As if I needed any more proof that Lyle and I are right for each other:

Rules from a Texas Gentleman

[snip]

In our modern world, what constitutes a thank-you note? Being able to dash off a text message has enabled me to be more immediate and less guilty. I believe the old adage that the sooner you write a thank-you note, the less you need to write. I realize that among real sticklers for manners, e-mails and texts would be verboten, but I think they can convey genuine sentiment.

[snip]

/swoon

I heard about the Six-Word Memoir on KFOG this morning and haven’t been able to think about anything else since.

Here’s the inspiration for the site, which is now also a book (Not Quite What I Was Planning):

Legend has it that Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in only six words. His response? “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” Last year, SMITH Magazine re-ignited the recountre by asking our readers for their own six-word memoirs. They sent in short life stories in droves, from the bittersweet (“Cursed with cancer, blessed with friends”) and poignant (“I still make coffee for two”) to the inspirational (“Business school? Bah! Pop music? Hurrah”) and hilarious (“I like big butts, can’t lie”).

Naturally, I’ve gone through several versions of mine; I finally submitted: “No time to write it shorter.”

But I also thought this would be an interesting way to converse about sex. How would you write your sexual memoir if you only had six words? Anais Nin, Catherine M, Toni Bentley — they all wrote lovely memoirs, but they had more wordcount.

I haven’t composed mine yet, but post yours in the comments and we’ll keep the meme going. And then go to the site and submit your full life story too. *Now that I look more closely, it looks like you can submit sexual memoirs there too; cool!

I haven’t tried it out yet, but Hustler has launched a 3D game for which it charges $10 for a three-day trial and $30 for a month’s membership, according to AVN.

Hustler3D does not appear to be a virtual world in which you interact with other members, but rather, a game more like Virtually Jenna in which you create custom characters, direct them in sex scenes, collect sexual implements that give you access to other “sets” like airplanes and swimming pools, and so on. As I said, I’ve not tried it out yet, so I could be wrong on some of these details. I wonder if this is Hustler’s answer to Playboy’s island in Second Life?

Given the choice, would you prefer to play dollhouse style like this, or interact with other people, a la virtual world, when it comes to 3D adult activity?

From a press release from teamdating.com (bear with the pr stuff, I have commentary below):

LOS ANGELES, CA, February 11, 2008. As a follow up to an independent survey conducted last Valentine’s Day, where social dating website TeamDating.com polled married and single men ages 25-40 years old on what they thought about V-Day, this year’s survey gave the women a chance to clue the guy’s in on what really matters when February 14th comes around. For the men, regardless of marital status, the results of last year’s survey were highlighted by:

* 95% of men saying it was their least favorite Holiday
* 80% of men not being able to remember what they gave or what they did the previous year
* And a staggering 90% of men not even knowing that it falls on February 14 every year

When 500 married and 500 single women in Los Angeles and Orange County were polled various questions regarding the day so dreaded by their opposite gender, the results actually proved that more than anything, men are simply missing the boat. Often times, societal norms and pressures dictate that a certain protocol must be followed when the day comes around every year. This normally includes some combination of flowers, candy, possibly jewelry, topped off by dinner that normally required a reservation be made weeks in advance. However, the resounding comment that came back from women was not about WHAT they expected, but rather what they did NOT expect – the same thing as the previous year! Over 99% of both married and single women confirmed that the worst mistake a man can make is doing exactly what they last year.

The women were then asked to rank certain possible Valentine’s Day gifts, and here is your Top 5:

1. A picnic dinner that is planned at a location new to the women
2. Breakfast in bed in the morning
3. Flowers sent to their office or place of work, or wherever they are and have never received them before at that location
4. Dinner out a restaurant that they have never been to, followed up by a possible movie
5. A romantic home cooked dinner

“The results we see in this survey simply further show that men really have no clue,” explained Teamdating.com Chief Dating Officer Ray Doustdar, an expert in relationships and the online dating market. “Men feel that no matter what they do, it won’t be enough. Taking a creative approach with something out of the ordinary versus falling back on the old reliable such as flowers and candy seems to be the key ingredient for the Valentine’s Day recipe for success. At the end of the day, women mainly want to see that you put some effort into whatever you did. Interestingly enough, their Top 5 answers potentially end up being less expensive than just the default candy, flowers, and dinner that we fall back on. Men often complain about money wasted on this day, and now can only blame themselves. How’s that for irony!”

This has to be a joke. Are women really that hung up on this stuff? Really? Do partners not do this kind of thing throughout the relationship and thus wait for February to put this huge pressure on each other? Or, particularly, on the men, apparently; do women not have to bestir themselves for Valentine’s Day, simply waiting to be pampered until the tables turn on Steak and Blowjob Day on March 14?

I’m not a Hallmark Holiday Hater; I think designating days to remind us to honor our parents, grandparents, secretaries, teachers, lovers, etc. is kind of fun. I don’t object to Valentine’s Day at all — I just think that it’s gotten too nuts, if people have the rudeness to criticize the *gifts* their lovers gave them. I’m delighted if someone I love takes me to dinner, or makes dinner, or sends flowers, or texts “oh hey I almost forgot, happy Valentine’s Day,” or whatEVER.

We are not *entitled* to such things, no matter what day it is. A gift is a gift. A card is thoughtful. So is a phone call, a text message, an email — any reaching out to say hey, I love you, you’re sexy, I choose you again and again.To me, doing the same thing as previous years says he remembered that I liked something, and wants me to be happy again.

But given the choice, I’ll take a steak — after 12 years, I’m no longer vegetarian — and a blow job any day.

Sex 2.0 will explore sexuality, feminism and social media

ATLANTA — What happens when technology, sex, knowledge, and power enable women to meet up, act up, and hook up like never before? These questions and more are the focus of the Sex 2.0 unconference in Atlanta, Georgia on April 12th, 2008. Held at 1763, a 10,000-square-foot, fully equipped dungeon located 10 miles north of downtown Atlanta, the unconference will feature conversations among activists, social networking pioneers, bloggers, swingers, cruisers, sex futurists and kinksters who have been sexing up Web 2.0 from the beginning — whether in Bangalore or Bangor, Maine.

Maybe you’ve heard of Web sites like Facebook, Craigslist, or Flickr. They’re all social networking sites, the heart of a revolution in the way people produce and share knowledge, make friends, reach out for support, and create professional and personal networks.

When women need help with health, sexual, or personal problems, where do they turn? In a recent Pew Poll, researchers found that women were more likely to turn to the Web for knowledge and support. (Reference: Pew Internet & American Life Project, “How Women and Men Use the Internet,” online at http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Women_and_Men_online.pdf).

It’s that heady combination of technology, sex, and knowledge in the hands of women (and men) that fascinates well-known Atlanta-area tech/sex blogger Amber Rhea and inspired her to organize the event. She’s not alone. The grassroots unconference will explore these issues with notable and notorious Web-based activists. On April 12, Sex 2.0 participants will:

• Hear keynote speaker Audacia Ray — blogger, video podcaster, award-winning porn director and author of Naked on the Internet - Hookups, Downloads, and Cashing in on Internet Sexploration.
• Stimulate your “Sex Drive” with Regina Lynn, Wired magazine’s sex-tech columnist and author of Sexier Sex: Lessons from the Brave New Sexual Frontier. In her session “How Love/Sex Happens Online,” Lynn will explore the powerful and unexpected experiences people have with online lovers and what it all means inside the hearts of geekdom. Because sex is the first use for any new technology, Lynn will demonstrate how to get the most out of your phone, webcam or laptop and how to use your everyday gadgets to enhance intimacy, pleasure and fun.
• Explore sexual relationships that spring from online meeting places like blogs and forums in sessions with sex futurist Melissa Gira, who runs the award-winning sex blog Sexerati, and contributes to $pread, WHORE!, Best Sex Writing 2008, and Dirty Girls.
• Make history with T.A. Hines’ session, “A Brief History of Sex.” Hines is the irreverent, popular podcaster and Nerve magazine columnist who chronicles her funky brown chick take on sex and New York City in her weekly Internet radio show Dating Roadkill.
• Tempt your inner erotic writer with sex bloggers and writers like Rachel Kramer Bussel, who keeps things tingling at her Lusty Lady blog, and Viviane, who heats up the Web with her blog Viviane’s Sex Carnival.
• Mix it up with j. brotherlove, Joseph G., Minx and Ren, who’ll host rollicking sessions about online dating, cruising, hooking up, BDSM, and swinging whether for kinksters, sexual, ethnic and racial minorities, straight, curious, and in-between

Rhea says she wants the interactive sessions to be a place where people create the experience they need. “This is not your father’s sex conference,” she said. “An unconference belongs to the people who come — double entendre intended.”

People are often puzzled by an unconference, said Rhea, but it’s almost always an experience that makes you never want to attend an ordinary conference again. “You won’t be in a room, sitting on your hands, waiting for a one-way presentation. It’s just like sex, really: a powerful interaction between people that makes the experience more than the people involved.”

Registration for the event is $10 by February 17, $40 until March 28, and $50 after March 28, with the rest of the cost underwritten by volunteers and sponsors. There are still opportunities for sponsors who want to reach their audience — people at the center of a new media that’s changing the way we live.

Rhea thinks that the approach will attract a wide audience: “Everyone will be there to both raise and answer questions, teach and learn — you can do both in one session. It’s up to you.”

Honestly. It’s not that I encourage people to send photos of themselves to random cell numbers. But at the same time … isn’t this a bit ridiculous? Delete the offending pic and get on with life, eh? If you get another, and another, then it’s worth dealing with. Otherwise, extend the benefit of the doubt. Maybe it was just a wrong number!

Man convicted of sending penis photo by phone

BERLIN (Reuters) - A 21-year-old German man has been convicted of sending a photograph of his penis to an unknown woman via mobile phone, authorities said on Wednesday.

“We all had a bit of a laugh when we saw the thing,” said Christian Kropp, presiding judge at the court in the eastern town of Sondershausen.

The woman reported the sender to police after receiving the photo attachment of the man’s genitals, the court said. Officers found evidence he may have sent similar images to other women.

The man did not explain his motive but expressed remorse for the photo, Kropp said. He was fined 150 euros ($220) for distributing pornographic material.