The ToroGRUE 2 happened. After a lively meet & greet Friday night, Saturday was a day full of amazing discussions from a mix of brilliant minds. Sunday, lots of pancakes happened, made by Men in Kilts, followed by a little bit more GRUEing. I don’t think any of us were expecting the Sunday session to continue quite as it did, but I for one loved it. Graydancer has a post up about his impressions of this GRUE – the second in Toronto, and certainly not the last – as well as what I think might be the best picture of him and I I’ve seen to date:

Men In Kilts With Kitchen Implements

Our first ever Girls on Film Keyhole Session happened. Lots of fantastic shots came out of that night. A sure success, and one we’ll for sure be repeating. I had a LOT of fun, tying for Keyhole in a way I don’t often get a chance to. Fast, and for restraint as opposed to purely aesthetics. A pretty complete collection of shots from that night can be found here One of my favourite shots of the evening, below, was taken by VoulaVous and I think is simply lovely.

The following week The Keyhole Sessions and Art Battle Toronto teamed up for Art Battle 6. The final Battle of that night was two artists painting two of our models. I tied in front of the Art Battle crowd… not sure what they were expecting but they were certainly paying attention. Sonya shot a video of me tying, which is good as it shows the crowd around us but I still find it very strange watching myself tie on video.

As a result of my work with The Keyhole Sessions I’ve been invited to give a workshop on Tying the Female Form as part of Kinky4Play. That’s happening mid-August. I’ll post more details as they come up.

I discovered a new online artist (thanks to a blog post by Violet Blue) whose work I admire and am following with great interest. Ben Newman keeps a blog at bennewmanart.blogspot.com and is very much worth a look. Here’s a sample piece of his. (I am such a fan of the red rope in this.)

"Handle with Care" by Ben Newman

Part of the Sunday session at the GRUE was a discussion I led (after making many pancakes and watching Graydancer wrassle with my partner A.) on Philosophies of Service. I’m expanding that with more notes and thoughts, with the idea of eventually turning it into a class. Yes, I’d like to get on that touring circuit. But I don’t feel any great need to get on that circuit as a rope educator. At least, not at this moment. Who knows, that may change with time.

Just an update for all current – and potential! – ToroGRUE 2 participants. We’ll be holding our meet & greet on Friday night at the Rhino, 1249 Queen Street West in Toronto. Here’s a Google Maps link to the location (http://vb.ly/2822) and a link to the restaurant’s website (http://therhino.ca/contents.html). I’ll be reachable by email the whole time, for those who might need directional help.

Graydancer and I will be there as of 7pm, and we’ll grab a table near the back of the restaurant. Look for us towards the right-hand side, near the back. I’ll have a coil of red rope on the table, just so you know exactly where to go! We’ll wrap the meet & greet up around 9pm, giving us enough time to rest up and do some last-minute preparing before kicking the ToroGRUE off at 9am Saturday morning.

We still have a lot of space left at the GRUE this year. In some ways it’s a bit of a hard sell, trying to get people out to participate and not just absorb knowledge. If you know of anyone who might be interested in attending, please do feel free to forward this email to them. They don’t have to pre-register – we can accept payment at the door. I’ve said it before – the more brains we have out the better the event will be.

Thanks again to all of you who are coming out. I’m really looking forward to it this year.

Rumours have been spreading about the possibility of another GRUE happening in Toronto this year. Well, they’re not just rumours, they’re facts. I’m announcing here the dates for the ToroGRUE 2, happening this May 1st at Renegade.

I’m excited to bring Graydancer back to Toronto and to work with the fine folks at Renegade to host an even larger GRUE than last time. The reactions from the participants from 2008’s ToroGRUE at Goodhandy’s were such that as soon as it was over I started thinking of when I could make it happen again. Finding the right venue was the first hurdle, and then making sure schedules would all match up.

Details and a schedule can be found on the ToroGRUE 2 Event Page. I’ll be updating the page as more information firms up. If you’re a member of FetLife (and if you’re not, you really really should be) you can also find out more up-to-date information about the ToroGRUE 2 in the GRUEp.

As before, even though the event has the word “Ropetastic” in the title, the conversation will not be limited to only rope-based topics. Anything kink or BDSM-related can be brought to the event.

Get your brains revved up. You’ve got three months. See you all at the ToroGRUE 2.

No, not in Toronto – at least, not yet. I am thinking about bringing Graydancer back up here, sometime in the autumn and holding the second annual (?) ToroGRUE. I can only imagine, based on the number of people who wanted to but couldn’t make it out the last time, that we’d have more than enough interest to make it worthwhile. I know there’s things I’d like to cover in a GRUE that I wasn’t able to get into last time (oh, the trials of the organizationally-minded…) and while it would be fun, I won’t be able to make it* to St. Louis at the end of June for the GRUE In The Lou 2.
The GRUE: Graydancer’s Ropetastic Unconference Extravaganza. Gray writes a bit about the history of the GRUE and the upcoming incarnation in St. Louis here, on BestSexBloggers.com. There’s a link at the bottom of that post to an earlier post on “The Care and Feeding of a GRUE”, which gives a very clear idea of what to expect if and when you choose to attend this most unusual of experiences, the kinky unconference.
And you SHOULD attend. Yes, I’m biased, but I still believe the unconference model leaves the participants with more actual takeaway than an strictly programmed and scheduled-to-the-minute traditional conference. At the GRUE, everyone is a listener, a speaker, a teacher and a student. Everyone participates. Everyone has a say in what gets covered; if you don’t see a topic you want to hear more about stuck on that wall at the beginning of the day, you damn well get up, grab a piece of paper & a Sharpie and you stick it up there yourself. It doesn’t take long to realize that, no, you’re not the only person who’s interested in that very thing. And that’s a good feeling.
There’s more information about the GRUE In The Lou 2 on FetLife. If you’re in the St. Louis area, go. Spend the 25 bucks, book the day off and engage.

* I won’t be able to make it because I’m flying to Berlin on that day. A fair tradeoff, I’d say.

It was, to say the least, eye-opening.

It made me realize that more often than not, for the past while, I’ve been concentrating too much on form and not enough on energy. It’s easy, I think, to get caught up in the mechanics of tying, that it has to look like THIS and use THIS knot and have THIS many wraps. That kind of specificity appeals to my Capricornian brain in a pretty major way – but that doesn’t make it right. It’s way too easy to get caught up in a Lab frame of mind. That’s the part of me that wants to just geek out about what I’m doing – again, the form – and put the WHY I’m doing it aside for the moment. I am realizing I need to change that approach, and try to reconnect with what it is about rope that thrills me.

I’ve also been having lots of conversation recently about taking D/s energy into the public space. The more I talk and think and plan about this, the more I realize I’m getting hungry to flex those muscles again. It’s one thing to give assignments over text, email, voicemail. It’s another to have someone in front of you and be able to reach out and grab them with something as small, as simple, as subtle as a gesture or a soft word. More thoughts on this form of control are sure to follow.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Other bits & thoughts I want to mention, while I’ve got your attention:

Graydancer has released the two latest episodes of the Ropecast, both of which center around the ToroGRUE. The first one is more of an overview of the entire event, with a bunch of recordings taken on the first day Gray and phaedra arrived in Toronto. There’s a tour of Northbound Leather, as well as us chatting on public transit. Yes, you can hear me on there, and it sort of disturbs me at times how much I sound like English is my second language. Strange. The second one is a recording taken during the ToroGRUE of the Fishbowl, a session where one by one the Doms, Subs & Switches sit in the middle of the room to answer questions thrown at them by the other two groups. It’s always interesting, so check it out. Gray has also started offering individual sponsorships on the Ropecast. He’s officially sponsored by TwistedMonk.com, but is opening it up to others. The Ropecast has a lot of listeners, and is still growing, so it’s worth looking into if you’ve got a kink event or product you want to let people know about. And it’s not restricted to rope.

I’m going to be taking a vacation to NYC in late November/early December, and am open to suggestions of things I should do while I’m there. It won’t be my first time in the city, but it will be my first vacation in the city. My time will be pretty much entirely my own. I’m not only looking for kink-related activities, either. Any suggestions are welcome.

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it here before, but a while back I was introduced to the Power in Practice podcast, put together by Soulhuntre, Daddy David, and Flagg. The latest episode addressed a lot of the questions I’ve asked myself in the past, mostly around the way I focus my energy in a dominant but very much non-Alpha way. I recommend starting from the beginning and listening to them all. There hasn’t been an episode yet I haven’t pulled something valuable from. A great resource.

Gearing up for the weekend of the ToroGRUE I thought I’d post a final itinerary and some thoughts. I don’t expect everyone reading this to have booked a ticket or two to the ToroGRUE, but I want to put the information out there, in case anyone is undecided and just needs a bit more prodding to change their mind.

I want to thank Northbound and Goodhandy’s again for their support in this event, as well as Graydancer for being able to fit the trip into his schedule.

So – this weekend!

FRIDAY 19:00 – 22:00 – Meet & Greet

Trying to book a place just for us on a Friday night was a challenge. So, I’ve decided to go the Munch route and grab a table or two (or three)(or four) in a regular bar/restaurant. We’ll be meeting at the Rhino, located at 1249 Queen Street West (http://www.therhino.ca/images/map.jpg), one of Parkdale’s great bars. It’s big, with lots of tables, and we should be able to carve ourselves out a little space. Look for the (hopefully) subtle pieces of rope coiled on the tables we’re sitting at. And also, if you’ve got friends who might be undecided about attending, bring them and we’ll help make their minds up. It’ll be casual, and in public, so dress for it. Common sense is the order of the night – we’re among non-Kinky folk, odds are, so keep that in mind in your dress, actions & language. This is just for the chat – it’s tomorrow that’s for the playing.

SATURDAY 09:30 – 18:00 – ToroGRUE @ GOODHANDY’S

It’s a 9:30 AM call for a 10:00 AM start. It’s important that everyone is there for the beginning of the day – that’s when the schedule gets made. We want everyone’s input, so show up early. Goodhandy’s is located at 120 Church Street in Toronto, which is east of Yonge Street, South of Queen Street ( http://tinyurl.com/4kyfrm ). There’s parking and coffee in the neighbourhood. Show up early & with your brain on.

SATURDAY 18:52 – SUNRISE – NUIT BLANCHE @ all over the city

Not actually part of the ToroGRUE, but a pretty amazing event in it’s own right. Before – and after – the Northbound Party, check out this massive art exhibition event that covers most of Downtown Toronto. A highlight – Graydancer will be joining Lord Morpheous in the window at Koma (1239 Queen Street West – yup, right beside the Rhino) in tying up some very lucky people as part of the night.

SATURDAY 21:00 – 02:00 – NORTHBOUND PARTY @ GOODHANDY’S

This is the full-on fetish night, so bring your gear, you garb & your goodies and play. Doors open at 9, and I’ve arranged for everyone who buys a ticket to the ToroGRUE to be on the guest list. Show up anytime after the doors open, and stay late.

SUNDAY – TBA

A wrap-up kind of event for the ToroGRUE is going to happen on Sunday, but only those few who actually attend the GRUE will get the details. We’ll reveal the plans for this at the end of the day on Saturday.

Bring your ropes. It’s going to be a good time.

I had a meeting at Northbound Leather yesterday with the lovely Enza, talking about the ToroGRUE and how Northbound could be involved. And, frankly, it’s more than I expected.

As well as being a part of their latest newsletter, the ToroGRUE is also posted on their site, on their Upcoming Events page. Scroll down a little bit and you’ll see the posting for the GRUE. (That’s my rope, A’s arms, and KK’s photography.) To buy a ticket for the ToroGRUE from Northbound’s website (yeah, they set that up for me as well… like I said, more than expected), click on the poster for X-Posed at the top of the events page and it’ll take you to a menu with the GRUE graphic. Click on that, and you’re on the purchase page.

They are also lending me a suspension frame for the day, which will be helpful for the session on suspension harnesses I HOPE happens. Everyone gets in to the Northbound Party that night, for more playful antics. I’m looking forward to all of it.

And later that night, Lord Morpheous will be hijacking Nuit Blanche with a three hour long piece called “Salon des Refusés partie deux” taking place at Koma Designs, 1239 Queen West, just a bit west of Dufferin on the south side. Graydancer will be joining the show and tying for some of that time. That’ll just be the beginning of the evening, with the Northbound Party & the rest of Nuit Blanche to follow.