When You Wish....

You probably know by now that I'm a big Disney fan. My ideal vacation would be a week or two in DisneyWorld in Orlando, Florida. And believe me--with the way this winter has been going, Florida is sounding pretty good right about now.

My love affair with Disney should come as no surprise. I was born in the 50's, so I grew up on a TV diet of The Mickey Mouse Club during the week ("Mousketeer roll call, sound off now!") and Walt Disney's Wonderful World Of Color ("The world is a carousal of color....") on Sunday nights.

The Sunday show actually had a few different titles over the years. It was first called simply Disneyland. That was changed to Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, and eventually became The Wonderful World of Disney.

It was a pretty full viewing schedule, keeping up with Karen and Cubby, Jimmy and Roy, Tommy and, of course, everyone's sweetheart Annette Funicello. Then Sundays were filled with dramas such as Davy Crockett, Texas John Slaughter, the Swamp Fox, Scarecrow, or the cartoon antics of Mickey, Donald, Goofy and (my favorite) Professor Ludwig Von Drake.

Not too long after the DisneyLand theme park opened, my Mom and Dad planned a trip out West for a Summer vacation and the final destination would be Anaheim, California. I was probably bouncing off the seat cushions all the way. And as far as I was concerned, it was the most magical place I'd ever seen. I've been to Disneyland a couple of times over the years, and have been to DisneyWorld 3 times, and I can't even put into words the feeling I get when I'm there. It's a feeling of peace, and of comfort--a feeling that everything is going to be all right, and nothing bad can happen. Truth to tell, it feels like home.

I haven't been back to DisneyWorld in years, but another trip is certainly long overdue. Just thinking about it has me grinning.

I'm not the only one who feels this way, of course. And--lucky for us--one of the people Disney faithful is an artist by the name of Thomas Kinkade, "Painter Of Light".

Last year he started a series of Disney paintings depicting favorite scenes from the Disney movies he grew up with and enjoyed. The first one honored Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, and is called, "Snow White Discovers The Cottage".

You definitely should click on the picture to enlarge it. Snow White is in the foreground. The cottage looms invitingly over the bridge. Woodland creatures abound. Far in the distance, foreshadowing Snow White's journey, is the castle of the Prince.

In a touch of whimsey, Kinkade has hidden seven Mickey silhouettes in the picture--one for each dwarf. Good luck finding them all--I haven't been able to.....yet! Although the first one, I believe, is directly in front of Snow White--a circular rock topped with two other circular rocks. See it?

(An interesting side note: my Bantam Crossword Dictionary gives several definitions of the word whimsey. The last definition they give? "Fantasia".)

This picture is, of course, available for purchase at http://www.thomaskinkade.com/. I'm sooooo tempted....

The second of the series is in the works, and I came across this picture not too long ago. It's not the finished product--it's a color study--but I have to say, it looks amazing. It's called "Pinocchio Wishes Upon A Star".






Again, the main character is in the foreground while the star--or is it the Blue Fairy? It sure looks like that "star" has wings--blazes overhead. We also have a bit of foreshadowing in the distance. Surely that's Pleasure Island sitting out there in the bay, while Monstro the whale seems to be sizing up a sailing vessel.

I don't know how many of these Disney-based paintings Thomas Kinkade plans to do, but I can't wait to see them all. I feel like it's Sunday night, and the show is about to start.

The world is, indeed, a carousal of color.......and light!

And The Answer Is.....

Thanks for playing "Guess The Celebrity Bottom." Well--two people played, anyway. The rest just said, "I don't know. Tell me." Honestly--where's their competitive fire? Maybe it needs to be lit under them in the time-honored traditional manner. Too bad, 'cause "Guess The Celebrity Bottom" could become a regular feature around here.

Anyway, the photos come from the set of the film she's working on, Frankie And Alice, and the bottom belongs to .......






Halle Berry! I really thought someone would guess correctly. Of course, when you already know the answer, I suppose it seems easier than it really is.

As a bonus, here's another photo of Halle Berry running out of her costume. This may have been a wardrobe malfunction. It may have been in the script. I'm filing it under, "Don't know. Don't care". I'm just glad someone with a camera was around.

Thanks for playing!

Guess The Celebrity Bottom!

I have a feeling the majority of you won't have any problem in figuring this one out......but I thought I'd make you guess, anyway!

A New Record!

All I can say is that the spanking community sure must like a party!

A big "Thank You" to everyone who came by for my 1-year blogiversary. Whether you lurked or whether you were one of the special people who left a comment, your presence was appreciated.

Thanks, too, to anyone who helped spread the word--most notably, Gwen over at Devlin O'Neill's Weblog. It was her urging people to stop by and wish me a happy aniversary that brought in a record number of people to my blog. Ok, granted, she had an ulterior motive at the time (which we don't need to go into here)......

Thanks to my normal number of visitors plus Gwen plus anyone else who helped spread the word, the post celebrating my first year as a blogger drew in 1,318 hits--the first time I've drawn over 1,000 visitors in one day to my blog. I still look at that number and smile to myself!
So again, thanks to everyone who dropped by and shared the day with me.

Also, in case you didn't notice, I replaced the old drawing I had with my profile and put up a different one in honor of the blog going into it's second year. It seemed only fitting. The two drawings are somewhat similar, actually, so if the change escaped your notice--well, I can't say I blame you. Here's one last look at the old picture--

Happy 1-Year Anniversary!!!

It was (more or less) exactly one year ago today that I sat down in front of my computer and created a blog called "Spanking Minnesota". This has led to a surprising number of people out there asking, "You spank the whole state?"

Ha. Ha ha. Har-de-har.

What can I say? I'm a spanker--according to some ladies, a pretty good one--I'm into "spanking" and I live in "Minnesota". Seems like there's your blog title right there. And I have no plans to change it.

So far, there have been 133 posts (not counting this one) and over 140,000 visitors from about 102 different countries around the globe--including "unknown".

My heartfelt thanks to everyone who has stopped by and checked out my blog, whether it was a one-time thing just to look around or whether you became a regular reader and visitor. My thanks to all the wonderful people who took the time to leave comments. That always adds to the blogging experience, and it really helps to know I'm not posting just for my own amusement.

So, everyone--party at my place! We'll toast the past year, and start thinking about what we'll write about in the upcoming year. I imagine it'll be like before--a little of this, a little of that. Adult consensual spanking will be the main focus, but certainly won't be the only topic we talk about.

And if you're wondering what to do to help me celebrate my blogiversary, I say, take a tip from the couple in the picture below......

Now, that's the way to celebrate!

Bottoms up, ladies......

Smile!

Ordinarily, I hate to stand and wait behind people in the check-out line at a store. If I was in back of this lady, though, I think I'd make an exception....... (If you're having trouble seeing it, click on the picture to enlarge it)

You could stand there and mutter things like, "What are you lookin' at?", or "I know what would wipe the smile off of your......face".

"So cute! I just want to pinch those cheeks!" might be going a bit too far, however.....

The Best Thing About 2009

The new calendars are here! The new calendars are here!

Looks like it's going to be a good year...... :-)

A Look Back on "The Twelve Days"

I hope you enjoyed my version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas", even though technically it was consistently one day late. As I noted earlier, the first day of Christmas should have been Dec. 25, and I didn't start until Dec. 26. In the long run, I figured it wouldn't matter too much.

My thanks to those who kept coming back to see what the new day would bring. If you just lurked, read, and left--I'm glad you came here. If you left a comment--even better! The comments really help make any post that much more fun, in my opinion.

If you never heard of some of the items or implements I mentioned--good, look 'em up. A good source to check (not to mention a great source to buy from) is The London Tanners--
http://thelondontanners.com. You can also do a Google search, or go to Wikipedia. I hadn't intended "The Twelve Days" to be educational, but if you learned something new--all the better!

Now, some of you might be wondering, "Out of everything mentioned, how much does this guy actually have and use?" Okay, here's my moment of full disclosure--I have practically none of the things mentioned. I have a hand, of course, so the OTK handspanking on day one--that I can do. It may, in fact, be my favorite thing.

Butt plugs? Martinets? Fur-lined cuffs? Nope, don't own any of those.

A hairbrush I DO have, but it isn't from Mason Pearson.

Six of the best? Sorry, I don't own a cane. Truth to tell, I've never learned how to use one, and have never really been that interested in learning. I'm not a big fan of the cane.

Straps? Yes, I have a strap or two, mostly smaller versions that can be used OTK. Wooden spoons? Only to cook with. They're pretty lightweight, and I'm not sure they would pack much of a sting.

Floggers, Loopy Johnnys, ping-pong paddles--I've never used the first two, and the last one I've only used for ping-pong. I don't own any of them.

Finally, I do have corners available. Naughty girls, beware!

Day Twelve

On the twelfth day of Christmas

My true love gave to me

Twelve minutes in the corner






Eleven ping-pong paddles

Ten Loopy Johnnys

Nine Floggers flogging

Eight wooden spoons

Seven straps a-stinging

Six of the best

Five Mason Pearson hairbrushes

Four fur-lined cuffs

Three martinets

Two butts plugs

And a hand-spanking over his knee.

Day Eleven

On the eleventh day of Christmas

My true love gave to me

Eleven ping-pong paddles

Ten Loopy Johnnys

Nine floggers flogging

Eight wooden spoons

Seven straps a-stinging

Six of the best

Five Mason Pearson hairbrushes

Four fur-lined cuffs

Three martinets

Two butt plugs

And a hand-spanking over his knee.

Day Ten

On the tenth day of Christmas


My true love gave to me


Ten Loopy Johnnys

Nine floggers flogging

Eight wooden spoons

Seven straps a-stinging

Six of the best

Five Mason Pearson Hairbrushes

Four fur-lined cuffs

Three martinets

Two butt plugs

And a hand-spanking over his knee.

Day Nine

On the ninth day of Christmas

My true love gave to me

Nine floggers flogging

Eight wooden spoons

Seven straps a-stinging

Six of the best

Five Mason Pearson Hairbrushes

Four fur-lined cuffs

Three martinets

Two butt plugs

And a hand-spanking over his knee.

Day Eight

On the eighth day of Christmas

My true love gave to me

Eight wooden spoons

Seven straps a-stinging

Six of the best

Five Mason Pearson Hairbrushes

Four fur-lined cuffs

Three Martinets

Two butt plugs

And a hand-spanking over his knee.

Day Seven

On the seventh day of Christmas

My true love gave to me

Seven straps a-stinging

Six of the best

Five Mason Pearson hairbrushs

Four fur-lined cuffs

Three martinets

Two butt plugs

And a hand-spanking over his knee.

Best wishes to one and all for a Happy New Year!