Travels and trials in my journey

Good evening, fellow kinksters!

    With all of the turmoil lately and this being the crazy season at work, I feel like I’ve lost track of me. Who I am and what I am. All of my friends on both sides of the slash have mentioned that I’m not like my old self. 
    It’s true. I’ve lost the enjoyment of many things I used to love to do. Writing. Reading. Staying in close touch with friends. Studying. Learning. All of these have been pushed to the side with all of the other insanity that is my daily life. 
    I see friends, old and new, that I used to chat with nearly incessantly that I haven’t heard from in forever. It’s me. I know it is. In my own little self imposed exile, I’ve lost track of what and who I am.

    I long to be who I was. I miss the certainty of direction and clarity of thought. A quick breath and then back to rediscovering me.

Max

Hello fellow kinksters,

   I’m back from a brief hiatus to go and bury a friend of mine. It’s been a tough couple of weeks mentally and emotionally, but I’m back.

    I hope this finds everyone well and happy!

Max

Don’t wait until it’s too late to help someone you know 

Don’t wait until you get a call from an old friend saying that another one is gone 

Don’t wait until tomorrow to tell someone you care

Don’t wait to pick up the phone to call someone just to say ‘how are you?’

Don’t wait and assume that all of your friends are all going to be there tomorrow 

They may not be and then you have the burden of guilt because you didn’t talk to them and make sure that they are going to be alright.

   I’ve lost yet another friend to suicide. One is too many. Please check on your friends, old and new.

Max

Good evening, fellow kinksters!

    To day is a very solemn day for some (only about 6% of the population) but, hopefully, a good day for a great number more. Memorial Day always finds me in a somewhat fluid mood, depending on what I happen to be thinking at the moment.

  I smiled when I thought about how Al used to pretend to smoke just feel included with ‘the boys’.

  I felt a flash of anger when I thought about how great a guy John was and how selfless he was.

   I felt a tinge of sadness thinking about how much Kevin loved being with his guys.

    I felt the rush of panic when I got the rest of Chads crew to the field hospital and was not allowed to go back and try to help.

   All of these emotions and memories bounced around my head and I told people funny stories about each of them, feeling as though I might turn around and the would be there.

   But they weren’t. Memories. I miss you, fellas.

Max

Wow! This was a lot tougher than I thought it would be..

   Here they are 

Silence of the Lambs

The Hunt for Red October

True Grit (the original!)

Heartbreak Ridge

The Green Berets 

Mummy Returns

Blackhawk Down

Vanishing Point (the original)

The Shootist 

The Outlaw Josey Whales

    In no particular order

Regards,

Max

Good morning, fellow kinksters,

     I hope this fine Friyay morning finds everyone safe and happy. This morning marks the beginning of my 6 day ‘slog’ until my next day off. You gotta love retails work hours! Not so much that I dread it, but it is not much fun most times.

     I could just quit, but then there would be too much time to fill and I’m just not good at literally laying around and not doing anything. 
    Notice there that I said I could…that’s the free will portion. We all have that. We could all just quit and become vagabond drifters, if we decided to. That marvelous little part of us that gives us the ability and drive to do things. Yes, that’s free will.

    We are fortunate to live in a place where we can make up our own minds as to what we want and what we do. With that comes the powerful responsibility of owning what we do. The bottom line is that there is no one to blame when things go south other than ourselves. Why? Be cause we put ourselves in that position.

    This lifestyle, dare I say more so than with our vanilla counterparts, forces us to own our decisions. Sometimes, God forbid, there is real damage done to another person. None of us wants that. A little bruising is one thing, but straight out abuse disguised as kink is downright wrong, in my opinion. There are the wannabes that do not really care about their charges. That’s free will.

    Another free will is the one where the abused gets out of that situation. We cant make them make the healthy choice. We can only encourage them to use their free will.

Max

Hey!

    After yesterday’s feeling guitar solo challenge, I wanted to explore the other realm. Sheer, badass, fast guitar (or whatever) playing. 
    I selected this one from a band I have long admired and am becoming more and more fond of. The incredible musicianship displayed all throughout this song is simply stunning, in my humble opinion. 
    It is rather long, but stay with it and be rewarded with what I think is one of the best guitar solos ever recorded.

   With that, I present to you…Under a Glass Moon by Dream Theater with the solo by Mr John Petrucci.

Max 

Good morning, fellow kinksters,

    I hope this fine (and cold) morning finds you all well and happy.

    Today is my programmed day off after the physical strain of dealing with our freight truck yesterday. It’s my one day that I can count on not having to work. Normally, I schedule my appointments and any other things for this day. It sometimes gives me the chance to drive for a while and think, so I really do like having that time.

    While up and fixing my coffee, the phone rings and it’s the doctors office. She’s sick and my appointment is canceled today. I was really looking forward to my drive. Sigh…

    Well, so now it’s on to plan B. I’ve got some things to do for my own little business. And while I do love it, I wish I had the time to just sit. All my hopes dashed.

Max

Good morning, fellow kinksters,

    We all have different kinks and wants and desires. It’s what makes us human. The wide ranging thing called free will (maybe a blog on that in the future) makes us all distinctly different and unique. Call it what you will, it’s still a beautiful thing.

    While getting ready for work this morning, I had a song running through my head. When I got to the guitar solo, my heart melted. I could feel the solo. It’s long been a favorite of mine, but today the solo hit me right in the feels. That got me thinking about other songs and down the rabbit hole I went with it. 
    Kinks are not universal. They’re all different. Music….now THAT is universal. Every one of us has a song or three or twenty that really does it for us. Genre doesn’t matter. If that’s what works for you, then dang it, crank that thing up!

    I’ll post another blog about your favorite guitar shred tomorrow. Might want to think about that one as well!

  My challenge to you is to post the entire song containing your very favorite guitar (keyboard, xylophone, whatever) solo that makes your soul melt. Something with feeling in it.

    Without further ado, my heart wrenching guitar solo song….A Man I’ll Never Be by Boston

Sadly…I tried to copy and paste the link in here and it wouldn’t let me do it…dammit!

Good morning, fellow kinksters,

     Another day has found me still on this side of the dirt (a phrase I often use) and facing another day. I don’t know how many in here work retail, but we know the drudgery and desire to really just stay home.

    I am glad that this community is here and that we can all post our thoughts without being shamed or ridiculed. After all, isn’t this lifestyle all about complete inclusivity? Take a moment and think about the variety of people we have. It’s a stunning and sobering thought to me. Obviously, it’s not the entire spectrum of kink (or is it?) because it doesn’t include EVERYONE that’s involved in the lifestyle.

    Such an infinite number of combinations of people. Some have found their other halves while many have not. Some will. Some won’t. I find myself happy to see the beautiful couples on here and then blink to discover a tiny seed of sadness has crept in. 
     If we don’t water that seed, it will not grow into full fledged jealousy. Be happy for the ones that have found each other. 
    After all, the chances are infinitesimally small. Enjoy and celebrate with them. 

Max