A little help from science

Screenshot_20230511_203151_Chromedievca ran track through high school (sprinter, high jump) and the school trainer was a very kind man who assisted injured athletes from various sports. He had a pat answer for the tricky question female athletes would ask about dieting in the 1980’s —>

This comment came back into dievca’s mind as she cruised through perimenopause  and into menopause, she felt like she was eating everything she saw – like a seagull. 

Now, dievca is ending her second week of Estradiol (HRT) and her appetite has dropped and is much more under control.  Yes, her breasts may get larger, hopefully her weight may shift out of her belly – but its the feeling that her joints are moving more freely (#1) and her overwhelming desire for food has diminished (#2) that is making her feel very happy relieved.

Note: the addition of progesterone will happen in 2 weeks. (helps protect from breast cancer and helps with sleep)

Is this a placebo effect?  Who knows, who cares – its a positive change in dievca’s life. 

Illustration by “Beast Flaps” a UK artist who has books available on the Amazon UK site.


Kinky Help with your Taxes!

In the USA taxes are due today, April 18

Federal tax deadline 2023

Taxes are due by April 18 since April 15 falls on a Saturday and Emancipation Day, a holiday observed in Washington, D.C., is April 17.
Screenshot_20230417_191542_Chrome
Master’s taxes were completed 1st. dievca’s were accepted last week.  But if you are in a situation which calls for a bit more help in the Kink Lifestyle (Poly, Dom/sub, Influencers, Only Fans, Kink related businesses, etc.)  www. KinkyCPA.com might be a place to visit in the future.  
The site looks like a judgement free zone, which can be comforting in many situations. 
Something to keep in mind for next year!
.

87F (30.6C) in April … whew!

Screenshot_20230413_172100_One UI Home

There wasn’t much of a Winter in New York City, now Spring seems to be hijacked by Summer temperatures. It’s a bit crazy – Master broke out the fan! 
kitty-hot

They say that the temperature will drop to a high of 67 F (19C) today, so dievca’s plans to wear a light cotton dress to a birthday dinner will have to be revamped…
Here’s what she was planning to wear:

Now she’s moving on to something else:


Master caught dievca muttering to herself~

talk to myself coffee cup

It’s a learned behavior, dievca’s Dad would talk to himself, too.
The good news is dievca is willing to look at both sides of the story and she always wins the argument.
Do you talk to yourself?
Have a good week!


This may not be true for everyone, but

dievca believes in this decription:

New Yorkers may seem like a brash

uncaring bunch to the uninitiated. But

when you get to know the people and the

city, you’ll probably realize that they are

“kind, but not nice,” as opposed to how

many describe people on the West Coast

as “nice, but not kind.”

kindnessDefinitions:

kind

adjective

1
aof a sympathetic or helpful nature was helped by a kind neighbor

They were very kind to us.
bof a forbearing nature GENTLE
kind treatment of animals

carising from or characterized by sympathy or forbearance
a kind act

a kind smile

nice

adjective

nicernicest
1POLITE
a very nice person

That’s nice of you to say.
2PLEASINGAGREEABLE
nice time

a nice person

Kindness is often expressed through actions that you take for other people, while niceness typically involves more superficial words or simple gestures. A nice person may tell a neighbor that they are sorry that they are sick — while a kind person may drop off some soup or offer to pick up groceries for them.

The differences?

  • Nice is self-focused. Kindness is not.
  • Nice is easy. Kindness, at times, is not.
  • Nice is superficial. Kindness is not.
  • Nice doesn’t change much. Kindness does.
  • Nice is a pat on the back. Kindness is a look in the eyes.
  • Nice does not require courage. Kindness does.
  • Nice is forgotten. Kindness is not.

When I was young I used to admire intelligent people; as I grow older, I admire kind people.

– Abraham Joshua Herschel –

dievca doesn’t do very well with “California No” or “Minnesota Nice”, she equates it with being untrustworthy. Master just laughs at her, they have been discussing how being kind seems to become more valued as you age.  Then dievca’s Midwestern background kicks in — “Why can’t people be blunt, honest, nice and kind? XO


Coffee at the Airport

cofffee airport

It was a “pound it out” type of weekend. dievca is shipping a box of photos back to NYC for sorting.  The three Aunt’s photos her parents never went through and her Parent’s photos/slides make for a nice pile.  dievca projects it will take 5 weekends to complete – so a 5 year project.  At least there is storage for the leftovers and a number of boxes were consolidated. 

Why is dievca doing this? Her middle brother had a fire or flood or something that destroyed their family photos.  The extras will go to their local portion of that family and be distributed to siblings. Yes, that brother did nothing for Mom/Dad and dievca’s sister-in-law is a “challenge” – but going through this stuff with this portion of the family is ALWAYS a treat! And one feels good after hanging out with kids and doing a good deed.

PS. Her oldest brother looks great after Stage 2 cancer – PET scan is clear.


Spoke too soon~

digital-clock-close-displaying-821

dievca woke at 8:21 am.  she NEVER wakes up so late.
she’s also out-of-it.
Oh, the microwave clock says 7:21 am. Time change.


Giving up Chocolate (for Lent)

Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and falls on the first day of Lent. It is observed by Catholics in the Roman Rite, Lutherans, Moravians, Anglicans, Methodists, Nazarenes, as well as by some churches in the Reformed tradition. Wikipedia

Why do people give things up until Easter Sunday? Millions of people do this during Lent as a sign of sacrifice and to test their self-discipline. Christians believe that this is to represent Jesus Christ’s sacrifice when he went into the desert to pray and fast for the 40 days before later dying on the cross. BBC


Whiplash: Skid Row to a Suite

20230218_174631dievca took the Los Angeles Metro ($2.75) from the Beach to the Center of LA to catch a LA Kings Hockey Game.  The homeless clientele on the train was sketchy, which is the same in NYC, but the emptiness of the train made it a little more edgy.

Then dievca made her 1st transfer and had to go down a staircase.  Three people were blocking the middle of the stairs and a lone lady in front of dievca made a snarky comment.  dievca saw a lit crack pipe and just hustled her way down onwards to the next platform.  Being snarky to a person on drugs is a “no go” in NYC, so dievca moved to get out of range.

20230218_190100Then the trains filled up a bit more closer to LA and the walk to the Stadium was short.  The LA Kings were playing the AZ Coyotes and dievca experienced a surreal whiplash from the Metro to the very nice Suite.  It was interesting to experience LA LA land’s version of a hockey game,  Lots of lights, music, goofy “hosts” and…it was “STAR WARS” night!  A spectacle!

The 1st period was tedious with the LA Kings leading 5 to 1.  The 2nd period picked up the pace and the Coyotes made it 5-2.  The 3rd period ended on a tie. One OT and a shootout — the Kings finally won!

Grabbing a cab after the game was easy and the ride back to the beach was traffic free, The cab ride cost? $115 with tip.

(Photos: dievca Los Angeles 02/2023)


Other people’s energy and a long Thursday

Sexy Woman in Heels

Did dievca in…

How was your Thursday? 
How does it look for today?

Go get’em Tiger. XO


Ditto (a flashback)

studio-image-of-a-woman-standing-behind-a-mimeograph-news-photo-1579809510

spirit duplicator (also referred to as a Rexograph or Ditto machine in North America, Banda machine in the UK, Gestetner machine in Australia) is a printing method invented in 1923 by Wilhelm Ritzerfeld that was commonly used for much of the rest of the 20th century.

The ditto machine used no ink. The user typed, wrote, or drew on a ditto master sheet which was backed by a second sheet of paper coated with a dye-impregnated, waxy substance. The inscribed image appeared on the back of the ditto sheet in reverse. The ditto machine used an alcohol-based fluid to dissolve some of the dye in the document, and transferred the image to the copy paper.

Though other colors of ditto sheets were available, purple was commonly used. In elementary school, dievca remembers that teachers would distribute drawing sheets for coloring or vocabulary. The sheets had been through the ditto machine, which gave purple outlines to  drawings, letters, numbers, and anything else needed.

When dievca taught High School she used the Ditto Machines for worksheets – there wasn’t a copier available…old school!

The output of the ditto machine had a special aroma. Students could tell when a class assignment was hot out of the machine by the strength of the odor of the pages. The smell came from the ditto machine’s duplicating fluid, a mix of methanol and isopropanol.

The photo above shows a mimeograph:

The mimeograph printing process used an ink-filled cylinder and ink pad. Documents had to be prepared on a special wax-covered stencil on a typewriter which had its ribbon disengaged. The typewriter thus made impressions in the stencil, which were filled with ink and squeezed onto paper by the mimeograph’s roller. The stencils could also be used with drawings made by hand.


Using Sketchy vs Dodgy

sketchy signsketch·y
/ˈskeCHē/
adjective
1.
not thorough or detailed.
“the information they had was sketchy”
2.
INFORMAL•NORTH AMERICAN
dishonest or disreputable.
“once the story does come out, the fact that you tried to hide it will seem sketchy”

—————————————————————————————————————

dodg·y
/ˈdäjē/
adjective
INFORMAL•BRITISH
dishonest or unreliable.
“a dodgy secondhand car salesman”

 

dievca ran into an issue with an eBay seller and used the adjective “sketchy”.  Perhaps she should have used “dodgy”.  dievca’s general sense is that “sketchy” applies to direct actions and “dodgy” describes the seller overall.  Maybe the words are just interchangeable.  Either way, dievca is probably not going to receive her item….


A good night’s sleep

Some of dievca’s best sleep is when, after Play, she is tucked into her Master’s armpit – making an earmark on His arm.
That earmark is pretty drastic.
Perhaps an earmark on an a** would be better.

Or following HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL’s “8 secrets to a good night’s sleep”:

1. Exercise
Going for a brisk daily walk won’t just trim you down, it will also keep you up less often at night. Exercise boosts the effect of natural sleep hormones such as melatonin. A study in the journal Sleep found that postmenopausal women who exercised for about three-and-a-half hours a week had an easier time falling asleep than women who exercised less often. Just watch the timing of your workouts. Exercising too close to bedtime can be stimulating. Morning workouts that expose you to bright daylight will help the natural circadian rhythm.

2. Reserve bed for sleep and sex
Don’t use your bed as an office for answering phone calls and responding to emails. Also avoid watching late-night TV there. The bed needs to be a stimulus for sleeping, not for wakefulness. Reserve your bed for sleep and sex.

3. Keep it comfortable
Television isn’t the only possible distraction in your bedroom. Ambience can affect your sleep quality too. Make sure your bedroom is as comfortable as possible. Ideally you want a quiet, dark, cool environment. All of these things promote sleep onset.

4. Start a sleep ritual
When you were a child and your mother read you a story and tucked you into bed every night, this comforting ritual helped lull you to sleep. Even in adulthood, a set of bedtime rituals can have a similar effect. Rituals help signal the body and mind that it’s coming to be time for sleep. Drink a glass of warm milk. Take a bath. Or listen to calming music to unwind before bed.

5. Eat—but not too much
A grumbling stomach can be distracting enough to keep you awake, but so can an overly full belly. Avoid eating a big meal within two to three hours of bedtime. If you’re hungry right before bed, eat a small healthy snack (such as an apple with a slice of cheese or a few whole-wheat crackers) to satisfy you until breakfast.

6. Avoid alcohol and caffeine
If you do have a snack before bed, wine and chocolate shouldn’t be part of it. Chocolate contains caffeine, which is a stimulant. Surprisingly, alcohol has a similar effect. It makes you a little sleepy, but it’s actually a stimulant and it disrupts sleep during the night. Also stay away from anything acidic (such as citrus fruits and juices) or spicy, which can give you heartburn.

7. De-stress
The bills are piling up and your to-do list is a mile long. Daytime worries can bubble to the surface at night. Stress is a stimulus. It activates the fight-or-flight hormones that work against sleep. Give yourself time to wind down before bed. Learning some form of the relaxation response can promote good sleep and can also reduce daytime anxiety. To relax, try deep breathing exercises. Inhale slowly and deeply, and then exhale.

8. Get checked
An urge to move your legs, snoring, and a burning pain in your stomach, chest, or throat are symptoms of three common sleep disrupters—restless legs syndrome, sleep apnea, and gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD. If these symptoms are keeping you up at night or making you sleepy during the day, see your doctor for an evaluation.

dog asleep on butt


Customer Service – a rant (sorry)

poor-customer-experience-online-customer-serviceCustomer Service – a dievca’s unreasonable expectations….

dievca has been in PT for the past 2 months for her knee. It has been going well.  She has been “on time”, has not missed an appointment, has not rescheduled an appointment and does her prescribed work.

The Physical Therapist schedules out the Month and this month dievca’s appointments shifted from M and Th to M and F.  No problem.

dievca arrived yesterday did her session with the Physical Therapist then had to stop at the front desk because there was a problem with her credit card for the co-pay.   Throughout the 1.25 hours no one mentioned that they were canceling her scheduled Friday appointments.  She had a Voicemail to that effect that she received in the taxi after the session.  So, she called back in to determine what the problem was:

  • The Physical Therapist is no longer coming in on Fridays
  • The Thursday timeframe where dievca was normally scheduled is blocked out
  • The only open time is on Weds Noon which dievca cannot make
  • The scheduler made it seem like it was dievca’s fault she had to be put on a “waitlist”

dievca may be wrong but she feels:

  • These are things that should have been dealt with Face-to- Face. dievca was there at the office.
  • The larger schedule change (losing Fridays) should have started in October, not the middle of the current month.
  • If that couldn’t happen all appointments should have been rescheduled immediately when the changes occurred – not as a last minute reaction.
  • The customer (dievca) should not be made to feel that it was her fault that the schedule changed and then be told “well, you just have to go on the waitlist”.

Yes, dievca understands that schedules change. Yes, dievca understands that she is just another “number” and they obviously have enough “numbers’ to be flippant.

An “I’m Sorry” or an acknowledgement of poor scheduling would go a long way to making the irritation more palatable. If you expect your clients to show up and be on time, you have to be consistent in return.

dievca suspects this will bite them in the a** at some point because she cannot be the only person who is irritated and she is sure that this has happened a number of times.

You know – customer service is really important.

An aside: other places with terrible customer service Adidas, the RealReal and 1stDibs.  Places with GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE – PayPal, Discover, Garnet Hill, MyTheresa


Silly Love Songs, etc…

Master laughs at His dievca’s music – she’s mentioned this previously.
she doesn’t understand why…
Who doesn’t like Cheesy Love Songs, 70’s Suave Grooves, 80’s Electronica, Classic Rock, Eurotrash?
Harumph!
Music should be — uhhh — accessible.
Right?
XO


Not my obligation

AnnoyedJust because you want me to help you with your Work Orphans
does not mean I am obligated to do it.
Please stop asking.

dievca works with an 82 year old colleague who is doing well,
but is starting to ask for too much assistance for sh*t clients
and is getting demanding about it.

Its not a matter of money, its time.

dievca will give assistance to Age,
but not interested in holding them up.


Feeling the End of Summer

Coffee sun and hair

End of Summer:
Long, curly hair with gold amongst the silver from the sun and chlorine.
Toasty brown skin moisturized via suntan lotion and aloe.
Give it a month or two and it will be back to a blown dry bob under a hat.
Fair skin refinished with retinol and heavier UV protection.

This is the first summer in years where dieca’s healing situation has allowed her to revert back to childhood behaviors of Sun, Swim, Play (PT) and Laziness. It’s been a gift she will treasure.

How was/is your Summer?


Hitting the Highway

Routes across the USA

And thinking of you!

The Map above is suggesting ways to see the USA — some are the roads (#10 – Route 66) and others are routes trasversing the United States via multiple routes using Moon Travel Guides. With air travel being a great challenge – maybe splurging on a car trip might be an option for Summer Travel.


and how are You?

20220628_112535

Years ago, dievca’s Mom had rotator cuff surgery.  The surgeon came out and said that it was much worse than he expected. Basically, he didn’t recognize her pain was legitimate when Mom stated it.

Once upon a time, dievca was an elite athlete.  Her sense of pain or toleration of pain is skewed.  Sometimes, she can’t judge if something is really bad because she’s pushed through the pain for so long. When she went to the orthopedic surgeon dievca was glad that her knee locked up on the examination table – it proved she wasn’t a lunatic. 

Apparently, when the surgeon got into her knee to remove the bone chips, he got more than he bargained for with the osteoarthritis of the knee cap and took the extra time to clean it up.  

So, was dievca like her Mother and her pain wasn’t taken seriously? Or has dievca been pushing through and couldn’t state her pain clearly because she might have read it wrong?

Anyways, dievca had a good night.  she’s taking the meds as directed – not desperate for them at all. Her leg can straighten, bend and take weight, the pain is in the quad more than the knee at this point.

Master asked her how she felt about the surgery – and she answered, “hopeful”.

OK, enough! dievca’s Mom always said its boring for other people to listen to your ailments~

Let’s switch – How are you? 

Photo: dievca – looking like an Easter Egg. The yellow socks really made her happy. 06/2022


Summer Solstice: midsummer or the beginning of summer?

So, The summer solstice was on June 21, 2022 and Midsummer is today, June 25th.
Which is truly the start of Summer?

20220616_183426_resized_1The June Solstice is often referred to as the first day of summer, and yet celebrations across the Northern Hemisphere at this time of year carry the name Midsummer, which is pretty confusing.

Midsummer and the summer solstice are used interchangeably, but they refer to different things.

The solstice is the beginning of the astronomical summer that has been celebrated since ancient times as the longest day of the year, whereas Midsummer now refers to numerous celebrations that are held over the solstice period, between June 19 and June 24, with both pagan and Christian origins.

With celebrations originating in ancient times as a festival for the summer solstice, this could be where the name comes from. Bonfires were lit up to ward off evil spirits as the sun turned southward.

Meteorologically,

Because the Earth actually takes 365.24 days to travel around the Sun we add an extra day every fourth year, we call this a Leap Year. This means the longest and shortest days vary from one year to the next.

The elliptical shape of the Earth’s orbit causes the lengths of the astronomical seasons to change and this mean it is difficult to compare climatological statistics consistently for a particular season.

This is where the meteorological seasons come in.

Meteorological dates mark the start and end of seasons for statistical purposes. Meteorologists split the year into four quarters, each made up of three months, based on the annual temperature cycle.

The length of the meteorological seasons are more consistent than the astronomical ones, so that we can observe, forecast and compare season statistics reliably from year to year.

  • Autumn: September 1 – November 30
  • Winter: December 1 – February 28
  • Spring: March 1 – May 31
  • Summer: June 1 – August 30

This means that for meteorologists it’s been summer since the beginning of June…

Honestly – the Joy of Summer was probably dictated by when your school let out!


Miss May with Al Moore

MOORE_img_05

Born in Illinois, AI Moore played college football at Northwestern University and professional football with the Chicago Bears. After attending classes at Chicago’s Art Institute and Academy of Art, he opened a commercial art studio in New York in the late 1930s. By the mid-1940s, his clients included major companies like Galey and Lord, Beauty Counselors, the Viscole Corporation, and Champion Spark Flags.

During the war years, Moore painted posters for the government and also took on assignments from Gold cigarettes, Cosmopolitan, The Saturday Evening Post, and Collier’s.

Advertising work for U.S. Rubber, Nash automobiles, and Coca-Cola led, in 1946, to Moore’s breakthrough assignment – he was chosen by Esquire to replace Alberto Vargas, the most popular pin-up artist of the day. Among Moore’s triumphs at the magazine was his creation of the Esquire Girl, his answer to the Varga Girl; the 1948 Esquire calendar (with Ben-Hur Baz and others); front covers in 1948 and 1949; and the rare honor of painting the entire 1949 and 1950 calendars himself. By 1950, his two-page gatefolds in Esquire were collected by millions of Americans.

Moore contributed four pinups and a centerfold print to Brown & Bigelow’s Ballyhoo Calendar for 1953, which was as huge a success as the work of Gil Elvgren for the previous year’s calendar. In the 1950s, his corporate clients included contemporary Munsingwear, Hertz Rent-a-Car, and the McGregor Corporation. During the same years, his illustrations appeared in American Magazine, Woman’s Home Companion, McCall’s, and Woman’s Day, and he painted several front covers for The Saturday Evening Post. As an active member of the Society of Illustrators, Moore was asked to paint the poster for the society’s 1959 exhibition; it was such a success that both Pan American Airlines and Germaine Monteil Perfume also commissioned posters for their national marketing campaigns.

When photographs started to replace artwork in magazines and advertising, Moore decided to retire and pursue fine-art painting, including portrait commissions, Shortly after he moved to Crawford, Colorado, he accepted a commission from the United States Olympic Committee for three paintings for their world headquarters that would call attention to the problem of illegal steroid use by athletes.

Al Moore biography borrowed from The Great American Pin-Up by Charles G Martignette & Louis K Meisel.

A HUGE “Thank You” to the ThePin-UpFiles.


Can you copyright a Smiley Face?

Khaki-smiley-hoodieSmileyWorld® Khaki Smiley Cotton Hoodie

$‌250.00

Elevate your downtime aesthetic with this relaxed-fit khaki hoodie. It is stamped with an oversized smiley face and embroidered with the words ‘Think Happy’ on the cuff. Wear this super-soft cotton style with the matching track pants.

I guess if you change the eyes to hearts (which dievca is not fond of) – or (see below) …

Who owns Smiley World?
Franklin Loufrani
The Smiley Company is a brand licensing company, based in London, United Kingdom. It holds the rights to the smiley face in over 100 countries.

The Smiley Company.
Type Private
Key people Franklin Loufrani (Founder & President) Nicolas Loufrani (CEO)
Revenue $ 538 million (2020)
Number of employees 40 (2016)
Subsidiaries SmileyWorld

Khaki-smiley-hoodie model


feeling a little 80’s – right now

Master laughs at His dievca’s penchant for 80’s synthesizer hits.  What can she say? she’s an 80’s Throwback – a product of Generation X:

  • They’re Expert DIY-ers. …
  • Their Sartorial Style Is Decidedly Dressed-Down. …
  • They’ve Got the Whole Work-Life Balance Thing Down Pat. …
  • They Tech-Savvy… But Not Tech-Dependent. …
  • They’re Fiercely Independent.
  • They’re Fiercely Attached To Their Music AND Don’t Really Care If You Like It Or Not.

Lyrics:

You saw me standing by the wall corner of a main street
And the lights are flashing on your window sill
All alone ain’t much fun so you’re looking for the thrill
And you know just what it takes and where to go

Don’t save a prayer for me now
Save it ’til the morning after
No don’t say a prayer for me now
Save it ’til the morning after

Feel the breeze deep on the inside look you down into the well
If you can you’ll see the world in all his fire
Take a chance like all dreamers can’t find another way
You don’t have to dream it all, just live a day

Don’t say a prayer for me now
Save it ’til the morning after
No don’t say a prayer for me now
Save it ’til the morning after
Save it ’til the morning after
Save it ’til the morning after

Pretty looking road I try to hold the rising floods that fill my skin
Don’t ask me why I’ll keep my promise I’ll melt the ice
And you wanted to dance so I asked you to dance
But fear is in your soul
Some people call it a one night stand but we can call it paradise

Don’t say a prayer for me now
Save it til the morning after
No don’t say a prayer for me now
Save it ’til the morning after
Save it ’til the morning after
Save it ’til the morning after
Save it ’til the morning after
Save it ’til the morning after (doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo)
Save a prayer ’til the morning after
Save a prayer ’til the morning after
Save a prayer ’til the morning after
Save a prayer ’til the morning after
Save a prayer ’til the morning after
Save a prayer ’til the morning after


Thrown into a World you remember

Norman Rockwell Muse

12 and 13 years old can be tough ages for Kids – Girls in particular.  It’s a lovely, awkward, silly, loud, insecure, sad, joyous time.  As dievca is rolling towards menopause, she’s recently been thrown into the company of those new to menstruation.  Both camps are riding the rollercoaster of hormones and emotions.

The funny thing is that dievca is finding patience with her own body through finding patience for the kids.

As she listens and soothes – she is soothed in return and it brings back memories of her Mom, Aunts, Cousins, and female coaches.  dievca finds herself saying things that those lovely Women said to her and she rolled her eyes at 13.  Now she knows why they said them and meant them to be true.


I’m up, I’m up!

Waking up

dievca caught up with a friend who knew her as a “Night Owl” – they laughed, things have changed.

Via the Cleveland Clinic and  LiveScience:

Chronotype is determined by a combination of nature and nurture, scientists have found. On the nature side, a number of genes are known to play roles in determining whether a person prefers to be awake late at night or early in the morning, Drerup told Live Science. Hundreds of genes are associated with being a morning person, according to a 2019 study published in the journal Nature Communications. These genes influence a person’s circadian rhythm, or their natural sleep-wake cycle, which leads to their chronotype. 

Your environment also plays a large role. People tend to participate in daily activities that reinforce their chronotype, Drerup said. For example, night owls feel more productive and alert at night, so they tend to exercise and socialize in the evening. These activities are stimulating and reinforce the person’s tendency to stay up late. 

Because the environment is a factor in determining whether a person is a night owl or a morning person, it is possible to change your sleep-wake cycle. If you want to wake up earlier, make the change gradually. Drerup recommended slowly shifting your wake-up alarm earlier by 15 to 20 minutes every few days over the course of several weeks until you’ve adjusted to your ideal schedule.


A really low dew point


can make a Beach Holiday that much more enjoyable.
(dievca has been incredibly lucky with the weather this weekend).


Photo: dievca South Beach FL 03/2022


People can be stupid.

Nobody calls when its quiet. Everyone calls when you are in the middle of Life. It doesn’t take 11 e-mails to get one item completed.  Why can’t newcasters tie their own shoes without a teleprompter?  Add that you are missing sleep and trying to function in a Public World. dievca is a crab who is trying to be very nice at this moment – when she really just wants to snap everyone’s head off with her claws…

Sorry about the whigning – dievca really needs sleep.


A submissive re-evaluation

elegant submissiveMaster is traveling and dievca has had some open time to review her Life and changes in the past 2 years. Between COVID, deaths, aging – Master and dievca’s relationship has changed. And as body changes, social changes and family changes have eased – she’s wondering what will return or diminish.

dievca is starting her reflection process by defining the type of Relationship Master and dievca had at the beginning. Then she plans to review where she thinks they are now. Finally, she will communicate her analysis to Master and listen to His thoughts and wants for the future.

9 Types of submissives:

  • The outright non-submissive masochist or kinky sensualist
    Not into servitude, humiliation or giving up of control; just pain and/or spiced-up sensuality, on the masochist’s own terms for the masochist’s own pleasure (ie: being turned on solely or mainly by one’s own bodily sensations, rather than being turned on by being “used” to gratify one’s partner’s sadism).
  • Pseudo-submissive non-slave
    Not into even playing “slave”, but into other “submissive” role-playing, e.g.: schoolteacher scenes, infantilism, “forced” transvestism. Usually into humiliation, but NOT into servitude, even in play. Dictates the scene to a large degree.
  • Pseudo-submissive PLAY slave
    Likes to play at being slave. Likes to *feel* subservient; may in some cases like to *feel* that one is being “used” to gratify one’s partner’s sadism; and may even really serve the dominant in some ways, but only on the “slave’s” own terms. Dictates the scene to a large degree; often fetishistic (e.g. foot worshippers).
  • True submissive non-slave
    Really gives up control (though only temporarily and within agreed upon limits), but gets his/her main satisfaction from aspects of submission *other than* serving or being used by the dominant. Usually turned on by suspense, vulnerability, and/or giving up of responsibility. Doesn’t dictate the scene except in very general terms, but still seeks mainly her/his own *direct* pleasure (rather than getting one’s pleasure mainly from pleasing the dominant).
  • True submissive PLAY slave
    Really gives up control (though only temporarily; only during brief “scenes” and within limits) and gets his/her main satisfaction from serving and being used by the dominant – but only for FUN purposes, usually erotic. (May or may not be into pain, but if so, is turned on by pain *indirectly*, ie: enjoys being the objects of one’s partner’s sadism, on which the submissive places few requirements or restrictions.)
  • Uncommitted short-term but more-than-play semi-slave
    Really gives up control (though usually within limits); wants to serve and be used by the dominant; wants to provide practical/non-erotic as well as fun/ erotic services; but only when the “slave” is in the mood. May even act as a full-time slave for, say, several days at a time, but is free to quit at any time (or at the end of the agreed upon several days). May or may not have a long-term relationship with one’s Mistress/Master, but, either way, the “slave” has the final say over when he or she will serve.
  • Part-time consensual but REAL slave
    Has ongoing commitment to an owner/slave relationship, and regards oneself as the Mistress’/Master’s “property” at all times. Wants to obey and please her/him in all aspects of life – practical/non-erotic as well as fun/erotic. Devotes most of one’s time to other commitments (eg: job) but the Mistress/Master has first pick of the slave’s free time.
  • Full-time live-in consensual slave
    Within no more than a few broad limits/requirements, the slave regards herself/ himself as existing solely for the Mistress’/Master’s use, pleasure and well- being. The slave in turn expects to be regarded as a prized possession. Not much different from the situation of the traditional housewife, except that within the S/M world the slave’s position is more likely to be fully consensual, especially if the slave is male (since men certainly aren’t socially pressured into this kind of lifestyle). Within the S/M world, a full-time “slave” arrangement is entered into with an explicit awareness of the magnitude of power that is being given up, and hence is usually entered into much more carefully, with more awareness of the possible dangers, and with much clearer and more specific agreements than usually precede the traditional marriage.
  • Consensual total slave with no limits
    A common fantasy ideal which probably doesn’t exist in real life (except in authoritarian religious cults and other situations where the “consent” is induced by brainwashing and/or social or economic pressures, and hence isn’t fully consensual). A few S/M purists will insist that you aren’t really a slave unless you’re willing to do absolutely *anything* for your Mistress/ Master, with no limits at all. There are a few who claim to be no-limits slaves, but in all cases it would be reasonable to doubt the claim.

© 1984, 1988 by Mistress Diane Vera as reprinted in
Pat Califia, ed. The Lesbian S/M Safety Manual (Boston: Lace / Alyson) pp. 69-71
A Thank You to SluttyGirlProblem – Victoria Sparrow and Officer Wes for the information that made dievca start to think.
www.officerwes.com © 1997-2021 by Officer Wes


Help? Did my body grow?

cropped-nude-girl-in-water-wire-art.jpg

Look – my personal body has grown due to past injuries and perimenopause – I don’t need my Blog wire body image to grow….

If you have a moment and are stopping by the blog – could you let me know if that header image has grown larger for you, too?

Thank you!

your dievča