Third time’s the charm! And no, it’s not an April Fool’s prank. Once again, the GrUE – Graydancer’s Ropetastic Unconference Extravaganza – returns to Toronto, this April 2nd and 3rd at Goodhandy’s.

The GrUE is an unconference that Graydancer has facilitated around the US and Canada, giving people of kink a chance to come together in a non-mediated way and discuss issues they themselves find important and compelling. The best and clearest explanation of the structure of a GRUE and what you can expect from attending can be found in Graydancer’s article, “The Care & Feeding of a GRUE”. More information about GrUEs can be found at the official website, www.grue.me as well as on FetLife in The GrUEp.

While the GrUE is technically “Graydancer’s Ropetastic Unconference Extravaganza”, the important word in that is Unconference, not “Graydancer” and not even “Ropetastic.” While some of the activities and classes are indeed ropetastic, the classes, discussions, and activities are determined by what the people attending are passionate about. That means a lot more than rope. Gender issues, D/s dynamics, edge play, erotica, photography, polyamory, electrical play and more have all been part of past GrUEs. There’s room for it all at the GrUE!

Interested in attending? Click here to purchase tickets!

“GrUE seemed to have that kind of “in way deeper than I signed up for” coupled w/ I wish everything was this rewarding sort of experience. I will attend any others in my area.” – Dermestid on FetLife

“i hadn’t experienced such a sense of intimacy with so many strangers, ever before. there are many in my personal network that will feel the ripple effect, as i am strengthened, validated and further intrigued in the wake of this event.” – Stella_Semiauto on FetLife

“…the community and the shared experience that the GrUE facilitated was nothing short of beautiful.” – Sascha on FetLife

“I’m going to go out on a limb and say I actually have learned more at these two events than all the other cons combined that I’ve attended.” – MasterMackJB on FetLife

ToroGrU3 Meet & Greet
Friday, April 1st, 7pm – 9pm
Location: TBA
Cost: Free
Restrictions: Licensed public venue

ToroGru3
Saturday, April 2nd, 9:00am – 6pm (Doors open at 8:30am)
Location: Goodhandy’s, 120 Church St., Toronto
Cost: $35.00 for just the GrUE, $45.00 for GrUE and the afterparty
Restrictions: No photography except by official GrUE-designated photographers. Other restrictions to be discussed on the day. Entry to Goodhandy’s for ages 19+ only.

ToroGrU3 Play Party at Northbound Leather Fetish Night
Saturday, April 2nd, 9pm – 2am
Location: Goodhandy’s, 120 Church St. Toronto
Cost: Included in the $45.00 GrUE ticket. $5 – 15$ if purchased separately from a GrUE ticket.
Restrictions: Regular rules of Northbound Leather Fetish Night will be enforced

Post-GrUE Recovery Pancakes
Sunday April 3rd, 10am – 2pm
Location: Goodhandy’s, 120 Church St., Toronto
Cost: Included in the price of a GRUE Ticket
Restrictions: No photography except by official GRUE-designated photographers. Other restrictions to be discussed on the day. Entry to Goodhandy’s for ages 19+ only.

Come.

This Sunday from 12pm to 3pm I’ll be tying at a special Keyhole Sessions event, a very unofficial PWYC aspect of the Queen West Art Crawl. We’ll be working in 15 minute segments, two or three models on stage at a time. Should be fun. Drop by to get a taste of what we do weekly at The Keyhole Sessions.

Photo of Nymph Suicide, courtesy of D. Sample and shot at Girls on Film II

Here we go.

1. For the vast majority of my childhood, and in fact into my late twenties, I had a horrible fear of Malificent, the witch queen from Disney’s Sleeping Beauty. It stemmed from a re-occurring dream featuring Maleficent turning my mother into a dove and taking her place in my house. Terrifying.

2. I’ve had a stutter my whole life. It comes and goes but I would never – NEVER – wish that it was gone.

3. Pink lemonade is my favourite (non-caffeinated) cold drink.

4. I once was on stage with Penn & Teller when they performed here in Toronto. YEARS ago. They came out onto the street at intermission to pick people from the house to help them in the first bit of the second half. I got picked. My friend didn’t.

5. I read books over and over again – it’s like going on vacation to someplace I really enjoy but am also very familiar with. Dune by Frank Herbert is a book like that. Pattern Recognition & Spook Country by William Gibson. Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett. Anything by Iain Banks. Or Iain M. Banks.

6. One of the nicest, most moving, most considerate gifts I’ve ever received was a purple magnetic letter Q. It was given to me by Woody Harrelson & his family.

7. I have scars that are older than me.

This would be the point where I would tag seven other people. The fact is, I’m not even sure if there are seven other sex bloggers who read this blog. So, I’ll just leave this at this. A little piece of meme.

From the article:

“In a corner of Istanbul today, the man who might be described as Turkey’s gay poster boy will be buried – a victim, his friends believe, of the country’s deepening friction between an increasingly liberal society and its entrenched conservative traditions.

Ahmet Yildiz, 26, a physics student who represented his country at an international gay gathering in San Francisco last year, was shot leaving a cafe near the Bosphorus strait this week. Fatally wounded, the student tried to flee the attackers in his car, but lost control, crashed at the side of the road and died shortly afterwards in hospital. His friends believe Mr Yildiz was the victim of the country’s first gay honour killing.

“He fell victim to a war between old mentalities and growing civil liberties,” says Sedef Cakmak, a friend and a member of the gay rights lobby group Lambda. “I feel helpless: we are trying to raise awareness of gay rights in this country, but the more visible we become, the more we open ourselves up to this sort of attack.”"

Here’s a link to the full article.

I cannot even begin to understand this. Heartbreaking and maddening.

Last night I spent about an hour refining a list that Rita Seagrave had sent to me a while back, bouncing my revisions off of a couple of like-minded folks to see if there’s anything I’m missing in the system. I’m still not finished yet, but once I am I’ll post it here for uploading. I’d be very curious to see what people think of the system.

Thinking about TESFest, now.  Worth it? Can I afford it? Can i get the time off? How would I feel about it, so soon after Shibaricon? Also, Dark Odyssey has an event towards the end of September I wouldn’t mind attending.

Decisions.  Choices.