Audacia Ray – April with Sinclair

I blogged a little bit last week about the 2010 Sex Blogger Calendar – which in my opinion, is a pretty perfect holiday gift for your favorite perv – its $20 plus shipping, and you get a free download of my comedic short Dacia’s Love Machine. But there is backstory to the photo I posed for with Sinclair Sexsmith. Our photo was taken by the talented Amanda Morgan

Here’s a little of what Sinclair said today about the choice we made:

The theme for this calendar was “SEXUAL FREEDOM,” and while Dacia and I were discussing what to do, we both were inspired to feature something very New York-y, since New York has been a big part of sexual awakening for both of us. I moved here almost five years ago now, and my sex life and sexuality has changed significantly since I did.

We talked about iconic photographs and couples that we could imitate or reproduce, and eventually settled on the famous shot of the sailor kissing the nurse in Times Square. Amanda was totally game for it (though she insisted that we shoot early in the day so we’d have the best light), I hunted down a sailor suit, Dacia queered up her nurse outfit, and voila, there’s the shot.

An homage, of course, to Alfred Eisenstaedt’s famous photo taken on V-J Day in Times Square, 1945.

Our image was shot very early in the morning – we met in Times Square at 7:30 am, I believe I was up around 5:30. Being in Times Square at that time of morning in a waist cincher is kind of a weird thing. But one of the best things about that morning (other than the obvious of wearing fabulous outfit, making out with hot butch) was the fact that it was July 28th – my fifth blogoversary. Shooting an image like this with one of the excellent people I’ve met because of blogging, for the 2010 Sex Blogger Calendar? Yeah, that was a really nice way to celebrate.

Sinclair – April's Model

Need a fabulous gift this holiday season? Don’t know what to get your (least) favorite boss or your Grandma? Well! Here ya go: the New York City Sex Blogger 2010 Calendar: Visions of Sexual Freedom.

You’re welcome.

This year’s calendar features 16 bloggers, including myself, Audacia Ray, Calico Lane, Abiola Abrams, Jamye Waxman, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Melissa Gira Grant, Elizabeth Wood, and plenty of other hot pinups, and benefits Sex Work Awareness, a fantastic non-profit organization that puts on the annual Speak Up! media training workshop.

This year, I was photographed with Audacia Ray by Amanda Morgan and featured in April – which has my birthday, Sugarbutch’s inception date, and Dacia’s birthday.

Me, my photo in this year’s calendar with Audacia Ray (photographed by Amanda Morgan), and Kristen (and her amazing princess dress) at the Sex Blogger Calendar Party in New York City. Photo by Nick McGlynn (thanks!), more photos from him in this set.

The theme for this calendar was “SEXUAL FREEDOM,” and while Dacia and I were discussing what to do, we both were inspired to feature something very New York-y, since New York has been a big part of sexual awakening for both of us. I moved here almost five years ago now, and my sex life and sexuality has changed significantly since I did.

We talked about iconic photographs and couples that we could imitate or reproduce, and eventually settled on the famous shot of the sailor kissing the nurse in Times Square. Amanda was totally game for it (though she insisted that we shoot early in the day so we’d have the best light), I hunted down a sailor suit, Dacia queered up her nurse outfit, and voila, there’s the shot.

The original photograph, V-J Day in Times Square by Alfred Eisenstaedt, was taken just after the radio announcement that World War II was over – that the US had “Victory over Japan” – on August 14, 1945. This is a significant time period particularly for queers in the US, as World War II brought people massively congregating in coastal cities like New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. For the first time in US history, more people lived in urban environments than in rural environments, and suddenly, queers were finding dozens, hundreds of others like us. This led to those sudden “oh my god I’m not alone” revelation moments, the increasing recognition of the systematic marginalization of us because of our sexuality, and, ultimately, activist organization and the birth of the gay rights movement!

Post-WWII and the subsequent activist movements – like the second wave of feminism – also gave rise to all sorts of new sexual activism, which is absolutely the root of the work I do today. Safe sex, STI information, sexual health, sexual choice, sexual advocacy, sexual agency, ability to have control over how many children we have and how far apart they are, birth control, knowledge, BDSM skills, gender theory, power theory … all of that is built upon earlier movements. And all of those movements, and their intersections, allowed me a significant study of gender and sexuality that has lead me here, to Sugarbutch, and to the 2010 New York City Sex Blogger Calendar.

I bet you can think of a couple people on your holiday list who have been nice enough to get a gift like this calendar, hmmmm?

All proceeds from the calendar, don’t forget, go to Sex Work Awareness which puts on the annual Speak Up! media training workshop. Help support the efforts of this wonderful and much-needed organization through the purchase of a calendar!

Calendars ship upon order and cost $20 a piece plus $3.25 for shipping. And – as a special holiday bonus – through the holiday season, when you buy the 2010 Sex Blogger Calendar you will also get a free MP4 download of the 25 minute director’s cut of Audacia Ray’s film Dacia’s Love Machine, which debuted last year in Berlin. (Link to download will be provided on checkout.)

N – March's Calendar Girl

I was asked to write a bit about my sexual freedom for the 2010 NYC Sex Bloggers Calendar by the lovely Tess and Diva..two ladies that I have been fortunate enough to call as my good friends over the past year.

The first time I heard about the calendar….I wanted IN! I wanted a taste of what it would be like but I also discovered that I wasn’t the only one doing a sex blog. For close to a year, i was writing on my experiences on dating and also about dating some horrendous individuals! When I heard about the launch party, and that a few of my friends were involved..I HAD to go!

Going to that party meant going on my third date with C. We had a lovely dinner and sex dessert on our first date and went to Badass’s Halloween burlesque bash on Halloween for our 2nd. We had decided that we were going to take things slow and not jump into bed with one another. This plan really didn’t last long but we were determined to make it work! C and I ended up for the most part at the party making out in the back close to the sound booth. This is why alot of people at the party including Diva never met me. I was fortunate to have met Tess outside while i was having a smoke break and we hit it off…we also became twitter friends! LOL

The whole experience opened by eyes to a whole commUNITY that I had never known. I wanted to become part of this wonderful group of intelligent and sexually diverse group of women because it had been something that I had been searching for that was lacking in my life.

Throughout the year, I have been for the most part due to my crazy work schedule, part of the parties, the outings and the lovely drinks and cupcakes! I went to the bloggers events, and the bloggers came to my burlesque show. It was a meeting of the minds and I fit in perfectly. Plus I got to make out with a few of them too so I wasn’t complaining. Giggles

Then as the old saying goes “Be careful what you wish for”. I was asked by Tess and Diva to be a part of the 2010 edition! I was so enthralled by the prospect of fulfilling my wish to one day become a calendar girl! The theme was Sexual Freedom and I knew exactly what it was that I was going for!

My own person theme was Narcissism. No really…I’m not joking! My character or more importantly “Alter-Ego” is a very narcissitic diva who loves to look at herself as well as love herself several times a day. For me, narcissism wasn’t looked upon as a negative thing. It was about loving yourself and reveling in all the goodness that is you. It was about being your own damn sexy goddess!

My image was an homage to the greek god Narcissus, known for falling in love with himself as he is enchanted by his reflection in a pool. In a way, he was totally queer! Although there were some negative aspects about his character, I felt most connected to the concept of the piece. The quality of self-love and self-preservation. Yes some may argue about the story and yes I totally know the story in it’s entirety. It is also a myth and with myths we take what we will from them. It was also about being connected with the gods as I am a practicing Pagan in the NYC area. It was spiritual as much as it was sexual.

I had the dubious honor of working with the amazing photographer Melvin Moten Jr. who until then had never worked with. We had wanted to work with each other several times throughout several years but never had the time or opportunity. Here he would photograph me at the famed Chelsea Hotel, and the final shot was of me “in the closet”. How appropo.

We had an amazing shoot together and the final pic was off and sent to the presses! After waiting what felt like years although was just a few short months, the moment arrived at the launch party at Fontana’s when I finally opened up the calendar and saw my pic! I was so proud of myself and proud of the long journey that came full circle on that warm November night. There were not any words to express how I felt after viewing the printed piece.

So I would like to extend many thanks to Tess and Diva and all those who came out and supported and represented at the party!!! Performing my signature burlesque routine in front of all of you despite Con Ed’s disapproval was amazing and I would do it again in a heartbeat! Til then, crossing my fingers for a taste at 2011’s edition!

xoxo

N

Check out N’s awesome blog, where she talks about her vagina, as indicated in the title, an awful lot, at The Vagina Adventures. And if you’re lucky enough to be in New York City, be sure to check out the burlesque show she produces with JZ Bich, Hypergender Burlesque, it’s like nothing you’ve seen before in a very, very good way. At $10 a head, it’s a sexy, smart and sometimes snarky, NYC bargain.

Abiola Abrams – February's Calendar Girl

Photo by Anna King, Time Out NY

Sex and your sexual freedom, self expression, sexual self esteem.

Today’s Abiola’s Kiss & Tell News.

It was inevitable. I’m a calendar girl. Miss February, month deux, on the New York Sex Bloggers’ Calendar to benefit Sex Worker Awareness. This is what a feminist looks like!

Allow me to reintroduce myself…

What’s your sexual voice? Many women are experts at taking care of everyone’s needs but our own. Most of us are on auto-pilot. We don’t express our whole selves. For heterosexual women, there is literally not a minute where we are not trying to hook up with a boyfriend, prom date, fiancee and then a husband.

I am in the middle of living my fabulous Goddess Year.

What’s the Goddess Year™?
The Goddess Year is a movement that I am birthing- a revolution, a manifesta.

I decree that every woman should have a Goddess Year. The Goddess Year is the year when we live a purposefully single life. Overseas, they have what’s called the “gap year” where teens take a year off in between high school and college to see the world and find themselves. The Goddess Year™ is a year where we live purposefully single – love,sex, dating or celibacy permitted if you wish, but no focus on commitment for 12 full months.

One starter marriage in the hole, I needed to purge and focus on me. This was not a physical purge, but a mental and emotional purge. I realized that I had never been single in my life. Last time I was single I was 14 years old. I was a serial monogamist, going from relationship to relationship. People pleasing, apologizing for being my weird funky artist self, putting everyone’s needs before my own.

Men are encouraged to sow their oats. And by sowing oats I mean living with a sense of individuality and freedom. To embrace a sense of danger and personal power. To be selective and picky. These qualities are viewed as negatives for women.

Enter the calendar: I was invited to be a part of the NYC Sex Blogger Calendar in the right year!! During my goddess year.

I grew up in a sexually repressed conservative immigrant family background with Catholic roots. Posing at the intersection of 116th Street and 7th Avenue in Manhattan with photographer Joseph Stark was antithetical to that and super empowering. To own my body with all of its flaws, both real and imagined, I was 7 feet tall on that street.

That’s why I can proudly say that yes, I am a good woman who has done extensive work with VDay to stop violence against women and girls. But I am also an unapologetic bad girl who directed the erotica film Afrodite Superstar under the nome de plume Venus Hottentot. I own that and I am proud of it.

Abiola’s Kiss & Tell LIVE is my new monthly reading and performance series at Madame X in NYC premiering December 15th. Abiola’s Kiss & Tell TV is also a fun online show and this love, sex, relationships and pop culture column on Examiner.com. Of course the book and the rest are in the works. Come check and the new site AbiolaTV.com and post your own personal delights at KissAndTell.AbiolaTV.com.

Our sexual selves are not a side portion. We deserve to have our needs met. We deserve to express 100% of ourselves. Our Newest Affirmation: I am an unabashedly sexy woman who owns her self.

Hell to the yeah.Or should I say heaven…

And don’t despair if you already have a loving partner and children, that’s beautiful. Spend your Goddess Year as a year of EXTREME goddess self care just for you. Take care of yourself first, and your children and husband or partner will be all the better for it.

Self love is divine, luxurious, healing and necessary. In this culture or sexual bodies are everywhere, but where are our voices and our expression in the mix?

What do you think?

Order yourSEXY $20 calendar to benefit Sex Work Awareness HERE. See you in NYC at Abiola’s Kiss & Tell Live monthly at Madame X. Come hang with me on Twitter @abiolaTV or AbiolaTV.com, and of course buy Dare by Abiola Abrams wherever you buy books.

January – Mia Martina tells her story

2010 marks the second year that Tess and Diva have put together the New York City Sex Blogger Calender. All proceeds from the calender go to Sex Work Awareness (SWA). If you are aren’t sure what sex work awareness is all about, here is a portion of SWA mission statement:

We believe that all sex workers have a right to self-determination; to choose how we make a living and what we do with our bodies. We conduct research about sex workers and the sex industry in order to better understand it, develop public education initiatives, and advocate for the rights of sex workers.

Read more here.

When Tess and Diva asked me to be a model in the calender, I was honored and thrilled to be a part of such a great project. They paired me with a photographer, told me the theme, Visions of Sexual Freedom, and gave me a deadline. I completely appreciated the freedom of expression to interpret the theme as I desired and I was a bit overwhelmed. What would my interpretation of sexual freedom look like?

Through lots of self reflection and discussions with the photographer, I discovered my sexual freedom is rooted in openness. I have found myself to be open in my sexual fluidity as a lesbian and bisexual, in exploring variations of non-monogamy, and in pushing boundaries in kink. All of which can be well described in written form, but how would it be translated into 2D and remain a hot, sexy photograph that would make people want to buy the calender?

On our first shoot, the photographer and I ended up with some sexy photos, but we felt the photos didn’t fully capture a sense of openness in bisexuality or non-monogamy. So for the second shoot we had help from willing participants to be props in the photos (thanks, MS & AW), which ended with many of the photos feeling contrived. Also, with additional limbs in the frame, sometimes I got lost and my agency confused. Was I preying on or being preyed on? Depicting agency in the photograph was really important to me; I wanted to look in control of my sexuality. So we dutiful set out on a third shot. And, ladies and gentlemen, the phrase was true again. The third time was the charm. (Thanks, CS & MS.)

I don’t expect congratulations for having completed so many shoots (but many, many thanks to Alex for all his hard work). Rather, I share the details of the photo shoots because it was an interesting and challenging journey in self-expression. I am grateful to have been given an opportunity and a platform to interpret my sexual freedom amongst so many cool and inspiring sex bloggers.

Check out Mia’s blog and listen to her sexy, sultry podcasts at I Want Your Sex.

Cover Girl

This year our calendar theme was Visions of Sexual Freedom.  The lovely models worked closely with their talented photographers to get shots that best describe what sexual freedom means to them.  For the rest of December, our models share what the ideas were behind their photos.

We’re going in order, so the first we have our cover girl, Mina Meow .

Here’s what Mina had to say.

After seeing the 2009 NYC Sex Blogger Calendar and the amazing good it did by sponsoring the ‘Speak Up’ workshop by Sex Work Awareness’, I just knew that I wanted to be involved! As you would imagine, I was absolutely ecstatic when and said I could be in this year’s calendar!

Getting to shoot with the lovely Diva and amazing Barbara Nitke for the 2010 NYC Sex Blogger Calendar was like a dream- a fairy-tale come true.  And yet, the fairytale wasn’t over. While helping set up for the calendar launch party, someone asked me if I’d seen the calendar yet. When I replied ‘no’, they handed me a calendar … and much to my surprise, I saw my face on the cover! For a while, I just stared in amazement (after letting out a loud squeal, of course)- I couldn’t believe my eyes!

When I first became active in the Alt and BDSM scenes, I started as a kitty girl; however, over the last 13 years, role play has become only one of the many aspects of who I am in the scene. With each passing year, my interests, passions, and limits have expanded and evolved. Who I am today is very different from who I was when I first started this journey at the age of 18. The young girl of yesteryear would never have believed I’d become the fearless and adventurous pervert and gender transgressor I am today! Capturing that shot of me on the floor bound in rope was indeed a vision of freedom. Like my dear friend, , I find there is amazing strength in submission and freedom in bondage. I have found there is incredible abandon to be found in both the contradictions and ambiguities of life. As I’ve strayed away from the norms and given myself permission to be me, in all facets, I’ve found the wings to fly.

I can’t begin to tell you what an amazing honor it is to be featured with so many amazing bloggers and to have been photographed by someone who exemplifies what I believe in. Not only has Barbara Nitke made a career of photographing sexuality and BDSM, but she and the NCSF (National Coalition for Sexual Freedom) challenged the constitutionality of the Communications Decency Act, a federal statute prohibiting the publication of obscenity on the Internet in 2001. In our own ways, both Barbara Nitke and I are dedicated to opening the eyes of the world to the beauty of all forms of love, sex and passion. Together we share a vision of sexual freedom- I’m so very proud to have collaborated with her in sharing my story.

Special thanks to Diva, Tess, and all of the many people and sponsors that made the 2010 NYC Sex Blogger Calendar possible!

If you haven’t already, please go here to purchase a copy of the calendar today!

You’re very welcome, Mina, thank you for gracing our cover.  As soon as I saw this shot, I knew it had to be the cover.  And thanks to Barbara Nitke for being part of our project, for being a delight to work with and for just being an overall awesome person with an amazing amount of talent.

e[lust] #2

Photo courtesy of Twisted Monk

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 the next edition? 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 ♦

The Heart of Darkness - “I swear that man can sense my fear like a hound scenting a rabbit, and just like the hound, his blood rises to it.”

Forever… – “Forever is a beautiful idea, a wonderful goal, but it’s not a magic spell.“

His First Fuck - “He stood there, obviously nervous, obviously aroused by what he had been witness to seconds earlier.”

◊ e[lust] Editress ◊

I Dare You - “Aided by our clutches of printed papers, me hiding my nipples that could cut glass and him hiding the hard bulge in his dress pants, we scurried back to our cubes where the messages flew back and forth.”

♦ Featured Post ♦

Who am I? – “I’ve been through a lot of shit in my life and couldn’t fit it all on one piece of poster board.”

See also: Pleasurists #55 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!

♦ Thoughts & Advice on Sex & Relationships ♦

First. Confession #380
In Defense of Squirting
Gender, Buck Angel, and Me
G Spot Orgasms: It’s all about the clitoris
Spitroast
They May be Bi, But They’re Still Boys
Why I Sometimes Fake Orgasms
Wonderland:  The British in Bed

♦ Kink & Fetish ♦

The Workout (fiction)
I Am Not Clark Kent
Caning
Lips Parted
Curve
She brought her own toys
Rope Bondage: Hemp vs. Mfp
Phew! Another Hole
Hearts
My virginity and how I lost it..
Gift
Spicing it up: Bondage Materials

♦ Sex News, Interviews, Politics & Humor ♦

20 Questions with Cyd
This Ain’t No Disney
A Thank You Note
Vegas Virgins
Sex and Happiness

♦ Erotic Writing ♦

1 Full Body Massage / 1 Happy Ending
The Slut Chronicles #7 ~ I Said No
To Do List
the date
And Your Hands and Your Lips and Your Tongue Tricks
Oh Fuuuck
I Get Around
Sometimes, Love Hurts
In The Dark
Making Up
Quickie – A Good Girl
What I Want You To Do To Me
Hitachi Fun
Her Curves
Carnal
marks she left
Wicked Wednesday: I Love Watching You Watching Me
Birthday Boy
Fucking & Making Love
Thy Mother and Thy Father: A Vodoun Love Spell
What Just Happened?
Happy Birthday Me
What Cums Around

Special Holiday Bonus

Crossposted from Waking Vixen Store

Buy your 2010 NYC Sex Bloggers Calendar and receive a special bonus!

$20 + $3.25 shipping – includes free download of director’s cut of Dacia’s Love Machine

The 2010 NYC Sex Blogger Calendar is unique in bringing together several of NYC’s writers, filmmakers and sex educators with twelve outstanding photographers and incorporating the participation of the larger sex-positive commUNITY to our efforts to support Sex Work Awareness. Last year’s calendar made the Speak Up! media training for sex workers possible, and with the enthusiasm that has met the project this year, we’ll be able to expand the media training from one day to a full weekend.

And through the holiday season, when you buy the 2010 Sex Blogger Calendar you will also get afree MP4 download of the 25 minute director’s cut of my film Dacia’s Love Machine, which debuted last year in Berlin. Link to download will be provided on checkout.

Calendars ship upon order and cost $20 apiece plus $3.25 for shipping. Check out the Time Out NY slideshow of the NYC Sex Blogger Calendar launch party to get a sampling of the hotness.

Putting The Calendar Funds To Work

If you’ve been wondering what Sex Work Awareness does with the funds raised by the calendar sales one is to fund the Speak Up! Media Training for Empowered Sex Workers which was held in NYC this past year.  It is also where I first met Megan Andelloux when I attending the celebration party held afterward.

Megan put those skills that she learned at the first Speak Up! when she spoke out against changing the indoor prostitution laws in her state of Rhode Island and then again when she faced challenges to the opening of her non-profit facility The Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health.

On Monday, Megan will go in front of the Pawtucket, RI zoning to try and receive permission to open her center.  Below is a copy of the press release she has written.

The Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health Appeals Pawtucket Zoning Decision

Pawtucket, RI November 26, 2009 – The Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health (CSPH), the first non-profit sexuality resource and information center in South Eastern New England, is set to go before the appeal board on November 30^th @ 630pm to challenge a zoning decision that prevented it from opening in September.

After a controversial zoning decision was made by Pawtucket zoning officer Ron Travers, The CSPH was not permitted to open. The reason for denial was a lack of zoning clause for “education” to take place within The Grant Building. The CSPH was not permitted to open because its mission states it works to provide education.

After numerous national and local news organizations picked up the story and interviewed city officials, it became clear that the Pawtucket city officers had given pre-textual reasons for not allowing The CSPH to open. Harvey Goulet, the City’s director of administration, was quoted as objecting to “this type of business” as “not really something we feel is appropriate for our city.” The ACLU has weighed in on the battle regarding adult sex education stating in a press release “the city’s intent is to suppress the speech that would occur at the Center.  Such content-based discrimination raises serious constitutional concerns.”

Liberal, conservative, moderate and libertarian news media have all been in favor to allow The CSPH to open and they agree that the location and the presentation are appropriate for the environment it is currently housed in. Neighbors of The CSPH have housed petitions requesting the center to be able to open. Providence Journal writer Bob Kerr and popular conservative talk radio host Dan Yorke have both voiced support for The Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health.

Ms. Andelloux, the director of the non-profit Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health is a certified sexuality educator who wants to provide the adult community with a safe place to access information about sexuality issues.  The Appeal Board meeting will take place in the Monday, November 30^th, at the Pawtucket City Hall, 3^rd floor at 630pm.  The public is invited to attend.

For questions or statements contact Megan Andelloux at 401.345.8685

**If you are not able to attend the meeting Monday night you can still fax a letter to (401)772-3356 or call (401) 728-0500 and ask for Anna Salum to voice your concern on Monday. Here is a sample copy of one:

Appeal Board

137 Roosevelt Avenue

Pawtucket, RI 02860

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Dear Members of the Appeal Board,

I am writing on behalf of The Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health (CSPH) and it’s founder/director, Megan Andelloux. I want to voice my support for The CSPH, the positive work it will do and the vital services it will provide.

As a person I appreciate that there will be a place where one may openly seek medically accurate, safe information about a subject that is often hard to address. As a business owner, I appreciate the passion and dedication that Ms. Andelloux is applying to starting a ground-breaking, non-profit organization in Pawtucket, RI.

Lastly, as a concerned citizen outside of Pawtucket, I am in shock that the members of this city would object to bringing more revenue and visitors because they believe of a “lack of zoning”. I have been reading the newspaper articles since the beginning of this situation and it has become glaring obvious that this lack of zoning is a veiled attempt to cover the city’s panic about talking openly on sexuality issues.  With prevailing attitudes like this, it is apparent to me that the CSPH is arriving just in the nick of time to open our minds and our hearts to a world of new possibilities.

I urge you to support the entrepreneurship of Ms. Andelloux and to support the growth of Pawtucket through business people who think outside the box.

Sincerely yours,

In 2010 Sex Work Awareness will again hold more Speak Up’s and the sales from the 2010 calendar will help to fund them. You can contribute to that by purchasing a calendar today. 100% of the profits from the 2010 NYC Sex Blogger Calendar goes to Sex Work Awareness.

A Thank You Note

It’s been just over a week since the calendar release party and it’s taken that much time for both Diva and I to decompress from what was a beautifully crazy marathon of a weekend.  Awesome doesn’t even begin to describe what a wonderful, successful and jam packed party we put on.

It really all started a week before the party. That Friday, calendar model Lucy Vonne and Diva came to my house for the formidable task of stuffing two hundred gift bags.  Thanks to the beneficence of our sponsors and supporter, there was a lot of items to cram into those pretty black bags; bags that Diva & I had festooned with hot pink njoy stickers and pins in the wee hours of the morning.  When I suggested getting some pretty fluffy hot pink tissue paper to make the bags look even more festive, I swear felt death rays emanating out of those four pretty eyes.  Thanks so much, Lucy for all you did. We really can’t thank you enough.

Thursday, with the help of my husband, (thank you, babe) we stuffed Diva’s SUV (even though I’m firmly convinced Satan invented SUV’s, I was grateful that day that Diva had one, I would have hated to have had to rent a U-Haul to drag all that loot into the city) to brim with two hundred gift bags, one fucking machine, a Liberator scoop and a giant FYN rolling toy trunk that conveniently held most of the other awesome raffle prizes. That evening, after checking into the official calendar party hotel, Hotel Le Jolie in Williamsburg, we met with Monk and took him to Sex Worker Literati.  There are so many of you to thank for making this party outstanding.

Thank you to all the photographers who donated their time and gave us the kick ass images you see in your calendar.  (Haven’t bought yours yet, click here and do it now).

Thank you to the models who posted about and otherwise promoted the calendar and party.  You can read about our beautiful/debonair, brainy and brazen models here.

A special thanks to Time Out New York (shout out to Ashlea Halpern) for not only writing about the party in print and online but for donating two hundred issues (thanks to Mike Rucker and Jamie Mandel), sending Anna King to cover the party and posting thirty amazing shots in Own This City (linked below).

Thank you to all our amazing sponsors, gift bag donors,  and supporters who, despite trying economic times, rallied to support us with generous donations of both funds and merchandise.  We’re still hearing how amazing the gift bags and raffle prizes were.

Thank you to all the volunteers who worked so hard setting up, (allowing Diva and I two blessed hours of relaxation while we got our hair and makeup done at the awesome Tease salon.  Diva actually fell asleep mid makeup application), putting the final items in the gift bags, selling calendars and raffle tickets, minding the raffle table, making sure had the Chinese food containers stuffed with tickets all in line, and getting the loot all bagged up for the winners.

Thank you to all the people in this broad community who not only supported this project from beginning to end, but travelled far and wide to be here with us on this special day.  We can’t reiterate enough how heartwarming it is that not only New Yorker’s showed up in droves, but friends from places are far away as California, Seattle, Missouri and Canada cared enough to make the long journey and party with us.  It was awesome to see CarnalNation’s Chris Hall again and to meet CN’s Shaye aka @MR_CARNAL.

A huge thank you to N; you put on an awesome show and never faltered, not even when Con Ed decided our party was just too bright and killed the lights drowning us in darkness.  Thanks to all our performers and the stunning go-go dancers for treating our guests to their scintillating and sexy acts.

As far as we’re concerned, Fontana’s is the most awesome bar in the city.  Fontana’s is a fantastic space, staffed with the most chill people.  Holly and Brendan, you’re amazingly easy and delightful to work with and we hope to do many other events at Fontana’s.

Many thanks to photographers Nick McGlynn and Stacie Joy for documenting the night’s debauchery.

We remain eternally grateful for Monk.  In addition to functioning as the urban Sherpa I was unsuccessful in acquiring last year, he soothed our frazzled nerves with his calm and great off the wall sense of humor, used his extra strong rope makers hands to provide much needed massages and foot rubs (hot shoes are painful shoes), read the raffle numbers (both Diva and I are blind as bats without our reading glasses, and you thought we used him just for his good looks and theatrical skills, didn’t you?), and then suspended us from Fontana’s balcony on Saturday providing me with the best moments of Zen I have felt in ages.  His super power of making any song entirely filthy provided hours of laughter. Plus, for a big, bad top, that man gives wicked cuddle.

A special thanks once again to Greg DeLong and njoy. If you have your calendar, you’ll note that njoy’s days are hot pink.  We wanted a special way to show our overwhelming gratitude for rescuing us last year and providing us with the phenomenal design skills of Jason Tranchida this year and for donating our grand prize, the njoy Eleven.  Greg will always have a place in my cunt heart for being such a warm, giving person, not to  mention a wicked hot dildo designer.

And lastly, both Diva and I would like to thank our families, who never complained despite all the time we spent working on this project and culminated in our spending nearly four days away from home.

If you didn’t make the party, or just want to revisit the mayhem, following are links to some great photos.

Nick McGlynn – Random Night Out

Stacie Joy – Sex Blogger Calendar Party

Matthew  -  Matthew Has A Camera (Hit wander back to see more)

Anna King – Time Out New York – Own This City

We’re also happy to announce that we raised almost $2200 at the calendar release party that night.