Good Clean Reads

Lubrication is one of the simplest and most effective ways to make intimacy more enjoyable. And even though our bodies naturally produce lubrication, it isn’t always enough. Hormonal changes, stress, medication, or simply wanting a little more glide are all good reasons to reach for lube!

A recent article (December 31st) in the New York Times titled “The Graying of Naughty” chronicles the entry of several older women, i.e. 40-50, into the pornography business. Yes, even the porn industry is responding to the aging baby boomer population, offering all kinds of stories that include older women and younger men, apparently an easily marketable niche.

The upside of the story is that...

Here is a good book for any of us who wonder what it would take to improve your relationship. The actual title is “The Sex Starved Marriage” by Michele Weiner Davis, but the content applies to any intimate relationship. I was particularly struck by the section of the book on real giving.

The premise of giving in a relationship is that when you do it, it can’t be based on what you would want or...

“Love is always revolutionary…It is the only thing worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk even more.”

This week my extended family has joined our yearly winter getaway. We are not known for reunions, my own immediate family accustomed to just our own company. Being in the middle of the crazy family stories that I moved far away to avoid now, years later, makes me realize that really all they are is stories. It was particularly poignant to have the whole group of us, three generations, watching...

It is a few minutes into Christmas. I am often up this late, waiting for some kind of divine inspiration after the rushing around and wrapping is through. Many years ago I received this poem for Christmas. I so loved it that I turned it into a refrigerator magnet and sent it out to all of my friends the next year. I still have it up and thought it was the nicest thought that I could share...

Many years ago, a friend gave me a small article entitled “Learn to Rest.” I am happy to offer you a short segment here for your consideration as the last frenzied days of holiday preparation move us ever more quickly to action.

“In response to the question – What is worth doing and what is worth having? I would like to say simply this. It is worth doing nothing and having a rest; in spite of all...

So I promised to keep you posted on my vigil in the dark. Suffice it to say that it continues despite all my protestations and multiple calls to all the powers that be… no electric solutions, no alternative power solutions, just the dark and cold of the longest nights of the year. 

This is one of my main weaknesses, accepting powerlessness, in both the literal and emotional sense...

We are having a wind storm here that has knocked out the power almost everywhere. We live in the country so when the power grid is shut down, days can go by without restoration. A couple of storms later we decided to diversify our power and installed a generator and propane system. On both the first and second occasion that we could have felt the benefits of our energy strategy, the system failed....

I just read some startling statistics on sexual frequency that really have to make you wonder how we could all be so collectively confused about the meaning and purpose of sex. The World Health Organization estimates that in any twenty four hour period, i.e. one day, 200 million men and women around the world engage in intercourse. Less than a million of these encounters result in pregnancy...