer bien y de modo analítico, textos literarios de diferentes momentos históricos y culturas nacionales (e internacionales). Aunque discutiremos analíticamente las tres películas, su interés principal para nosotros será, en un caso, conocer el argumento ideológico de una novela muy famosa e influyente que, por falta de tiempo, no vamos a poder leer en sus totalidad, y en los dos otros casos, para contextualizar una autobiografía y tener un punto de comparación para estudiar cómo se puede reconstruir la memoria simultáneamente individual y colectiva. Otros temas, que se estudiarán en varias obras, serán el bilingüismo (español/inglés) en ciertos escritores hispanoamericanos contemporáneos, y el auge de la novela best seller en la América Hispana.

So, in case you can’t tell, that’s an advanced Spanish literature course.  Who knew I could brush up on my primary field of study with free online courses from MIT?!  I just found out recently, but I’m on it!  The Catalina Downer Disclaimer:  You might have to buy books and don’t forget that books are not free.  Ever.  So, though the courses are free, you can’t necessarily say that you can take any class you want for free.  Sorry.  But this is about as close as you can get!

A Good Corset (and lingerie)

Mio Destino is located in Europe, but delivers worldwide and has a domestic office.  Their corsets are undeniably quality.  You’re not buying an ebay corset, this is the one you’ve been saving up for.  They aren’t so horribly expensive that you can’t afford it unless you’re married to a very wealthy international finance attorney, however, they’re not cheap either.  The selection is unbelievable - corsets by designer, shape, by fabric, corsets to wear out, bridal corsets, underbust corsets, and corset skirts.  They are the way to go if you’re in the market for that special one.

A (PERFECT) Album

Viva la Vida by Coldplay is amazing.  Brian Eno produced it, so when I first heard it, I rejected it stating simply, “I’m not interested in listening to another U2 album.” What a bitch!  Now, I come back with my official opinion - “This is the best Coldplay album yet.” You must listen to it through headphones.  That’s my only caveat.  It sounds good over speakers, and it sounds great in the car, but there is something special about listening to it in the headphones, like being able to hear Chris quietly count off.  Also, I own the official album and then I also have the special Marky D. Sade found this two weeks before it was released version.  The difference is that I have two extra tracks - Lost (acoustic) and Lovers in Japan (acoustic).  The trick is that you have to listen to the album, looped, without the two extra tracks.  Let song 10 fade into song 1.  I won’t give it away here, but just do it.  It’s neato.  I think my favorite song right now is Strawberry Swing.  It’s a great way to start the day - Chris Martin telling you it’s such a perfect day.