Something to look forward to: September 17th

This has been a horrible week, but I do have a kickass September 17th In The Flesh to look forward to (other things too, but at the moment, I'm super excited about this). Proper release when I can do it, but for now, books you should check out, whose authors will be reading. Kerry Cohen is coming in from Portland and Diana Joseph is coming in from Minnesota! I'm beyond honored especially to have those two, and I'm hoping I can go read in Minnesota next year. If you haven't read Diana Joseph's memoir I'm Sorry You Feel That Way, please stop reading my dumb blog immediately and go check it out. It's one of those books I wish I could give to everyone I know. At the very least, check out her blog.

Sizes courtesy of Flickr/laziness, sorry, will make it pretty for the proper release.

Sex Under Obama

My friend Ellen Friedrichs has a great piece up at Nerve about Obama's policies on sex:

While I was teaching a sixth-grade sex-ed class recently, one of my students deviated from a discussion on the perils of puberty to ask, "Do you think Obama will have sex with his wife in the White House?"

Given the anti-sex climate of the previous administration, I thought the question was not just that of a twelve-year-old looking for a laugh. So puberty talk was temporarily shelved and I said, "I sure hope so." The kids looked a little miffed, but I meant it. A president in a sexless marriage is probably not someone we want with his finger on the button. If the last eight years have taught us anything about the subject, it's that a fear of sex doesn't make it go away. It just leaves people more vulnerable to the risks it can bring.

It's not that I envision the President endorsing the "Head O State" dildo, or promoting the benefits of masturbation for prostate health, but I'd like to think that in addition to having the occasional cocktail or staying up past nine, Obama will also be looser on matters regarding the sexual behaviors of the public.

Keep reading

And Amy Sohn has a very different piece up on Huffington Post called "Hope Sex: Real-Life Tales Of Getting Lucky In The Age Of Obama." I'm not really sure what to make of all the "I got in the mood cause of Obama" hype, which seems to be all over. It seems almost...juvenile. Not that the political climate doesn't affect how we live our sex lives, but something about the roleplaying thing weirds me out:

Stephen, the musician, suggests some hope sex may be fueled by the sexual appeal of the Obamas themselves. Handsome (but not too handsome), confident, and affable, the President-elect is popular with men, who like him but are not threatened by him. Obama is to men what Sarah Jessica Parker is to women.

"I've seen him with his shirt off and I feel like I could take him," says Stephen. "He is something my wife and I can both agree on, and I can be Barack and she can be Michelle. Maybe I'll suggest that tonight."

And there's info on this event here - Amy Sohn's on a panel with Ian Kerner, Esther Perel, Corey Silverber and Lenore Tiefer about sex on February 20th that I'm going to (and so is Ellen) about the sexual conversation in this country. Really looking forward to it.