lordmorpheous

American culture fascinates us north of the border. Y’all have an interesting approach to culture and life that we find quite interesting. Interesting in a “hey lets see what the kid down the street is going to do next!” Our own countries are so close yet there are some differences that always amaze me as a Canadian when I see you tweak culture and make it your own.  Particularly when it comes to pop culture and stuff to buy.  So when I am down here in 'Merica I always look for things that pique my interest that facinates me. First of all I have to say that no one does things that are entertain me as well as Americans.  I have wonderful American friends whom I treasure dearly but you are a little nuts sometimes J plus don’t take any of this the wrong way, we are laughing with you, not at you so invade us, nothing up here but doughnuts and snow.  Yessiree, nothing at all going on up here, just stay south of that border.

First of all let’s do a comparison between footwear and breakfast on the road from 7-11:

Flip flops from Walgreens vs. 7-11  Neon Red slurpee and a Franks Red Hot “Beef” stick.  (Hey I didn’t say it was a GOOD breakfast)

1.  Price advantage:

Flip flops:                                             $1.79

Lime Cherry Slurpee and “Beef” stick:  $1.47

Winner:  Slurpee and “Beef” stick

2. Longevity:

Slurpee and “Beef” stick:    About 30 mins before being emptied out of the window into the ditch

Flip flops:                           2 weeks and still going strong

Winner:  Flip Flops

3. Style:

Slurpee and “Beef” stick:    Neon red and a brown that somewhat resembles meat

Flip flops:                           Classic black sole, with orange and blue logo of a Mexican beer company

Winner:  Flip flops

4. Human Consumption

Slurpee and “Beef” stick:  No minerals or nutrients, causes a tummy ache if eaten

Flip flops:                            No minerals or nutrients, causes a tummy ache if eaten

Winner: Tie

5. Health and safety:

Slurpee:                                     Ice and red dye #12 along with some chemical flavoring. 

Frank’s Red Hot “Beef” stick:    Includes some of the following:  Sodium Hydroxide, sodium erythorbate, hydrolosyzed soy protein, sodium nitrate and “may contain beef”. (I don’t know what most of those chemicals are but that is a lot of friggen salt!)

Flip flops:                                 Known petroleum product, extruded by a happy factory worker in china who says he loves his job (or else the government will make him disappear)

Winner: Flip flops

6. Travels well:

Slurpee and “Beef” stick:  Lasted about a half hour in the car.

Flip flops:                         Going in my luggage for my fall trip to Panama

Winner: Flip flops

So there we have it, the winner overall are the Flip Flops!

Moving right along, we stopped for gas and found that y'all make beer available right in the middle of the store!  "Do not eat ice out the barrel" is an interesting grammatical statement. At first I thought it was a grammatical mistake but after spending more and more time down here in the south I caught myself even dropping the “of” from some of my sentances – has to be through osmosis by just being immersed in American culture. Statements such as “get out the elevator” or “get that toy out her”. or even "dump that slurpee out the window" etc.  This leads me to believe it is a regional dialect.  Since I have had the discussion of “no we don’t speak English, we speak “Merican!” on more than one occasion.  Any comments from the Yankees on this one?  Help a Canuck understand....

Speaking of booze here is the greatest wine bottle I have ever seen.  Available at the  local grocery store down here.

Ooops, looks like I have to jet. We are experiencing a hurricane/tropical storm and my internet connection is erratic at best.   More soon!

PS: the book shipped yesterday!

lordmorpheous

Whew!  This week has been a whirlwind. I have hardly had the time to catch my breath let alone update my blog. Fetishcon in Tampa is a hell of a lot of fun and I have met some wonderful models and industry people.  Some models are old friends and we have made some new ones as well.  I have been shooting for content for my next book as well as my porn candids and have a few images to share with you before I run out the door to the industry party tonight.  

First up is Orabella and Cory Chase -  this shoot was for Cory's content and they asked if I would rig part of it. Most of her work is straightjackets, hand cuffs with gags and plastic wrap.  The girls were really fun to work with, there was an instant dynamic once they both met each other and I had the pleasure of rigging them at the end of the shoot where they wrestled one another.  Check out this pic and this pic.

This morning I had the pleasure of shooting a relatively new couple on the fetish modelling scene - Cloe and Alex Bond.  Cloe appeared in Playboy a few years ago and they are just getting into the fetish shooting. What their best feature is that they are married and have a really strong energy together that made the shoot poetic.  There isn't a lot of heavy fetish in these pics but instead what I captured was two people really in love with one another who have a spark between them as strong as the lightening here in Florida.  These pics1 and 2 will more than likely be in the upcoming book they are so hot.  Afterwards we all went out for lunch where I learned what a Strombolli is. It is pretty damn yummy if you don't know.  I hope to work with them again really soon.

Tomorrow's shoots are with Sasha Sparks and Maxine X, another is with Sybil Hawthorne who works for Infernal Restraints, Adriana Santos and a few others that I am hoping to squeeze in.

Hrm, what else? Oh I picked up a new 16 plait kangaroo hide snake whip from Victor Tella and the coolest and meanest polished aluminum plug with a syringe attachment from Toolworks Chicago - my credit card is definatly taking a beating here but it is nice to buy directly from artisans that can use the support  and their work is exquisite. 

Ok, that is enough writing, off to the party now!

suppai
copingwithlupus

Does the heat bother you as much as the sun? I was in a hot car for a little and now it's like I was sitting in the sun the whole time. I thought I'd be okay if the sun wasn't beating down on me. I'm breaking out and I had to sleep all day after that, I don't know if that's the reason though.

christina41586
copingwithlupus

I might have already asked this, but I figure I'll ask again because my brain is still on vacation!

Does anyone else have neurological involvment? Primarily seizures?

Two years ago I had a seizure. The ER misdiagnosed it as an anxiety attack, but after having a few more in the following months I was sent to neuro and diagnosed as epileptic. (This was pre-Lupus diagnoses.) The epilepsy meds made me sick as hell, so I went to Yale neuro for a different consult. 

The EEG was normal. They admitted me for a week in the neuro observation ward for a continous EEG. They found out the ticks that I was having were a form of mild tourettes (go figure), but I had no seizures while I was there and my EEG was totally normal. I stopped taking my seizure medications and was fine (that was last January.) Prior to that my last seizure was in December shortly before being admitted. They said that, since most of my seizures were related to a drinking episode, I should avoid alcohol. I have, and since then I've been fine.

Till Saturday the 19th of July.

It was our first day of vacation, we were driving back to New York. (My husband was driving, I was trying to sleep.) Usually I fall right asleep in the car but I just couldn't get comfortable. I was exhausted, we'd been out late the night before, and gotten up fairly early that morning. I'd had to pack for the next month, since I wouldn't be back till the 11th. Anyways, I felt like crap. Not sick per say, just uncomfortable. We got in around five, and hung out with my family for a bit. Hubby decided we should see a late movie, so we took my brother. We didn't get home till around one-ish.

The last thing I remember is my husband and siblings swimming. I got ready but I didn't feel good so I tried to fall asleep. I got really nauseated, got the chills, wanted to go to get my husband upstairs, but I couldn't move. The next few hours are a blur. I remember being in the car. I remember him being upset. I remember some doctors or nurses, some people in scrubs, a bed pan...

Apparetly, according to my husband, he came to the basement and I wasn't feeling well, but I started shaking, like the beginnings of a seizure, then would stop, then start right up again. It went on for almost an hour or so, before he took me to the ER. I wasn't making much sense and whatnot. They gave me some Ativan and sent me home. By the time we got home it was seven in the morning.

Anyways, I don't know if i buy the whole "non-descript crypto-genic epilepsy" line the neurologists gave me at Yale. It's a nice way of saying, "you have siezures but we don't know why."

Does anyone else with Lupus or the other auto-immune disorders have any sort of neurological effects? My MRIs and CAT scans are always clear. I do have poor balance, but that could be do to repeated ear infections as a kid. Nobody in my famil with the Lup has any neuro involvment, I just find it to be a really cruel coincedence if I have seizures on top of ticks on top of Lupus you know?