Tag Archives: 2013

Cigar Chicago October Smoker

Cigar Chicago

Smoker Date: Sunday, October 27 2013

Our next smoker is Sunday October 27th, 7:00-10:00 at Blue Havana (note the slightly later start time). Kick back with a cigar or two and cigar camaraderie with other kinky cigar lovers. As always, we’re taking over the shop after hours, so it’s just us.

Last month Graydancer was unable to join us as planned for the cigar play class, but fear not! He’ll be joining us this time and the class is just as fresh.

Cigar Play Class
Cigars have a rich tradition in the leather community, and are packed full of history and ritual and a depth of sensation that makes them perfect for kinky play. Whether you’re into the fear of a cherry-red hot tip hovering near skin, or the literal breathless abandon of sharing a smokerise with your lover, Graydancer will help introduce and explore with you the lush experience of a good cigar scene. Learn both the safe and the spectacular tricks of good cigar topping as well as how to enjoy the service and submission that can be found in a nice tight ash. This class focuses on the play part of cigar play, and leaves the esoteric labels to the google-fu of the participants.

Graydancer
Graydancer has been teaching, performing, and advocating for kink and BDSM for over a decade. He professionally rigs, photographs, shoots, edits, and consults in web, video, and social media for several clients ranging from Kink.com to the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom to the Kink Academy. You can also hear Graydancer as a guest on various podcasts such as Polyamory Weekly and Dart’s Domain, or his own Ropecast (the longest-running kink podcast on the web). Gray was featured on Our America with Lisa Ling: 50 Shades of Kink which aired in January of 2013 on the Oprah Winfrey Network. While his roots lie in bondage, Gray’s focus has evolved over time to subjects such as power exchange relationships, cigar play, and the educational aspects of kink. He was the first to apply Open Space principles to a kink event, creating GRUEs which have been held at over 45 locations in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Currently he resides in the Bondage Capital of the World, Madison, WI where he is working on becoming a total GILF.

It’s also BYOB if you like, so feel free bring your favorite whisky and share the love with your friends; who knows, you might just find a new favorite for your bar, too. Or bring some chocolate… but mostly bring yourself. We’ll have all that, a fantastic humidor, and most of all: good company.

Like a munch, it’s free to attend, but show the venue we appreciate them hosting us and patronize them: buy a cigar. Or two. Or accessories. Or something.

NEW! Blue Havana offering Cigar Chicago 10% off
Blue Havana is now extending Cigar Chicago 10% off things purchased during the event. It’s a great offset to the Chicago Cigar Tax, and very nice of them to do. So show your appreciation and buy something nice for yourself.

Who is Welcome
All genders, ages, experience levels, races, shoe sizes, sexual orientations and preferences, partnership status, poly, D/s, M/s, height, eye color, religions, pet preferences, fitness levels, tax brackets, and pizza topping choices are welcome (even all veggie pizza, if that’s your thing; your pizza is not my pizza, and that’s OK).

Bottom line: if you think this sounds interesting, then yes, it is for you. While couples and groupings are always encouraged to come together (hey, isn’t that always nice?), it’s not a requirement to have a partner to come.

Here’s the event page on FetLife if you want to go tell the world you’re going: https://fetlife.com/events/193080

Here’s the group and discussion are here: https://fetlife.com/groups/55753/group_posts/4292244

Questions, please feel free to ask. I look forward to seeing you there.

Rough

Note that since Chicago requires anyone entering a tobacco shop to be 18 or up, and drinking requires you to be 21 or up, please plan on showing a state-issued ID if asked to do so.

Rough Crowd September: Breath Play

Rough Crowd

Rough Crowd Date: Sunday, September 15, 2013

In July of 2012 we did Breath Play, and it was our biggest-attended Rough Crowd; we did it again in March of this year and we beat our previous attendance record, and I was asked not 2 days later when we were doing it again. So we’re going to do it again, with more notice this time, and get everyone who said they were bummed they couldn’t come last time!

Sometimes when you’re doing rough body play, and someone starts getting all rowdy (or horny) you just need to choke someone out.

Breath play, like so much of rough body play, is very primal and animalistic; the need to breathe is core to life, and tapping into that fear can lead to all sorts of fun! It can be disorienting, terrifying, fuzzy-floating… for some people it brings on heightened sensation and submission. For others, it brings an incredible sense of intimacy, focus, and connection.

We’ll talk about several methods, risks and ways to mitigate them, and some techniques to help you find the way that works best on you or your partner.

Due to the nature of breath play, bringing your own play partner is highly encouraged for this workshop.

Sunday, September 15
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Register for location and directions https://www.eventbrite.com/event/7807535549
FetLife Event page is here: https://fetlife.com/events/190910; do sign up, but you still have to register (see above).
FetLife discussion page is here: https://fetlife.com/groups/35092/group_posts/4256777

Bringing your own play partner is always awesome, but not required; while couples and groupings are always encouraged to come together (hey, isn’t that always nice?), it’s not a requirement to have a partner to come to Rough Crowd.

All genders, ages, experience levels, races, shoe sizes, sexual orientations and preferences, religions, pet preferences, fitness levels, tax brackets, partnership status, poly, D/s, M/s, height, eye color, and pizza topping choices are welcome (even all veggie pizza, if that’s your thing; your pizza is not my pizza, and that’s OK).

If you’re into rough body play, or if you think this sounds interesting, then yes, it *is* for you. Come to Rough Crowd for overview, instruction, and practice time. Safety and technique will be first, and then ideas and practice time. No experience necessary; you’ll have some by the time you leave.

Standard Info About Rough Crowd

Rough Crowd is:

• 18 & up
• Cheap (ten bucks!)
• Open to all levels of skill and experience

Registration

Every attendee must register for any given Rough Crowd. To register, just go to the eventbrite link above in the details block and follow along. Registration deadline is 24 hours in advance. No exceptions: you must be registered for the event to attend.

How Rough Crowd Works:
If you’ve never been to a Rough Crowd before (or if you just have questions), check out our FAQ:
FetLife: Rough Crowd details: What, Where, When, How
Web: FAQ: When, Where, Who, How

Spread The Word:
Rough Crowd is successful because you guys make it successful. When I post these things, they get as far as the people I know on my own feed, and the few groups I post them in. But the more people this reaches, the better. To spread the word beyond my own personal network, so and we can reach a larger and more diverse crowd, you can help. The more the merrier, and new faces are always welcome and encouraged.

Spread the word on FetLife:
You can help spread the word by posting (or re-posting) about Rough Crowd, linking to this discussion or the event page, in any groups you’re a part of, or even in your own status.

Spread the word on your personal blog:
You can help spread the word on the non-FL web by posting about Rough Crowd and linking to the roughcrowd.org url above. Posts here always have a sister post there.

You can help on Twitter:
You can help spread the word by following me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/roughinamorato) for updates (and other random pervy things) and retweeting info about Rough Crowd.

You can help wherever you and your kinky brethren and… sistren?… gather:
Feel free to spread the word in whatever way you have available to you.

—-

Hope to see a bunch of you at Rough Crowd,

Roughinamorato

Cigar Chicago September Smoker

Cigar Chicago

Smoker Date: Sunday, September 8 2013

Our next smoker is Sunday September 8th, 6:30-10:00 at Blue Havana. Kick back with a cigar or two and cigar camaraderie with other kinky cigar lovers. As always, we’re taking over the shop after hours, so it’s just us.

This month we have a special guest speaker: Graydancer will be joining us to present a cigar play class.

Cigar Play Class
Cigars have a rich tradition in the leather community, and are packed full of history and ritual and a depth of sensation that makes them perfect for kinky play. Whether you’re into the fear of a cherry-red hot tip hovering near skin, or the literal breathless abandon of sharing a smokerise with your lover, Graydancer will help introduce and explore with you the lush experience of a good cigar scene. Learn both the safe and the spectacular tricks of good cigar topping as well as how to enjoy the service and submission that can be found in a nice tight ash. This class focuses on the play part of cigar play, and leaves the esoteric labels to the google-fu of the participants.

Graydancer
Graydancer has been teaching, performing, and advocating for kink and BDSM for over a decade. He professionally rigs, photographs, shoots, edits, and consults in web, video, and social media for several clients ranging from Kink.com to the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom to the Kink Academy. You can also hear Graydancer as a guest on various podcasts such as Polyamory Weekly and Dart’s Domain, or his own Ropecast (the longest-running kink podcast on the web). Gray was featured on Our America with Lisa Ling: 50 Shades of Kink which aired in January of 2013 on the Oprah Winfrey Network. While his roots lie in bondage, Gray’s focus has evolved over time to subjects such as power exchange relationships, cigar play, and the educational aspects of kink. He was the first to apply Open Space principles to a kink event, creating GRUEs which have been held at over 45 locations in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Currently he resides in the Bondage Capital of the World, Madison, WI where he is working on becoming a total GILF.

It’s also BYOB if you like, so feel free bring your favorite whisky and share the love with your friends; who knows, you might just find a new favorite for your bar, too. Or bring some chocolate… but mostly bring yourself. We’ll have all that, a fantastic humidor, and most of all: good company.

Like a munch, it’s free to attend, but show the venue we appreciate them hosting us and patronize them: buy a cigar. Or two. Or accessories. Or something.

NEW! Blue Havana offering Cigar Chicago 10% off
Blue Havana is now extending Cigar Chicago 10% off things purchased during the event. It’s a great offset to the Chicago Cigar Tax, and very nice of them to do. So show your appreciation and buy something nice for yourself.

Who is Welcome
All genders, ages, experience levels, races, shoe sizes, sexual orientations and preferences, partnership status, poly, D/s, M/s, height, eye color, religions, pet preferences, fitness levels, tax brackets, and pizza topping choices are welcome (even all veggie pizza, if that’s your thing; your pizza is not my pizza, and that’s OK).

Bottom line: if you think this sounds interesting, then yes, it is for you. While couples and groupings are always encouraged to come together (hey, isn’t that always nice?), it’s not a requirement to have a partner to come.

Here’s the event page on FetLife if you want to go tell the world you’re going: https://fetlife.com/events/193080

Here’s the group and discussion are here: https://fetlife.com/groups/55753/group_posts/4292244

Questions, please feel free to ask. I look forward to seeing you there.

Rough

Note that since Chicago requires anyone entering a tobacco shop to be 18 or up, and drinking requires you to be 21 or up, please plan on showing a state-issued ID if asked to do so.

Rough Crowd August: Coming Out Kinky

Rough Crowd

A lot of kinky folk lead a double life of sorts: a public and professional life with our family, friends, and coworkers, and a secret life cloaked in shadows. But we’re not superheroes with secret identities – we’re kinky people. There’s a commonly held belief among us kinky folk that to come out of the kinky closet would mean ruin, to careers, to families, to custodial situations, and more. And to make matters more complicated: even if you decided you wanted to, just how on earth do you come out as “kinky?”

Today, we’ll take a cold hard look at some of the issues surrounding coming out, including where risks are, what it means to come out, and some ideas of how to do it. This day is for anyone interested in this question, from the curious, to those presently wrestling with the question of whether this is something they really want to change in their lives.

Sunday, August 11
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Register for location and directions https://www.eventbrite.com/event/7807547585
FetLife Event page is here: https://fetlife.com/events/190755; do sign up, but you still have to register (see above).
FetLife discussion page is here: https://fetlife.com/groups/35092/group_posts/4242234

Bringing your own play partner is always awesome, but not required; while couples and groupings are always encouraged to come together (hey, isn’t that always nice?), it’s not a requirement to have a partner to come to Rough Crowd.

All genders, ages, experience levels, races, shoe sizes, sexual orientations and preferences, religions, pet preferences, fitness levels, tax brackets, partnership status, poly, D/s, M/s, height, eye color, and pizza topping choices are welcome (even all veggie pizza, if that’s your thing; your pizza is not my pizza, and that’s OK).

If you’re into rough body play, or if you think this sounds interesting, then yes, it *is* for you. Come to Rough Crowd for overview, instruction, and practice time. Safety and technique will be first, and then ideas and practice time. No experience necessary; you’ll have some by the time you leave.

Standard Info About Rough Crowd

Rough Crowd is:

• 18 & up
• Cheap (ten bucks!)
• Open to all levels of skill and experience

Registration

Every attendee must register for any given Rough Crowd. To register, just go to the eventbrite link above in the details block and follow along. Registration deadline is 24 hours in advance. No exceptions: you must be registered for the event to attend.

How Rough Crowd Works:
If you’ve never been to a Rough Crowd before (or if you just have questions), check out our FAQ:
FetLife: Rough Crowd details: What, Where, When, How
Web: FAQ: When, Where, Who, How

Spread The Word:
Rough Crowd is successful because you guys make it successful. When I post these things, they get as far as the people I know on my own feed, and the few groups I post them in. But the more people this reaches, the better. To spread the word beyond my own personal network, so and we can reach a larger and more diverse crowd, you can help. The more the merrier, and new faces are always welcome and encouraged.

Spread the word on FetLife:
You can help spread the word by posting (or re-posting) about Rough Crowd, linking to this discussion or the event page, in any groups you’re a part of, or even in your own status.

Spread the word on your personal blog:
You can help spread the word on the non-FL web by posting about Rough Crowd and linking to the roughcrowd.org url above. Posts here always have a sister post there.

You can help on Twitter:
You can help spread the word by following me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/roughinamorato) for updates (and other random pervy things) and retweeting info about Rough Crowd.

You can help wherever you and your kinky brethren and… sistren?… gather:
Feel free to spread the word in whatever way you have available to you.

—-

Hope to see a bunch of you at Rough Crowd,

Roughinamorato