Summer Rain

We got our first summer rains here this week. While I realize most of the world considers such a thing a non event to me summer rains speak of lush growing plants and the softening earth. The first rain of summer hints of the power of life and the fertility to come. My heart races, my breath quickens, my skin tingles as my senses come alive.

Yesterday we got thunder. I love the sound of thunder. I feel it as well as hear it. It rolls over me like an ocean wave and I shudder at my very core.

Rain storms put me in many different moods depending on how intense they are and how long they last.Violent storms tend to make want want to run wild while long steady soakings tend to make me quiet and reflective.

We've gotten plenty of both the last couple of days. It's left me feeling a bit nostalgic so I pulled up a favorite Oldie to listen to.

Enjoy!

Changing A Man

I saw a quote attributed to Natalie Wood yesterday and it got me thinking.

"The only time a woman really succeeds in changing a man is when he is a baby."

Well yes, and no.

Ah, dualities! Those wonderful things that make black white, white black and put that double edge on every sword; the thorn on the rose and the rose on the thorn...

But before I drift off across the universe in a fog of mystical revelations, I do want to address a recurring question in spanking relationships.

Many people believe that spanking is a type of cure-all, a spanked spouse is a well behaved spouse and so there is no domestic friction. Um, no. There are some things that not all the hairburshes, paddles, and straps in the world will fix. Not every man is meant to be spanked and some men just won't change no matter how often you blister their bottoms.

In the other camp you have folks who claim none of it's real, it's all just a fantasy game, spanking doesn't really change anything, etc. These people are full of elaborate theories about what's "really" going on emotionally and mentally, with long winded lectures about how it's the new emotional bonds that make a partner change, etc etc. These people make me scream faster than you can say "Occam's Razor". Yes, the emotional bonding spanking creates does have a effect, but no matter how you try you cannot quite completely disregard a little thing called classic conditioning, (nor operant conditioning).

The fact is a spanked man will change. Yes, if you spank for discipline some of his behavior will change, but regardless of the reason you spank he will learn and grow as a person. If you are the one spanking him, teaching him, guiding him, you will be helping to change him, so in that sense Ms. Wood was incorrect. However, while you may be helping he still has to choose to make the change. In that sense he is changing himself rather than you changing him, so in a way she is correct, too.

All change has to come from internal motivations. They have to want to do it for themselves as much as they want to do it for us. But that doesn't make us irrelevant. We're part of the process, too. We change him by inspiring him to change himself and giving him the opportunity to do so. He provides the desire, we provide the mechanics to make it happen.

But despite Ms. Woods observation, he does change, and we as women do cause that change.

Ms. Betty

What the Bunny Gave Me

In case anyone missed it, little bunny and I celebrated our first year together yesterday. And yes, he sent a present.

I'll let your imaginations run wild for a moment while you try to guess?

• custom flogger?
• exotic wood paddle?
• designer handcuffs?

Not quite...

Anyone who knows me well knows that as important as kink is, my true passions are art and literature, and that nothing moves me like a myth. Myths strike that chord in me as nothing else does. They take me to a different world, speaking in a language all their own and revealing old truths long forgotten.

So, little bunny sent me a illustrated copy of Bulfinch's Mythology. Yes, that's my dirty little secret. 1,000 pages of dry academic study of myths of the world turns me on more than an entire rack full of rope and floggers does. lol.

This particular volume covers everything from the ancient Greeks and Romans, to Celtic and Norse tales, the legends of Arthur and Robin Hood and even the tales of Charlemagne.

I've barely had time to skim it, but every time I do I discover a new delight in it's pages. I can't wait to go through it with a fine tooth comb.

Thank you again, little bunny. The choice was perfect. Mistress loves the book and adores you.

What did I give him? Very simple: a long, intense switching and 366 hairbrush swats, one for each day of our past year together.

Ms. Betty

Kitten With a Whip

Apologies to Ann-Margaret fans, but I'm talking about a different kitten and a different whip.

This is Maggie:
She came into our lives this past December when she showed up on the porch looking for something to eat and shelter from the freezing cold and snow.

Of course she's much bigger now, and she and I are having a slight difference of opinion over who owns my new quirt.


As you can tell, Maggie thinks it belongs to her. No matter where I put it, she has to dig it out, knock it down and drag it around. She'll even hiss at me when I try to take it away.

You can't reason with a cat. I've gone straight for the brute force approach: squirt bottle, but so far she remains undeterred. The quirt is hers, and there's no two ways about it. However she's indicated she might be kind enough to let me borrow it from time to time.

Good thing. She may have a passion for this particular whip, but I have to say her technique with it leaves something to be desired.

(Yes, she's chewing on it.)

Ms. Betty

Monday Blahs

I usually don't get the Monday blahs, but I've got them today. I'm not depressed, just a bit weary from spending my weekend reformatting the harddrive and reinstalling windows...it took 200+ updates to get Window up to speed, nearly 12 hours in all.

So today I'm a bit tired, a bit achy, and decided to rest up a bit. I'm sitting back with coffee and some good music and maybe a book.

Enjoy!

First a couple to chase the Monday blahs away:





and then something to bring a smile:



and maybe a couple more...





I don't drink myself, but something about an Irish tune gets my blood moving. Irish passions, I suppose.

Other favorites of mine are "Pina Colada In a Pint Glass", "McCloud's Reel/Jamboree" and "Me and the Moon" and, and, and...lol okay, Gaelic Storm has their own playlist on my computer. I've got it going and I'm starting to feel better.

Happy Monday everyone!

Ms. Betty