Phaedrus

Isn't that Bluesfest every year? :)

Happy birthday!

*AHEM*. Don't forget Lany, who also merits your attention...

In terms of our society and culture, perhaps. But bear in mind that this is the Oldest Profession we're talking about; neither you nor I nor Richard Gere was the first to discover these things.

So, to reply to several people... My preference is to give myself a day or two to reflect on things and digest the experience. But that's just a personal preference... I'm afraid I disagree about this; I write recos (or don't) on the balance of the whole encounter. What I will say, however, is that if I decide not to write a reco I'll definitely have some good reason why I didn't that I could submit as justification to some imaginary arbiter of these things (or, more relevantly, to the lady in question, if she were to ask). What I find really difficult to make decisions about are the encounters were nothing was really wrong, but the chemistry just wasn't there. These ones aren't really all that awesome as there's no chemistry, but... that doesn't mean anyone did anything wrong. And so is it fair to withhold a reco under these circumstances? I tend to think not; the fact that I didn't have much chemistry with a particular lady doesn't mean she won't turn out to be the next guy's ATF, and it'd be a shame if he never found her just because nobody had written a reco. Because anyone else who goes to see her won't get selected bits of the experience; they'll get the whole thing, just like you did. And so it seems appropriate to base your decision to write a reco - or not - on the entirety of the encounter, rather than cherry-picked bits. If the world's best SP had her incall in a sewer, anyone who reads a reco saying she's the world's best SP will *still* end up visiting the sewer, and they might not like that :) No. A reco is still a reco. There is no obligation to write one if you don't want to. What seems negative here is silence... To answer your question: Yes. Untrue. There are many reasons why a lady may not have a lot of recos. Younger SPs seem to generate more than older ones; spinners generate more than BBWs. I think both of these have less to do with the quality of service the ladies provide, and more to do with us insecure guys fearing to be judged on who we spend time with. It'd be nice to think we'd all grown out of that, but the traumas we may have suffered at the hands of our 'friends' in our teenage years may be tough to shift... SPs tend to generate more recos when they first appear on the scene. A new and exciting arrival will get a lot of recos as people meet her for the first time; after a while, they'll tend to drop off. If she's getting more satisfied customers coming back then that leaves less room for new ones; and we're all less likely to write a reco for someone when we've previously done so. There are many well-established ladies around here who hardly ever get recos these days; I can tell you, from personal experience, that it's not because they've suddenly become bad at what they do. Finally, bear in mind the simple fact that, all things being equal, someone who sees a few people a day will have more recos that someone who sees a few people per week. To sum up: it's not a level playing field, and shouldn't be treated as such. I hear what you say... but I don't agree with it. First up, what's your top 30% (or whatever fraction you choose)? Speaking personally, mine changes depending on what mood I'm in; sometimes I want a blonde, sometimes a brunette or a redhead. Today I may want a quickie with the best-looking girl I can find; tomorrow I may prefer a prolonged evening of the best conversation I can get. The point is that the criteria I might use to rate people are hugely inconsistent, and therefore objectively worthless. And that's before you begin to consider that my preferences probably aren't the same as yours. Even if you were completely consistent... why should a lady who provides good service be penalized because someone else was very slightly better? For me, it's not about competition: it's more akin to taking your driving test. If you're good enough, you pass, and it doesn't matter how many or few other people may have passed already this week/month/year. Varied, certainly. I don't know about reliable. I'm no expert on this, but AFAIK other boards have issues with unscrupulous ladies acquiring shill reviews for themselves and equally false bad reviews for their competitors. Yep. Absolutely. I'm not going to sit here and make judgements about which style of board is objectively "better". This really comes down to the kind of info you want to see and the kind of environment you want to be in. At the end of the day, multiple boards exist with multiple moderation policies and cultures; we can all vote with our (virtual) feet. And we do.

I don't budget for this, specifically... but I do limit what I spend on recreation in general. So spending more on the ladies of CERB means spending less on other things that I might like to blow money on. (Feeling poor at the moment, 'cos I just spent way too much on other toys. Please, no flowers... :) )

Waaaay too many to choose from :) Narrow it down a bit for us... what sort of thing are you looking for, or not?

Do we really want to know?

And on that note... more classic euro-cheese! Europe - The Final Countdown

I don't give a damn whether it's healthy or not. I like it, so I'm doing it anyway!

Off-topic, a bit, but it really had to be posted...

I like Chanel because she always has something interesting to say. And, boobies!

80s flashback... Pet Shop Boys - It's A Sin

NASA's latest picture of home. Complete set at flickr, here.

No discussion of monsters under the bed would be complete without these guys. And one of them was called Maurice. Coincidence?

A variant on wrecks... The Primitives - Crash: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl8ULWxt7sQ

There's a rush on apotheosis at the moment :) Congratulations to one of the nicest guys on a board full of nice people! Awesome, sir!

I'm not sure if there was ever a patron god of fortifications... but if not, there is now. Congratulations, my friend!

Congratulations, Castle!

More news on the relentless campaign by the entertainment industry to shut down the Internet if it does anything they don't like. Last year, Bill C-11 was introduced; this is a re-hash of Bill C-32 from the previous parliament, which never passed as it ran out of time before the last election. But the re-vamped version has just been made far more draconian as a result of pressure from the music industry. It's the usual story: they want to be able to take anyone offline purely on the basis of an accusation made by them, with no opportunity for the accused to defend themselves. They'd also like to be able to prevent many things that are legal and considered fair use now. If they get their way then you won't be able to jailbreak your iPhone and use it with another phone company that dips its hand in your pocket less often. You won't be allowed to rip a CD you bought so you can also listen to it on your iPod. Anything on your PVR will be deleted when they want it to be; if you hadn't quite gotten around to watching it yet, tough. That's not all, but it'll do for now. Of course, laws like this don't just screw things up for everyone; they also deter investment in countries that pass them. And in other shitty news, look what's just happened in Europe. The pigopolists have a huge built-in advantage there, as they can just have the unelected European Commission write the laws they'd like rather than having to go through elected legislatures that, being accountable to the electorate, might have to give any weight to what voters think... at least this one still has to go through the European Parliament, and their rapporteur to the Commission has just quit in disgust at the way this has been done.

Well, there's some tough reading here. I have to say, reading the things people have posted here has made me realize - again - how inordinately lucky I've been up to now. I really can't think what the hardest thing I've ever had to do is, and the big reason for that is that life has never thrown anything really hard at me. I'm profoundly grateful for that. To everyone who's shared their experiences - thank you. I can't say that I have much of a clue about what you've been through, but I hope that if nothing else, being able to write these things down and share them is cathartic.

I need this, sometimes.