by yoursl | Apr 19, 2020 | Book Reviews, Just For Fun |
Isolation and social distancing can be difficult for the more extroverted among us. We simply need diverse human interactions to thrive and to be happy. Everyone may just need a break from Netflix binges and sleeping too much. During this possibly difficult period of isolation, here are five books Your Sexy Librarian is recommending for your reading pleasure. Please note: My preferred method of online shopping has become smile.amazon.com, which allows me to donate to my favorite charity when I shop. Product links below all lead to Amazon as a result. I make zero money on reading recommendations. Stealing Buddha’s Dinner by Bich Minh Nguyen is a memoir that was originally published in 2007. Having fled Vietnam as a small child, Minh Nguyen comes of age among the Jennifers and the Tiffanys in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I love this memoir because the views of an outsider, one who did not fit in perfectly with those around her while growing up, are eloquently expressed and beautifully written. This book’s message will resonate well with those of us who grew up as awkward caterpillars among a kaleidoscope of butterflies. This quick read is available on Amazon as an eBook and in paperback and hardcover editions. Fromms: How Julius Fromm’s Condom Empire Fell to the Nazis written by Götz Aly and Michael Sontheimer and translated by Shelley Frisch is a haunting historical accounting of the systematic and calculated financial ruination and overall destruction of Jews living in Germany as well as the story of Julius Fromm, the inventor of the condom vending machine and the founder of one of Germany’s largest condom...
by yoursl | Jul 22, 2018 | Just For Fun, Positivity |
The morning and evening news in Indianapolis is usually filled with stories about shootings, child abuse, drug offenses, and murders. It is becoming harder each day to watch these news broadcasts. I find myself purposely looking for positive displays of humanity throughout the day in the outside world, on social media, in newspapers and magazines, and even on television, where I recently found a ray of positivity on a very dark day. The Netflix original series Nailed It! is a quirky reality show baking competition in which three home bakers compete to replicate a professional’s stunning creation, such as a perfectly crafted yellow fondant-covered and decorated emoji cake, in the hopes of winning a $10,000 prize. In addition to being of a positive nature, Nailed It! is humorous with some silliness woven into the show. Nailed It! competitors, judges, and viewers all know there is absolutely no way anyone outside of a professional can nail the final round’s showstopper creation. This does not keep home bakers from trying. When the contestants fall short in some way, the judges avoid criticizing their efforts. Instead, all three judges compliment the contestants on some aspect of their baking or decorating skills or on their ability to persevere in the face of setbacks. Another aspect that separates Nailed It! from other baking competitions is that there are no eliminations during judging. Contestants who fare poorly in the first round are generally given extra help, such as a panic button, in the second and final round. One of the three judges will jump in to assist competitors who activate their panic buttons and reassure...
by yoursl | Aug 1, 2017 | Just For Fun, Uncategorized |
Fashion in the late 20th century was not a kind industry to the world at large. Consistently providing images of tall, super-skinny youth, the fashion industry does not typically showcase the differences of women’s bodies around the world in a positive and encouraging manner. Personally having grown up in the Vogue magazine shadows of lithe beauties such as German Claudia Schiffer, Canadian Linda Evangelista, Americans Claudia Mason and Michele Hicks, New Zealander Kylie Bax and Nederlander Esther de Jong, I was acutely aware I was as different from them as I was from the cheerleaders in my high school. Even blessed genetically with a high metabolism, a body proportionally balanced and the inability to sit still for more than 5 minutes, I did not resemble the images of the models in Vogue, a magazine I coveted in high school and college. The models all had gaps in their thighs, flat abdomens and long locks of hair. Breasts were either non-existence or perkily smallish. While I did not relate physically to the models in Vogue, I secretly loved looking at the clothing designs, the bright colors and bold patterns, the set locations in cities around the world and the confident attitude splashed throughout the photo spreads. The shoes alone were beautiful creations of cruelty requiring grace of movement and superb balance, which this born klutz simply does not possess despite years of gymnastic and tap dance lessons. At some point in college, I fell in love with my own body and embraced my curves, the lack of a gap between my muscular thighs and my perpetual pixie cut. As I became...
by yoursl | Feb 7, 2017 | Bedroom Fun, Dating/Relationships, Just For Fun |
This year, Americans are estimated to spend $136.57 on Valentine’s Day gifts, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey. I am hoping that this amount is spent on something besides candy, cut roses, Pandora charms and giant stuffed bears because I think people can do way better than those clichéd gifts. It’s time to think outside the gift box! For introverted book lovers, give a year’s subscription to Amazon Kindle Unlimited. The book lover can check out ten books at a time from a collection of over one and a half million e-books. Remember to ask the new Kindle Unlimited fan what he or she is reading and pay full attention to the answer. A certain author or genre of particular interest can spark ideas for future gift-giving moments. For book lovers who enjoy talking about books with others, give the gift of a Little Free Library. It is truly a gift that will keep on giving. Give the new LFL steward a supply of books from thrift stores and secondhand bookstores, a collection of totes or a beautiful bookshelf to contain the library stash or accessories for the little library, such as twinkling fairy lights, on future gift-giving occasions. For techie geeks, give the latest techno gizmo he or she has been talking about or posting about on Facebook. Alternately, search crowdfunding sites to discover a cool start-up that mimics his or her interests and buy into the start-up in his or her name. The start-up will usually send supporters new product once production begins. Read up on tech items or search Google for future tech gift ideas....
by yoursl | Mar 24, 2016 | Just For Fun, Sex and History, Sexual Discussion, Women's Sexual Health |
I recently watched an episode of Game of Thrones in which two characters were conversing about a bride being free to marry another man based on an absurd notion. Basically, since the purported virgin bride did not bleed on the bedsheets on her first wedding night, the first marriage was never consummated and she could now be married off in a second marriage. Let’s ignore the fact that this second marriage would unite two prominent families and just focus on debunking what I like to call the virgin myth. Let’s start with a solid fact: not every virgin bleeds during her first vaginal sexual intercourse experience. Another solid fact is that nearly every female human is born with a hymen, which is a piece of fringed tissue that is filled with blood vessels and located in between the two folds of the vulva. The hymen develops during the third or fourth month of pregnancy, and the reason for its development is still a bit of a mystery. Hymens, just like vulva, come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, which means no two are alike. The hymen doesn’t actually cover the vaginal opening. Instead, the hymen creates folds that cause the opening of the vagina to be smaller in size than it would be without a hymen being present. The size of the hymen opening can be small enough to prevent some women from using tampons during menstruation. In rare cases, the hymen opening is too small and requires a minor surgical procedure to open it enough to allow for menstruation blood to pass out of the vagina....
by yoursl | Nov 5, 2015 | Dating/Relationships, Just For Fun |
I sat down and researched the history of bondage photography with the intent of writing about its history and its impact on America’s sexual history and culture, but I kept getting distracted by thoughts of Thanksgiving. Coolest. Mom. Ever.’s favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. I take time off from work to spend an extra day with her, and we usually spend that time working side-by-side in the kitchen. I learned at an early age food is a form of love. It’s no wonder I am in a relationship with a partner who knocked down a wall to make the kitchen a more workable space and who bought a gorgeous range any chef would appreciate. I use that range every single day in living and well-established proof that “food is love.” This brings me to my partner, Dutch, who is the stuff of internet dating legend. I am quite open about how it took me 32 first dates to find Dutch and that I almost gave up the search for what is now one of the best gifts I have ever been given. Dutch’s love is just as precious to me as the gift of my mother teaching me to read and then encouraging me to read anything and everything available. Every day I am thankful for Dutch, for our relationship, for being able to come home to Dutch and for the amazing dates and adventures we have together. I recently pondered why our relationship has been so successful because it is the most successful of any relationship I’ve had up to this point. What makes Dutch and I’s relationship so different...
