So as promised, and while the event is still fairly fresh in my head, (and on the eve of my next adventire to Floating World),  I wanted to jot at least a bit of a journal entry about “Thunder in the Mountains“.  I have been in the scene quite a few years at this point and I have been to pretty much every major event on the east coast but for all these years I have heard great things about Thunder and always wanted to go there, and I am so glad I finally did! Everything they say about Thunder is true!

In fact there were so many great things that I hardly know where to begin! The hotel had just had a major renovation and was truly lovely. The staff was courteous and very accommodating of our special group. The event staff all seemed extremely well organized and helpful (other than a slight miscommunication about class room needs which was quickly remedied).  Whenever I wasn’t teaching I was attending classes by other amazing presenters.  

Some of the ones that most come to mind include two bondage classes by the incredibly hunky Tony Buff.  (pictured here) Oh my God this guy and his boy were hot to watch! I think the eye candy alone was worth the trip but he is also a very talented rigger and presenter with a friendly, good natured style of teaching.  I should be embarrassed to admit it but I was so impressed with him that I came home, went straight to his website (http://tonybuff.com) and actually ordered one of his “art films”!   Mm, I have never sat through multiple hours of gay porn before and it was definitely an enlightening experience.  

Anyway, (deep breath and a cold shower) and back to the event report.. uhh right.  So I also totally enjoyed a class about how to design assignments for submissives by the lovely Rita Seagrave, one on needles as anchor points and other demented idea by Scott Smith (what a wicked mean sick phuck that guy is!!) <grin> and a class on Esoteric caning by Master Konrahd (another extremely intimidating, towering figure of a man that left a sweet little bruise on me that lasted well over a week with just the tip of a cane pressed into a pressure point! on my chest) 

There were a bunch of other amazing classes by Midori, Lolita Wolf, Laura Antoniou, Felice Shays, Boymeat, Mark Frazier, and many more which made it really hard to choose what to go to when I wasn’t teaching my two. Speaking of which, I got great feedback on both my “Low Flying Suspension class” (comment) and my “Intention & Connection” one (which I was actually shocked to see almost 50 people at at 930 am on Sunday).  That class (and the Breath Ritual that sometimes goes with it seem to touch people more deeply than any others that I do and I adore some of the comments I get on my feedback sheets and via email from attendees. It is an amazing feeling to know that one class can have such a huge impact on someone.

Okay next, well the dungeon at Thunder was MASSIVE! Like unbelievably so!  I think someone told me it was like 50,000 square feet but I can definitely attest that there were tons and tons of plays stations in the main part of the dungeon as well as men only and women only play spaces. My only wistful wish was for a couple of the standard 4 by 4 suspension frames, although there were quite a few 11 foot tall scaffold set ups and 2 fairly short suspension tripods.  I really enjoy the standard frames because I can easily transition from a spread eagle standing corporal scene into a partial and then full suspension

Brett and I played fairly roughly both nights and I cannot even begin to say how much I have grown to love beating that sexy man up.  I also got to finally meet and throw some whips at my buddy Drew for the first time Saturday night which was truly amazing fun.  His wife Shelly is an absolute sweetheart too and they look so cute together!  One of my other favorite parts of the event was getting to connect a bit more with Jeanie who I know through her partner, Mark Yu (who I love to play with on occasion because I adore the way that evil sadistic prick hurts me). Jeanie is an absolute doll and she just has one of those beautifully genuine smiles that makes you want to just hug her for a week.  I would so dearly love to schedule a week off next year to go and visit them and a few more of my Texas based friends. 

Whew, ok .. so yeah did I mention Thunder was awesome??!! Well, it was and I would dearly love to be invited back to present at them again next year but even if not, I think I will start saving to budget that one in anyway.  Hell my buddy GrayDancer commented that it was weird being at an event as a civilian and not preseting but it seems to be the consensus that if you are going to go to one and NOT be presenting, Thunder is on the the best to do that at!  Actually I feel that it is one of the best events of the year by far!  Now I am going to get back to packing for The Floating World which is coming up fast!