Paddlepalooza Prize Proclamation

Pleasantries to our plethora of producers, proponents, and patrons of pretty paddles! Our Paddlepalooza promotion is picking up the pace, and we have at present picked up some paddles that are, to put it plainly, the pussy’s pajamas!

We’ll have a gallery of photos up on the website presently – a parade of paddle pictures for you to peruse. Meanwhile, we are preparing for the Paddlepalooza auction, which is planned for February 1-5, so we can get paddles out to the winning bidders in time for Valentine’s day (the perfect way to proclaim your passion for a paramour is the presentation of a posh paddle).

Is there still time to pick up a paddle and prepare it for Paddlepalooza participation? Positively! Here is our artist entry form. For a $25 donation to the CSPC, you will get a plain pinewood paddle to pretty up til it’s the pink of perfection. Present it back to our Paddlepalooza personnel by January 15th, and we will have plenty of time to put its picture (and any artist info/links you proffer) in our portfolio of pretty paddles. Late submissions will be accepted until January 31st for the auction, but the sooner your paddle is passed back to us, the more protracted the period for people to pine over its pretty picture prior to auction.

Finally, we have our Paddlepalooza prizes to announce! The paddles that pull in the most pay at auction will procure for their producers:

  • 1st Prize – a week’s stay in Hawaii*, with a panoramic view of the powerful Pacific!

  • 2nd Prize -- $100 to put in your pocket!

  • 3rd Prize – A free year of CSPC membership!

    *No holidays and subject to availability; airfare not included.

Do these prizes please or persuade you? Do they prompt you to procure them? Perfect! Now ponder, plan, pick up a paddle, and put together the most pulchritudinous piece you can produce, posthaste!

It's Femme Dominion, Pervs!

By Mistress Katherine and Eirikah Delaunay

Let’s set the stage with a little Femme Dominion mood music….

The first-ever Femme Dominion party is just two weeks away--December 18! Tell me a little bit about the Party Champion team.

Femme Dominion’s intrepid Party Champions are Moneek, flame-haired, vertically-gifted Enchantress, Sonatina, who might actually be Selina Kyle, and myself, Mistress Katherine, an always mischievous, sometimes maternal, Muppet. Each of us are long- standing members of the CSPC with over a decade and a half of community involvement under our leather corsets. Inspired by the social restrictions of the pandemic, we all felt a renewed motivation to make sure that the type of party we most wanted to attend ended up on the CSPC calendar. Hence Femme Dominion was born!

I loved the Ladies' Sovereign Tea and Women On Top, and I'm excited to see Femme Dominion joining the lineup of in-person parties at the CSPC! Tell me about your inspiration for this party. What kind of atmosphere are you and your team creating?

Our event is heavily inspired by the Women on Top party and the Ladies’ Sovereign Tea. Both events were strong favorites for all our Party Champions and Sonatina was part of the WoT team. Back in the Interbay location days the Tea was one of the reasons I started The Chateau. Then as now, our desire was to create more opportunities for Femme identified people to explore power dynamics, with each other as well as appreciative others.

Who will enjoy this party?

If you enjoyed the vibes of those two previous Femme-focused parties you’ll probably enjoy our groove as well. But if you didn’t get the chance to check those events out, the appeal is a Femme-led space. So anyone who appreciates that energy being more represented among other attendees, whether or not Femme is a part of their own identity, will fit right in. But if you are a Top who is partially or entirely Femme-identified, OR someone who loves to bottom for that demographic, well then you’re in for a particular treat.

What kinds of activities will there be?

While the focus is more of a play party than a sex party, both activities are actively encouraged. From conversations I’ve been having with other pent up pervs, I suspect many scenes will be hot, intense, and often on the heavy sensation side. I know I’m looking forward to dusting off my whips and zappy toys. Conversely, lots of folks have been feeling a lack of touch and connection lately, both socially and sexually. As a result I think the event vibe will be pretty sensual and notably flirty.

Will there be flagging? Pickup play? Activities for folks attending single?

One of our not-so-secret agendas is to grow our community by helping folks get to know each other and by getting all the lovely pervs we know hooked up! To that end, we have our opening hour conversation salon and will supply name tags with pronoun stickers for those who want them. For the more adventurous, we’ll have wristband flagging for attendees to signal to other guests their openness to being asked to play as well as their preferred power position.

So much hotness! What excites you the most about creating and attending this party?

I think like a lot of folks right now, we’re all just so freakin’ excited to be able to gather again at all, let alone gather and get our kink on. As a solid voyeur, being in a space with a bunch of beautiful pervs all being their best sexy selves has been sorely missed. Also, I mentioned whips and electric toys right?

What advice would you offer someone who is thinking about attending the inaugural Femme Dominion?

I definitely suggest that people try to make it to the first hour of the event (7-8pm) for our conversation salon if they are new to the CSPC, generally socially anxious, or just out of practice attending play parties…which these days covers a lot of us. It can be a bit more challenging chatting up new people once play begins, so that first hour is meant to give folks a chance to introduce themselves and get comfy in the space.

Event Details?

Our first event is Saturday, December 18th. Doors open for the conversation-only part of our festivities at 7pm. The play start pistol goes off at 8pm, and things wrap up at midnight. There's a new member orientation immediately preceding the event at 6pm for folks who haven't yet completed this necessary step toward CSPC membership.Tickets are $25 and must be purchased online in advance--get them here! In order to reduce Covid risks, only 100 tickets will be sold, vaccination is required, and masks must stay on except for eating, drinking, or using your mouth in a scene. If we are as successful as we're gearing up to be, we'll be back again in February if you can't make it this month.

Any last thoughts to share with our readers?

Whether you knew it before, or whether you’ve come to realize it in the last year and a half, Community matters. Gathering amongst like-minded peeps is about social support as much as it's about hot kinky scenes. So if you’ve been desperately craving both, we’ve got you covered. Come make some new friends, reconnect with familiar faces, and revel in the unapologetic pervert you are--with us! 

Protecting Our Community--COVID Policies and Practices

Hello our marvelous members and vivacious volunteers,

November marked our third month of hosting in-person events, and we couldn’t be more excited to see all of you coming out to play with us! 

This was also the month during which we had our first member report a COVID-19 infection after attending one of our events. Our best information at this time indicates that the infection was likely contracted prior to our event. All attendees and volunteers have been notified, and we want to share this here in full transparency. The fact that we’ve gone this long with only one known infection is on one hand an indicator that the precautions we’re taking are effective. On the other hand, this is a reminder that no precautions are perfect, and we should all continue to be cautious.

Communicating symptoms and/or positive test results to people we’re in contact with is an important part of keeping one another safe. We encourage anybody who suspects they might have COVID after having recently attended an event to alert any play partners as soon as possible, to get tested, and to email info@thecspc.org to notify the CSPC Board of any positive tests so that we can help keep other attendees informed. Transparency is important not just for managing risks, but also helps us all practice fully informed consent.

Meeting in person has some risks, as we all know. We’re attempting to manage these risks using a multi-level defense strategy:

  • We currently limit event sizes to 100 tickets sold, plus up to 20 volunteers. In practice, all of our events so far have had fewer than 100 people total due to no-shows.

  • We require proof of full vaccination of all attendees and volunteers. Booster doses are not currently required, and we will continue to evaluate this policy and King County requirements around vaccination.

  • We require attendees and volunteers to keep masked at all times other than when mask removal is needed (for eating, drinking, or using your mouth in a scene).

  • We provide condoms and other safer sex materials, and encourage their use. These are primarily useful for prevention of unwanted pregnancy and STIs, but they could in some cases reduce risk of COVID transmission (e.g. the possibility of transmission through semen or fecal matter).

  • We encourage full communication surrounding risks and testing, both before and after scenes.

Some of these methods require work on the part of our members. The payoff from doing this work is helping to protect the health of the community as a whole, so that we are all able to continue to meet and play as safely as possible.

Here is current guidance from the CDC regarding self-isolation periods, which we ask all members to observe strictly if you should have or suspect a COVID infection. We encourage members to use tools like WA Notify, which exchanges codes with other users’ phones anonymously and can provide notifications of possible exposure much faster than we can share them. 

We’d also like to mention that if you’re not feeling well as an event approaches, we will gladly help move your tickets to a later event or credit your account. We want to help everybody make choices based on informed consent, to better protect yourself and our shared community.

Stay safe, stay sexy,

--The CSPC Board of Directors

Black Ties & Alibis NYE 2021

“You’ve got mail!”

My hand shook as I reached for my mouse. Only one contact is associated with that notification. I admit to being a bit of a romantic movie enthusiast.

“Anonymous has purchased you a guest ticket to the Black Ties & Alibis Gala at the Center for Sex Positive Culture on Friday, December 31st, 2021. Please arrive at 8:30 pm and await instructions from Anonymous.”

I felt the blood drain from my face as I suddenly felt a surge of blossoming heat elsewhere. Breathe. Okay, breathe deeper. What did I get myself into? Where is the website? There’s gotta be a website. There’s always a website, right? Ahhh...there it is!

https://thecspc.org

Let’s just click on... everything! Hmmm... no ominous pictures of dirty places and rusty shackles. No porn website ads. Pretty classy actually. Hmmm... I watch too many movies.

You have mail…mail…mail!

You have an encrypted message in chat! (from Anon)

Anon: Did you receive my gift?

Anon: Will you be able to clear your evening?

Anon: Wear something sexy... no underwear.

Me: Anonymous?

Anon: Yes?

Me: How will I recognize you?

Anon: I will be the one biting your neck.

Me: ...Ummm...

Anon: With your prior consent, of course.

Me: This whole year and I’ve never met you in person. I don’t even know what you do.

Anon: That’s because I’m classified.

Me: So do I call you Mr. Anonymous in person or Sir?

Anon: You are assuming my gender, that’s cute. Do you have a preference?

Me: I never thought about that. What do I call you then?

Anon: The Japanese have a saying: “Sore wa, hi mitsu desu.”

Anon: It simply means “That is a secret.” Being respectful is a core tenant of my house.

Me: Much to unpack there.

Anon: Let me reassure you that we shall spend a glorious evening together- Enjoying mock-tails or the divination of a real Tarot reader. There will be professional DJs, dancing, a live auction and even rides on a Sybian.

Me: Is that some kind of horse?

Anon: Well I suppose we should leave some mysteries to be solved at the gala!

Me: I saw that there is a spy game called “Codenames”- If your codename is Anonymous- Could someone else have the same name?

Anon: I guess there may be more than one Anonymous- But figuring out who is the real one is could win you an awesome prize, that prize being our date. >:)

Anon: We will toast the New Year and your mission- should you choose to accept it- is to scene with me. Our first scene ever in the New Year! Let the negotiations begin!

Me: Bring it on, Anonymous! I’ve got a pair of sparkly new 5“ inch heels to break in!

This chat has ended.

Tickets are $50. Get your tickets today! See the event listing for a complete description of all the enticing festivities included with the ticket price.

Community Matters

By Eirikah Delaunay

You know the CSPC’s mission, right? The Center for Sex Positive Culture creates spaces to celebrate, develop, and explore sexuality and sensuality among a diverse, supportive community.

One of the defining features of a true Community is the sense of belonging that comes from contributing to its well being. At the CSPC, that might mean volunteering your time at parties or behind the scenes, donating your financial abundance, sharing your great ideas, adding your energy and enthusiasm to our many online and in-person events, and using your voice on Discord and our social media spaces to connect with and support each other.

The CSPC is an organization created by our members in order to serve our members. As the number of in-person parties increases, so does our need for trained volunteers! The more volunteers we have able to serve at events, the more events we can offer. Volunteering is also a fantastic way to get to know other CSPC members and build your personal circle of friends within the larger Community. Join the volunteer team today!

Now is also an excellent time to purchase a membership renewal. Standard membership dues will be going up to $10 per month for monthly membership or $100 per year for annual membership in January 2022, with Low-Income and Supporter membership levels available to allow members to easily select the price point that best reflects their ability to support the Community that adds so much to all our lives. Renewing now lets you lock in our current rates (only $5 per month) for up to a year. Treat yourself this holiday season to the gift of CSPC membership. You can give yourself access to all our Community benefits--our play parties, discussion groups, Discord server, etc.--for a whole year to come!

However you contribute to the CSPC Community, thank you! Your generosity of time, money, thought, and energy is what makes our Community what it is. 

Consent Corner 2.4

by Emma Atkinson and Rachel Drake

Hello, dear readers! How lovely to be with you again on this journey through the wild and wonderful world of consent. 

We’re continuing to build our model for good consent: a structure that will happily house our consent agreements and be welcoming to others. Let’s take a minute (or six) to ponder the kind of structure we want to create.

We’ve already considered some key features of the building: it’ll be built on the solid ground of respect; it’ll have a strong foundation of personal autonomy; it’ll have supporting columns of capacity, information, and agreement; and its roof will be others’ autonomy. But what kind of building will it be?

The good news is that since it’s imaginary, we don’t have to concern ourselves at all with building codes or materials or costs. The better news is that it can look like anything your heart desires, so go ahead and dream big!  

We suggest that your image of the structure be as detailed as possible, knowing that it can change at any time for any reason. Picture in your mind’s eye its location--are you near water or mountains or a busy metropolis? Picture the building itself--is it a welcoming place?  What will the pillars be made of--do you see stone columns as in ancient ruins, or is there lots of glass?  Are there comfortable seating/playing areas? Where will you keep all of your wonderful toys?  Will there be a media space to keep up with Consent Corner and what your CSPC friends are doing?  

Your structure will be a safe place, even as it’s under construction. It will support you always, regardless of any storm or other unpleasantness that may arrive. And it will welcome others whenever and however you choose.  

Your building can be a place to go when you want to ponder some aspect of consent.  When you picture yourself there, you’re surrounded by love and light--a perfect environment for making good choices. Or not--but then you get to go back to this safe place and reflect on what a friend of ours lovingly refers to as “another f*$&ing opportunity for growth.” We know those far too well!  

Homework: create a picture of the consent building you’re constructing in your imagination, making it as detailed as you can.  Extra Credit: make a sketch of it and send a copy of it to us at: info@thecspc.org.  

“Be excellent to each other” - Bill and Ted

“Be sexcellent to each other” - Emma and Rachel 

Consent Corner 2.3

by Emma Atkinson and Rachel Drake

Hello sexy readers!  We hope you’re staying snug and dry as the weather becomes wetter and chillier.  This column considers all aspects of consent, using your questions and comments as a guide.

In versions 2.1 and 2.2, we reintroduced our model of consent as equivalent to a strong, sustainable building.  Creating good consent in our lives means that we construct the building on the solid ground of respectful relations.  Then we build the foundation, which represents our personal autonomy - the right to choose what nurtures our body, mind, and spirit.  We create pillars on this foundation:  capacity, information, and agreement.  These pillars hold up the autonomy of others, which is our building’s roof.

Those previous columns were about respect and autonomy.  It’s time to start crafting the pillars that will rest securely on our foundation.  Today we’d like to ponder the notion of Capacity.  In the context of consent, capacity represents your ability to give rational and voluntary consent to an activity.

So many things can interfere with our ability to operate at full capacity:  strong emotions, hunger, mood-altering substances, weariness, and physical pain or pleasure, to name just a few.  Add your own favorites to the list and you can see why we say that none of us is ever operating at 100% capacity.

So, relax and just notice what’s going on with you before you make a consent-related decision.  How do you feel physically and emotionally?  Are you noticing anything on the fringes of your awareness?

Maybe you want to have a conversation with your partner(s) about your capacity.  Maybe your partner(s) want to talk about their capacity.  Great!  Sneak preview:  we’ll be talking a lot about communication in upcoming newsletters.

Homework:  Sometime this week, pick a day and check in with yourself throughout the day.  Notice how your capacity to make good decisions might change over the course of that day.  Notice anything puzzling?  Good!

Send your puzzling questions to:  info@thecspc.org.  As always, praise and compliments are welcome there, too. 

“Be excellent to each other” - Bill and Ted

“Be sexcellent to each other” - Emma and Rachel

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, 3rd Saturdays at the PPMT (Power Play Mixed-Tape) party. In fact, I asked someone to volunteer at the upcoming party and they said they weren’t available on the 3rd Saturday. I said, “Great! Because it isn’t on the 3rd Saturday anymore! It’s a whole new world! Oops! Second earworm!”

I asked some of the previous Power Players what stuck out most to them. “Boobie dancing, Buffet Table, feeling surrounded by scenes everywhere, high energy, intense scenes, dancing in my underwear, dancing free, the feeling of comradeship on the Team, great music, boobie dancing, 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!

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 5 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!”

Teeebone - *yells* “I got it! That feel you get when somebody says straight to 3 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 taking humanity out at the knees. That we’d let our fires burn low into coals. That fire is still there though. PPMT and all the other 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. What’s there isn’t food but, if you have a vagina, you can still get stuffed! You have to come to PPMT and see it to believe it.”

Teeebone - “We like to think of it as an immersive experience.” *laughs* “Two of my partners have been to the Buffet Table and rate it 5 thumbs up!”

Turtle - “We are both DJs as is Sir Nikolia. 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 Rick Roll you! We are Never Gonna Give You Up!”

Teeebone - “Get yourself ready for a hot night with a 5-finger sex punch!”

First half is Dance, EDM. Second half is Rock and Mashups. ppmt@thecspc.org

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

Call for artists! Join in Paddlepalooza: a toy auction to support the Center!

The CSPC needs your creative (and other) juices flowing for Paddlepalooza! This promotion will gather hand-crafted/decorated unused BDSM toys from our members and auction them off to the highest bidder. Proceeds from this charity auction will go to the CSPC as donations, and the artist who brings in the highest bids with their toy will win a fabulous prize (details to be announced soon)!

How to make and submit your smacking-good art:

1. Your Paddlepalooza donation of $25 gets your art a spot in the auction (and you get a wooden paddle to hand paint/decorate)

a. Click here to donate $25 to the CSPC’s Paddlepalooza fund (scholarships may be available). Please email paddleme@thecspc.org if you have any questions or need assistance.

b. We will provide you with a Greek-style blank wooden paddle to use as a starting point. You can pick up your pristine paddle by attending one of our events at the Gallery Erato or at a location nearer to you by arranging with our Paddlepalooza personnel. We can send paddles by post if pickup proves problematic.

2. Paint, engrave, or otherwise pretty up your paddle. You are not required to use the paddle provided -- it’s okay to keep the paddle and submit another hand-crafted/decorated BDSM toy for the fundraiser auction.

3. Submit to the CSPC:

a. The original item you’ve created (all work MUST be original and of your own crafting)

b. One or more photos of the item (we will select one to display on our web site)

c. A title for the item (can be “untitled”), and any details or stories you’d like shared with the paddle

d. An indication whether it’s intended to be decorative or functional (so a prospective buyer knows whether it can be used in play)

e. Name and contact info for you, the artist (can include website/e-commerce site, email, or social media links if you’d like to promote in this way)

Early bird date for submissions: December 1st, 2021

As soon as we receive your submission, we will publish a photo of the item (with its title as well as the artist’s name and contact info) in our rotating Paddlepalooza gallery! Multiple submissions are allowed. We will promote the gallery several times in our newsletters and social media during the submissions period and leading up to the auction, so the earlier you get your artwork in to us, the longer it will generate free publicity in the gallery.

What happens to the paddles/toys?

As soon as we have enough submissions (likely mid-December to mid-January) we will promote and host a charity auction to benefit the CSPC, at which all paddles will be auctioned. This will get even more eyes on your artwork, and best of all, the item that commands the highest bid will win a fabulous prize for the artist who submitted it!