Stiletto Diaries

Apparently one of the plugins I added yesterday also allows for the display of Gravatars, which is a globally recognized avatar that will show up by your name when you comment with the e-mail address attached to it.  Many WordPress blogs and Blogger blogs will display gravatars.

It’s super easy to get one, and you can keep a bunch of different ones on file over at Gravatar. Com which allows you to manage them easily.  The sign up process basically requires only your e-mail address and a password, and you’re set!  They allow you to crop/re-size any image for use as a gravatar.  You can keep multiple images in your account and change them as often as you wish.

While this isn’t vital information, I thought it was worth mentioning.  I’m just getting to know more about WordPress and some of the interesting features it has, so I thought I’d share with readers, particularly those who comment regularly, in case they were interested in adding an image to their names

Since no one found my chocolate butthole link worthy of comments or LULZ, I’ll just bore you with some more blog housekeeping items!  So there!

First, I’ve decided that in an effort to be more accessible to readers, I would get an MSN Messenger account for use with this blog.  MSN is marvelous in that you can use pretty much any e-mail address to sign up for this service, so you can add me to your contacts list using my regular contact information, which is stilettodiaries at gmail dot com.  Feel free to add me if you like.  I am going to make a point of being online there as often as I am able, for chat, to answer questions, or have group discussions.

Second, I’ve been browsing around some other blogs, and I’m wondering how you guys would feel about the ability to leave voice comments here?  Is it something you would use?  There is a service that provides voice commenting for free, and basically how it works is that you record your comment via the mic on your computer.  Apparently I can also use Skype for call-in comments (I know very little about Skype, feel free to educate me if you wish).  Do you think it would be worth it to bother?  Can I see a show of hands?  How about just vote in the poll then

Also, I’ve discovered another blogging tool called Skribit, which enables you to put a box in your sidebar where readers can suggest topics they would like you to write about, and readers who would like to see content that has already been suggested can add their ‘me too’ by voting for the proposed topic.  What do you think of that?

Really the goal here is to make Stiletto Diaries more user friendly and perhaps a little more ‘interactive’.  I don’t want to go adding a bunch of stuff that my readers think is crappy, cluttersome, or useless.  I would really, really love to hear at least a few opinions on some of these proposed add-ons.  You guys have been really great with some of my past questions, so I’m hoping for more of the same

Also, if you just want me to stop dicking around and stick to writing more ‘interesting’ content, feel free to say that as well in the comments section, LOL.

Added:  I have also installed some plugins for comments.  You will now have the option to subscribe to comments.  I now have the option of replying to your comment directly (your comment will post with my reply underneath) so hopefully this will result in more discussion/interaction on the comment boards

Added II: Really I should not post until I am done tweaking.  Anyway, I’ve also added a plugin that allows you to reply directly to other commenters.  The replies will be posted in a thread, so that commenters have have discussions with each other more efficiently.  Enjoy!

Good Morning Peeps!

I just wanted to cover a couple of blog-related additions/tweaks I’ve made around here lately

First, you may have noticed a couple of daily posts recently called “A Little Birdie Told You”.  These are daily digests of my Twitter updates.  Why bother having them post every day when they already appear in the sidebar you might wonder?  Well for one because the sidebar only displays the most recent three tweets, so if you aren’t checking the blog several times a day, chances are you’ll miss some.  For another, because I now have my Twitter synced up with my phone, which means I can update it while I am out and about, which will really be more exciting during events like Padme’s trip out here, my nights out at Goodhandy’s, or my drive across the country with V.  Basically, even when I can’t sit down and blog, I can still keep track of what I am doing every day, which should also reduce the number of hiatuses I take here at SD.

The Twitter digests have their own category in the sidebar, under Daily Microblogging

Another interesting feature of adding Twitter to my phone, is that people can send me text messages without me having to give them my cell number.  Basically if you have a Twitter account, simply post a message in your update that begins with @ShastaGibson and it will come straight to my phone, even if we don’t follow each other.  If you don’t have a Twitter account, now it a great time to get one!

There was also that Password Mailing Listpost a couple of days ago, which was basically an explanation of how this password protection system was going to work, and a sign up sheet for people who want access to those posts.  This is working out very well so far.  I’ve done a test run of it, to make sure that the passwords were working for people and that no one could see any of the other e-mail addresses on the incoming messages.  Rest assured that your private information will remain totally confidential, and that you won’t receive any mail from me that is not directly related to a posts on this blog.

I will be posting ‘reminders’ every month or so, for the benefit of new visitors, or readers who didn’t sign up the first time, and who change their mind later on.  If you have already commented to be added, please do not comment again on these future posts regarding the mailing list.  Once is enough :)  The list is already 40 people long, so it will be difficult for me to keep track of who is added and who is not, which means if you sign up twice, don’t complain if you get two e-mails from me that say the same thing, LOL.

I also respectfully request that you not share passwords I send to you with anyone else.  Your significant other is one thing, but I’d prefer that you not send it to friends.  If I discover that too many people are entering the password (Wordpress has internal stats on such things) I will shut down the mailing list and password posts will only be open to immediate, real life friends.  If there is a password post that you think your friends would like to read, encourage them to come and get on the list.  When I send out new passwords, I generally include ‘retro’ passwords as well, for people who may have missed out on them previously.

I think that’s about it for now :)  If you have any feedback you wanna share about the site, navigation, widgets, etc, please feel free to share!  I appreciate thoughts and ideas that might make the blog more functional and easier to use/enjoy.

*Steven Meretzky

Stiletto Diaries has it’s own Facebook page! 

Click on the Facebook button below to check it out and become a fan!

Welcome To My Blog!  Consider this the Official Introduction and Guided Tour of this humble site.  Shall we dive right in then?

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If you look to the sidebar, you will see a section entitled “Take A Look Over Here“.  Lets start there:

Adult Product Reviews- This is the page where you can find links to all of the reviews I’ve posted on this blog.  They are organized into categories (vibrators, toys for boys, etc) for easy browsing.  Take a peek around, and don’t miss out on the amusing Sex Toy Cemetery, which is linked at the very bottom of the page.

All The Beautiful People - This is a somewhat limited cast of characters who are featured regularly (or were in the past) here at Stiletto Diaries.  If you are reading an entry and you are not quite sure who is who, take a peek at this page to explain.

Ho Call - A page where I keep my list of outgoing links, to other blogs, or sites I like.  They are organised into categories (blogs, resources, shopping, etc).  Lots of great stuff to be found in there, I encourage you to browse.

My Bucket List - 1,000 things I would like to do before I die.  Some of them are already crossed off, most are still in progress (and there aren’t 1,000 things on there yet, I’m still adding to it).  Perhaps it will inspire some of you to create your own lists, or perhaps there will be something you feel you could help me with.  Either way, I hope you will poke around over there.

Special Events Page - If you’re looking for things to see and do in the GTA, or wondering about contests I might be running on the blog, this is the page to check out.  I’ll be posting upcoming events that I am attending or otherwise involved with, so be sure to visit that page often for new updates.

Store Whoring - Are you in the market for sex toys?  This page contains a short list of sites that I personally endorse and support for their variety, prices, and customer service.

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Below those pages you will find another section titled “Pick A Topic“.  This is a list of categories which will assist you in locating content on this site that is of interest to you.  Most of them are fairly self-explanatory, but a few are more obscure.  Here is a brief summary of the less obvious ones:

“G” Marks The Spot - G-Spot related posts

Body Mods - Tattoo and piercing stuff

Does All Her Own Stunts - Anything you could classify as an ‘adventure’

Heading East - Related to our move from Alberta to Ontario

Housekeeping - Blog renovation announcements, other content related fluff

Retro Rambling - Posts from previous blogs and journals that I wrote before I started stiletto Diaries

Simply Dreadful - All things dreadlock

The Things We Said - Strange and amusing conversations I’ve had with friends

Hello Readers!

I’m glad you found your way over to the new site.  Stiletto Diaries outgrew Blogger, but it’s still the same site you’ve grown to enjoy, only fancier.  Like a new car with seat warmers.  See?  Aren’t you glad I traded in the station wagon?

I won’t be posting at the old site anymore, and I know all of you other site owners are groaning at the idea of having to change links, but I swear I’ll only do this one.  I’m happy here, so I have no plans to move again, ever.  Besides, I already bought the domain for life, LOL.

Take a look around, let me know if anything is broken.  There is some new stuff over in the sidebar there (check out the Ho Call since I’ve added a lot of non-blog links I love).

Also, there is additional navigation at the bottom of this page.  Still not sure how I feel about that.  Thoughts?  Will people miss it do you think?  The design came like that, and it’s nice to have less clutter in the sidebar, but there is no point having it there if no one notices it.

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

Shasta

EDIT: Jack figured we should do something special, so the first 20 unique commenters get a gift pack!  If you are willing to provide a mailing address that is.  Gift packs contain free porn, condoms, cock chocolates, cock rings, and other goodies!

This blog is brand spanking new.

Or rather, it’s the new version of an older site which I have just moved to paid hosting, right here.

Please be patient while I finish moving content and tweaking the template to my liking.

In the mean time there are loads of great things to read in the archives

Carry on!

I started to write a post here earlier today, but it just seemed lame and not at all interesting to anyone but myself. So, I deleted it and now I am grasping for something to write because blogging has become something of a ritual for me and when I go too long without it, I start to feel a little crazy. You know, more than I usually do.

Have I mentioned that I haven’t even had a cup of coffee yet today?

Why is that you ask? Well I am out of cream and I just can’t bring myself to pour regular milk into my cup. A very sick child prevented me from simply nipping ’round to the store to get some cream. Then I though “Hmmmm, maybe I could just do without it today…I mean, it’s not like I’m an addict or anything. Not like I’ll curl up in a corner and mumble about organic shade-grown dark roast goodness while I drool and rock back and forth. I can go without coffee…I’ve done it before…for like, 3 hours even, that one time, way back in ‘93 I think it was…” See how bad my sentence structure and grammar were just there? That happens in my brain all the time. I just pretty it up on here for you guys, since my thoughts never include commas or periods.

So, in other words, the day has been ridiculous and mostly useless. I wandered around for a while. Ate some stuff. Collected all of my sex toys from the dressers, bathroom towel bar, under the bed, and from the recesses of my attache case, and piled them up in one place. Then I sorted, bagged, and organized them into the two 31 gallon storage lockers I have for holding such things. Yes, I bag my sex toys. Individually, in re-sealable bags, with labels. IT KEEPS THEM CLEAN OK! Plus some toys will leech color and other chemicals into each other if they are touching, and then there is the degradation of some jelly and rubber toys over time, and you know what, just call me a freak.

Once that was finished I made a couple of phone calls that needed making, and then started fishing for blog post ideas again.

My weekend was crazy busy. Nia and I spent most of it holed up in various parts of the house, doing our best to get more paint on the walls than we did on ourselves, or the ceiling. I am stiff and sore today, but it feels good to finally be making this house more my own. Generic paint colors make me feel so…plain, totally NOT myself.

This seems to be the month of Getting Stuff Done so I likely won’t be blogging as heavily as I sometimes do. Luckily I have a whole pile of reviews waiting to be posted, so you shall not be bored in my quasi absence.

The Peripheral Males are also still on the radar, just no time these days for dates. I’ve promised all of them that I will somehow make some time for coffee or drinks or whatever. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Mr. Latent Dominant Tendencies (not his official blog name, HA HA) works out, even if the others don’t, because I’d really like to have someone to play with and go to kink events with. He seems the best match at this moment, but who knows what he’s like in real life.

I hope everyone has a good week. This has been the longest Monday of my life! Thank the Gods it’s almost over…

I’ve been meaning to post a proper Thank You for this Christmas gift for a couple of weeks now. Blame the delay on the Christmas Crazies, LOL.

Master Anakin and Padme were very generous, and sent me this fabulous Bad Pussy mug from their way cool online store.

I drink coffee out of it all the time (as you can see) and it’s become my favorite mug. Looking at it always reminds me of them and what wonderful friends they have been to me. Master Anakin designed that cat graphic himself and it’s the cutest thing ever in my not-so-humble opinion.

On a completely unrelated note, posting will continue to be light for the next week or so. Jack and I generally continue celebrating the holiday season until Ukrainian Christmas on January 7th, and he’s off work until then. We have some great plans for New Years Eve, and we intend to do a lot of relaxing and spending time together.

Never fear, there will still be updates during that time. I have some Dear Shasta segments prepared for posting, another review, and a couple of new Dirty Refrigerator Poetry posts for your enjoyment.

I thought I would share this photo, that I took last night before slipping into the tub for a soak. I though plunking in a few floating candles made it extra sexy and inviting. In the future, and for anyone else, I suggest adding the candles AFTER you get into the tub. Jack even snapped a few photos of yours truly stretched out amongst the bubbles, so stay tuned for one or two of those later this week.

The bath was really nice and afterwards I tinkered with the new camera a little and then Jack and I cuddled up to sleep. Today my head cold seems to have subsided a little, which is a relief.

This morning I had a wonderful, long talk on the phone with the ever-sexy Padme. It was nice to sit down and have a chat, since I’ve been too busy for such things recently. We caught up on all the recent goings on with each other and then my phone up and ran out of battery life. I wasn’t surprised, since we had been on the phone for over 2 hours by then.

We talked quite a lot about the upcoming Sex Show here. She went to the one in Vancouver earlier this year and plans to go again this coming January. I’ve been to the Calgary show annually for the past 4, and I am interested to see how the Toronto show is different from what I am used to.

I mentioned something during our conversation that really surprised her. Now Jack and I might be the biggest sex fiends around, but we don’t watch a lot of porn. In fact, when I told Padme that we only own ONE SINGLE PORN MOVIE, she could hardly believe it. Sadder still is the fact that the one porn we do own, was a free gift that came along with a vibrator I bought some years ago. I’ve never purchased a porn flick in my entire life.

So, my goal for the Sex Show is to buy myself at least one porn video. I mean really, I like porn, I like watching it, why do I not own more of it??? It’s mind boggling when I think about it too hard.

Padme has also inspired me to consider trying a little sexy role play at some point in the near future. Her and Master Anakin sure seem to have a lot of hot fun, dressing up in different costumes and acting out naughty scenes with each other. That’s something I have never done before, so I am going to keep an eye out for some fun and flirty outfits to maybe try out with Jack sometime soon. Maybe a frisky french maid? Or a lusty cowgirl? I’m not sure what Jack would like so I may have to get his ideas on this one.

Despite how totally insane last week was, he and I still managed to roll around naked with each other a good amount. I am sure we had sex at least daily, often twice a day. He coaxed some pretty fantastic orgasms out of me as well. I know I don’t write very often about my sex life with him. I suppose in some ways that’s because it’s…well, private! Hard to believe, I know, LOL. Still, there are some things that remain sacred and beautiful between he and I. I think that if I was always writing the details or relating every moment, it would detract from some of the incredible magic that occurs when he and I make love.

You know, as much as I enjoy the variety and excitement that comes with poly, no one else I’ve ever had sex with has been able to make me feel like he does. His touch sends shivers all through me, even when he is just brushing against my shoulder in a totally non-sexual way. He knows my body like it’s an instrument he has played all his life. No one else can touch me or turn me on like he does. I think that one of the best things to come of poly overall is my new appreciation for my husband. As much fun as I’ve had with other men, it’s just never gotten to the same level. I would still rather have sex with him than anyone else, any day.

On a completely unrelated topic, I know I mentioned having a contest on the blog at some point. The prizes would be some free toys for the winner(s) and it would be open to everyone who wanted to enter. Well, that’s about to come about, and I’m letting you know a little about it now before I make it ‘official’ later this month.

The contest is going to involve designing and building some new graphics for my website. I will be accepting entries in three categories:

1. Main Banner (for the top of this page)
2. Ad Banner (a smaller banner for advertising purposes)
3. Buttons (for link backs and sidebar use)

You can enter each category as many times as you like. All of the banners/buttons should contain either my name or the name of this blog, and any images/graphics you feel best reflect the feel of this site. I will not be accepting any submissions, nor will I be posting the size restrictions or specifications until the contest goes live in the next couple of weeks. I just wanted to give you all a heads-up so that you could start coming up with ideas in the mean time.

Speaking of contests…

Still waiting on suggestions for the review days I’d like to start running on this blog. No day is off-limits, except Sundays. Get the creativity going people. I’m starting to think none of you want free sex toys! Please post them here or on yesterdays post or e-mail them to me.

*David Brin