News links galore!
Cheap dates! Looking for an inexpensive idea for your next date? From
Zen Habits (via
Lifehacker), ideas for romantic dates that don't cost too much. My favorites on the list are museums and festivals. Really, if a guy wants to take me on a great date, he can't beat the zoo. The zoo is probably the same or a bit more than going out to a movie, depending on where you live, but I think you get more for your money as far as planning a fun date.
For advice on being environmentally responsible, Ask Umbra over at
Grist is the best. Recently she's covered both
green weddings and keeping your
sex life eco-friendly.
Baggage Reclaim has a list of "
Eight Dating Mistakes to Avoid". There are a few here that I'm sure you've heard before, but you might need to hear again.
Feministing reports that birth control prices are going up on college campuses. It's something to be aware of if you're using a campus clinic to get your prescriptions.
Need another reason to practice safe sex? A
recent survey shows that new parents lose up to 90 minutes of sleep per night, which over the course of a year, is equivalent to two months of sleepless ngihts.
Labels: dating
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Condoms
Planned Parenthood has a really good section about birth control on their website. They include a list of what types of lubricants are and are not safe to use with latex condoms. This site is also worth checking out if you want to see what your different options are for birth control (there are more choices out there than you'd think.)
And for all you creative types between the ages of 15-24,
Advocates for Youth is sponsoring a contest to design an ad promoting condom use. Hurry, though, the contest ends April 1!
Labels: birth control
Long Distance Relationships!
Here is an
article about long distance relationships from the Boston Globe. The article discusses the factors that have led to more 20-somethings trying to maintain romantic relationships over long distances. One of the people they interviewed mentioned that all of the time spent talking and getting to know each other when they were apart made moving in together much easier, because they had already talked about a lot of issues that would come up later. I think this was definitely true in my case as well. Especially when you're going to move very far away to be with someone, you want to make sure there won't be too many unpleasant surprises when you move in. If you're considering moving a long way to be with the one you love, you should start talking about things like chores, bills, pets, all of your annoying habits, and anything else that might come up. Hate doing the dishes? Mentioning that now can avoid a fight later. Maybe if your potential live-in partner hates laundry, you can work out a trade.
If you're trying to do the long distance thing, I can not recommend purchasing a web cam enough. It's really nice to be able to see someone while you're talking to them.
Eyejot is a new service that can add another use for your web cam. It lets you send short web cam videos in email. It's completely web-based, so you don't have to download any sort of software to use it. When I tried it, the video worked immediately. However, it took me a bit to get the audio working. That might be because I'm completely incompetent with computer audio, though! This would be great for long distance couples to send each other video emails. Even if you aren't far away from each other, you could use
Eyejot to send each other funny little messages whenever you want. (via
Lifehacker)
From the Village Voice, the story of how a BDSM relationship
ended up in federal court. The article points out that this case would be much different had the charges been filed with the local police, instead of the US Attorney.
The Queen of England shows that she considers couples who are unmarried but living together to be
essentially married. As half of a cohabitating couple, I think that's a pretty cool recognition of today's changing lifestyles.
Labels: bdsm, long distance, love
Birth Control Myths, Gamers Getting Dates, and Dating Sites for Everyone
From CNN,
10 Myths About the Pill Busted! (via
Feministing)
The article mentions that the pill doesn't make migraines worse, and I think that is a little tricky. It can be a
migraine trigger, and that is something that women should be aware of.
I found an
interesting piece on Joystiq today (its a gaming news site, for you non-nerds.) Evidently, the denizens of Digg are convinced that playing World of Warcraft can't help you get a girlfriend. I can safely say, after moving four states away to be with a man I met on WoW, the folks at Digg are wrong on this one.
Looking for unique dating sites? Check out the list put together on
Girl Dates London.
Labels: birth control, dating, geeks
Falling in love in Rome, lights on or off, and being happy and single!
How do you express your love in Rome? By
hanging a padlock on an ancient bridge, and throwing the key into the river. I don't know what I love about this story more, the fact that it's a brand new trend on the most ancient bridge in the city, or the fact that it was spurred by two recent books. I love when reading a book makes people go out and *do* something.
A
blogger ponders the eternal question: Do you turn the lights off or keep them on during sex?
I think I agree with this blogger, I don't have a preference as long as it's not harsh, artificial fluorescent lighting. No one looks sexy under those lights!
This is a
really good article about being happy with being single. Have a friend who is complaining about not being in a relationship? Send them this link! I especially like the part about taking time while you're single to figure out where you've gone wrong in past relationships, and take care of some emotional baggage.
Labels: love, sex, single life
My doctor is an idiot
I know I've been AWOL as of late. I apologize and will be making efforts to be more active in the blog.
In searching Yahoo News for articles on sex, I came across
this study on the effects of oral contraceptives on sexuality and well-being.
As you may or may not know, this is something that has recently hit close to him.
I am going to print this baby off and sent it to my former OB/GYN...Labels: birth control, sex
Three How-To Articles
I just came across this very funny video entitled
How to Be the Perfect Girlfriend. It's funny because its true!
Have you ever felt awkward about giving compliments?
How to Give a Good Compliment is a quick guide to giving compliments that will flatter the person receiving them. One thing I would add to this guide, is don't give compliments that aren't genuine. People know the difference between saying something because you really noticed, and saying something because you wanted something nice to say. For example, saying "That's a great shirt!" when you really find it hideous, will never come across as genuine.
From
Joystiq, a link to a WikiHow article on
How to Get Your Girlfriend to Play Videogames. Now, I like the idea of more girls playing video games, and I like the idea of couples trying out each other's hobbies. This article kind of pissed me off a little though. I feel like when we describe it as "How to get your girlfriend to," it's continuing the myth that girls don't like video games. Maybe the reason girls don't like video games is simply because we keep continuing that myth. Maybe if we didn't describe it in those terms, more girls would feel like it's okay for them to enjoy video games.
Also, I've known many a girl who resented video games, because she had often felt ignored by a boyfriend who was playing them. So if you're significant other hates games and you love them, make sure you aren't ignoring him or her to play games, because you'll just be making their hatred worse. It is also entirely possible that he or she already holds a resentment for gaming, because they previously dated a gamer who ignored them, even if you don't. It's just something to keep in mind.
If I was a gamer who wanted to get my significant other into gaming, my first stop would be the arcade. Try a place like Dave and Buster's with a big variety of games. You can even win tickets to get prizes on some of them. Have your S.O try a bunch of games to see what they like. Your girlfriend spends $10 playing House of the Dead? Maybe she would be willing to play Resident Evil or even Counterstrike.
Labels: communication, videgames
Book Review- He Comes Next by Ian Kerner
I just finished (like literally 5 minutes ago) reading
He Comes Next: The Thinking Woman's Guide to Pleasuring a Man by Ian Kerner. I was skeptical, but it was actually pretty good. He has also written
She Comes First, and
Be Honest, You're Not That Into Him Either. The title might make you think its just a how-to guide for giving better blow jobs, but fear not! Its actually a really good overview of male sexuality. I will say I take any sort of gender generalizations with a grain of salt. Not all men have trouble expressing their emotions, not all women love to cuddle after sex. So when reading this book, I would keep your particular man in mind. The book is definitely geared towards those in long term relationships. It often deals with how to put the desire back into your love life after it has waned. It talks a lot about some of the brain chemistry that I mentioned in my
previous post, as well as building real intimacy. Depending on your relationship, you may feel like you've already progressed passed some of the topics mentioned, but I think it could be beneficial to anyone in a committed relationship.
Labels: book review, men, sex
Book Review: The Secret Lives of Men and Women
On a whim yesterday, I picked up one of the
PostSecret books at the library. This one is called
The Secret Lives of Men and Women. If you are unfamiliar with PostSecret, the concept is simple. People mail in post cards on which they have written their secrets. They are posted on the website, and have been compiled into three books so far. Many of the postcards are handmade collages. The secrets people send in vary from "I rescheduled a business conference so I wouldn't miss my dogs birthday," to "I've been with my wife for 20 years and she doesn't know who I am." They are funny, heartbreaking, and disturbing, sometimes all on the same page.
Why am I reviewing this book here? Why havn't I been reading more books that will help you meet the person of your dreams? Because if you want to understand people and relationships, this book is an excellent place to start.
Labels: book review
