Big Boobie Hogtie Dillema Solved

So there is this issue for large-breasted women.  When someone gets hogtied, being face-down on the ground causes breathing problems because their breasts and ribs collapse into each other, and the rope bondage adds to the constriction as well.  Mollena has had real issues with both the classic hogtie and the gyaku-ebi (reverse shrimp tie, shown here) because of it. She is a 38-I after all. That is a whole lot of boobie.So we find ourselves at The Playhouse in Baltimore for our class on Rope Bondage and Power Exchange. During the class we have been discussing communications systems, examining our needs, overpowering, seduction with power, and the experiences of the dominant and submissive partners.  Between discussions on safety (emotional and physical) and our emotional journeys through rope, I taught a few techniques with rope. A lark's head cuff, texas handcuffs, simplified chest harness and more. Near the end of the class, I bound Mo on the floor on top of a Mickey Mouse dog bed, because well, yeah.I leave her there, as she has her hands free, as I go to help a few students trouble shoot their ties.Suddenly I hear it proclaimed that the "Big Boobie Hogtie Dillema" has been solved!I come over, and Mo delightedly explains that for years, she has hated hogties. She shares all the issues mentioned above. Another woman of curvy frame in the room agrees that hogties are hard on breathing. They bond about the issue.Mollena goes on to explain that when I bound her on the dogbed, I did so with her chest off the end of the dogbed. The 2-3 inches of padding allowed her breasts to have less pressure on them. She was delighted, as were I and the class. The Big Boobie Hogtie Dillema had been solved!Note the difference in the pictures shown. It was pretty darn cool. It may not seem like a big deal, but when we want our partners comfortable in our ties, it really does make a difference.  One of the cool things about our appearance at The Playhouse was that as part of the slightly higher admission price to the class, each attendee got a copy of Playing Well With Others. Having fantastic dialogues with everyone not just about rope, but about rope communities, classes, experiences with rope in public, power exchange in community - it was fantastic.  We also trouble-shot the issue that not everyone has a partner to practice their ties on - thus the pillow and backpack techniques were shown!  Afterwards, students showed new revisions on ties with one another. We discussed power exchange and protocol training. The owner of The Playhouse discussed her passion for butler training and accuracy of language. I shared how hard it is for many dominant partners it is to receive service, for emotional reasons.  It was such a delicious afternoon, even with Hurricane Sandy slowly creeping up to the eastern seaboard.The tour had originally planned to have us appear on Monday at The Crucible with a book signing with the two of us, Barbara Nitke and Molly Devon. But, Uncle Frazier wisely chose to cancel the class and urge Crucible Members to stay home.  All trains, busses and flights out of DC and Baltimore were cancelled, so Mo and I discussed the options available. The decision was to rent a car and drive our way to Cleveland ahead of the storm.Monday morning we hopped into the car, and with the help of regional native Rhiannon's OMG AMAZING directions, we wound our way up to I-68, from Maryland to West Virginia, across the corner of Pennsylvania and over to Ohio. It was such a beautiful drive, even amongst the rain and wind, the crazy-ass drivers, and the walls of water flying up behind trucks.As we were driving along, a sign appeared in the distance, and words were heard from the driver's seat:"OMG IT'S BOB EVANS!"Growing up in New York, Mollena did not discover Bob Evans until she was a grown woman. We of course had to stop.Food can be a tricky thing on the road. Grocery shopping, trying not to over-buy (because then you have to take that shit with you between stops), finding creative ways to eat what you buy. For example, when we went to Dave's Groceries in Cleveland, braving the wind (which had shut down mass-transit and was throwing sheet metal at our car at one point), we overheard the following dialogue on the PA system:"Price check on boneless turkey necks.""Dave. Turkey. Necks. HAVE. Bones."This led to Mollena literally falling down in the beverages isle, unable to breathe in laughter.For me, that creative ways of eating came up today when I realized I owned a spoon, but did not have a bowl. I did not want to call down to get a bowl, so I trouble-shot the issue.  The answer? Rock glass for my cereal and soy milk. It worked surprisingly well!So now, settled into Cleveland, we are feeling really blessed... but worried about our eastern seaboard tribe. 1.5+ million New Yorkers without power. Family who have had trees fall through their houses. Subways flooded.Our hearts go out to them all.