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© Russell Bell 2007
Shoots To Kill
I went to see Skindred last night; reggae-metal from Newport. I walked into the end of their set about 10 years ago, when I was almost 18. I was at Rock City in Nottingham for their quarterly all-night club night (until 6am! I didn’t know that happened every week in London then) and didn’t realise they had bands in one of the rooms at the start. I saw about half of their last song, which was entertaining, and then about 7 hours later someone gave me a poster which I stuck to my bedroom ceiling at a wonky angle. I didn’t follow them at all after that, but I picked up an album a few years later and used one of the tracks in a Siamese twins themed burlesque act.
I saw their name on a poster last month and I don’t go to enough gigs, so I got a ticket. I was close to the front during the second support when a mosh pit appeared where I was standing. One of the boys at the barrier jumped in and I took his place so I wouldn’t be knocked over. “I forgot about moshing! It’s been a while”, I thought. Then I realised I was front row centre, which was cool, except in the end maybe not so much. I’m not sure if it’s me getting old or more that I hadn’t been at the front of a sell-out metal gig before. It was yucky, and squishy, and I couldn’t move most of my body most of the time. Being armpit height has always been a bit of a problem there. I kept thinking about asking to be let over the barrier so I could go dance at the back.
Oh well, at least I went. Skindred are still very entertaining (although I don’t think Benji has quite as much energy as he did in 2001). Just don’t forgot about the moshing.
I had my first singing lesson on Wednesday, musical improv reminded me. I’m terrible, as I said before, but I’m sure that with some guidance and practice I can be ok. My teacher was encouraging, but I expect any guide to teaching singing to beginners would have “be encouraging” as every other step. Working out my range was surprising though. I’d always thought I was an alto, but I’m definitely a soprano. I suppose I just never did high notes because they’re more likely to sound weird. (And they do. Fun though.)
I went on Wednesday this week, but the studio is near where I do tap dancing classes so I’m going to do both on Thursday evenings now. Singing! Dancing! It’s pretty exciting.
Is everyone else hot? © Anika Mae 2011
I hope those of you with normal jobs all have a lovely Easter weekend in the sun.
I’ve already been on holiday this year, to Lisbon with family. I’d been there once before for a biology field trip but barely seen the city, so it was nice to get a chance to explore it properly. It might be the most picturesque city I’ve visited, and I was thinking that Sintra is full of amazing backdrops for photoshoots (at least if you go in the off season).
I prefer to save any air travel for winter (when I’ll appreciate it more) and stay in Britain in summer. I’m kind of planning to go to the Isle of Wight, because it’s right there and I’ve never been. Also, because they have a garlic festival and that’s a brilliant idea. I need to visit both parents at some point which will take me to Wales and the Peak District, so that might count too.
Thanks to eveyone who’s donated so far. Linda is impressed with my fundraising skills.
I’ve posted a bunch of stuff since that post, so here’s a recap: the hen sanctuary I volunteer at needs money, so I’m trying to get you guys to donate. If you let me know you’re donating I’ll give you stuff. Details here.
Cleo and a buttercup © Anika Mae 2010
The only specific new photos I have planned are of my feet, so that’s pretty specialist. I do intend to add some more to my private gallery soon and I have another striptease video that I could turn into stills, but the first one took at least two hours to do, which is crazy, and that’s before uploading and writing descriptions. I’ll probably put some odds and ends in before I get in the mood to do that.
I will do a proper photoshoot soon. I’ve been meaning to for a while and I had to join a modelling site recently (long story, not to be told), so I’m having a look there to see if I get any interesting TFP offers. I know someone who I’ll probably book for a shoot too, so it’s definitely going to happen!
Do they make much difference? Um. I donno. Some escorts are very good at tracking all the tweaks they make to their business, but not me. I mostly just try to keep my public face as something I’m happy with. I’m sure photos make a difference, but how much probably depends on the level of choice within your niche or area.
I’m glad you like the glitter! Not something I’d wear while working since I don’t think many of my clients would want to be more sparkly themselves.
I’ve been slow at getting to this one because it’s more difficult to answer than I expect you thought. I can’t visualise a perfect evening; sometimes these things just come together. I’ll have a good evening if there’s something to make me laugh (like Showstopper, they’re brilliant) or something to make me dance. (I like dancing to proper songs, not dance stuff, and some cheese doesn’t go amiss. I also need some space to fling myself about, and I always make sure I’m wearing comfortable bouncy shoes!) If I talk to some interesting people in between and maybe come across something cool and unexpected, it’s probably a great evening.
Copyright PG TIPS2 2007
PG TIPS2 on Flickr.
It gets a lot worse than the "walking cashpoint" thing! I came across this attitude a lot while I was stripping, since I had a lot of contact with my collegues. I had a hard time understanding it then, since having a lapdance seems like such a trivial thing to judge someone for. (Never mind what you must feel about yourself if you think that anyone who accepts the service you’re offering is pathetic/weird/pervy.) When it’s actually paying for sex it makes more sense to me, because there’s a pretty strong stigma there (but I still think that selling sex isn’t a great idea if you’re unable to respect the people who buy it).
Anyway, as far as I’m concerned sexual services are basically fine, whether you’re a provider or consumer. As for my clients, they’re a whole bunch of different people and it would be silly to make blanket judgements.
The only issue I have with men using my services is that in doing so, some of them are cheating on someone. Sometimes I can see their justification, sometimes I think they’re being selfish, or taking the easy route of getting their own needs met instead of trying to work on things with their partner. I have many faults of my own though, so I don’t want to dismiss people for theirs. I guess I do get a bit judgemental with one group though; the ones who don’t seem to worry about justifications because they feel they’re entitled to have both a faithful wife and sex with as many young women as they can afford.
I meant to post this at some point during my day of not many plans, but then someone wanted very much to spend some time with me, and after having a very late lunch to get my energy back and then coming home, I didn’t have much time before going out to an improv comedy workshop. I didn’t want to miss it, because I hadn’t been since last summer now that most of my Thursday evenings are taken up with learning to tap dance.
It was a musical comedy session this week, which I hadn’t realised and if I had I might not have gone, but it was much less scary than I thought. I should have realised it wouldn’t be really, since I’m not scared of singing. I’m terrible at it; can’t carry a tune in a bucket; but I still like to do it loud and with feeling, and that’s all it takes. (I massively recommend The Maydays by the way, both for their shows and classes. They’re brilliant on stage, and trying out improv for yourself is a lot of fun even if you’ve got no desire to get onstage yourself.)
So, about the pictures. Last week I went to a Steampunk event (I also went to a different one the week before, so I’ve been explaining what it is to people a lot lately. Fortunately this is the internet so you can go and look it up if you want). I didn’t want to dress Steampunk, but I did want to make an effort, and I wanted to wear some lime green eyeshadow that I hadn’t used yet (still in that spring mood). Anyway you’re mostly boys so you might find this sort of thing totally boring, I don’t know. Here’s what I looked like (I thought to photograph my face while I had good light, then completely forgot to take any pictures at the event):
© Anika Mae 2011
© Anika Mae 2011
I wore a spider in my hair, which you can’t see very well. Not very seasonal, but I don’t have that many light/lime green things.
Well actually, I’m a terrible networker. I mostly just keep up with other workers on message boards, and saafe is the only one I’ve read for several years, so there’s a lot I’m missing.
I have a lot of respect for Sarah-Jane and Brandy, who set up saafe and dealt with various unpleasantness along the way. It’s a fairly simple idea, but having a place for sex workers to get peer support has helped a lot of people, and as far as I know there isn’t another site like it in the world.
Amy, one of our moderators, is fabulous. She can sometimes be a bit harsh to people who don’t know better, but she puts a lot of work in to keep everything running smoothly. She also delivers the grumpy bits on her website with more humour than I’ve ever managed.
And finally, Catherine Stevens of the IUSW. She spends a great deal of her time and energy on sex worker activism for the benefit of all of us, and she’s lovely too.
