Portrait of a Tickler

[Boomtown13]

Hi there folks.

Damn, I was really looking forward to that NEST there. One of my favorite submissives in the whole wide world flew across an ocean to meet me there. And, moreso than that, I had a date to room with an absolutely adorable newbie, a woman I got to know and care about over the last 8 months, who is utterly fascinated with tickling but has never been tickled! I had my plane ticket and room reservation all set. I even bought tickling goodies to bring along. Then, in the very last week before the 5th, live and important situations such as child custody and career opportunity reared their urgent heads. I had to cancel. Anticlimax. Next time.

Anyway, you'll excuse me if I reek of garlic. Had the most delicious (ooh, and so potent!) garlic soup tonight, it was like an elixer. A magic potion straight out of Shakespeare. Here, I'll type from across the room so you don't have to smell it.

Before the internet, tickling was for me 5% real life experience, 25% Leg Show mag and Tied & Tickled mags and videos, and 70% my own very personal, before-sleep, fever-like fantasies.

Upon discovery of the internet, tickling quickly took over my life. Like those Gatorade commercials, I drank in the tickling from the 1997 internet, and blue ticklejuice immediately saturated the entirety of my insides. I was pumped. And like a sailor freshly-ported, I set off into the town and could not control my libido. I tickled every girl I could. Not how-do-you-do and then tickle (well, sometimes), but more often a cunning manipulation into tickling. I was a ticklewolf, and every attractive girl a potential red riding hood.

I was in my 20's, and I got my kicks.

Then I met the illustrious D to the V to the N to the C, and he successfully persuaded me to attend my first tickle gathering. I had a blast and attended half a dozen more. I embraced the community feel completely. And that sailor-on-leave blind ticklelust just grew more intoxicating. I was addicted.

Naturally, I eventually found my way around to the local Los Angeles dungeons. I discovered the tickle session. Fun while it lasted, but it always left me lonely when it was over. An obvious reflection of myself, not the session. I foolishly tried to solve this problem by dating, sleeping with, and soon living with, my then-favorite tickle sub. After a year, the relationship ended disastrously.

It was a good wake-up call for Boomtownhead, though. Unfortunately, I had to drive so tickledrunk that I spun off the road of life and crashed into a metaphorical tree before I found myself.

A year of having my own personal ticklee/lover DID do wonders to quell that sailor-on-leave feeling. I finally matured with my fetish. I don't seek out anonymous tickle opportunities anymore. They are SO much more dynamic and satisfying when they happen organically.

For instance, after the breakup, a cute girl who works in that dungeon with my ex came over for a massage (me, I give a good one). She stripped naked, I used oil. I'm not going to tickle her, I told myself, and I didn't try at all. How beautiful was her laughter as I pressed and glided down her back, her calves, and over her feet! It was a byproduct of the situation, not my intent, and therefore much more heady of a high. She knew I wasn't trying to tickle her, and that did something to her state of mind as well. She didn't fight it, but just marvelled at it instead, eventually letting her laughter come rolling out as naturally as her moans and sighs of pleasure. She does not share our fetish, but she loved it.

A petite, very stylish, cat's-eye-glasses-wearing playwrite I was dating was lying back on the bed once. I took one of her bare feet in my hands. "Oh yes, the feet..." she said in a sexy voice. I put it to my mouth, and she burst into hyperticklish laughter. Because the moment was sexy though, she didn't pull her foot away. She stomped her other foot up and down on the bed, and squirmed her upper torso around in what turned into silent laughter. I was not trying to tickle per se, I was just very slowly and sensually licking and nibbling a super-ticklish foot. I tell you, it was rocket fuel foreplay for each of us. She does not share our fetish, but she loved it.

You really don't have to be a tickle fetishist to love tickling. I've learned this. Just as you don't need to be a foot fetishist to appreciate a sexy foot.

And if you have patience, and keep Mr. Hyde in check, your tickling rewards will be bountiful. This I also learned. The hard way. I know a good amount of you are NOT tickle addicts as I am, but I'm appealing to the pie-slice of you that are.

Why? I don't know. It's been a long time since I've posted. I wanted to hear myself talk about tickling for a spell, to see what I would say. Does this post make any sense? I hope so. Hopefully someone gets the gist of what I'm saying.

Mercury came out of retrograde this morning, so life should become a little less chaotic for all of us over the next few weeks.

In any case, happy tickling, my brothers and sisters. Keep it up! It's the very best and most fun fetish in the entire spectrum. And the mainstream is so close to catching on, there'll be a tickle fetishist in a major movie any day now. Then, our mutual appreciation for the joys and excitement of Tickling will actually be in fashion for a spell! Can you imagine? It'll happen soon enough, just you wait...

Your bro in Hollywoodland,

Boomtownerio

 

[Eternal Tomboy]

Hey there boomtown...

I really enjoyed your post. It sounds like your journey was a long one, but what you found at the end of it was a wonderful way to enjoy this fetish of ours.
I related on so many levels to what you were saying. Although I've had a love for tickling my whole life, I'm only about two years into finding out how to enjoy/deal with/satisfy my love for tickling. I am definitely in that 'tickle addicts' portion of our community. I know that there was a recent thread which dealt with the use of the word 'fetish' to describe what we all enjoy. Some disliked the word because of it's negative connotations...I don't particularly like it either, but I have come to grips with the fact that it is 100% accurate when describing me and my love of tickling.
I've made some headway in the past couple of years, but I'm still very much at the beginning. You said:

"Before the internet, tickling was for me 5% real life experience, 25% Leg Show mag and Tied & Tickled mags and videos, and 70% my own very personal, before-sleep, fever-like fantasies."

I would say that in the last couple of years, I have been about 10% real life, 20% internet websites, and 70% 'very personal, before-sleep, fever-like fantaises'. 😉

Thanks again for posting. I'm glad that you decided to 'hear yourself talk' and don't worry, your breath didn't smell like garlic TOO bad

Maggie

 

[qjakal]

Fetish?

Hmm...we ran a big 'ol thread on alternatives for that word a few months ago, and I believe the "winner" was ...>>> "fascination" <<<< .

Boomtown, I know we haven't chatted too much, but still wanted to compliment you on your growth and survival. This "fascination" nearly broke up my marriage in my 20's, but after 6 months of running wild and tickling every woman I could, I looked into the future and saw where my heart really belonged, reunited with my wife of over 25 years now, and "got it together" a bit regarding WHO is in control of my brain and other bodily parts...lol. It's an effort, even now at nearly 50, to subjugate the impulsive urges that tickling brings to the fore, but it CAN be done with some discipline, and as you have stated, it makes the calculated opportunity all the sweeter when you "allow" yourself to indulge. I still participate with willing 'lees as our schedules allow, but it definitely isn't running my life anymore, merely enhancing it! Good Luck on the rest of your journey....don't be this guy>>

Q

 

[Eternal Tomboy]

Didn't mean to step on any toes...

I know...I used the dreaded 'f' word (which around here has a whole other meaning...lol). I didn't mean to offend anybody, I was just using the word to describe the gravity of MY 'fascination'. I tried to use it in a personal sense and not drag anyone else into it. To keep the peace though, I'll refrain from arguing the point. Truce?

For me, the importance of posting on the TMF isn't whether or not I agree with everyone about every facet of our fascination, it's about being able to have somewhere to go that gives me some semblance of normalcy in this 'abnormal' portion of my life. And for that, I am truly grateful 🙂



Maggie

 

[Dave2112]

Boom, your post reads like a history of a lot of us. I think you've really hit the nail on the head there. Thank God for something like the TMF to give us a home-base.

I've met DVNC, too...and he's a hell of a guy. I can't believe the time, effort and care he puts into the job of bringing folks together. Considering that it was the Internet that really started opening up this world for so many who thought they were alone, and also considering the fact that, in essence, the Net is less than a decade old...we're only just beginning here.😎

 

[maverick83]

Re: Fetish?

If I may put my 2 cents in, you can't change what something is by changing the terminology you use to descibe it. People, in general, do that alot. That is why certain words have been deemed
"unacceptable"(I am referring to profanity, specifically) Must we evade reality? I don't understand the need to supress people's vocabulary.

 

[BellaRisa]

catchin' more flies with honey

I agree with you that softening one's vocabulary can be annoying, and it does indeed feel like you're evading reality. But, sometimes it's just easier for people to take something is it's described in a more palatable fashion. In the Vanilla World I work with very small children, and during parent-teacher conferences I get a lot farther discussing a child's ' behavior issues' than his 'chimp-like savagery', y'know <eg>.

Calling my fetishes and kinks my 'interests' and 'proclivities' can help introduce them on occasion. Making things spin off better into the ears of others can make everything more pleasant, and get your foot further in the door, sometimes 🙂

BellaRisa

 

[maverick83]

I have nothing against people softening their own vocabularies. It is their descision. It only bothers me when people insist that others soften theirs. (I'm not saying that's what you were doing, qjakal. Please don't misunderstand. Just expanding on what I said to explain what I meant) It happens to me far too often.

 

[qjakal]

Re: Hey there boomtown...

I know that there was a recent thread which dealt with the use of the word 'fetish' to describe what we all enjoy. Some disliked the word because of it's negative connotations...I don't particularly like it either, but I have come to grips with the fact that it is 100% accurate when describing me and my love of tickling.

Maggie

Actually I have no problem with the word "fetish" as a description, I was merely trying to give an alternative based on the info supplied.

As for profanity, I DO have an issue with that! It's just not polite, especially in written form. I have slipped and used it verbally, once in a while, but writing is a more measured activity and in this sense there is no "slipping" due to speaking rapidly or emotionally.
The argument that it is more "real" doesn't ring true...it's just that it's become more accepted because it's prevalent. I don't tolerate it in my stores and I don't care for it in the presence of either ladies or minors. It's just an attempt to shock or a lack of vocabulary...either one is correctable, imo. Peace and happy posting! Q

 

[maverick83]

Well, I respect your opinion. Still, for me, "curse words" are nothing more than words, perfectly acceptable in any situation. I never intend to shock anyone and I do not consider myself to be lacking in the vocabulary department. I've also heard profanity referred to as a loss of self-control. Maybe for some, but I am perfectly capable of censoring myself, when I feel I need to. (Not often. Only to appease those who will give me a problem for it) I feel that ANY words are harmless, unless you allow them to bother you.

 

[JoBelle]

Boomfriend,
...and talk about tickling you did.

I've seen you through a small part of this journey, and I'm pleased to say as much. People like us don't take this trip to the happy place on a smooth and steady course. It comes in little leaps of faith that allow us to avoid some of the unpleasant roadblocks we are flyin' over~! You hope that you reach the end of the road a better and safer person.

One morning you wake up and say, "Wow, I'm turned my love of "....", in this case tickling, into meat for the prostitute's late night snack." That is the morning you hope you never stoop so low again. You realize that after the tickling, when the day is done, you want the person to be sleeping in your arms and not moving along to the next tickler or ticklee's chambers.

Sure, there are many factors involved to reach that point....maturity, intelligence, the knowledge that dependable fun is often the best fun, and simply that love makes all the phsyical stuff that much better. 😉 Hopefully everyone will reach that place! It's indeed lovely. You've done well on your path honey. I'm glad to see it. And even happier that I'm a friend who could witness a beautiful transformation.

Joby...looking for that happy place.

 

[Boomtown13]

Joby, my little jumbalaya, friendship came naturally for us, didn't it? Just as it did for me with DVNC, MTPJeff, and several others in our tickle-lover community. Though I flirt a hell of a lot more with you than I do with those guys. Thanks for being there for me.

QJak - you successfully nutshelled my thoughts with your "not running my life, but enhancing it" reply.

DaveTwentyOneTwelve - you said what I was typing between the lines with your "Thank God for the TMF as a home-base for us" reply.

Maggie, you crazy-headed daisy, thank you for your appreciation. It feels good to see that my post struck a chord with others. We can take solace that we're not alone. Though we may not know each other, we HAVE each other as a sounding board of similar souls. That's what this forum is.

Keeping your compass pointed to Practical Perspective can easily be a losing battle in our society of credit cards, sex-as-marketing, and DirecTV. The internet doesn't help either. The halo it wears, for bringing me to this very community, (which in turn has stabilized me by setting me up with a much-needed self-acceptance) is balanced by the horns it has sprouted on its world-wide-forehead, for encouraging addicts to pursue their obsessions ad nauseum. Ad infinitum.

Tickling being the addiction of choice for this particular addict.

On that matter, I'll say this: self-esteem is the key to keeping any addiction in check. It really is as simple as that.

And, yes, Maggie, I did in fact drive a very long, dark and stormy, bright and wonderful road to arrive at that obvious sentence. I once was indeed lost.

But now, thanks to the realization that I am father/humanitarian/writer/tickler - in THAT order, am mercifully found.

Was tickleblind. But now I see.

And in the name of all that, I want to encourage anyone else -- lurkers, non-members -- anyone else who is confused or who lets themselves be eaten up every night by feelings of perversion or feelings of unhealthy obsession, to reach out to this community. Sure, some are here to show off, some are here to shock, but MOST are here to share. Like me.

This forum's a giant reservoir of tickling-related everythings. We're here to talk about the best brush-and-oil combination to use on a bare foot, and what to do if your ticklee suddenly loses her funny, BUT we can also talk about the deeper stuff too. It's beautiful -- we have the Falstaffs in the tavern, but we also have the profound monologues in verse. Ah, the drama of the fetish.

Which brings me to my last point here. "Fetish." I missed the nomenclature thread, but here in LA, "fetish" is kind of a hip word, more to do with fashion than anything else. "Ooh, nice fetishy pants." That kind of thing. Next week is the annual Fetish Ball in Hollywood, which is an accepted and very publicized event. "Are you going to the fetish ball?" "No, I don't think so, and it's too bad too -- I wanted to wear these great fetishy shoes I have." Like that. And maybe it's my recent history of having various professional doms and subs in my circle of friends and lovers that has rendered the word as ordinary and exciting as "mango juice," but it just doesn't hold any trace of that old alter boy guilt it used to give me.

Your tickling fetish. It's not just for breakfast anymore.

Eat up.

- Boom-Tickle-Tickle-Boom


Oh, and happy eclipse, everyone.

 

[Eternal Tomboy]

Boomtown...

I know your journey along 'tickling fetish road' must have been a long and bumpy one because the wisdom you derived from it is amazing. Any goal worth achieving is going to be dificult. The easy goals, once obtained, seem to slip through our fingers unnoticed, and never leave much of a lasting impression.
While I appreciate the end result from taking a difficult journey, I must say that the journey itself can be torturous at times. I find myself at a crossroads on this journey....can't get the same satisfaction I once did (from places like the internet), and can't seem to go forward enough to not obsess about the fetish.
Like you said in your last post, the internet can be both a source of acceptance and the tickling addict's drug. I jumped on the world-wide-web two years ago, and I sought after the tickling websites with what seemed to be an unquenchable thirst. Now, having perused most of them, they fail to hold that same attraction for me (although I still love forums like this one.) This has been a good thing, in that I don't spend nearly as much time on the computer as I used to, but a bad thing, in that I no longer feel satisfied. So, now instead of spending countless hours on the computer, I seem to fantasize about it more or look for tickles in some places that I know I shouldn't be.
There are few things out there that I enjoy as much as I do tickling, but sometimes I wish that I didn't love it so much. When being satisfied, there is no greater high for me, but when neglected can be very frustrating.
So, where do I go from here? Damned if I know. One things for sure though, this isn't going to be one of those easily obtainable goals...whenever I reach the end of this one, it's bound to leave a lasting impression.

Maggie

 

[JoBelle]

Re: Boomtown...

When being satisfied, there is no greater high for me, but when neglected can be very frustrating.

Maggie,
I think the entirety of your post could have been written by any one of us!!!!! Thank you for saying it! BUT, that sentence in particular ....yep, that's it. That's what "keeps us keepin' on."

Isn't it nice to feel a kindred spirit, even when it's not all rosies and ponies? Kudos again to MTP for making this place available!

Joby.....little jumbalaya *giggle*. You nut, Boombob! 😛

 

[dvnc]

I'm here feelin' the warm flush of gratitude for the kind things y'put forth about me, Boom. That Dave2112 furthers such just makes me feel that much better. You two oughta meet sometime, too. Much about you two is similar, and yet you're so very individual, each of ya.

I dig the way you tell the tale, Boom, unfolding it like an old map. Smoothin' it slowly, explainin' washed colors of times only you and another can show. The bright tints of those vanilla partners that could dig the scene heighten the appeal, believe me.

I'm still grateful you showed to your first gathering, man. You're a fine friend. LA's lucky t'have you to run the LA Gatherings.

We just gotta get you and Dave into the same place...

 

[Dave2112]

You two oughta meet sometime, too. Much about you two is similar, and yet you're so very individual, each of ya...We just gotta get you and Dave into the same place...

Hey, I'm all for that! As I continue to expand my experiences in this wonderful little world, I plan on getting out a lot more. This year's a little tough, but ever since SBG, I've been dying to meet as many folks here as I can. After the next SBG, I'm going to plan out my vacation time a bit more carefully and hit some of the Left Coast and Philly gatherings, perhaps more.

So, keep your eyes peeled (ouch!) and look for the guy with a lightsaber in one hand and a feather in the other.😎

 

[Boomtown13]

DVNC, I can't say enough kind things about you, my funk soul brother. You're a pioneer. The lengths you have gone to tie (pun intended) this community together are just amazing. You treated, and continue to treat, that pastime as though it were a holy mission. I know so many people, really dozens, who like me were coaxed out of their shells by you, encouraged to stand in the blazing tickling sunshine, and who are happier with themselves because of it!

The only other person in the community to whom I can compare you is Jeff. He did with his company, this forum, the magazines, the cable segments, and now the new index, what you have done with personal relations, with the meet-n-greetitude. Like gynecologist twins, one of you handles all the research and the other handles all the practice. Jeremy Irons could play both of you!

Okay, bad example. Cronenberg of the brain over here.

But I do see you both as TK community legends. I find each of you both completely likeable, trustworthy, and noble, and I'm proud to call ya my friend.

Sure, Dave 2-1-1-2, let us know when you're heading over this way. By that time, I should have the LA gatherings up and running. I'm intrigued to meet you after what DVNC said. The fact that you lust after my ex is a little weird for me, but not impossible to overcome. [Insert mental smiley icon here]

Maggie, the one piece of advice I want to offer you, darlin, is to trust your instincts, and to NOT search for tickles in places where you feel you shouldn't be. You, me, all of us, need to keep our self-esteem high. It leads to good karma, which leads to permeating happiness.

Tickling in LA,

the Boom-avad Gita

 

[Eternal Tomboy]

Thanks for the advice Boomtown...

Good Karma and permeating happiness, huh boom? Sounds yummy. I'll take a helping of BOTH please if you happen to have any extra on hand....and you can add a side dish of tickles to that order too, but I promise to save them for dessert 🙂

Hey, there's an good idea for a restaurant....McTickles....they already have the right slogan...'we love to see you smile' 😀

Maggie

 

[closetickler]

By that time, I should have the LA gatherings up and running. [Insert mental smiley icon here]


Tickling in LA,

the Boom-avad Gita

Boom, I'm in LA as well. Tell me more about Gatherings.

 

[Purvis]

Boomerino! What up, my friend? Long time no speak too. How the heck are things in Hollyweird? As you have perhaps noticed, I'm not around on the ol' net so much these days, but spied your post I did, and to say hello I wanted.

Good to hear of your adventures, and that you are doing well. If you make it up to Norcal sometime give me a shout. Perhaps we can all get together before DV heads off for the Yukon. It seems one last bash is the least we could do.

Take care man, and enjoy yourself down there in the land of La-La, with your stupid ass Lakers who stole the NBA crown from the obviously deserving Kings in the biggest RIPOFF since........ (oops, sorry.)🙄 Talk to ya later, man.


Purv

 

[Boomtown13]

My thread! It still lives! What a proud papa I am on this fine Fathers Day. (Though unlike my two beautiful boys, this thread did NOT make me waffles this morning. Ungrateful good-for-nothing thread.)

Anyway, I can't resist saying hi back to Purvis! Great to hear from you, man! My one-time savior and plenty-times partner in tickling crimes. (All 2000 TMF members, sometime when we're sitting in a bar throwing a few back, remind me to tell you about the time Purvis saved my tickler butt. It's tickling-related. I was hoodwinked, and Purv flew in like Superman.) Also, I can confidently say, Purvis, that you're the first guy with whom I tickled a girl for 100 minutes (when we coined the phrase "metric hour").

A last bash for DV while he's still out here on the Pacific shore sounds imperatively necessary. D-to-the-V, when exactly are you heading to Snowville (and your personal tickling heaven)? Let's fly in tickling superstars from around the globe! Like Soo-shu, the beautiful and exotic Japanese ticklee who has such exquisite little feet! And Darjuni, that soft-skinned, feline Indian ticklee whose laughter inspires the world MORE than Shiva's dancing! And Jamba, the famous and sought-after African tickler/ticklee who has the strength of 10 American women, but who is reduced to a feminine ball of erotic, sultry giggles whenever you go near her lower ribs or upper waist! And we can't forget Antoinette, that ravishing, dark-haired---

Wait a second. Am I just making these people up?

Dammit!!!

But really, let's try to make the party happen. Purvis, is your email address listed in this forum? If it isn't, mine is, so drop me a line.

MaggieDaisy, you still there? As much as we've discussed tempering "the fever" (which, believe me, I'm victom to as much as you), I also want to recommend going to your local tickling gathering. Maybe you've already done this, maybe not. You may have been daunted because the notion sounds overwhelming (it certainly did to me), but 80% of who I met in this community have been relaxed, cool, intelligent people. Really, the community feeling can't be beat. No matter what the personal demons may hiss, a solid friendship with someone who understands will stand stronger. Lighthouse in the storm, etc.

Happy Fathers Day, my fellow young and not-so-young Dads. And happy tickling, my fellow ticklers. Happy loving, my fellow lovers, and happy Christ-Crank-Yankers-is-actually-kind-of-funny, my fellow discoverers that Crank Yankers is actually kind of funny.

At this late hour, now comes sleep, with visions of cavebears dancing in my head. (Hi, Cavebear.)

Word up.

- Boom-down-around-town

 

[Purvis]

Thanks muchly for the kind words, Boom. I have fond memories of the incidents you bring up. I even have fond memories of the exotic and fictitious ladies you mention. Strange..... Anyway, to answer your query, yeah, my email is in my profile. But in this one time only special offer, I will now include my email in this posting. It's [email protected] As far as a last bash goes, sounds like a plan to me. Let's discuss the possibilities. Talk to ya soon.


Purvis

 

[Ayla ny]

hi, Tiger 🙂

 

[dvnc]

Kind of ya t'mention my departure, Mr. Boom. I'm off to join the love of my life at summer's end. I'm off this coast come the third week of August. I can't WAIT! I'm gonna miss y'all, but she and I can ALWAYS visit ya.

As for a send off, I'd not thought of any. The Summer gathering was last month, and I'm gone before fall. If we're gonna do somethin', it oughta be soon. It's that, or I'll see some of ya at the New Year's event. 😉 It's all good to me.

Way I see it, Sac's overdue for an event, and so's LA. Name a weekend, and I'll plead wit' baby to accept a ticket from me.

Oh, there's a possibility of a last-minute event here, in the Silicon Valley area, this weekend. One of our crew just found out their digs are landlord-free. Interested in comin' up t'visit, Papa Boom? Purvis? Come one and all - just sign up.

BTW, and it was Terorizer that was wit' us for Jan's memorable metric hour, while you worked Cheryl, Boom. I still laugh when I remember that squeak of a request from her for "just five more minutes." No voice left, and STILL she wanted t'play. Stranger than fiction, and WAY more fun! Gonna miss group play.

OTOH, it ain't like I don't delight in current revelry. Y'gotta meet her, boys. She's all that, and then some. 🙂

Anyone wanna provide the place, and I've got a suggestion for the time - the end of July. There's stuff goin' on here already. Talk to me, Boom!

 

[Boomtown13]

Snapshot of a Tickler

I live on a hill in Hollywood. My apartment balcony window looks southward onto Hollywood Boulevard, and beyond that, Greater LA. There is so much light and smog in this city that the stars and constellations are hardly ever visible at night. This evening's no exception. The night is an immense purplish-black tarp stretched across the sky (like -- why not? -- a patient etherised upon a table), as serene and solid as the ocean at night. The lights of the city sprawled across the wide basin below me resemble those stars and constellations that should be hanging, rotating, watching us from above, but have instead willfully, or unwillfully, fallen to the ground. Like a swarm of fireflies that fell after being blasted with a giant spray of insect tranquilizer.

You see, here in Los Angeles, the stars are on the ground. Only they're a little... yellower.

I've been listening to the new Geldof album all day, but now, for a change (but not much of a change) I've got Leonard Cohen setting a jazzy, poetic tone.

Today I saw a matinee of Minority Report at the Cinerama Dome. Only in the last week has the early summer warmth finally overtaken the winter chill that lasted ALL through spring. We have become a city of pedicures again. After the movie I drank iced coffees with my friend on an adjoining cafe patio. A young blond sat at the table next to us with her youngish blond mother. The mom had a lovely pink pedicure that she was showing off. Did she notice my brief appreciation? Hard to say. Though she and her daughter both faced me for the duration, their sunglasses kept me from knowing for sure where they were looking. But if mom didn't notice, she sure as hell gave me quite a foot show, propping them up on her chair, stretching them out, pointing them. I tried to focus on what my friend was talking about.

Pink's the color of the season, I think. My immediate supervisor at work went out at lunch for a pedicure. When she got back to the office, I noticed her out of the corner of my eye trying to get me to notice her feet for the rest of the day. (I was looking back at you to see you looking back at me.) Every room we were in together -- the edit bay, the mix room, the offices -- she would kick off her shoes and wiggle her feet around. The girls I work with think it's cute and a little provocative that I have a thing for pretty feet -- it's all mostly unspoken and just hinted at every so often by them or me. Finally, my supervisor found me working with an editor in a bay and she came in and declared to me, in front of the editor, "You haven't said anything about my toes all day!" She was indignant. To push the point home, she kicked off her shoes and placed her pink pedicure up on the couch next to me.

Her feet are ticklish. This I know from experience. The kind of ticklish where she laughs and hits you lightly while you tickle her, but she doesn't pull her feet away.

Soft, pedicured, California girl feet. They're everywhere, and enough to drive a Tickler to major distraction.

Leonard Cohen's coming off. Tom Waits going on. Go Waltzing Matilda with me?

wasted and wounded
t'aint what the moon did
Got what I paid for now...

Got the news earlier today that my dungeon-worker ex is set to marry her photographer. The news drug up some bad feelings, that hadn't been touched for a while. Guess that's not a bad thing. Exercise them. Exorcize them. Right?

the dogs are barking
and the taxicab's parking
a lot they can do for me
I begged you to stab me
you tore my shirt open
and I'm down on my knees tonight...

Tickling opportunities surround me. I used to take all of them, like they were going out of style. But tickling opportunities don't go out of style, I've learned. Like the wise idiom "choose your battles" advises, I'm now choosing my tickles.

and you can ask any sailor
and the keys from the jailor
and the old men in wheelchairs know
Matilda's the defendant
she killed about a hundred
and she follows wherever
you
may
go

Davey, I'd love to have a big send-off for you. Sorry I couldn't make it this weekend. The next month sees me pretty busy, but the end of July is a great possibility. I'll talk with you and Purvis off this public line and in a more private email.

Cavebear, do y'know that when you call me Tiger, you bring up all my boyhood fantasies of being Spiderman? I secretly always wished, but was too embarrassed to ask, that my girlfriends call me Tiger the way Maryjane does Peter. Always loved that.

Summer's now upon us. The Tickling Fever's gonna strike me and all other Tickle Addicts. Like it always does. But this year, instead of turning into Mr. Hyde, I'm sublimating the desires. Letting them build up and cook inside me. Trying something new, so that later this summer, when the sexy cavebear from NY and the wolfish boomtown from LA finally meet in the same room... then I will let those desires loose. Let a real woman benefit from a true Tickler's ticklelust. See what happens then.

And Davey, I'm certain your new sweetheart is all you say she is. Plus a bag of tasty chips. I look forward to meeting her some day, and I'm already happy for you two. Finding each other and all.

Everybody deserves that.

But especially good guys like you.

Me too.

And all of you reading this.

goodnight to the street sweepers
the night watchman flame keepers
and goodnight
Matilda
too

Boom