So, we got up early and hit the road. On the way to Madison, we made a brief stop at Carr Valley Cheese Factory in Mauston, which was nearly overwhelming to a cheese lover like me! They had already finished making cheese for the day, so there was nothing to see through the big glass window. We ate samples, chatted with the women who worked there and walked out with 6 different cheeses plus a cooler to keep them in!

We got a four year old cheddar, applewood smoked cheddar, spicy cranberry-chipotle cheese, aged sheep’s milk cheese, gouda, and garlic cheddar spread.

My cheese stash from Carr Valley. Mmmmmmm…

We arrived in Madison, checked into the hotel, munched on some new cheese, then I got dressed. Graydancer (bondage dude, rope artist, blogger, podcaster, and perv) arrived to interview me for his podcast, Ropecast. He had already listened to Cunning Minx’s interview with me on her podcast, and he was prepared with a unique set of questions so there wouldn’t be any overlap. He’s very bright, personable, and thoughtful, and we had a great conversation. Then, it was off to A Woman’s Touch. The store is really cool, and owner Ellen stayed to meet me even though she had a class to go to. I met her adorable dogs, too! I signed some copies of Opening Up for people and hung out until my class began. I presented my workshop Making Open Relationships Work to a diverse group and got great questions. Afterwards, Colten, Graydancer, his partner, and I went to dinner at a local place called Weary Traveler. How appropriate! Tomorrow, we head to St. Louis!

Me and Graydancer

Traveling is going well, but I must say, one of the toughest things about being on the road is that we are carting around clothes, supplies for workshops, books, Astroglide baskets and samples, and all our other necessities. This is what that looks likes:

Last night, I taught at Galleria Domain 2 to a packed crowd. There were something like 95 people there, with lots of newbies! It was a really impressive space: a smart layout, nice equipment including some unique pieces, a good social area, and an overall vibe that was comfortable, welcoming, sexy, and accessible. Bravo to the owners, managers, and members for maintaining such an awesome space and offering so much to the community! The class went really well, and I got to chat with a lot of people before and afterward. We sold out of our personal stash of copies of Opening Up, and took orders to ship some. I wanted to stay and take advantage of the space, but I was starving, so we took Femcar to dinner near where we are staying. Then we re-packed and fell into bed for an early breakfast. This morning, we ate with Jet, Amber, and Ray at a local diner (great French toast), then we loaded up the car and got on the road, headed to Milwaukee.

When I was in San Francisco, I had lunch with Violet Blue and Thomas Roche. I haven’t seen Violet and just hung out with her in a long, long time. She’s just amazing. I am floored that she can be so relaxed about all the insane comments her San Francisco Chronicle column gets—those people are crazy. But, the non-insane among us know she’s doing so much to change people’s attitudes about sexuality through all her impressive work. What also impresses me is she is like a technology genius. She has all these fancy gadgets for her flickr, podcast, qik live streaming video, etc. I am just blown away with how tech savvy she is and totally intimidated!

After lunch, Thomas (an old friend and fantastic erotic writer), who heads up PR for Kink.com, took Colten and I on a tour of Kink.com’s new world headquarters at the San Francisco Armory. Damn! It is such an unbelievable space! Everywhere I turned I thought, “This is a kinky perv’s wet dream!!” It’s just awesome. I got to see various sets, the big props closet, the river that runs through the Armory (!), and a supply closet with more douches and enemas than a Rite Aid warehouse. It turned out that Adrianna Nicole was shooting for Ultimate Surrender during my visit—but we didn’t see each other, I just found out after the fact. Apparently, she won her match against Annie Cruz by like 600 points. Superstar!

My latest Village Voice column, “The New Wave of Trans Cinema,” features Morty Diamond’s latest film, Trans-Entities: The Nasty Love of Papi and Wil about a kinky, genderqueer, polyamorous couple. They openly discuss their poly relationship and share a scene with one of their lovers. It’s a wonderful film and an intimate look at the lives of two fascinating people.