Chhh-Chhh-Chhh-Chhh-Changes

Pillow fight with Nina Hartley, Tess, Diva and Dr. Laura Henkel at the Erotic Heritage Museum. Photo by Ryan Reason

Things change, things remain the same.

What remains the same is that we’re planning a more than kick-ass party with surprise guests and amazing performances for the 2011 calendar launch.  What’s changing is the date.

Our new date for the 2011 calendar launch party is October 1, 2010.

Why October and not November?  Well, October weather in NYC is normally much better.  Though the first year we were running around town clad in corsets, bustiers and slinky backless gowns, that was very atypical of NYC in November.  Hopefully, we’ll be able to prance around half naked again in October.

November is smack in the middle of holiday season and we all know how stressful that can be.  So, it makes sense to have the party before we need to start buying turkey (or tofurky, for those of us who eschew meat) and shopping for holiday gifts (ahem, buying calendars for those on your gift list can keep you out of the mob scene at stores and your recipients get a gift that keeps on giving all year round and helps Woodhull Freedom Foundation in their mission of affirming sexual freedom as a fundamental human right).

Finally, having the launch in October gives us more time to organize events and promote sales. We want to keep surpassing the prior years’ successes and have a lot of sexy plans to do just that.

So book your flights and get ready to enjoy autumn in NYC (I can’t promise you gorgeous weather, but chances of that are excellent).

And keep checking back here for info on hotels and all the other activities for the calendar weekend.

See you in October!

Difficult Choices Ahead!

The deadline for submissions to the 2011 calendar has come and gone, time sure flies these days, and I want to thank everyone who took the time and effort to send us photos.  We have some really tough choices ahead of us since so many of you are wonderfully creative and that makes us wish the year had at least twice as many months.  But alas, it will be our daunting task to narrow down all these awesome photos to the top 13.

If you have outtakes that are similar to the photos you submitted, please remember not to post them anywhere.  I know we’re a bunch of instant gratification junkies but the rush of unveiling your photo at the calendar party in November will make it all worthwhile.

We’ll have our choices ready by June 1st and that’s when you’ll be notified whether you’re in or not.

This year is going to be a banner year for the calendar, just you wait and see.  If you thought last year rocked, we plan to outdo ourselves this year, so be prepared to spend an outrageous, event filled weekend in NYC in November.

Of course, we also want to thank this year’s sponsors whose support helps to make it all possible.  So visit their sites and if you’re looking to buy products, buy those you can from these amazing, socially committed people who want to see a better world where your right to sexual freedom is recognized and respected.

AAG

EdenFantasys

Fascinations

GoodVibrations

HotMoviesForHer

Kink Academy

MakeLoveNotPorn

MauiKink

Njoy

Ohmibod

Pink White

Pleasure Chest

Sex in the Public Square

Sliquid

Stockroom

Vibrators.com

While you’re clicking on links don’t forget to check out the beneficiary of this year’s calendar funds, Woodhull Freedom Foundation, and find out what they’re doing to affirm that sexual freedom is recognized as a fundamental human right.  Also, you can subscribe to the Woodhull’s Sexual Freedom E-News in individual emails (8-12 per day) by emailing individual@woodhullfoundation.org or the digest version (generally 1 email a day) by emailing digest@woodhullfoundation.org.

Record NYC Temps Tied to Hotness Generated by Calendar Submissions

One of my favorite shots from last year's photo shoot by Brian Moss

Yes, it is really April already.  As if to confirm that fact that life moves rapidly, too rapidly at times, today in NYC we’re expecting another day where temps reach 90! In April, I mean we haven’t even had an April shower yet and we have blazing heat.  To which I say – bring it!  But, what this means for all of you interested in submitting a photo for the 2011 calendar, is that you need to get your creativity on, get your photo taken (remembering to adhere to the guidelines) and send it to us before the May 1st deadline and to that, I repeat, – BRING IT!

Personally, I am thrilled that this project that started as my little spark of inspiration, a way for a group of friends to get together and do something worthwhile, fun and sexy that involved our broader community, has generated so much interest that 2011, with the inclusion of nationwide bloggers, promises to be such a spectacular, banner year.  We want to continue to support organizations that defend our right to own our personal sexuality and we are very proud to have sponsored Sex Work Awareness the last two years, especially with the weekend long Speak Up! beginning this weekend, and to have the 2011 calendar funds go to support Woodhull Freedom Foundation.

If you need any help with your photo ideas or theme, please let me know and I’ll be happy to discuss them with you.  Email me at Tess@TiedUpEvents.com so we can make the 2011 calendar even hotter, sexier and more representative of all your many brands of sexuality than last year’s.  And hurry up – time’s a wastin’.

Save The Date

photo by Stark Arts

If you were one of the 300 who people attended last year’s calendar release party you know already what an amazing evening it was. With the fantastic raffle prizes, 200 gift bags and our very talented burlesque performers it is hard to not only throw a party equal to last year’s but to surpass it? I think we just might have done that.

This year the party will be held on November 5th once again at Fontana’s. We have two very special guests who will be attending this year in support of both the calendar and Woodhull Freedom Foundation.

I am thrilled to announce that both Carol Queen and Nina Hartley will be in NYC for the 2011 calendar release party.

While it may seem slightly early to be posting this we wanted to give everyone as much time as possible to make plans to be in NYC on November 5th for the party.

We have more fantastic plans in the works for the party that we will be announcing in the future so stay tuned.

e[lust] #7

HNT Courtesy of Coy Pink

Welcome to e[lust] - your source for sexual intelligence and inspirations of lust from the smartest & sexiest bloggers! Whether you’re looking for hot steamy smut, thought-provoking opinions or expert information, you’re going to find it here. Want to be included in e[lust] #8? Start with the rules, check out the schedule in the site’s sidebar and subscribe to the RSS feed for updates!

~ This Week’s Top Three Posts ~

Uncoiling – I slip the blade between your hip and the fabric of the undergarment, and slide. The pretty thing splits easily, and the panty leg opens, revealing your skin underneath.

Ahead of Time - I know you don’t like to know ahead of time when I’m going to let you out, but I just wanted you know that it’s going to be, well, a long time.

Blogging For Choice: My Story – Should I begin with Catholic high school? Sure, why not. I suppose that’s when I first began thinking about abortion, especially when the opportunity for double credit for community service hours rolled around.

~ e[lust] Editress ~

Vignettes: Virtual Peep Show - I kept my bullet vibe on low to draw it out as long as possible for me as I stared, mouth open, at the two cute girls who loved to show off. I let the room in general, and the girls too, know that I was watching, appreciating and jerking off with them. I was encouraged by the greedy, horny men in the room to join them on camera.

~ Featured Post (Lilly’s Pick) ~

I missed you… – I could smell your cologne as I reached past you, key in my hand to unlock the door. That smell always set me off and you knew it. Your eyes told me what you wanted. You saw in mine what I couldn’t say out loud.

See also: Pleasurists #62 and #63 for all your sex toy review needs.

All blogs that have a submission in this edition must re-post this digest from tip-to-toe on their blogs within 7 days. Re-posting the photo is optional and the use of the “read more…” tag is allowable after this point. Thank you, and enjoy!

Kink & Fetish

A hand in the…
Celery
Breaking Down
Buckling
Drop and Aftercare, A Discussion
Erotic Hypnosis
Erotic Zen: Masturbation Fantasies
Fantasy Vs Reality in M/s
Four kinksters, a wealth of toys
Spanking Story: Head of House
The Kink Club Dinner
The Devil Is In The Details
The Last Chip

Erotic Writing

A Surfer’s Story
Across a Crowded Room, Part 3
Cookie
Her Pleasure
Saturday with my Sweetheart
Sex Behind the Wheel (#5)
SexxxConfessions: Jumping the Fence with My Best Boy
sex sex sexx
Sold
Surprise
Taboo
The Slut Chronicles #12 ~ The Bar
Uninvited

Sex News, Interviews, Politics & Humor

“All men are potential rapists” breeds fear and mistrust. Not caution
JM Darling
NYC Sex Bloggers Calendar is Going National in 2011!
Sex Addiction
S&M video producer in Hungary raided by police
Tauntaun Porn

Thoughts & Advice on Sex & Relationship

A Non Scene that went to a Bad Place
Blow Jobbing. Confession #413
Divorce
Hard Time Getting Wet
Hindsight
I Can’t Get No Contraception. Part 5
Innocent and Clueless? I Think Not!
Kegel Magic – For Men As Well As Women
Kyle’s Visit – Collaring My boy
One Year: The Story of My Rape
Swing Shift Volume 29- Maintaining Balance
Swallowing is overrated
The Tiger Way to Sex Rehab

Thank you, HotMoviesForHer

It was just brought to our attention that one of our sponsors, HotMoviesforHer, has about ten titles in their library of over 130,000 films  that reference the term “crack whore.”   Since we  personally find this to be an offensive term, we queried HotMoviesforHer as to why they have would have these in their library.

Here is JD’s reply:

HotMoviesForHer.com is part of the larger HotMovies.com family and we offer nearly their entire 130,000+ movie catalog to our viewers. While we don’t actively promote some of the movies on the site, including the movies in question, we don’t take issue with them being searchable on HM4Her. We think it’s important that women have a safe place to search out porn, no matter what kind of consensual porn they are interested in finding. Who are we to say that a certain kind of porn is not ok for women to watch. Adults can decide what they prefer to watch. There are many things out in the world that offend people, and while we understand that they are offensive to some, we don’t judge that it turns some people on. No matter what the movie is called, there are still consenting adults who decide to participate in it.

As for “crack whore” movies specifically. We don’t promote those movies to our readers, nor do we encourage people to watch them. If the term “crack whore” ever comes up in anything we are watching or promoting, we do the same thing that we do for anything we find personally offensive, we call it out and talk about it being offensive.

In the end, everyone might not approve of everything we have, but when it comes to changing our library, we can’t go on the opinions of what is offensive. We’d have nothing left.

We’d like to thank JD for her prompt and intelligent reply and as always  the comments are open to anyone who wants to intelligently support or debate this position.

Going National in 2011!

Amazing artwork, Map of Canada and the US,  by Oupelay on DeviantArt, please check out the rest of his fantastic gallery.

You’ve just flipped the January  page on your 2010 Sex Blogger Calendar, whispered a fond farewell to the lovely Mia Martina, and greeted the awesome Abiola Abrams, who graces February’s page, and here I am about to talk to you about 2011.  If it seems early to you, you’re not alone; it seems early to me too.  But 2011 is going to be a bigger and better year, hopefully for all of us, and certainly for this amazing project that started as a whim, a fun project with friends that would benefit our sex positive community, one balmy summer night.

Many of you, after seeing our fabulous calendar or coming to our kick-ass launch party, expressed an interest in being a model.  We heard you and we want to give you the opportunity to be even more involved.  So for 2011, we’re going NATIONAL!  Yes, you heard it right, the NYC SexBlogger Calendar wants to be even more inclusive in 2011.  We want any sex positive blogger/internet personality - male, female, gay, straight, queer, trans, any race, any orientation, any size - who writes/podcasts/video blogs about sex or sexuality to feel free to submit a photo.  While our 2010 models are free to submit a photo, we’d like nothing better than to get thirteen brand new faces and their accompanying hot bods. I’ll get into those details in a moment, but that’s not the only change we’ve made.

For the last two years, the calendar proceeds have gone to Sex Work Awareness and allowed them to fund Speak Up!, a one day seminar in 2009 that expanded to a weekend in 2010.  We are so proud to have provided the funding for those events.  Megan Andelloux, in her fight with the town of Pawtucket, RI to open her adult sex education facility, The Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health, used the training she received last year which helped her win battle and CSPH is now open for business. This year, we’re thrilled to announce that the funds raised by the calendar will go to Woodhull Freedom Foundation. Woodhull Freedom Foundation Affirms SexualFreedom as a Fundamental Human Right!

We’ve known of and been supportive of WFF but when we met and talked with the board members and advisory committee of WFF at their fundraiser, a diverse group including the fabulous Carol Queen, we were really impressed with them, their professionalism and their goals.  WFF has a broader focus than SWA and we want our little calendar to benefit all kinds of sexual freedom.  In changing core attitudes, defining sexual freedom as a basic human right, sex workers too will reap benefits.

Now, how do you submit a photo and what is expected if we pick you to be in the 2011 calendar?

First, you email us one or more professional quality photo that represents what sexual freedom means to you or how you express your sexual freedom.  The photo is to be 12 x 12 (this is SQUARE, people, be sure to let the photographer know this in advance of shooting, most photos are rectangular, so the photographer has to look with a different eye in order to shoot for square artwork).   The format will be CMYK, 12 x 12 full bleed, 300 DPIx 12 full bleed image. If you’d like to discuss concepts before working with a photographer, please email me at Tess@tiedupevents.com

Along with your photo, please send a short bio and a short (or long, if you’re feeling particularly verbose on the topic) post talking about how your photo represents your sexual freedom.  We would like all entrants to be able to attend our launch party on November 5, 201o in NYC, this is one reason we’re giving you all so much notice, so that plans can be hatched and funds reserved.  You’ll be required to post a button on your site that links to the calendar blog and once chosen, we’ll provide a special button for models.

Because we want to also support our economy as well as our fundamental right to sexual freedom, despite our difficulties last year, we are committed to printing the calendar in the US of A, we’re not sure how much nudity we can get away with.  If you feel like baring it all, we’re right there with you but we also need to be realistic about what we can get printed, so please give us some softer options.  Last year, the mere sight of nipples in two photos caused a printer, even in this economy, to turn down the job.

Please include in your email any suggestions you have for promoting the calendar and WFF on your site -contests, etc. Working with us in promoting the calendar is an important component of being a part of this project.

Submissions must be received by May 1, 2010.

More details will follow and we’ll post the Photo Submission Guidelines on a separate page so you can review them easily.

In the meantime, if you’d be so kind as to repost this far and wide, from sea to shining sea, we’d be most appreciative.  Let’s get everyone who believes that sexual freedom is a fundamental human right talking and participating in this project and sharing in the fun with us.

Speak Up 2010 Application

Speak Up! Media Skills for the Empowered Sex Worker” is a weekend-long seminar offered by Sex Work Awareness (SWA) in New York City. Speak Up is taught by Audacia Ray and Eliyanna Kaiser, two former executive editors of $pread magazine who have worked with mainstream and independent media as part of the sex worker rights movement for many years. Our 2010 training will kick off with an evening seminar on Friday, April 9th and consist of two full days of workshop on April 10 & 11. We are able to train 10 people.

We will be accepting applications until February 17, 2010. Accepted applicants will be informed no later than March 1.

Our inaugural training in 2009 yielded:

• A video public service announcement, I Am A Sex Worker, which has been viewed 30,000 times online and has screened at events and film festivals in San Francisco, Amsterdam, and other cities;
• Workshop participant Megan Andelloux has used her training to assist her in many media appearances debating her right to open her Center for Sexual Health and Pleasure in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Watch her on ABC News;
• Read What Speak Up Did For Me by participant Calico Lane

The impetus for developing Speak Up is based on a real need expressed by members of our community for more resources and skills training on how to (a) respond to media requests effectively and safely, (b) engage with the mainstream media in order to get a particular message out, and (c) create our own media products. Sex workers, like many other marginalized communities, find the mainstream media a crucial site of resistance due to the harmful misrepresentations and stereotypes that it promulgates. This is especially true when the job the sex worker does is illegal and becomes further compounded by factors such as race, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, relative poverty, drug use, family status, immigration status, and age. All too often, sex workers simply choose not to engage with the media due to potential social and legal repercussions or sex workers get in over their heads and are unwittingly exploited by the media without getting anything out of it.

Our seminar teaches sex workers how to evaluate media requests and to formulate strategic responses to the media in a variety of formats. Sex worker participants learn to write press releases, op-ed pieces, and letters to the editor, build a press list, pitch a story to a reporter, and pitch their own freelance journalism to an editor. Attendees also get a crash course on how to start their own podcast, blog, or video podcast. Additionally, seminars will contain practical hands-on activities and role plays (like video taping a simulated interview with a television reporter). We will also have participants look to already existing nationally-focused sex worker media and talk about how sex workers can contribute to these and other national efforts.

In addition to the training and skills, workshop participants will get:

• A $50 stipend
• Dinner on April 9th, breakfast and lunch on April 10 & 11th
• The opportunity to apply for a $500 grant to continue their media advocacy work

The workshop is limited to ten participants on the basis of a submitted application (below). Only self-identified current and former sex workers are invited to apply, to ensure that all feel comfortable during the seminar. The workshop is lead by two English speakers, so participants must be fluent in English. Our current budget does not include funds for travel stipends and housing for those coming from out of town, however, we will do our best to accommodate the travel/housing needs of all successful applicants.

Speak Up is funded by sponsorships and sales from the 2010 Sex Blogger Calendar.

Questions? Email us at info [at] sexworkawareness.org

Please click here to apply or email us to request the application as a word document.

cross-posted from Sex Work Awareness

A Night to Remember with Carol Queen and Nina Hartley

Join The Woodhull Freedom Foundation on Saturday, Jan 23rd for a celebration of sexual freedom as a fundamental human right, with Carol Queen and Nina Hartley.

You won’t want to miss this fabulous evening –  the champagne reception that begins at 6:30pm (donation, $100)

After the reception, doors open at 7:30 for the 8:00 performance of scenes from PEEP SHOW, performed by Carol Queen – her solo spoken word piece about working at San Francisco’s famed Lusty Lady theater as a professional Real Life Nude Girl.

Then hold onto your seats for Nina Hartley – currently in rehearsals for The Vagina Monologues – sharing a private performance from the show!

Cost: $100 for the private champagne reception where you will be able to enjoy some one-on-one time with the performers and other Woodhull board and staff members, as well as some local candidates and elected officials.

or

$20 suggested donation for the performance that begins at 8 (doors open at 7:30) – but give as you’re able for this fun event!

Your donation is completely tax-deductible and will be used to help advance our movement for the affimration of sexual freedom as a fundamental human right.

Tickets are limited.  Click here to purchase yours.

LOCATION WILL BE EMAILED UPON RECEIPT OF RSVP OR DONATION.

CAN’T ATTEND: YOU CAN STILL SUPPORT US BY DONATING HERE

PS:  Please note that a portion of donations received for this event will be donated to Partners for Health to benefit the Haitian Relief Effort

September 2010 – Melissa Gira Grant Speaks Up

There goes my career in public radio.

My Ira fetish knows no bounds. Especially when a camera, an opportunity to do boy drag, and a good cause are involved. You are the kind of people who would already give twenty big ones to a media advocacy organization by and for sex workers. But why not make that awesome investment and get a pinup calendar “girl” photo of me that you can hang over your bed or desk or wherever you want your gaze to fall when you hear the magic words, “…and now, act two….”

Now imagine it in my voice.

And with over a dozen other highly adorable, writerly New Yorkers in even more sexually compromised positions, all in the name of sexual freedom, etc., all in one calendar?

Go. Give now. Sex Work Awareness. $20. Sexy photos. Smart, savvy activism. And even more next year, thanks to your support, our program continues…