PPMT Reminiscing

By Turtle and Teeebone 

Teeebone and I are sitting here by Zoom reminiscing about the “good ol’ days” like we all promise not to do when we are young. “I’ll never do that…sit around thinking about ‘Remember when’…I’ll be too busy living!” Well, guess what? We are doing both! Double the pleasure, double the fun, with… oooo! Sorry for the earworm!

The good ol’ days circa 2012-2016 at the CSPC Interbay location included third Saturdays at the PPMT party (Power Play Mixed-Tape.) In fact, I asked someone to volunteer at the upcoming party and they said they weren’t available on the third Saturday. I said, “Great! Because it isn’t on the third Saturday anymore!” It’s a whole new world! Oops! Second earworm!

The party re-upped in 2021 on the “heels” of reopening post-Covid with some of the Interbay crew coming back out of nostalgia. We were thinking about what’s changed and what stayed the same.

I asked some of the previous Power Players what stuck out most to them. “Boobie dancing, feeling surrounded by scenes everywhere, high energy, intense scenes, dancing in my underwear, dancing free, the feeling of camaraderie on the team, great music, good friends, great conversations, warm hosts, fucktastic music, heavy players, possible blood scenes, amazing mix of laughter and screams, getting stuffed at TK’s Buffet, pogo dancing so hard I hit my head on the heater, everyone dressed up, everybody naked. You’re sexy and you know it!”

The music still pounds the sound but downstairs is quieter so people have a choice in sound immersion. The great conversations, friendly attendees, and awesome hosts stay engaged with great outfits, fun scenes, and random people dancing on the stage. Plus, we have the Pick-up Play board for the impromptu in you!

Teeebone - “That feel you get when you experience compersion while watching your former primary partner having their first DP scene some 12 feet away while you’re being the DJ at PPMT. Everybody’s workin’ for the weekend!”

Turtle - “That feeling of being surrounded by friends even if you don’t know them! I miss that so much! We openly welcome everyone and we will be talking, a certain song will come on and we will all rush to the dance floor together! Everyone included!”

Teeebone - “That feeling you get when you have had an intense scene and then realize you are the closing DJ. Whoomp there it is!”

Turtle - “I had a few anthems the team would all dance to, but before everyone got there, we’d have a pep rally that always ended with us singing ‘C is for Cookie!’”

Teeebone - “I loved those cookies. They were the best.”

Turtle - “We were a family. A family that exists to this day. When we wanted to set up a general, heavy play party again…we realized just how far our existing volunteers were stretched. Hell, 50% of the volunteers are board members. So, it’s been five years since the last PPMT, and I started texting. Amazing PPMT members answer with just ‘I’m in’ then go and renew their membership. It’s that kind of dedication, love, and camaraderie we at PPMT live for. I’m so grateful for them re-igniting their fires to bring PPMT back to life!”

And now we have a new crew of die-hards who swear by the party!

Teeebone - *yells* “I got it! That feel you get when somebody says straight to three DJs’ faces ‘do you have any music I can dance to?’ and you’ve been playing dance music all night long. The only right answer to this question: I’M SORRY. WE HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO DANCE MUSIC WHATSOEVER!” 

Turtle - “And the look on Sir Nikolia’s face that suggested the heat of a 1,000 suns… Well, we’ll leave it at that! Actually, she came back later to thank us for playing the Rolling Stones. Who knew?”

Every summer, when Paradise (our annual camping trip) would roll around, PPMT would follow it. We’d have a sarong night called, “Sarong, it’s So Right!” One year, the Paradise theme was to “Keep the Fires Burning.” I could have never imagined, at the time, something like a modern day plague would take humanity out at the knees. That we’d let our fires burn low into coals. That fire is still there though. PPMT and all of the CSPC programming plan to help breathe those fires back to life…to reignite them into a conflagration of passion for ourselves and our community. Come out. Become whole again! Volunteer and make space for others to become whole too!

Turtle - “I loved that the staff, no matter the name tag, all worked together to make great things happen. They could have happened at any party. But PPMT just refuses to notice that there is a box at all, much less lines to color in.”

Teeebone - “The concept of the crew as ‘Fam’ was very strong with PPMT.”

Turtle - “You keep hearing hints about TK’s Buffet. Trust me. There wasn’t food, but if you had a vagina, you could get stuffed! 

Teeebone - “We like to think of it as an immersive experience.” *laughs* “Three of my partners have been to the Buffet Table and rate it five thumbs up!”

Turtle - “We are both DJs. We love music! We play it loud! It is important to us. So bring your earplugs or headphones if you need them. Also, if the music fits the theme and you contact us beforehand, we’ve been known to play certain songs for a scene. Be nice or we might Rickroll you! We Are Never Gonna Give You Up!”

Teeebone - “Get yourself ready for a hot night with a five-finger sex punch!”

By the way, come join us on March 9 and dress to the “Ls” in leather and latex! While not a requirement to attend the party, we highly encourage our attendees to adorn themselves in said fetish wear. At PPMT, we whip sensuality and BDSM all under the same roof!

ppmt@thecspc.org

Come to Power Play Mixed-Tape and let your body talk!

The Future!

by the CSPC Building Committee 

We've all heard the talk about how someday we want to buy our own building or at least lease one. We want you to know that we have looked at over 3,000 buildings online and visited quite a few in person over the past several years. Much of what complicates the process of finding a building is our extensive list of requirements, as well as the rules and guidelines of cities and counties.

The adult business requirements have been difficult to get around. Many cities have specific adult business areas where we “could” be located, plus we must be a certain distance away from churches, schools, and other businesses/places where children gather. Most also require an adult business to be a certain distance from other adult businesses. 

What makes things increasingly difficult? Our list of requirements includes an elevator for accessibility. But elevators are expensive and are not usually available in buildings we can afford. We will have to adjust our expectations to find a place that has a majority of our prerequisites met. For example: being near a bus stop and food as well as easy highway access and adequate free parking. There are also requirements for the construction of the building itself.

There's a long list of things that we must do before we can take on a new location. We need to make sure we have the funds to expand and that may require fundraising. (Email info@thecspc.org to donate funds, as well as new or gently used items.) 

We need to make sure that we have a detailed list of expectations of upgrades that we plan to do and how much those may cost. Having it on some sort of spreadsheet is a bonus! Research is imperative and time intensive.

Once that plan is in place, we can get started on finding a location that fits the majority of our needs. This has been a multiyear endeavor with many eyes and ears helping to find something that will work, as our building unicorn home. We’ve even considered building from the ground up!

We need to think about the donation of labor as well. We will need many volunteer hours to get our new home ready in a short amount of time. We are including installation of a sound system, plumbing, office area, décor lighting, storage, moving existing and building new play equipment. All of this is in addition to fixing any preexisting issues the building needs. For example: adding a sprinkler system, shower, washer/dryer, kitchenette, etc.

We will be reaching out to prior members in addition to current members to help with this endeavor. These are people who have previously dedicated their time to the CSPC. They volunteered with us over the wider 25 years of our existence as an organization. Everyone has been waiting for a new building that is wider and taller, addressing the need to be able to play more extensively. These members are highly likely to renew and help assist in the process of opening a new community center! This means that the old community from Interbay and the new community that we have built at Gallery Erato will integrate and become an even more amazing membership. 

We hope to bring back the idea that we are a community center where all the different organizations can find a place to meet safely and be supported.

It would be extremely helpful to know what skills everyone has to bring to the building process. If you have special skills in interior design, electrical, plumbing, carpet/flooring or carpentry, please contact us so we can build a plan for getting a new expanded CSPC up and running quickly. Even just a general, “I can build stuff and hold up a wall. Let me help!” Please let us know.

Our building committee lead is Larry, CSPC Board Member. You can reach him at facilitiescoordinator@thecspc.org.

Parties from the Past: The Grind

By Teeebone

Back in the Interbay days, one of the first parties I went to was called the Grind. It was held weekly on Thursday nights. The Grind was a dark-themed, BDSM-focused party with dancing that featured Goth, Industrial, and EBM music primarily from the 90s and 00s, and it was very popular. I had fun on the dance floor and in the back room and so did many others. Certain music tracks remain “Grind Classics” in my library. “Non-Stop Violence” by Apoptygma Berzerk, “Military Fashion Show” by And One, “Megalomaniac” by KMFDM, and “The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove” by Dead Can Dance to name a few. Any time I had a free Thursday evening was an opportunity to dance the night away to cool music, watch or participate in a scene, or just simply hang out with folx, all of us dressed in black and getting into the Grind state of mind.

The Grind had its origins in the industrial club scene of the late 1990s, being inspired by Seattle nightclubs like the Catwalk, the Vogue, and Machinewerks. While the music, dancing, and fetish themes were present, BDSM play was limited. Shortly after the Center was opened, the folx who would become the founders of the Grind were approached to create a club night. Keep in mind that they were building this party from the ground up, raising funds, drafting the floor plan, forming a team, and installing the sound and lighting systems in the building. The founders selected Thursday night to hold this party as a weekly event in order to allow for dedicated men’s and women’s parties to be on Fridays. On May 18, 2000 the Grind debuted at the CSPC with an attendance of 48. Such humble beginnings, eh?

After the first year though, the attendance had doubled. By the time of my first attendance to the Grind, (2004-05) the head count was typically breaking 150. The Center was full of energetic dancers and players and the loud music was in a class all its own. As somebody who DJs, I was struck by how unique and one of a kind it was, and it was perfectly fine to dance by yourself! It was an amazing thing to behold. The Grind had cemented its reputation as one of the Center’s go-to parties, especially because orientation was held right before it started, resulting in some new members attending it afterward. 

The days of “peak Grind” would continue until the summer of 2007, when the Center had to raise admission costs, though three months later there would be an early-bird discount implemented. Also in late 2007, the Center acquired the Annex and a new party, the Chill was scheduled opposite the Grind to act as a space to allow attendees to step away from the loud music and have easier conversation. This diluted the party’s crowd even though you only needed one admission to have access to both parties. In early 2008, the Center’s yearly membership rate was increased, which peeled away some more attendees. Staff attrition also took its toll, though the Grind team held together quite well considering its long run. By 2013, the music played by the DJs began to branch out into more contemporary and dance-pop-oriented stuff. At this point, the Grind was more than ten years old and a large chunk of the original audience of members who attended week after week had left because of various “life in general” reasons. Many of the new members were not into Goth, Industrial, or EBM music as much as the older members were.

In May of 2015, the Grind stopped being a weekly party and switched to an irregular schedule, eventually settling on fifth Fridays of the month in January of 2016 and then to fourth Fridays in June. The last Grind at the Interbay location was held on August 26, 2016 and had a packed house. The Grind was the Center’s longest running party, lasting more than eighteen years. Considering that this was a weekly party for most of its existence, that’s a lot a hardcore dedication in volunteer work. I will always be grateful for the Grind team’s effort because I always had fun at that party. There were four more Grinds held at the Gallery, with the last one taking place in March of 2019. At that point, the team decided to shut things down and step away.

Which brings us to the present. This year, the Center will be celebrating its 25th Anniversary and part of that celebration will include bringing back some of the classic parties from the past, like the Grind! A new team is being formed to reboot this party and volunteers will be needed! If this sort of thing fascinates you, then click on this link and join us!

https://thecspc.org/volunteering

Putting the "Culture" in Sex-Positive Culture

by Teeebone

Did you know that there is more to the CSPC than parties and events where members can have sex? I mean sure, that’s a big chunk of it, but this organization does have other activities. Let us examine the “culture” part of sex positive culture shall we? The earliest record of cultural events I could find were from a schedule dated July of 2002. It referred to the existence of two different events: The No Safeword Writers Group and Red Hot Words and More. Evidence would suggest that both events had been going on since the earliest days of the Center.

The No Safeword Writers Group first formed in 1995 to support erotica writers in the Pacific Northwest. In the year 2000 they got a slot in the CSPC’s monthly schedule to be on the fourth Monday of the month. The description of the group is as follows:

In case you're wondering, it's easy to be a member of the No Safeword Writers Group. You just have to:

1. Have written something at least once. Emailing me for directions counts.

2. Come to a meeting.

3. Respect yourself … along with other people and their writing.

It's as easy as that! However, a sincere interest in writing erotica helps too, along with a desire to improve your writing skills by getting real-time feedback from actual readers … who are also writers themselves.

Frequently Given Answers (FGA) about No Safeword Writers Group:

* We function primarily as a critique group; though we do periodically explore other areas of the writing industry, such as publications and performance readings.

* You do not have to read your work out loud, but you may if you wish.

* You do not have to be a professional writer. Anyone who likes to write or is even just thinking about writing is welcome. Want to write something hot for your favorite person? We'll help you make it the best it can be. Got an idea for a book or a story, but you haven't started writing it yet? No problem. Bring your outline to a meeting, and let's talk about its potential and how to flesh it out.

* If you want a critique on your writing, you need to provide us with copies in advance so that we can give you the best feedback. This can be accomplished in two ways.

You can:

1) bring printed copies of your work to this month's meeting … for people to take home and review before next month's meeting. Clean, double-spaced copies printed at 12-pt font (14-pt is even better) is the preferred method, no more than 20 pages in length (if you have more, just break it into sections for consecutive meetings). It's a good idea to also bring a few additional copies to the meeting when your work is scheduled for review, just in case there are new people in attendance.

2) email your story/selection for review to the NSWG Yahoo group at least 2 weeks before the meeting (to give people time to print their own copy and review your work), and then bring a few additional copies to the meeting for new people or those without printers. Note: you will probably not get as much feedback using this method, since you're putting more work on your readers this way (and asking them to spend their hard-earned money on printer paper), but it works as a good second alternative to the preferred method. You must attend a NSWG meeting before you will be invited to join the Yahoo Group.

* Attending one NSWG meeting might be a fun evening that provides you with a few interesting ideas, but those who commit to attend meetings on a regular basis will gain the most benefit from the group.

* If it happens that we have no writing to review at a particular meeting, then we'll do writing exercises or discuss topics important to local writers.

* No Safeword Writers Group focuses on erotic writing, but all subjects, styles, and types of writing are welcome.

* You do not have to be a member of The Wet Spot to attend

Let's get writing!

The No Safeword Writers Group ran in its assigned slot for years, and at some point (around 2008) it was able to expand to two meetings a month, on second Sundays. They continued these twice monthly meetings till late 2013 when the event was dropped from the schedule.

Red Hot Words and More was a monthly performance event held the first Wednesday of the month from 8-10pm. It was an evening of scintillating and explicit performance by some of the most talented writers in Seattle. Each month they would bring in two (or more) featured performers—talented artists whose works were guaranteed to get a rise out of you (or leave you stuck to your seat). Details about the month's performance were noted in the schedule, and they welcomed fresh talent, encouraging folx to bring their comedy routines, improv bits, naughty songs, and rough drafts. Keep in mind that it was not an open mic type of event. You had to email the staff to sign up in advance or show up at 8:45 PM knowing that you may have to wait until the next month.

In late 2007, the CSPC acquired the Annex, and Red Hot Words and More came up with an ambitious plan: a monthly stage show for the new space. Throughout 2008, the crew worked on their new project, but they encountered many problems because it’s more difficult to put together a stage production. Managing the acting talent and stage crew (all volunteers), building a stage, and making the stage ADA compliant were just a few of the challenges. By the end of the year it became apparent that the project had stalled and the team disbanded.

Now let’s fast forward to April 23, 2022 … the day that Wicked Wordplay: A Sex-Positive Writing and Reading Group debuted! This online discussion group is described as follows:

Mmmmmm … Saucy stories! Pervalicious poetry! Erotic essays! Naughty notes! Give us all your Wicked Wordplay!

Come join in sensual and sexual co-writing and reading time with facilitators Chel and Eirikah, tech host Turtle, and our supportive online community on fourth Wednesdays from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm Pacific time. Please arrive promptly.

Each session will begin with a review of our group agreements and the CSPC Online Group rules, followed by 30 minutes of co-writing time. We’ll provide a prompt to get your creative juices flowing—or you can work on the sexy writing project of your choice!

For the second hour, we invite writers to share 5 to 10 minutes of their verbal hotness and imagination with the group. If our group is too large to accommodate all the writers who choose to read, our breakout rooms create more capacity for connection. We’ll close each session with a few minutes of conversation about writing-focused topics.

Wicked Wordplay will NOT provide dedicated workshopping time—we focus on parallel writing within virtually shared (if physically separate) environments, then indulging in the pleasures of sexy storytime.

If you choose to share your writing, you can request to receive appreciation only, brief constructive comments via chat, or more detailed critiques in a shared Google doc.

All sex-positive writers and readers/listeners are welcome. Come celebrate your unique sensual and sexual experience by writing and reading with us.

Don’t fancy yourself a writer, but love to be teased and tantalized by wicked wordplay? Join us! You can use our co-writing time to journal, compose love notes to your honey (or yourself!), or just doodle your daydreams, then sit back and enjoy listening to the group’s reading. You might even surprise yourself and decide to read sometime!

As you can see, there are some similarities with Wicked Wordplay and the No Safeword Writers Group, though Wicked Wordplay is clearly more grounded in the present-day era of the internet and personal computers, with meetings held on Zoom and composition done on Google documents or on an Office Suite-type program at home. As for the vibe, imagine a full-on XXX creative writing class for adults only. By the way, some of the contributors were chosen to read their works at SEAF earlier this year! Congratulations to those folx! Some other contributors participated in the Talent Show at Frolic this year too. Personally, I have enjoyed my involvement with this online discussion group, which has helped me become a better writer. Thanks to all who helped bring culture to our sex-positive culture organization!