Just flew in from Florida (and boy are my arms tired!)

Delayed flight, pre-dawn arrival, long day back in the saddle at the Abbey and yours truly is one wiped out boy! So while I try to recover from my vacation, enjoy another how to video. The Rope Corset.

The good news, I remebered how to surf.
The bad news, I still really suck at it.
Today I am sporting the start of a black eye from where my long board up and smacked me in the face, a couple of pretty vivid scrapes from where I caught the fins after taking a tumble and a big ol stupid grin from having way too much fun.

Speaking of kinky...

(swiped from MM's blog) I think she also has footage of me going into a sugar coma while on the "Its a Small World" ride that I will need to post.

OK, the beach has been fun but like all good things it must come to an end. Time go get my sun burnt ass back home to Seattle and back to the Abbey.

Today I'm going to go to Disney World, Matisse was astounded that I have lived this long and have never been to a theme park. Just not a very common part of growing up in rural Washington, I guess. So she is determined to correct this matter. I'm both thrilled and a little nervous about today's adventure.

In the meantime, I just got these shots from the AMAZING Michele Serchuck. Remember, Alex and I posed for her back in February? I love the way she can capture connection between people when they play and once again, she captures these perfect moments. Moments where when I look at them now I am drawn right back into the scene and into that impossible to properly describe link I feel with Alex when we play. An intoxicating mixture of adoration, pride and the feral want to draw blood.

Enjoy

I've been pretty quiet about this, in fear that I might jinx things after the whole Kinkfest debacle, but seeing as how the car to the airport is on its way...

I'm off to white sand beaches for the week.

After busting ass, spending way too many weekends that I care to cop to, and getting my crew up to speed I am taking a much deserved break and dashing off to Florida with Matisse to lounge on the beach, drink umbrella drinks and maybe even (finally) get in some surfing too.

While I we never seem to be "caught up" when it comes to all the orders for more rope, we are at a point where I feel good about the work load and confident that my crew has the stock, coffee and skills to keep those orders flowing out the door and into the hands of happy perverts the world over. So if you call the Abbey this week and an unfamilar voice answers the phone, introduce yourself. If you are waiting on an order, have no fear it is on its way, and as for the rest of you...

Stay tuned, there are some good things in the works this week as I update from a sunny local.

Now where did I put those flip flops?

Its Video Blog time again!
Big thanks to the very sexy Ms Hannah for joining me in a seedy motel and letting me wrap rope around her fine, fine body. Yum!

Tambo just informed me that we have tickets to go see Dethklok when they come thru Seattle next month. For those of you who do not know, the cartoon Metalocalypse is a cartoon on Adult Swim that features the adventures of worlds most "brutal" of death metal bands, Dethklok.

While yes this is a cartoon, the voices and musical talents are made up of some pretty impressive musicians and the show features some ripping songs.

See the thing that has me worried is this. Just what will a concert featuring a band that is supposed to be animated and "famous" for accidentally killing and maiming the audience go down? Well we be in a sea of metal fans looking to thrash it up or a bunch of overweight fan boys who emerged from their parent's basements for the show?

Ya gotta admit, when it comes to life with Tambo it is always an adventure.

Psst.... want some Color of the Month?
We just launched it here. A very limited run, this one, so if you want it you best jump on it now.

I've also put up a new custom rope auction on e-bay. Bet you thought I got too busy and quit doing custom runs? Nope. Sure., I mean the last six weeks have been crazy busy, but we still have some new surprises up our sleeves for you.



Check out this one, a burgundy base that can best be described as "smoky" with ember like reds and black accents. This is a finished kit, 90ft total, 2x15 and 2x30. Happy bidding.

Color of the Month Update: As of Friday 5PM PST, I have 24ft of 6MM left . If you want this, you best contact me via the Abbey, 206-938-7527, NOW.

This one is just for the faithful, I'll be releasing a new Color of the Month in the next 24 hours. This is a very small dye run and to say thank you to my readers, I will only be announcing it here.
Stay tuned.

My hands miss you
Please let me touch you; please let me press my hands against your skin till it turns flush. Your skin responds so well to my touch, fingers tracing lines along the curve of your hip. My hands miss you; they miss the way your skin feels underneath their calloused tips. So soft, so warm. They miss those spots where, when probed, you yelp with pain and groan with delight as they grind into muscle.
My hands miss you; miss the smell of your skin that lingers on them for days afterwards.
Let me rest my palm on the curve of your neck and feel you shiver as I wrap my fingers menacingly around you. Let me hurt you with them, striking your with savage fury and hungry abandon. My hands miss the way you let them hurt you, the way your shoulders roll open, eager to accept another blow. The way your teeth clinch and eyes blaze when I take your breast in my hand and clamp down, forearms flexed and veins popping, till you can’t take any more and drop to your knees before me.

I know I have a whole bag full of rope here, but I’d much rather pin you down and hold you close to me. Pressing tight in blind desire till I leave perfectly shaped fingertip bruises in your upper arms.

My hands miss holding you, petting you while you gasp and shake. Thumbs stroking the curve of your eyebrow and line of your mouth.

Sure, they are sore after a long day and yes sometimes I wince when I make a fist, but all this is forgotten the moment I touch you.

My hands miss you.

So this would be me, tapping away at my keyboard on a sunny Saturday afternoon. The new Magnetic Fields album echoing thru the empty abbey as I wrap up the last of this tax stuff. Eventually I'll meet up with Hannah and we will retreat to a seedy motel and film something interesting for the video blog... till then I need to hop on the bike and get these packages to the post office before they make last call. Maybe I should start offering a personal delivery service?



Just another day...

Is it just me?
Or does the song "Time to Pretend" by MGMT make you want to take a fuck ton of drugs and have all manner of deviant sex until the cops bust down the doors and haul your exhausted husks off to the ER?

Yeah, maybe it is just me...

From the Department of Weights and Measures
In the last 30 days, Twistedmonk.com has consumed:
Salt: 750 Pounds
Dense Soda Ash: 140 Pounds
Whole Bean Coffee: 10 Pounds

This must surely be a sign of the end times...
Tambo just announced that Journey will be coming to town this summer. Long time readers will note my serious Journey affliction, you know of what I speak. That uncontrollable compulsion to sing along to "Don't Stop Believing" at the top of one's lungs whenever it is played. No sooner do I hear the first few notes and find myself dropping into my "Rock power ballad stance", shoulders thrown back and low, knees bent and lungs filled to capacity as I do my best to inspire those in the crowd to wave their lighters in the air.

This, this could get ugly.

Did you ever watch that one episode of Fantasy Island where the cast of the Love Boat guest stared? Or maybe that one Wonder Woman where she teams up with the 6 Million Dollar Man?

That is sorta how this one feels, yours truly guest stars on the latest 2Knotty Boys video blog as I take them on a tour of the Abbey. Enjoy.

So that was pretty cool.

I did manage to get into the Knotty Boys show after all. Now some of you were saying, “why don’t you just show up? They have to let YOU in?” Now that, dear readers, is not my style. See, I hate it when people pull that sort of “the rules don’t apply to me” crap with me. Things like, “I know you *said* that you were all sold out of that but I’m different” So I try my best to avoid doing that. I figured I’d just rant a bit, get my frustration off my chest, take my lumps for missing the deadline and move on.

Thankfully Lee and the boys were more than gracious and managed to squeeze a couple of extra chairs into the back of the room so Tambo and I could join the fun.

And fun it was, true to form The 2 Knotty Boys were very entertaining to watch. This was the first hands on class that I’ve gotten to attend in a long, long time. Most times I’ve been a behind a vendor table in the back of the room, so sitting in the thick of things trying out new ties and comparing notes with the guy next to you was a very cool and novel change of pace for me. Not too sure how much I got out of the class, but I certainly had a fun time while there.

I also managed to spend some time hanging out with and getting to know the boys, Dan and JD are some pretty cool cats. Really nice guys with a genuine desire to share as much rope knowledge as possible with the widest possible audience. Grated, we do things a bit differently here in the northwest so I’m guessing they got as much of an education as they gave, that and they left my Abbey armed with hemp rope, so we shall just have to wait and what they do next.

Oi! Enough with the complaining already!

Ok, ok we know you are busy, Enough with the constant blog complaining there Mr. Monk, it is getting pretty dull! Truth is, even with the breakneck pace that is my life I'm still having a blast. Sure, I'm currently spending way too many hours in the shop, but that just means that even with all the dire economic news on TV, we are still beating the odds, doing the impossible and thriving. So yeah, been a busy month but there have also been some pretty awesome things happening too, some I cant share just yet due to personal, professional or legal (the statue of limitations has yet to run out) reasons, but I do have a few cool items to share right now.


So how about this for cool? I just posted the first video in what we are calling our "Getting Started: Volume 2" series. We have 7 new how to videos in the can and 3 more in pre-production. The plan is to release a new one every few weeks until the Christmas season when we will press them all to DVD. This new block of instructional content features both complex ties as well as more building block ties, much requested ties like face bondage and the best part Celebrity Guest Instructors. I'm beside myself with glee at having the likes of Midori, Delano and a few surprise guests share their rope knowledge under the TwistedMonk.Com banner.

Here is our first offering Delano, someone I am so proud to call a friend, is teaching a spreader bar tie, with me as his stunt bunny. Enjoy!



In other news I was just informed that Twistedmonk.com is up for a couple of the Bondage Awards (Best Product and Best Toy Store) You can vote once a day, so please vote!

Hi, my name is Monk and I am a shit heel.

Yep, a total shit heel. Why so hard on myself today you ask?

So this is the deal, as you may know Lee Harrington is hosting his second Body Bound Educational Conference in Seattle this weekend here in Seattle. Originally we planned on attending as vendors for the event, but as readers of this blog will note March has been an unprecedentedly busy month for us, like on par with last Christmas, so we had to decline the offer to come vend. I still wanted to attend the event, the main reason being the 2 Knotty Boys would be teaching. I’m a huge fan of their work, I’ve advocated for their videos, and am genuinely impressed with all they have contributed to rope education.

After spending the last few weeks with my head buried in orders I popped up this week and realized that the event was in a few days time….

And sold out.

So here I am, too booked to vend at an event in my own backyard and too busy to make the time to buy tickets in time so I can attend and pay my respects to some great instructors. This would be me asking if anyone happens to know where I can score 2 tickets for this Friday’s class, I’d be ever so grateful as well as me publicly expressing to Dan and JD my deepest embarrassment at missing their one appearance in Seattle.

Dude, you would think if I can run a highly successful company with several employees that I would do a better job of keeping track of such things. Grr…

All work and no play makes Monk a dull boy...

Top 5 ways Monk has kept his sanity while spending the last week buried in orders.

1) Motorhead, at high volume.
2) Really, really good whiskey
3) The occasional sweet girl showing up at the Abbey bearing gifts of food, whiskey and kisses.
4) Homemade pot roast
5) The knowledge that I'd rather spend a weekend working doing something I believe in than spend 40 hours trapped in a cubicle sweating over TPS reports.

Like the saying goes, it is better to rule in hell than be a prisoner in heaven.