Hi, all. The following is not what I intended for my introductory blog-launch post. Best laid plans and all...
Instead, you are getting the off-the-cuff results of me thinking to the page. Sigh. Sorry about that. Those plans were good ones, but they went awry when I was trying on blogger templates and playing around with customization options. Without warning, I had a glitch issue. When I was able to reload my excuse for a blog, I discovered my template appears to be corrupted. I had customized it quite nicely, and I'm rather ticked off about the whole thing.
The title layout, the
color scheme and
background that I mixed myself, my
gadgets,
widgets,
doohickies and
thingamajigs - all these things were present before the big burn, and were
almost where I wanted them.
My fonts were sized for normal people -
It was not sized for those who can see microscopic typeface from across the room...
EVERYTHING APPEARS TO BE ALMOST ALL GONE.
(Hmm, I'm testing blogger's limited standard formatting options as I think out loud here. They seem to work in draft mode, and the Preview seems to be working for the post text. That's good, but my custom creation is no longer showing in the preview. I don't see a version option, and I don't have the time or patience to uncluster it. However, draft isn't the same as published, is it? I learned the hard way to be leary of the Preview option, so we'll see, won't we? Lol!).
I'm not even certain which content remains, some of which was there only for test purposes so I could see the placement on the finished page. Those things and many others are not showing in Preview, and I hadn't managed to get far enough to backup my template - gggrrrrr)... I hope some of that test stuff isn't still there - that could prove verrrrryyy interesting,
BUT, I WONDER, ARE ALL MY PRETTIES GONE??!! It's not that bad. I have all that gooey junk saved on my laptop. I probably didn't need it anyway.
~ ~ ~
At any rate, I've decided to throw caution to the wind and let this post go live in the interest of activating this blog. I'll tinker with my layout as I go along, but right now I feel like hiring this little gal to run my blog for me.
Please let me know if you notice anything behaving erratically, or stumble across anything that might not belong there.
Oh, my stars! I'm so distracted by wondering if my blog page is going to look like a kindergarten project gone wrong, that I almost forgot about this, and I can't publish without it:
Thank you, my friends, for making me feel welcome and included in this wonderful group of people who share their most personal lives out here. Who'd 'a' thunk I would have found some of the most open, honest, intuitive, intelligent, introspective and generous souls I've ever encountered? I didn't expect it at all, especially because I couldn't link directly into most of the blogs without feeling I was being interrogated for stepping off into the realm of darkness. You know the drill, I'm sure:
When I first tiptoed onto this path and clicked ttwd blog links, it took me a while to become accustomed to not being redirected immediately to the blog. Blogger took me to their sparse, cold, almost ominous page where I was cautioned, in big text, on a traffic-orange background, no less:
Content Warning
...followed by a paragraph of blah, blah, blah... "
that may be suitable only for adults..."
Hmm, should I have said, "Yikes!" and run for safety? Perhaps, but I didn't.
I thought, "Well, duh, I know where I want to go." I had the tiniest twinge of a titillating little thrill that I was about to see something naughty. I worried I would wreck into the worst trolls in existence, all circling like vultures waiting to drop on the unsuspecting who happened to wander into their carrion fields. Shiver. (Occasionally, I slip into alliteration. It must be a character quirk. Pay it no nevermind. I digress...)
Blogger wants to ensure, absolutely, positively, that I know what I want to do. In order to exit the warning and proceed to the blog I want to read, I am offered the solemn caveat and option to click a button that inquires if I am certain...
I understand and I wish to continue.
Okay, deep breath, let's see who/what is waiting on the other side of this scary button.
I can't begin to describe how differently I perceive most of you from the mental images I briefly conjured
every time I saw that warning and confirmation button.
My mouse hovered a moment or two before I took the plunge into each of your blogs. Strangely enough, I didn't imagine any of you looking like the above couple. Ha! ;-)
The photo is titled, "Scary Couple." They are modelling their Halloween costumes, and they're actually kinda cute in a weird/odd way. I didn't want to post "true real life" photos of what I think is "scary" (which, I should mention, includes me in my old bathrobe and slippers). I know there is some obscure foot-in-mouth law which dictates I would post a photo of extra-curricular costumes and accessories used in at least one of my friend's occasional fantasy role-play scenarios. Not the thing to do! ;-)
~ ~ ~
Sometimes, on some blogs, I see and read about things that, generally, are considered to be very naughty. I truly appreciate most of it. I am a sensual, sexual adult female, after all. I believe in learning and understanding as much as possible about human sexuality and relationship dynamics. I find it fascinating there are so many varied ways in which people connect successfully.
Occasionally, however, I come across a blog where things are too coldly clinical or unappealingly raw for my taste - they grate on me or don't touch me where I am wired. I move on, secure in knowing I am entitled to my preferences as much as others are in expressing their own. Still, I find it interesting such diverse things appeal to people, often for very different reasons.
For instance, I can't imagine a time when the activity depicted above wouldn't put me in a "let's get down and dirty" mood, although I usually want to shower first (hiking together - you knew that, right?). Your mileage may vary.
~ ~ ~
I don't visit ttwd blogs to peruse porn. Aren't you glad I shared that with you? Lol! Okay, perhaps some of you go to the blogs in search of porn, but there probably are better places to find it. I hope nobody expects to find porn on my blog, although I'm sure our discussions may evolve (or devolve) into some steamy subject matter on occasion.
We all have experiences, and questions about our own and others' experiences. Where better to explore these things than here? I'll do my best to ensure our discussions never become too jarringly graphic or uncomfortable. Likewise, if you're reading my blog and notice the comments getting out of hand, I hope you will email me or the person(s) responsible so it can be handled off-blog.
~ ~ ~
I first started visiting ttwd blogs because I was drawn to the honesty and intriguing outlook presented at the
Taken In Hand site. Some of the posters' comments truly resonated with me, and I believe I read a significant portion of the content on that site. I got caught up in the ttwd/dd blogs, and haven't been back to TIH in quite some time. I don't agree with every perspective of those who have posted there, but none of us are required to subscribe to all the views of everyone else.
I also found similarly interesting points of view on some sites dedicated to Christian Domestic Discipline, but I don't know that there is the direct correlation between Christianity and disciplining a wife, as many espouse. I found other informative sites that appealed to me on various levels. I'm sure there are site reviews around the blogs, so I'll leave that for another post(s).
There is/was some very good information on these sites and many others, and the majority of posters and commentors appear to be people who truly ascribe to the goal of working toward the best interests of their partners and improving the overall health of their relationship. I think, as most of us do, this is the primary motivation for wanting to incorporate ttwd in all our myriad ways. On the other hand, some of it would never appeal to me because it would feel oppressive, cruel and abusive. That is the good thing about ttwd - everyone custom-tailors it to suit their own needs, kinks, quirks, baggage, etc.
Apparently, I'm on a roll here. It's cleansing to think to the page and purge all that hostility about my wasted efforts earlier to make this blog my home away from home. I'll just keep typing. You don't have to read it.
~ ~ ~
As many ttwd bloggers have reported about their initial forays into learning about ttwd or connecting with others who already practice it, it wasn't long before I found Mick's former blog, "Husbandly Touch." This blog recently experienced serious technical difficulties and Mick removed it. Gosh, I miss having ready access to the wealth of knowledge in the posts and comments on "Husbandly Touch." The good news is Mick returned with a brand new blog called
Mick and Lynda's Place, and he already has some really good posts, plus I hear he re-added some old blog content due to widespread demand.
In the beginning of my perusal of blogs, I also found Sara of
findingsara; Stormy at
Shelter in the Storm, and so many, many others, most of which I read from the first post. I've read almost every post of Mick's and Stormy's blogs, and comment occasionally on each. I may never work my way through all of findingsara. Her blog is extensive and has been active for over 7 years, at least.
Bonnie, PK and quite a few others also have blogs that have been around for years. I'm going to properly thank
Bonnie in another post as I intended to do in my initial/launch post. I also intended to blame
PK for something, because it's tradition, so I'll have to devise something plausible to place on her doorstep. PK actually invited me to save myself the trouble of reading all of her blog, and just post questions on her posts. I like PK.
I've also read many other blogs in their entirety. Please, nobody feel left out because I didn't list and link to you here. If I have commented on your blog, it's almost a certainty I've read your blog from the beginning - unless it has more content than Encyclopedia Brittanica. Often, a comment appealed to me, so I would link to that person to discover more. Before I knew it, I was reading their blog from the beginning while simultaneously continuing to read the blog I had linked from. Some blogs led me to ten more, twenty, thirty others - I lost count.
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As time progressed and I began commenting on blogs, I became acquainted with people who are becoming some of the best friends I could imagine. I also came to appreciate and care for people who don't know the regard I have for them because I rarely or never comment on their blogs. I feel badly about this, but I'm hoping to remedy that as much as time allows. I've added some of the blogs I have frequented to my blog roll (we'll see when I publish this whether that was corrupted when my template crashed and burned).
None of this tells you much about me with respect to ttwd. I have to save
something for future posts, but I shouldn't leave you completely hanging about us. This post feels unfinished without it, so I'll give you a snippet about my D.
~ ~ ~
When speaking to/with the wonderful man with whom I share my life, I often call him, "my (his name)." In fact, his real name begins with
D - thus, here, he will be called "my D" or simply "D." My real name is not Irishey, by the way. Coincidently, it begins with
S.
I don't plan to share many specifics about my D because his story is his own, but I will tell you I deeply love him. My D loves me exactly the same amount, or he loves me more. I know both to be true because he responds with one or the other assertion every time I tell him how much I love him. He occasionally calls me "Angel" when it's just the two of us. That makes me smile inside, probably because I'm not an angel.
~ ~ ~
I've thought to the screen for far too long. I'm sure it's disjointed and not well constructed. Poor of me to consider posting without a final re-reading and editing for content, double proofing, examining grammatical structure, but I have ambled and rambled aimlessly...
Sunnygirl, I should burglarize your blog title, because I, too, am a master (mistress?) of
Aimless Ramblings - kicked up a huge notch. ;-)
I'm rolling the presses! Blessings, my friends.
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