And another thing about condoms:

How many women are allergic to latex? How many don't know it?

It took me forever to realize that feeling a little red, swollen, and vaguely raw wasn't just a mildly inconvenient side effect of sex, but was actually from the latex cockwrap, and completely avoidable.

Girls, if you experience any soreness/redness/swelling/sensitivity/rawness/itching during protected sex (that usually increases as sex is prolonged, and goes away within a couple hours after)- IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE LIKE THAT.

Latex is a chemical product that is a common "sensitizer", meaning that prolonged exposure can result in allergic reaction. So many health professionals develop latex allergies from always wearing gloves that lots of places use only vinyl gloves now.

Now how 'bout vigorously rubbing that potentially allergenic product on the thin, delicately moisturized mucous membranes of your pussy?

No one's saying skip the rubber. Definitely, a few hours of tender pussy is infinitely preferable to 20 years of raising an offspring, or death from STD, but there is an alternative to latex - vinyl AVANTI condoms. Salvation in a little purple box.

The bad news: they're hard to find, especially if it's an optimistic late night stop at the 7-11 on the way to her house, plus they're freakin expensive, working out to 3 bucks a fuck, which doesn't stack up well against handfuls for free from the AIDS awareness counter.

Why is every Avanti condom still completely worth it? The ultimate reason: hot, better sex. NO truly lust-killing sensations like discomfort and pain. You can fuck endlessly, and then you can fuck again.

I can't guess how many women are latex-sensitive, whether or not they know it, but statistics unofficially gathered from my girlfriends indicate more of us are sensitive to latex than are not. Guys, even if there's only a 20-30% chance that your girl/target is sensitive, wouldn't you want to try to have better sex?

I know if a guy was so informed and considerate he pulled out an Avanti on the first time, I would about die with awe and gratitude, and possibly fall completely in love on the spot. Even if a girl had no idea about latex, wouldn't she still be super impressed with his research and interest? Possibly it would be a revelation to her, and unusually good sex. I'm hearing a lot of win-win here.

Personally, I think it's ridiculous and wrong that they even make condoms out of a known allergen. I would say they're sure not designed with women in mind, but you can't really say they had male pleasure in mind either. Nobody claims they're comfortable. That ring cuts into the cock of every man I've seen (let's be serious - who are regular condoms really made to fit?). How can there be cameras that swim down your arteries and fabrics that repel bullets, but no nice, comfortable, effective prophylactics?

Eschew latex! Choose vinyl now!

Wear the raincoat, damnit!

Shouts out to Black Lace. Just discovered the Wicked Words short story collections: "Erotica by and for women". It's pretty fucking good.

I like to read. I read alot, about what I like, and I'm sick to death of weak, poorly written "erotica" (nothing dries me up like bad grammar). I can't even believe what makes it into print these days. I can think of at least 20 bloggers (see sidebar) more talented than most of the shit on the shelf in Chapters - if you're lucky enough to find anything in Chapters.

That said, Wicked Words was a twat-rockin' vibrator in the wilderness, with overall good quality despite some weak links. I recommend.

Just happened to notice, that only one story in the whole book featured a condom. I have to say, why can't strangers having sex in a story promote responsible lifestyles and use a fucking condom? It takes seconds. A sentence, a clause.

It's a pet peeve of mine that movie makers, no matter how "viscerally realistic" their movie, rarely have characters throw on a rubber even when sacking complete strangers. I mean, really. As if the director's gonna be hitting any nubile Hollywood wannabe ass without protection themselves - why is it acceptable onscreen? Completely unrealistic, and irresponsible, if anyone were thinking about the wider social implications of their message.

That's movies, and they have more problems than that with the way they portray sex. But back to literature.

I'm reading a story, and strangers are rooting bareback, and I just can't help thinking. You're writing a story - are you gonna tell me you got carried away and forgot?

Life: irrevocably changed

Got a sex swing.

I feel it my civic duty to advise -nay, command - anyone who has sex with anyone to buy one now. The best purchase somewhere under $200 I've ever made.

I got mine on ebay from tlc-net - a spinning sex swing, upholstered in cliche leopard fleece, with a nice sturdy spring and an amusingly enthusiastic instruction pamphlet in five languages. We took our time putting it up, not understanding how our lives were waiting to change. Bolted it into about four rafters, dead center of the bedroom.

I have to say, it's a little intimidating at first, and from a woman's perspective, it kinda seems like you get to get tied up in a bunch of straps and your boyfriend gets to stand over you and bang it into you with the assistance of momentum. Probably not a good single man purchase: "This'll impress the babes" - no, it could scare them, unless you're bringing home Samantha Jones. So I decreed I was gonna get used to it for awhile first (fully dressed).

There I trying out positions, awkwardly struggling with straps, slipping out, shrieking with laughter as I got tangled and contorted, bouncing, swinging, adjusting, when I noticed my boyfriend sitting stock still on the edge of the bed looking strangely awed and pale. Poor thing about lost his mind just watching me goof around, totally involved like a kid on a jungle gym. He got so teased he looked like he was about to cry ("I can't watch any more"), and turned away to jerk off ("Can't you just masturbate for me already?").

The first time we used it I was on my back with my feet on the bar above, my head dropped almost to the ground. It was like floating, my body supported and suspended in almost any subtle position. I came about 8 times. I staggered off of it speechless.

The second time he sat in it and I straddled him reverse, and there was some voodoo about the angle of his cock in me like that - I thought I was gonna pass out from the pleasure. So much for the weight limit, too. The spring's supposed to be rated up to 200lbs, but I was way past thinking about safety, and got carried away, bouncing all my weight down on him. All the equipment survived, so I attest that it's good to 350lbs.

Last night I was bent over it with my hands, elbows actually, on the ground, and feet in the fur stirrups floating spread wide, my man teasing me with his dick, pulling my hips into him and hovering, dropping to his knees to lick me, standing to fuck my cunt, my ass... I'd have to say the best sex we've ever had, seconded and thirded by the previous two times. I already joke he's got the whole podium now.

This glorious, fantastic invention (Love Sexy spinning sex swing with LEOPARD!) is pretty well made, and probably limitlessly versatile. I found about 20 positions not in the brochure in the first ten minutes of play, and let me tell you, are we looking forward to fucking in all of them. I added some refinements too: clips to lift the leg loops higher and from the knees not just feet, and hand loops off the crossbar for the rider to lean back farther with.

One note of caution. The positions can be unusual/not easily replicated in nature, so there's some weird pressure points. Last night's adventure had a strap over my iliac crests that seems to have pinched a nerve. When I stood up, I realized all the skin on the sides of my thighs had gone numb, like a foot falls asleep (quietly, without complaining) and you don't notice. 24 hours later, and that skin still hasn't woken up, which is a fascinatingly weird sensation, but I'm not worried. It was worth it. Besides, we were "engaged" like that for over an hour, so in future a little more movement/adjustment should keep all my nerves happy...if you know what I mean.