Event recap: The SML fundraiser Friday night at the Cuff went great. I haven’t heard yet how much money we raised for Lambert House, but we were pretty busy all night. But then Monk and I do put on a good show, even if I say so myself.

We got there at eight, when the bar was still relatively quiet. We had some blog readers come up and introduce themselves early in the evening, and get pictures. That was lovely. And of course lots of gay men. I did get to put a little rope on one cute girl, which was charming.

We’d ask each person, “Okay, do you want a naughty photo or a nice one?” and suit the pose accordingly. But as the night went on, we noticed an amusing trend. Folks would come and get one photo taken with us that was relatively tame. Say, sitting on our laps, something like that. Then they’d go away and have a drink or two. And then they’d come back and say, “Now I want a naughtier photo.” Thus, many of our photos from later in the night feature cute boys in their underwear getting their hands tied up and their nipples pinched.

And some of them were indeed feeling their alcohol. Nothing wrong with that, it’s a bar, people are there to have a good time. But there is an art to dealing with folks who are drinking. For some of the time, we had a line of people waiting, so while we wanted to give everybody a good image, we had to move them through fairly expeditiously. That meant taking control of matters in a nice but firm way.

At one point Monk said to me, “Wow, you’re pretty good at kinda pushing these guys into a position and holding them there.”

I rolled my eyes. “Um, hi, I am a dominatrix.”

“True, but your guys don’t come to see you half-lit.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” I said. “I’m probably drawing more on tricks I learned as a stripper.” Never let it be said that sex work doesn’t teach you a variety of interpersonal skills.

Everyone had fun, although few people had a bit more than others. Early in the evening, when people were still acting a little shy, Monk said, “Okay, let’s get this party started.” He grabbed a very handsome boy we knew from the crowd and threw him a hot little five-minute scene.

I told him he should get the Mr. Cocktease 2007 Award for that, because he had quite the ring of eager-eyed men watching him. Some of them were staring at the bottom, who is indeed some sweet eye-candy. But a lot of them got in line for photos with Monk. Which just goes to show they have good taste.