http://www.arizonapowerexchange.org/academia.htm
Eraser: this link is wonderful. So much good stuff--my eyes are sore from reading it and I'm still not half done.

This is probably going to be the worst analogy anyone has ever read, but here's how I look at the BDSM-D/s world of relationships...hopefully Curtis will forgive me for broadly expanding on his veggies outlook...but this is truly how I look at it

To me it's like going to the largest restaurant in the world with the biggest buffet you could ever imagine.....
Nibbles: your analogy is absolutely perfect. I hope it sinks in with a lot of people. It amazes me that so many BDSMers spend time in the vanilla world feeling different, then step into a kinky world and expect all the other kinky people to be the same as them!

The BDSM culture should be a model of acceptance internally, since that is what we crave from the rest of the world. Thank you for an excellent post!

BTW: I love sushi... can't get enough. Too bad a fishy smell in my lunch bag is easier to explain at the office than whip marks.