100 Days of Pulling Down the Panties

Right around this time last year I received an email from a man I was interested in seeing that read: “I don’t think we should meet after all. I Googled you, and I just don’t think you’re my type.” At the time I was writing a fairly mild blog about dating using my real name, and it became popular enough that the bastard could find me using the Google search engine. My dream of being above the fold bit me right in the ass.

This spring I ran into a man from my past who pretty much said the same thing: “I thought we really hit it off, but I didn’t want to end up in your book or on your blog, so I didn’t call you again.” Ooops, that backfired, now didn’t it asshole?

On August 30, 2012, I took down my old blog, created the Panty Parade pen name, and started Off Go the Panties. At the time, I didn’t really know what I would write about, but I liked the idea of doing it anonymously. My early posts were naïve, full of advice, and an ongoing record of some of my sexual exploits.

I got the name Panty Parade from pulling it out of my ass one day as I sent a lover a picture of me in my pink panties. I asked him if he wanted to join in the panty parade. Indeed he did.

The name Off Go the Panties is also rather random. I liked other names better, but they were all taken. For some unknown reason the song “Pop Goes the Weasel” flitted through my head as I was trying to come up with something. It stuck, and I decided that I wanted my blog’s name to match that silly kids’ song.

Just as my pen name is nonsensical, I decided to make up odd names for the men in my life. Most of these men are no longer in the picture—Memphis Blues, Crocodile, Camelback, Panther—but I do still see Salt-N-Pepper. (I wouldn’t be too surprised if that changes soon, though.)

Just as I’ve evolved sexually (but certainly not emotionally), Off Go the Panties has morphed over these last 100 posts. For a while, I was getting writing ideas from WordPress with their Postadays and Weekly Challenges. I found some of the prompts to be worth my time and others (for some reason I promised myself I would do them religiously) were just plain lame.  Some of the posts I wrote during this time I really like, but no one reads them.

My own 12/12 Challenge seems to be helping a few bloggers, and I also attempted 30 Days of Truth and TMI Tuesdays. The intent is that these writing structures / prompts will help me stretch my writing muscles. I fear this is only the case in rare occasions.

I started to receive some emails from readers and found it easier to respond to them as a post than to simply write back to them. It’s hard giving advice to strangers (especially as I struggle with my own bullshit), but for some reason my thoughts on dating, relationships, and sex resonate with some readers. I still like that format, and hope to expand it.

I have some specialties. I’m getting better at maneuvering the Craigslist labyrinth, and I also feel more comfortable at sex clubs. Casual sex with strangers seems to be my forte. What can I say? We all have our kinks.

One of the reasons I believe some posts get more attention than others is because I let myself look bad. This girl does not shy away from stories where I shit on lovers, feel like shit, or allow myself to be treated like shit. It’s also clear that I’m okay with talking about my issues with mental illness.

Favorites feature stripping, meeting a homeless man for sex, and anything having to do with Craigslist. Why? Because the murky logic of Google made my posts on these topics hit above the fold for a time with some very random search terms. The erotica I post on “Gone Wild Stories” with Reddit also bring about a spike in hits.

Off Go the Panties is 100 posts today, and it seems like a good time to get more systematic about what gets written, when, and for whom.  Check back soon to see how that all shapes up.