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The Story of Y

Glossary X=Secret story, not suitable for Blog.

Prologue
Last weekend, Gary said, "So when you had lunch with your girlfriends...did you tell them about X?"

(Shit! I did tell them about X. In fact, I think it came up in conversation when I said, "Hey! did I tell you about X?) I spent a quiet moment considering if I could lie to Gary.

I said, "I don't think you really want to ask me that question."

"It's okay if you tell them," he said, "Just don't, you know, put it on the blog or anything."

"But you know what that means. I have to tell the blog Y!"
Glossary Y= previously banned story from long ago.

Gary said that was okay.

Continue reading "The Story of Y" »

My First

I glibly suggested to Magpie Musing that it might be time to publish the facts about my very first vibrator. It seems I'm having quite the run of sex-related posts. I promise I will soon go back to making fun of Gary.

Continue reading "My First" »

Minus Section

So, I was talking with Friend #3 about how we had learned the facts of life, and I told her I had bugged Mom about it as much as she could stand ("Ellen! I have told you this how many times?") so I decided to get my details from the "Minus Section" at the public library.

Our library very definitely had a Minus Section, but after some Googling I'm thinking it might have been a modification of the Dewey Decimal System our librarians invented.

Our library was of course on the Dewey Decimal system, with the categories:
    * 000 – Computer science, information, and general works
    * 100 – Philosophy and psychology
    * 200 – Religion
    * 300 – Social sciences
    * 400 – Languages
    * 500 – Science
    * 600 – Technology applied science
    * 700 – Arts and recreation
    * 800 – Literature
    * 900 – History and geography and biography

I remember deciding the reason computers were in the 000s was they hadn't been invented when the DD System was created. I wondered if Dewey started with the 100s, and the occult stuff was in the 000s too, because Dewey thought it was heretical. I don't know. I spent a lot of time at the library.

At any rate, my library was equipped with one section that had books with minus signs in front of the Dewey Decimal numbers for "certain" books.

601.12: medical encyclopedia, lets say.
-601.12: The Medical Encyclopedia of Sex.

Negative numbers in a parallel Dewey Universe.
-100s? The Psychology of Sex.
-700s? Sexy Art.
-400? Nothing, because there's no language about sex.

These books were kept out, but in the Minus Section, right by the check-out counter. The Minus Section only took up one shelf. The librarians watched closely to see who was browsing the Minus Section. Except for one librarian, Mr. K____, who ritually came in every day to work , picked up a random book out of the Minus Section, read a few pages, then got to work.

I know this because I later worked at the library, when I was 18. But that one summer when I was 13 I came in every day and picked up Hite or Kinsey from the Minus Section, and no one said boo to me.

When I was talking to Friend #3 today, it was as if she was unaware of the Minus Section. ("What, like antibooks? The antimatter of the library?") I peeked into Wikipedia, Google, and the Straight Dope, and it looks like perhaps there isn't a Minus Section in every library. I haven't been in a library for years since I gave back my library card, so I don't know. Then again, maybe if the Internet meets the Minus Section, the universe explodes. Could be. So, anybody else fall into the Minus Section?

In Which I Observe Some Monkeys Being Spanked

I just did something fun that I think every woman should do. It's not something the faint of heart would want to read. That's why it's below the link.

Continue reading "In Which I Observe Some Monkeys Being Spanked" »

Everybody do the Flagrante Delicto

Well, one of the in-laws has been caught in a compromising position. In the act. Explicitly, the act of having sex. Not to put too fine a point on it, but, naked.

I feel for the Horny Naked In-Law, because this individual is of the younger generation. I want to say, "We've all been there," while Gary hums "Sunrise, Sunset" in the background. I want to say, "Someday you'll laugh about this."

I know this is true, because like many I have been caught in the act. Well, sort of. It wasn't what it looked like. I swear.

Gary and I were dating, and were were several months into it at least. It was the summer I turned 21. We were in his apartment, making out, and we were at the point in the relationship that Gary had conquered the Northern Hemisphere. I believe I had helpfully removed my shirt and bra to help facilitate matters. God forbid his hands tried to sneak below the high waist of my Zena Jeans, though. But hey, upstairs the party was on.

So there we were, making out in his bed and we both heard a key turn in the front door lock.

"Hi, Gary," his sister Karen sang out.

Gary was fully clothed at the time anyway, so he vaulted out of bed and tossed the coverlet over me before he hit the ground. In one step he was out of the bedroom. So he wouldn't arouse suspicion,  he casually pulled the bedroom door only partially shut. 

"Hi, Karen! What brings you here?" he asked loudly.

She answered, "I was out walking the new puppy and I thought he looked thirsty. I remembered I had your key from when I played tennis on the courts here -- Coco! No! Bad puppy!"

Coco had burst through the bedroom door,  followed soon after by Karen, and I might have escaped attention but the damn puppy went right under the bed. Suddenly I was busted.  Karen reeled back at a 45 degree angle when she saw me sticking out from under the coverlet. If not for the industrial-strength stick up her ass, her spine would have snapped in half.

By the time I choked out "Hi, Karen," she had wrangled the puppy and was apologizing her way out of the apartment. I heard Gary say, "Bye..Karen?" but I didn't catch anything but the shock waves of horror she left behind.

Gary poked his head back in the bedroom just as I realized that the situation was even worse than I thought. I thought I was fully under the covers, but my bare shoulders and arms were exposed. The coverlet was over my breasts and my virtuous unzipped jeans, but my bare feet stuck out. So naked shoulders, naked feet, I'm looking pretty naked. I pulled the coverlet over my head.

Gary tried to soothe me with, "You know, someday, we'll look back on this and laugh. Except for Karen. She won't ever think this is funny."

Well, it took almost a quarter of a century but I can see the humor now. So, this will be my Christmas present to myself: I'll find Karen and see if she thinks it is funny yet.

Toe Boy of the Year

This Google Analytics thing has sparked my imagination. Every little visitor dot has significance to me. I have assigned a persona to every big dot. Like "Oh...That's a nice size dot in Oklahoma City. I bet that's Joy."  And, by the way, a big wave at New Zealand, land of the BIG DOT in Auckland. Hi Aucklanders! You kick Montana's ass. Stinking Montanese.

The most intriguing series of dots is in Germany, though. Through the month of November, someone criss-crossed Germany and visited once every other day, each time from a different city. I have two potential personas for the Wandering German Dot:

1. My friend Melanie, who does impressive stuff like teach herself German, then began directing German plays, then started translating German plays, and is now directing a German play in Germany.

or, the German dot could be...

2. The Obsessive German  Toe Enthusiast. Now, you know how I love the Toe Boys, and especially the Germans. However, one day this past month someone came here by way of this search:

"site:mocklog.typepad.com   mediocretia   toes"

and then he surfed from toe to toe from 1:10 to 1:19. My toes have been targeted!

Ellemon

Well, the Pussy Pancreas decided to be all shy during the second CAT Scan, and disguise the cyst in some way so that results were inconclusive. (Hai! I R Toiying wid U like a mouse!) However, the trial continues apace, and I have the ophthalmologist and the MRI yet to do tomorrow.

I have a great hate on for this pancreatic cyst, yet it still doesn't even come close being the worst cyst of my life. You know how my family looks to the Discovery Health Channel for consolation when things seem bad? ("Are you feeling sorry for yourself? Yes, okay, but are you a Little Person? No? You could be a Little Person with a cyst, you whiner.") However, I am away from the TV tonight so I cannot console myself with TV shows about Little People Who Have It Worse Than I, or Some Woman Who Evidently Has Twins AND Sextuplets. Instead I will take this moment to remember cysts I have known, including the Worst Cyst of My Life.

Men? Run. If you value the happy little Land of Labia in your mind Bob Guccione has built for you in which all the nethers are pink and perfect, then exit. Women, if you are strong, join the Cysterhood and belly up for ...

The Tale of the Labial Cyst I Had THE Size of A LEMON I Sweartogawd

(Oh, yes. Yes I will go there. At the end of this tale you'll be all, "Oh, yeah, cysts on your pancreas are nothing.")

So one Friday I was taking a class along with my co-workers, and I noticed after noon it was a little uncomfortable to sit. I shifted around for an hour until I took to sitting on my foot and thus elevating my pudenda off the chair. At three o'clock I went to my boss and told him I was taking off for an emergency doctors visit. I did not explain why, even when he asked if I was okay.

Technically, since all the doctors were off that lovely Friday afternoon, I saw the nursing staff. One might have been a nurse practitioner. All I know is they had me assume the position and peered at my mysteries.

"Oh, that's a cyst. Lower Left Quadrant." I don't know if they said "left," but that is where it was, and it had such substance by this time that if they'd said it had hair and teeth and a face I would not have been surprised. They also said something about "Bartholin's Gland."

Now, if you want a very clear image of what was going on down there, you COULD Google "Bartholin's Gland Cyst," then click Images, then never have sex again. I would have given you a link, but I thought Gary might click it on his Blackberry and become impotent immediately. So, in lieu of an image, I'll just say if you somehow had access to my labia, and if you could somehow slide a lemon right under the skin as you do with turkey stuffing, and position the lemon under my labia right by my delicate winking pink anus, then you would get an idea of how it looked.

Hm, you say, how does she know how it looked? Didn't they get rid of it at the doctors office? No, they said, you'll have to wait until Monday when all the doctors are back.

I believe my face said, "Oh hell no I won't. Get this monster off of me. "

She drawled, "If you thought you could, I suppose you could express it yourself." Well. Slap me in the face with the glove. I did indeed believe I could express it myself, thankyou. She recommended a long sit on the couch on top of a heating pad wrapped in a towel. And, sometime Sunday, I was very glad for the towel, because we had a white couch at the time. The "self-expression" lasted only a moment, yet that cyst had been so significant I didn't sit normally for a week due to phantom pain.

Why did I bring this up? I remember on the Barenaked Cruise Message Board I brought this up because men were posting inappropriately to the "Girl Talk" thread and I imagined this might make them go away. Instead, one wag commented, "Why did they say the doctor could express it if it wouldn't be until Monday?" (I remember this in particular because I didn't get that joke for a month.  Then when I was standing in line somewhere I thought, "Oh! Express! Ahahahaha")

I remember, that's why I brought it up, I was reviewing evil cysts I have known. Since then, the fruit bowl of my loins has not presented any more lemons, or even any other cysts larger than a mandarin orange segment. I've had one bit of breast gristle, one ovarian cyst the size of a pea, and now this minuscule inconsequential grape of a pancreas cyst. Ha. It's nothing.

See? See how that works?

This is Why I Don't Get Any

This, from our bedroom, as we cuddled and made small talk:

Gary: "So I saw this thing on HBO or something, when this guy said he 'did the alphabet' during cunnilingus."

Me: "Yeah. I've heard about that too. I wonder what would it feel like to be cunnilingled that way. Give me your elbow."

(I mouth the alphabet on Gary's elbow until I get bored and give it a big cow lick.)

Gary: "And that's the other thing, does anyone ever make it through all 28 letters of the alphabet?"

My internal monologue:  Did he just say 28? Are you kidding me? 28? Rip on him for saying there are 28 letters of the alphabet! No! Wait! Give him a chance. See if he says '32' next time.

Ellen: (flatly) "Yeah. 28 letters. That's a lot of letters."

Internal monologue: Wait for it...wait for it...No! Move on! Keep talking about sex! You're losing him!

Gary: "Wait - how many letters are in the alphabet? Did I say 28? I meant 24."

So. No sex for me.

My New Toy

Click to immensify my new toy:

Toy

I love it. It's sleek, shiny, fast, compact and and wireless, just like my new laptop.

Bathroom Dogs and Bedroom Dogs

This post is interactive. This post is also mildly pornographic. Mildly. At the end, I will call for comments, and due to the intimate nature of this topic, I encourage you to leave the name, email, and url fields blank. Don't want to embarrass anyone or discourage strangers. Here goes:

The one cute trick we have taught our dog is how to warble. It began when we were singing the Garyoke along with "Back in Black," and the dog chimed in with howls. Hysterical! We sang nothing but "Back in Black" for a week. Then Mac was all, "Yeah, that joke is old. I'm not your trained monkey," and he stopped.

Still that taught us he has a singing voice, and we started to train him to use it. We'd come home, and if he welcomed us with a little warbling sound we'd try to imitate him. Now we can get him to howl almost on command, as long as we make warbling sounds, then he warbles, then he howls, then we howl. Fun.

So. This has become an issue now that we're letting the dog stay in the bedroom when we have sex.

Yes.

(For the one or two of you who actually are 14-year old boys who got here looking for "toe porn," I'll spell it our for you: We make noise, the dog makes noise. Like, the same noise. Well, he tries. Neither of us "announce," if you will, so Mac can actually try to warble along with us, or whoever happens to be warbling or howling at the moment. The. Moment.)

And, yes, it is distracting, but it doesn't bother me. It isn't as distracting as having the dog claw at the door or the bed or destroy whatever obstacle separates us by blasting it with the sound waves from his penetrating glass-breaking bark.

So, even though it's a little inappropriate to have the dog mock your lovemaking while he shares your bed, Gary claims it is even worse to have the dog share your bathroom when you are eliminating. Usually the dog will give us our space, but if there's a thunderstorm, he's all in there, and I let him join me because I generally can't take the time to hustle the dog out.  Gary feels strongly the bathroom is the Holy of Holies and no dogs Shalt Enter There. Also, no wives (fine by me), no Moms or Dads (some have felt observation is the best way to potty-train), and definitely no Chuck Berry (see here for details if you are confused by that ).

So, what are your views? Dogs allowed in bath but not in bed? Bed but not bath? Bed, bath and beyond?

And the Award for Acceptable Sperm Term Goes to...

Baby Batter (for all hetero and solo applications)

Man Batter (for all prison applications)

What Does "Preliminary Zygotes" Say to You?

Rated MA for Mature Language. The language in this one literally made my husband scream.

Continue reading "What Does "Preliminary Zygotes" Say to You?" »

I'm Number One! I'm Number One!

Spunkaaaahhh

Hi! I'm Spunky!

In college, a visiting professor taught one of my English courses. His name was Angus Wilson. He is Sir Angus Wilson to those of you who are under the oppression of the British throne. (Hah! I missed my chance to meet your queen, but if I'd seen her I would not have curtsied like a subject. I'd have looked her right in the eye and smartly declared, "American knees don't bend to foreign sovereigns, Your Majesty." (In later conversation I would have simply called her Ma'am as Miss Manners instructs.))

What I recall about Professor (Sir) Wilson's class was his remarkable taste in ties, and the fact that every time a plane interrupted his lecture he bemoaned the powers that built a university right next to an airport. Interestingly, his ties were mentioned in the Wikipedia article about him. (Also mentioned was his inclusion in Bletchley Park, which just makes me dizzy with awe. Yet, it isn't even mentioned in the Author's notes in my autographed copy of The Middle Age of Mrs. Eliot.)

So, one day I had to deliver a speech in Sir Angus' class, and my car broke down seven miles from UMSL. I had no other option but walk, and surprisingly I had enough time to get there if I skipped my morning class.

I arrived all sweaty. Sir Angus (yeah, I don't have to use the "Sir" but I will, because of Bletchley Park) introduced me and I addressed the class.

"My car broke down and I just walked two hours to get here, so you'd better listen."

I was surprised by a belly laugh from the class (it must have been the first time anyone found my pain funny). Sir Angus stopped laughing and said, "Well, if I could give out grades for spunk, I would give you an A plus." He did give me an A plus on a paper later, and an A in class. He presented me my grade over some lovely tea and cookies. He was very attentive. Since Wikipedia didn't exist I had no idea he was "a famous homosexual," and I probably thought he was hitting on me.

Some days when I am not feeling spunky, I draw on my inner spunkiness, secure that an English Knight deemed me spunky.

That's why I was so delighted that someone got to my site by Googling "spunky labia." I thought, "That is so perfect. What a great porn star name!  Starring ... Spunky Labia! And introducing ... Spunky Labia!" Of course, I would have to give up my classic first-pet/first-street porn star name: Pansy Hillcroft. I've always felt like a Pansy Hillcroft, especially if you pronounce it like Joan Greenwood would, chewing the consonants and swallowing the vowels with what I think they call a "plummy" accent. "Huhlllo, Ah em Penseh Hillcroff."

But, still, Spunky Labia! Is that me or what!

I clicked the link (the google.uk link, mind you, where they know spunk) and found that I am not on the first page of hits for Spunky Labia. I thought this was strange. It did make me think there might not currently be a porn star named Spunky Labia, and to confirm it a google image search of "Spunky Labia" didn't match any documents. So that's cool. I think I'll make Spunky Labia my porn star name, but use Pansy Hillcroft as my nom de porn when I do my toe spreads.

In Which I Reduce Our South American Debt by Eighty Dollars!

First, hi to the people who just visited for the first time from the Ships and Dip Message Board. Prepare to be horrified, because this is probably the MOST OFFENSIVE POST I've ever submitted. I can't help it, you came on a very offensive day.

Really, if you choose to ignore any post this year, ignore this one. It is incredibly, phenomenally  offensive.  It goes way past the bounds of good taste and probably violates the Typepad Terms and Conditions. Luckily, I have no digital camera available to me, so take comfort that it could be worse.

Continue reading "In Which I Reduce Our South American Debt by Eighty Dollars!" »

Too Much TMI to Even Get a Title

If I knew how to do it I'd ask you to send a naked photo of yourself before you could click the link here because this post is so far beyond TMI that we need to be on an equal footing. No, no actual nude photos, but very bad mental images. Continue only if you think you can take it AND you are nowhere near work AND you have access to a shower so you can clean the nasty off you. Believe me this really isn't fit for public consumption - and if you want to know why that was a really regrettable choice of words, then click here ...

Continue reading "Too Much TMI to Even Get a Title" »

Old Fish, New Fish, Pink Fish, Blue Fish

The Dr. Seuss title is misleading. This is another post in the saga of my never-ending seach for personal entertainment devices.

Yep, Mom, this IS the one you told me not to post.

Continue reading "Old Fish, New Fish, Pink Fish, Blue Fish" »

Phraseology

I had a little time to kill today and I decided to find out specifically what a "dirty Sanchez" is.  I went to Urban Dictionary and had a delightful few moments watching funny definitions roll by. Things like "subwoofing," which I do, and "earjacking," which I worked into my conversation tonight.  And then I went in to read some more definitions and my GOD WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE? I feel very bad about society now.

I have always been a few years behind on the verbal fashions. For example, I was in college when I learned to "blow off" an activity or person. I was at Indiana U, and Michael the College Boyfriend and I had broken up. Well, I had broken up. Michael stood on the lawn beneath my window like a radio tower of emotional anguish. He would spend twenty minutes at a time staring up at the window and sending intense pain waves to me, which I heartlessly ignored.

"Michael's out there again," my roommate would say. "He's freaking me out."
"I'm sorry," I sighed, "but I don't know what to do. If I talk to him it just makes it worse."
"I think you should just blow him off," she said authoritatively.

I was confused of course, because I thought this was some Indiana hybrid of "blow job" and "getting off." (Previously the Indiana dialect had thrown me with "I'm so sure." As in, "I'm going out with you? Yeah, I'm so sure." I always missed the sarcasm.)

So, back to the roommate. I asked, "Blow him off? And...how would that help?"
"He'd get that you don't like him."
"Really?" Clearly, I don't understand boys, I thought.

Luckily I did not race downstairs and slide knee-first like a figure skater toward Michael. My roomie recoiled when she realized I had missed the significance of the very important preposition "off."

This is why I try to keep up to date on the slang the kids use today. Even though I really wish I didn't now know the variance between dirty Sanchez and dirty Rodriguez. You kids are never going to have babies, you know that, right?

Which Are You?

As I understand our culture, a woman likes to cuddle during, ah, the afterglow. However, I do not. I like to clean. I feel cuddly for about 15 seconds, and then the same thought always strikes me:

"I should clean the bathroom."

Sometimes the bathroom is already clean. I lie there cuddling. Then my feet begin to twitch. Then the urge to clean becomes overwhelming. It must be some primal nesting instinct. I think:

"I bet this would be a good time to organize the pots and pans."

Gary used to coo, "What are you thinking about?" Now he pins me to the bed and says, "Don't even think about it."
"But it's so dirty!"
"You are not going anywhere."
(pause)
I ask, "Do fresh cookies sound good?"
"You just want to make cookies so you can clean the kitchen after."

I'm not a naturally neat person. For example, if it weren't for the post-coital cleaning urge my master bathroom would never be cleaned. The rest of the house gets tidied up when people come over. This for example, is the current state of my kitchen:

Img_0031_1

I find six things wrong with this photo. Can you? I have: 1) Stuff on counter 2) Stuff on table 3) Magnets on refrigerator 4) Exposed power strip no longer hidden by coffee maker 5) Under-cabinet knife holder swing out instead of parallel with cabinet and 6)TWO burned-out light bulbs.

Yeah, so I confessed this kinky cleaning urge with a girlfriend tonight. Turns out she has the same little kink. So, I wonder: which are you? Any other cleaners out there? Shh. You can be anonymous.

Coitus Interruptus

(Before you question this post's taste or the subject matter, rest assured that as it happened Gary said "You're going to blog this. right?" and I said "Oh I'd never blog something so intimate about you." He said I had to do it, just with some attempt and delicacy and taste.)

Saturday morning Gary, my husband, and I were fooling around in bed. Often the fooling around stops at the fooling around point, because Gary is the Bob Fosse of sex. It's always a two and a half hour long high-quality production, with him as the choreographer. "Faster! No, now slower! And arch your back more! Now, switch positions!" (Five six seven eight!) "Quickie" to him would be like Bob Fosse doing some guest choreography for an episode of Happy Days.

But today, there was fooling, and there was advisement of exactly what Was In Store for Me, and there was advancement to the Big Stage Production. And then, after the first twenty minutes of the Big Stage Production, there was a ding-dong of the doorbell.

"Girl Scout cookies?" I wondered.
"Not this time of year. Don't answer it."
"No prob - shit! Shit! It's the termite inspector. I have to!" (and I, shall we say, exited the "stage" and put on my bathrobe.)
"Let him come back later! Are you insane?"

I explained I'd already spaced out once on the appointment for the yearly termite inspection to keep our termite insurance (if termites destroy the house they buy us a new one, and of course our friends should have had this before their dining room wall and ceiling collapsed  onto their dining room table). I also explained that if he came back anytime in the next few hours it might be even more embarrassing, because the audience can be enthusiastic in its praise of the Bob Fosse Big Stage Production. I opened the front door.

"Hi there! I was just getting into the shower! Good thing I heard the bell!" I lied brightly to the termite man. I lied brightly through my poufy kissed lips and heightened cheek color and mussy hair.

Termite man didn't want to call me on the obvious lie, or perhaps he didn't want to be the trois a our menage, or perhaps was just not that into me, but he went on with termite business, which means he looked at the outer walls for termites. Gary had gotten dressed by now and Termite Man had started in the basement, so Gary came out and whispered:

"Dress yourself!"
"No! He'll be gone soon."
"You are not decent!"
"No! (whine) It will spoil the mood."
Gary suggested the mood? it was spoiled. So I got dressed and pouted.

Gary took over the Termite Tour and I busied myself cleaning up dog poo and emptying the dishwasher. Gary and Termite Man looked at all the ground-level rooms; then TermiteMan inspected the backyard. Gary tracked me down and giggled:

"He knows. He must know. Our bedroom looks like a Love Nest. Underwear is everywhere -  your underwear, my underwear, there's a towel over the air-conditioner vent, the coverlet is on the floor, and there are two half-drunk wine glasses of Baileys on the nightstand. "

(Gary has developed a strong affection for Baileys, in fact he suggested the other day they should change the label to read "Baileys Mouthwash" since that's how he's been using it. He takes a slug if he has a bad taste in his mouth, or if he's had peanut butter, or if the pantry door is open and he notices it.)

I pouted the Mighty Termito would be gone soon and that this brief intermission should not interfere with the Bob Fosse Big Stage Production, but Gary insisted we pay the Man, clean up to some degree, and go get some Starbucks. Happily, he didn't wear underwear to the Starbucks so that I would know he still meant business.

We got back, locked the dog out of the room, and went On With the Show for TEN WHOLE FREAKING MINUTES before the phone rang. We listened for the Talking Caller Id to say who it was, but instead it read the number, which means it's a number not in our database. I looked down at the phone because Gary could not see it from his vantage point (see, that was delicate) and he said he'd have to take this call.

"Hello?"
"HI Gary! This is Karen!" (His sister, who speaks loudly enough on her cell phone for me to hear both sides of the conversation.) "Where are you? We're standing in line to see Rupert from Survivor at that dentist's office. We thought you'd be here too."

I practiced some basic dance moves until Gary hustled her off the phone and asked me, "Rupert? Who?"
"I don't know. It's from that Survivor show she watches." Evidently this is Rupert:

Rupert

...and what he is doing at a dentist's office outside Saint Louis I cannot imagine.

We valiantly struggled on until the dog Mac decided he needed to help us keep time by barking a crisp "Hey I'm OUT here" bark every 3 seconds, and eventually we gave up. The show closed in rehearsals. It did not open on Broadway to rave reviews for the choreography, though the dance work was kick-ass, if you catch my meaning.

There was hope for a revival this morning, but Gary checked his Blackberry. Sigh. I think there's a rule you should give up on sex if it isn't over after twenty-four hours.

My Secret Life

I was thinking of my niece and the massive secrets adults in her life coerced her into keeping. Like her Mom's secret marriage.  The S_______'s assume the proposition that all knowledge is secret. Any information passed from one S_______ to another ends with "of course, don't tell [enter name of male member of the family] - it will just upset him." I'm amazed they don't have all conversations in Pig Latin. (And for those of you who don't know Pig Latin, here is the Pig Latin Rosetta Stone: "Egnant-pray? Aunt Ethel is egnant-pray? How many months?")

So I was thinking back to adolescent secrets and I couldn't remember many, but those I remember never involved coercion. I had no reason to keep these secrets, but still I developed Secrets That Must Be Kept at all costs.

My earliest secret was of course, playing doctor. I was 11. Typical. Of course, while others get the fun of playing doctor with a boy, I played doctor with a girl. And it was more along the lines of "Let's Dress Up in your Mom's Negligees and I'll Tie You to The Bed and Touch Your Various Body parts and Diagnose Their Purposes." Yes. Don't ask me what this girl's family was doing to her in their spare time. I know I'm probably supposed to have been traumatized by this, but I can only laugh now at the perplexed expression that must have been on my face. Oh, and the panic when Mom stood outside my door, knocked, and asked if my little friend and I wanted a soda. When Mom knocked I panicked only because I was dressing up in Mom's clothes without permission. I still think that it was all perfectly innocent. (No such innocence for this girl's family member that must have been showing her porn through her young life.) At the time I just figured this was a game with which I was unfamiliar. She was my Lesbian Bondage friend. Oh, and my partner in Barbie Molestation. (Don't deny it, I just heard on NPR 30% of girls do this.) But no one ever said "Don't tell."

Then the next Big Secret was the Great Underground Eyebrow Waxing. I got it into my head I wanted to wax my eyebrows, and I also got it into my head that if my parents found out I was doing this they would kill me. I was 13. I surreptitiously appropriated some of the family cookware (which was promptly missed; secrets beget lies). Then I had to get my hands on big green blocks of eye wax. Then when no one was home I had to heat the wax and apply hot wax to my eyebrows and rip it off.  And of  COURSE I'm sure my reddened denuded brows were obvious, but no one mentioned it. And it's not like I was Amish. Why I had to secretly wax I have no idea. "Shhhhh. The first rule of Waxing is: don't talk about Waxing."

The last secret I kept until I was 40. When I was 15, a boy from church named Rick liked me and wanted us to be each others first kiss. I was not so keen on Rick. Especially after Rick (16) stopped the car in the course of driving me home and parked it. He then proceeded to inform me that he and God had a deal in which if he could kiss me, he (Rick) would no longer indulge in (and I quote) "a secret daily sin" he had in the past enjoyed. The way I saw it, I had these options:

  • Die right there
  • Kiss Rick
  • Laugh at Rick and then spill his secret Closet Masturbation Habit to the entire church
  • Look out the car window and ignore everything

I don't know why, but making my own deal with God didn't occur to me. I could have said "Hey God, I'll double Rick's offer!" but I did not. Anyway, after a few minutes of silence Rick gave up, drove me home, and spread the story at church that I burst into tears when he suggested smoothly that we kiss. And I was teased and STILL I kept his secret! Something brought that back to me at 40 and I immediately called my remaining church friend, Carol, and set her straight on the whole event. Then I told all my work friends. Then I told my Mom, who was quite the campaigner for Rick at the time.

And now I've told all of you. Hahahahahahaha! Sexually blackmail me and I'll get you 28 years later.

You have been warned

There is a new category, the Great Hall of TMI.

Here, and only here, will I put things that even I feel may be too much information for the general viewing public.

Enter the Hall of TMI at your own risk. Remember, you must be eighteen to enter.
Are you here?
Are you eighteen?
Good, I believe you.

Oh, and there's a disturbing image warning. Do not, do NOT scroll down at work.

Okay then, you are an eighteen-year-old reading this at home. What are you wearing?

In Which I Abuse Myself

I hate my vibrator. Gary got it for me, and he always does great research and puzzling to determine what is the top of the line before he makes any important purchase. He went to usergroups and mailing lists and googled the best of the vibrators. He found a vibrator that had been featured on Sex In the City. He bought it. I hate it. Here is why:

Device Number 1: It is too BIG. Particularly here at the corona (Don't argue with me, I had to look it up.) I'd be fine if we didn't have this flare thing at this point. Getting it in: I have considered hammering it in with my shoe. Getting it out: the shape resembles those nasty O.B. tampons that gave women toxic shock. Unnecessary. Perhaps if they made uncircumcised vibrators we wouldn't have this issue.

Number 2:  This should be my favorite part, except the committee of dimwit men who designed the Famous Jack Rabbit vibrator decided it would be more female-friendly if there was a bunny here.  And I ask them, Why? Do you think I want to have sex with bunnies? Or porpoises? Or bear cubs? Or any other animal you shape this flange into?

Number 3: The web page described these white balls as pleasure pearls. I was intrigued until I turned it on and I flashed back to my childhood toy vacuum. It had plastic ping pong balls inside a clear plastic dome and as you ran it over the carpet the balls popped and bounced. It looked and sounded JUST like the pearls of pleasure. Total turn-off.

And Number 4: A Battery pack? Why? Why? Am I going out on the boat with this? Shall I take this out camping? If the power goes out do other women think "Yes, a thunderstorm, this would be a good time to enjoy my built-in entertainment system."  I think it is safe to say I will be using this in close proximity to a power outlet; give me a power cord. However, keep the controls built in to the sides of the battery pack. It is nice to have the moving parts at variable speeds. There are two controls, one for the (sighs) bunny and one for the freaking gigantic shaft. The shaft twirls. Have the girls over. Set it up. Turn it on. It twirls  like the Fickle Finger of Fate from Laugh-In.

Yes, I said it, Laugh-In. I am old. So old that when I tried to resolve the size issue with some lubricant I was unable to read the tiny directions on the bottle. I pulled my glasses to the end of my nose and thought "I need bifocals if I am going to read this lubricant bottle." It was a defining moment for me, I tell you.

Clearly a male-designed device. So, one Girl's Night Out we redesigned the vibrator. It was out because I needed a model I could use to sculpt a circumcised kosher hot dog. Then I left it on and oh, how it danced. The most vital modification, after de-circumcising it and adding a power cord, would be to have a button you could push to produce lubricant from a built-in well. And pick a different color. And heat the thing (easy, especially with the limitless power supply). Plus, it needs something you can squeeze and have it pant "Oh, God, you are so gorgeous, I will love you forever."

There you go, dimwit male committee. Get working on that.