It’s not every day that you walk into the Empty Bottle and see condoms by the bowlful strewn across the bar. “No need to get all crazy and put your hand in the bowl, just take one,” Pretty, one of the founders of LustandBust.com, shouts to everyone from the venue’s stage. For the Web site’s launch event, Pretty and co-founder Cheeky have successfully transformed the Empty Bottle into a den of debauchery during “The Birds and The Bees X-Rated Spelling Bee.”
Contestants, who are vying for a gift basket full of goodies from Early to Bed, are allowed to ask for their word’s definition. “If you ask me to use it in a sentence to embarrass me, you will regret it,” Pretty says. By the middle of round one, the contestants start dropping like flies. One contestant, Andrea, gets to spell “bearded clam.” “Can you use it in a sentence?” she asks Pretty. “We all hoped that Andrea didn’t have a bearded clam,” Pretty says as the crowd laughs.
“B-R-E-A-D-E-D C-L-A-M,” Andrea says. A pause. “Did I just spell breaded clam?” Andrea asks.
“Yeah you did!” Pretty says, and laughs.
“I thought it was going to be harder-more technical terms,” Andrea says back at the bar.
Pretty’s partner-in-crime Cheeky says she’s excited about “seeing people get together through the site” and is looking forward to their Little Black Book Race scheduled for July. (Katie Fanuko)