So, do you do it?  Pet the mouse, comfort the kitten, make with your muffin, play with the little man in the boat, dive for the pearl, pleasure yourself.And if you’re in a relationship with someone else, possibly a fella, do you do it when he’s around, or just by your lone self?  Is this a hey, this is hot come and watch, kind of thing, or is it a “Damn, I’m tired and need to put myself to sleep,” kind of thing?

Sometimes, I'm amazed at my capacity to still be shocked by the things I see. For instance, while seeking mindless entertainment on TV late one night, I settled on Paris Hilton's BFF. In this "reality" show, young women and one guy compete to become Paris's new best friend. (Because of course the best way to find a loyal friend is to pit women against each other, but whatever.) Mindless entertainment I sought, evil women bashing I got.

I don't have an orgasm every time I have sex. This simple fact has been part of who I am for as long as I can remember - or at least since I was 16. I don't approach sex as simply a vehicle to ride to orgasm. For me, it's so much more and it's enjoyable whether I climax or not. This works wonderfully within a long-term monogamous relationship where sex occurs frequently. Casual sex is an entirely different beast, though, isn't it?

With BlogHer '09 fast-approaching, join us for an introduction to some of the women who will be speaking at this summer's hottest blogging conference. This week's highlights: Twanna Hines and Ree Drummond. 

Going through the last month of post in the BlogHer Sex & Relationships blogs, I found ten that I really liked. I simply can't choose, and I don't have a theme, so I'm going to try to pair them together. Let's start sexy! I'll call the first pair of posts "OUT & IN." Raerity lets it flow By the Law of Attraction:

My husband is seven months younger than I am. We were fairly young (for New Yorkers, anyway) when we got married, but the seven month age difference and when the wedding fell on the calendar meant that he was only 23 when we tied the knot, and I was half-way to being 25. "I robbed the cradle!" I liked to exclaim, although the funny thing is that he looks older than he is and I look younger than I am (or at least I used to, anyway). This was years before it was cool for women to partner with younger men. Yeah, I'm so ahead of the fads...

For someone like me, living in oh so open-minded Northern California, the tabloid press stories about celebrities’ sex lives are kinda puzzling. Every week, there’s a story outing some star’s sexual life:“Gavin Rossdale’s ex-girlfriend is a man!”“Lindsay Lohan is gay!”“Will Smith is secret love of Tom Cruise—and his wife Jada’s on the down-lo!”“Lady Gaga’s Poker Face is about how she really likes girls!”

A new national law in non-Taliban Afghanistan now says that unless a wife is ill, she is "obliged to fulfill the sexual desires of her husband." That is the law of the land, signed by President Hamid Karzai.

If you're eating, you may want to pass on reading this post until a little later. If you're easily sicked-out by bugs, you may want to pass on this one altogether. It seems that infestations of bed bugs are on the rise, so much so that the EPA held a Bed Bug Summit this week. The purpose of the summit was to address the problem and work towards finding a solution.

OK, I should totally be writing this *next* Thursday, because my relationship turns 3 months on April 9th. But I guess I'm actually feeling pretty confident about it getting there just fine. So that's new.

Back in December, I opened the Amazon homepage and was greeted by this: What's Your Favorite Barbie Memory? Over the past 50 years, Barbie has filled homes with memories and inspired millions of children to dream--to see themselves as astronauts, rock stars, doctors, fashion designers, professional athletes, and even female Presidents. Shop the Barbie Store for great deals just in time for the holidays.

My back has been wrecked for the last couple weeks, and for a beat there I was afraid it was somehow related to sleeping with my new man. And when I say that, I mean literally sleeping. Was my back punishing me for changing up my sleeping positions to cuddle with my partner? Well, yes. But, no.