shanmonster | The Midori Adventures: Day Two

The next day,

f00dave and I went poking around downtown Halifax. We went to Junk and Foibles: one of my favourite shops in Halifax. Being broke, I didn't buy anything, but f00 did purchase a couple of cheapy pins. His reads "Expect More." Mine says "Fight-Dancing," which is about as appropriate as anything I'd seen. When I put the pin on, the shopkeeper told me I look violent.

I don't feel violent, even though I'm leaving for kung fu practice shortly. Hmm...

We also went to Little Mysteries where I did spend six of my monies to purchase three purple goddess beads. They'll go along very well with the amethyst skulls I was given a few years ago by a friend. Now, do I make a necklace, or do I use it for costuming? Decisions, decisions.

And before too long, it was time to meet up with

fd_midori again. This night's class was on erotic embarassment, which is a lot more than dressing buff guys up in frilly panties. It was more about eroticizing social discomfort, while finding a way to positively reinforce someone's core values.

Midori went on to demonstrate with a volunteer. After asking a few questions to establish what was important to the woman, about what her friends would say about her at her funeral, etcetera, she had a pretty good idea about what would work, and what wouldn't. With a few carefully chosen words, the right tone of voice, and the right body language, Midori turned her volunteer into a blushing pile of goo. Then she showed what wouldn't work. She said a few other things, changed her body language and tone of voice, and the response was wholly different. The volunteer had an unhappy set to her jaw, and was obviously not titillated in the slightest.

"Ah," one audience member said. "But you've moved away from her, and your voice is cold and detached. Of course it doesn't work."

So Midori went on to use the same tone of voice, the same detached body language, but words more carefully chosen and crafted, and once again, the volunteer was a red-faced pile of goo. If anything, this tact worked better than the initial one.

It was very interesting to watch, and I think Midori could transfer these same skills to bilk people out of their money by having them contact their dead loved ones, if she were so inclined. I think she's a very skilled cold reader.

What did I learn from this workshop? It made me realize I do have core values (of course), something I'd never really put any thought into before:

I'm worthy of love.
I'm attractive.
I'm intelligent.
I'm skilled.

Use that as you may.