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.

The book tour landed in a hot and muggy Chicago this week! I hit the ground running and first up was a podcast interview with Cunning Minx, who does the incredibly popular Polyamory Weekly show. It was great to finally get to meet this smart, sassy, and fearless poly podcaster! We squeezed into her home recording studio with a camera guy who is doing a documentary about her show. The room heated up quickly, but I wasn’t going to complain about being a little sweaty in close quarters with Minx!

After grabbing lunch with her and Phantom, I headed over to the see Marc and Fausto, the brilliant hosts of the Feast of Fools podcast. True to their iTunes ratings, they were indeed hilarious. They were also warm, generous with the swag, and we had lots of fun talking about open relationships. They played a wonderful song as the intro to our interview, and when I commented that I liked it, they gave me the CD! How awesome is that? It’s Shine by Sarah Bettens, and I love it. I will post links to both podcast interviews when they go live.

Then I headed to my reading at Women and Children First. W&CF is one of the largest feminist bookstores in the country and it was an honor to be able to do a reading there. I arrived about 10 minutes early and got to visit with a few friends before things kicked off. People continued to trickle in and I was amazed to be in front of a standing room only crowd! Thanks to everyone who came out for the reading, participated in the dialogue, and hung around afterwards to keep the discussion going. The store actually SOLD OUT of my book, so not everyone who wanted to buy it could. I actually sold my copy of the book which I read from and marked with all sorts of tags. That’s never happened to me, ever! Wow. Afterwards, I went to sushi with Jessica, Jet, Amber, and Ray, then we headed out for ice cream and cupcakes at Sweet Occasions. Yum!

I am doing a workshop this afternoon in Chicago, then we head to Milwaukee in the morning for a reading at A Woman’s Touch. I cannot wait to go get some fresh cheese!!!

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!

As some of you may already know, I have a butt plug named for me. Well, actually two. I helped design the Tristan and the Tristan 2 which are made by Vixen Creations, a women-owned and run, independent, kick-ass sex toy manufacturer. I haven’t stopped by Vixen World Headquarters for quite a while, so I was excited to visit while I was in San Francisco. I caught up with Marilyn, Gina, and Denise, and met all the people I haven’t yet! We talked about some ideas for the future (sorry I can’t tell you any more yet) as well as an exciting future for the Tristan! I just feel so honored to work with a sex toy company that has values, integrity and really cares about making quality products and creating great working conditions. I was thrilled to see some of the newest products, including Soft Serve and Off With Your Head, the new silicone replacement head for the Hitachi Magic Wand! I can’t wait to use it in my new movies! Plus, Mistress now comes with a vibe. It’s the best first strap-on dildo and a great anal dildo, one I recommend a lot. More tales of the Bay Area trip to come.

Tristan Taormino Kicks Off Spring/Summer Tour Sponsored by Astroglide

Vista, CA—BioFilm, Inc., makers of Astroglide, announced today that Astroglide will be the official sponsor of Tristan Taormino’s spring/summer tour.

Taormino will be touring to support the publication of her new book, Opening Up: A Guide to Creating and Sustaining Open Relationships (published by Cleis Press) and the release of two new videos from Vivid Entertainment, The Expert Guide to the G-spot and Chemistry 4: The Orgy Edition. She will host two launch parties, give several booksignings and discussions, and teach sex and relationship workshops. She has confirmed events in New York, Tempe, Glendale, CO, San Francisco, Palm Springs, Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Madison, St. Louis, Columbus, and New Orleans; she has in-studio radio appearances booked in some of those cities as well. In addition, she is finalizing plans for Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, Boston, and Washington DC.

As exclusive sponsor, Astroglide will provide product samples and literature for Tristan to distribute at her events. She will also introduce consumers to their newest product, Astroglide X silicone lubricant. “This was a natural fit for both of us,” says Tristan. “I think Astroglide Gel is the best lube on the market for anal penetration, and I love their new glycerin-free, paraben-free lube. I’m excited they’ve come out with a new silicone lube. I already recommend Astroglide products to people and feature them in my videos.”

Lisa O’Carroll, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at BioFilm, says, “We are thrilled to be working with such a well-respected woman in both sex education and the adult industry. Tristan’s passion for her work and her commitment to helping people achieve better intimacy in their lives is right in line with Astroglide’s mission.”

Tristan’s tour begins May 16 with an anal sex workshop at Fascinations in Tempe, Arizona. She will appear on John Holmberg’s “Morning Sickness” show on 98 KUPD to promote her appearance. “I cannot wait to introduce people to Astroglide products and giveaway some free lube. Everyone can use free lube!” says Tristan. Her complete tour schedule can be found on her website.

About Astroglide:
Astroglide is made by BioFilm, Inc. of Vista, California. Hormone free and water soluble, Astroglide is as close as you can get to natural moisture—only a little better. Astroglide Brand Products are designed for use with latex condoms and can be found at pharmacies, chain drug stores, and selected food stores. For more information or to receive free samples, please visit the website at www.astroglide.com.

The party was a great success! Before 7 pm, when it was supposed to start, there was actually a line around the block. We were all amazed, and the turn out exceeded our expectations. Both floors of Happy Ending Lounge were packed. There were so many people there that I felt like I had like one half of a 30 second conversation with over 400 people, which was a little overwhelming. The literati and sexerati were out in full force. I got to see one of my idols, Esther Perel, author of Mating in Captivity, who blurbed my book. Audacia Ray of the new Village Voice sex blog Naked City was there, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Helen and Betty, 2008 Penthouse Pet of the Year Runner Up and burlesque performer Justine Joli. I also spotted Jefferson, Tracie of Jezebel, Barbara Carrellas and Kate Bornstein, adult performers Alexandra Silk and Luc Wylder, Sirius radio host Diana Cage, Wil and Papi of Morty Diamond’s new movie Trans-Entities, Jacq from Sugar in Baltimore, Lolita Wolf, Lux from Fleshbot and Boinkology, Funky Brown Chick who blogs for Nerve, Scott Brown from Entertainment Weekly Viviane, and many more!

Due to the size of the crowd, we were unable to show the preview of Chemistry 4: The Orgy Edition, my reality porn series for Vivid in which Mark and Patricia make a guest appearance. The club managers were concerned that we would be creating a fire hazard if we played the clip and everyone came upstairs. They didn’t want a riot on their hands! I am working on getting it up online so you can still see it. Obviously, it’s been a week since the party, and I have lots to catch up on, so more later, I promise.

We are frantically getting ready for the New York launch party on May 13. There is a lot to coordinate: we’ve got to stuff all the gift bags, finish signage, get another folding table, figure out what to wear, find one more helper to work the door, finalize the RSVP list, and lots more. Will Mark and Patricia pick up the mini-bottles of liquor from our sponsor? Will the disk with the Chemistry 4 preview arrive at Happy Ending and work in their player? Will books arrive in time? Will PyreXion’s donation for the raffle door prize come in the mail? Will the gorgeous porn star/burlesque performer/Penthouse Pet of the Year Runner Up Justine Joli really come to the party (she RSVP’ed!)? As I said, lots to do!