First off, I want to give a quick thanks to all the love, messages, and contacts I’ve been getting lately on Twitter, Recon, GearFetish, YouTube/Solebaring (and I do hope to hear from you again, culshawfeet–your proposition sounds interesting), Formspring (and I do love getting questions!), and email (sorry I didn’t write sooner, Jake! Hope to hear from you!). Things were pretty dry in the beginning of the year, and I was a bit down, but I’m feeling much better now, thanks to all of you. Keep it up, I love hearing from people!
Don’t forget that I now gave in and have a Tumblr, too. Don’t get me wrong, this will continue to be my main blog, and still updated daily. The tumblr will be updated very randomly, as I feel like it, mostly with pics that straddle the line between gear, feet, and bondage. And some occasional humor. But I do have a folder of pics set aside just for it. So go follow. If you have, you already know there’s an animated toe curling gif of the pic below. I hadn’t started off trying to make an animated gif, but I noticed a series of pics I took recently seemed to have the qualities of one.
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| Like it? You can see and share it on Tumblr! And just so you know… my feet had just emerged from 12 day old socks. |
Also, if you haven’t already, please vote in my anal sex poll at the sidebar! As of this writing, I’m just a few shy of 100 votes total. The results, to me, are very interesting.
And also vote for me at Best Male Blogs! They’ve reset their counts to 100, and we sort of have to start over. No registration required, it’s very quick and easy, so please do so!
Finally, I’d appreciate it if you can for me as Best Gay Blog Post of 2011. The vote does require a Facebook, which is not easy for many… so those that can do so, it’d be appreciated. Thanks!
Onto something that started as a bit of a rant, but ended up feeling pretty good…
Sometimes I feel like I’m in such an unusual position. On one end, this blog is becoming fairly prominent in the fetish community, and I’m beginning to connect with more fetish people via Twitter. I’ve had a few people contact me through various social networks and refer to this blog as a big deal, and that I’m a bit of a solebrity. Okay, I made that last word up, but I kinda like it. 😉
At the same time, I’m completely isolated from everyone, playing essentially only with my BF and a very rare few. I’ve never been to IML, MAL, West Coast Rubber, or anything of the like, and probably never will (at least not in the near future). This is primarily out of respect for my BF, who has justifiable privacy and job security concerns. As do I, for that matter.
I used to feel pretty bad about that, and I still sort of do. But then I also realized something else. I move in a lot of very large communities. Mostly due to work. Within work, I have at least three other large community work circles that I move in, and to be honest, in a fairly prominent manner. How do I manage that? It’s as if I were a talented guitar player. (I’m not, but it’s going to serve as an excellent example.) Say I’ve played with various bands… those are some circles right there. Sometimes instead of electric guitar, I can also play acoustic… which lends itself to an entire different style of music and therefore, another circle. Many of these circles have some people overlapping, but they’re largely separated. Then say I also teach guitar classes. Another circle. Get the idea? My life circles are sort of like that. Add to that the circles of my family, my friends, and my BF, and his friends.
Now add fetish stuff. Which is a circle where I don’t really have anyone who overlaps (aside from my BF). It’s essentially it’s own circle. None of my other work circles know about the fetish circle, and vice versa.
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| This was a greeting card in a store. I feel this way sometimes with my regular friends. If they only knew. 😉 |
Sometimes that drives me crazy. I used to sort of lament the fact I can’t do more in the fetish world. To a certain degree, I still do. Really, I’d love to show my face and be more open, participate, and go to events. But on some reflection, as much as I enjoy fetish, this blog, and all that goes with it, I think I’m now fairly content with where I stand. I realized that I am doing some contribution just by keeping up and maintaining this blog like I do. And knowing I’m also so productive in so many other circles oddly gives me a sort of satisfaction. If more does happen fetish-wise, I certainly won’t argue it. But in the meantime… I have a great boyfriend who already caters to nearly all of my sexual needs, and the fetish scene already has a lot of great leaders and spokesmen–Tynan Fox, Metalbond, Ruff’s Stuff, and Mr. Kristofer immediately jump to mind. I think I’m now quite happy with where I’m at here. I’ll just keep posting away, writing away, and, true to my title, baring my sole. Doin’ my little bit off to the side. And I hope you all enjoy it.
To be honest, I have a bit of thanks to Tynan, who originally was a Saint and listened to me rant about this earlier on. –TFG
