I was visiting my parents for Thanksgiving last week, and when I’m down there I try to see friends and do other things so I’m not just stuck in the house all day. Of course I could (and should) be writing, but that doesn’t always work. On Tuesday night I went out with some friends, and on Wednesday I did a scene.

Last year I went to a small spanking party the night before Thanksgiving, and I met several cool people. One of them joined the GASP Telegram (which is unofficial) and posted about going to the party, so I talked to her a bit. She also runs spanking parties at the local BDSM space near my parents, and I said if she had one while I was in town I would go. Unfortunately, she couldn’t get one scheduled, but she did want to play with me — apparently there are few pure spankos, or at least people who will just give a spanking and not do anything else BDSM-oriented, in the area. She seemed nice, so we talked for a few weeks and decided to play. The scene was super-fun — she got a lot of hard spanks, mostly with my hand but also with a strap, a rubber paddle, a bath brush, and a wooden spoon. The spanking itself lasted for about half an hour, and I think we both felt really good afterward. Then, following the spanking, we sat on the couch with drinks and I petted one of her three dogs, a dachshund with atrocious breath while we talked.

Overall it was a great afternoon, and it left me in a good headspace, as a good scene usually does.

I got back to my parents’ house, worked on my computer a little, and then my mother asked me to make dinner. I also enjoy cooking, so this was fairly pleasant. After dinner, my dad and I watched Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, and then he turned on Battlestar Galactica.

For about two minutes.

And then he turned on MSNBC.

My parents are huge liberals, so at least it wasn’t Fox News, but given the state of America today, especially following the election, the left-leaning news outlets are all doom and gloom (as they should be). And I have no desire to engage in that. Unfortunately, there was nothing else I could do — the house has one “great room” where the TV and dining rooms are, and of course there’s the guest room where I sleep but I’m 46 and can’t get away with hiding like my teenage child can. So I had to sit in the dining room, staring at my computer, trying like hell to avoid hearing what was on TV. It didn’t help that my mother and aunt were sitting there too, talking politics. There was no escape.

It really harshed my mellow. All those positive feelings from the scene and making dinner and hanging out with my dad and petting four dogs (my parents’ dog plus my friend’s three dogs) were drained away by the news being on.

Finally, around nine, I gave up and took the dog for a short walk, and then went to bed to read. It was only 9:30 but I couldn’t stand being out there anymore with the news on.

Overall I still felt better than I generally do while I’m visiting my parents, but I was a bit farther down than I was at 8:00, before the news came on.

Mellow harshed. Bleah.