@Hana Maru, with or without animals: No. I spent my teenage years too uncomfortable with my sexuality and my own body to be able to so much as go on a date, although I always longed for a boyfriend. My belief now is that if I had had better access to sex education and a more honest understanding of what becoming sexually active might be like, I could have avoided much of the fear and self-hatred I felt as a teenager, and later incidents in which others made me feel like a freak for being a virgin in college. The first step towards this is the physical side of things so that when people begin having sex they can do so safely and responsibly, but my belief is that if we were also able to open things up to a discussion of what it meant to be emotionally ready to have sex, people like you would be less stigmatized for having sex as a teenager and people like myself would not have to feel ashamed of the decision to wait until their twenties or later.
@Hana Maru, with or without animals: My reasoning is, that if we were more open about both the physical realities of sex and the possible emotional realities (both that it doesn't mean much to some people and to others, it does) we would all be more equipped to make better sexual decisions for ourselves. Do I see this happening any time soon in American schools? No. It's a much bigger phenomenon in American culture beyond just what's given in schools. When I say "ideologies" about sex, I do not mean religious or moral ideologies. I mean doing away with the virgin/whore complex so that beginning to be sexually active can become a choice more tied to one's personal feelings and desires and not something that is controlled by what your "reputation" might be.
@vamvaki_poulaki: Haha, yeah I hadn't planned to buy anything, just check out the store, but I can't say no to buy-one-get-one-free cheese. I doubt I'll shop there much; there's a normal grocery and another gourmet store with better prices within walking distance of my apt, but it was interesting to see. The Whole Foods also has special shopping cart escalators so we were pretty intrigued with those.
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@tinimartini: Yeah, following someone is just clicking the heart so it's red. Followers are people who have hearted you, and friends are people you've hearted.
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I just went to Whole Foods (I know, I know but it just opened near my apartment and my roommate wanted to check it out/buy stuff for her first ever camping trip because she has no idea what she's getting herself into and is overcompensating by buying organic granola) and got buy-one-get-one-free wheels of goat's milk brie. It actually oozed when I bit into it.
*cheesegasm*
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*cheesegasm*
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@Hana Maru, with or without animals: I don't think it would cause them to wait until marriage, I think it would help more people wait until they were ready to have sex. You had a good sex education and you say your early sexual experiences weren't bad, and I see those things as related. I think if we were more educated about sex a lot of those very young, comically bad sex stories might happen because instead of being confused about it and deciding to do it, young people might instead choose to wait until they were more comfortable or had a partner they had more sexual compatibility with. It's harder to recognize that if you don't know what it is to begin with. I waited a long time, not for moral reasons but because I recognized that I needed to deal with my own issues surrounding my body and sexuality before I could have decent or good sex with someone else. You had a different experience and were ready sooner. The important part is having the education and the tools to recognize where you fall in the spectrum.
@Sparklejam!: It's my personal belief that if we had better sex education and more realistic ideologies surrounding sex in general, more people would wait. If you know what you're getting into you can better make the decision of when it's right for you to start engaging in sexual activities with a partner.
@threadofgrace: Will also mention, I went to Prague, Vienna and Budapest in succession. Vienna was my fave of the three, and it was a longer trip between Prague and Vienna but I think that was only because my friend and I took and overnight train via Poland (where the railroad tracks were apparently terrible and it sounded like the wheels were falling off...). Distance wise on a map, Prague-Vienna and Vienna-Budapest looks pretty similar. We had an easy time traveling between all locations, and stayed in hostels everywhere which was a fun adventure.
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@okeydokeyartichokey: I second the Dubrovnik recommendation. I spent a few days there and the city was gorgeous. There is also a great gelato place right inside the city walls and the cute guy that worked there gave us free cones.
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@okeydokeyartichokey: That's the one I went to! We loved it. I had a massage with a big Hungarian man who laughed at me for being ticklish.
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@threadofgrace: If you're looking for a relaxing side trip, Budapest is great cause of all the spas. You can go super cheap and just chill, and I thought it was cool because local people definitely use them too and it's not just a tourist thing.
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@chexmix1snackfood: I've felted quite a bit and it usually turns out well. If it doesn't shrink up as much as you'd like the first time you can always put it through again.
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@FelineFraulein: Aww, that's too bad about the record deal. I just found out about them; I went to a concert at a place that plays music videos from upcoming shows between sets, and saw this video. I'd go see them when they came, but I'm going to be out of town.
Clearly still a tactic.
@wtfox?!: My boyfriend got ordained online for a laugh but ended up performing the ceremony for the daughter of some family friends. I already knew about this but it was still amusing when we went to stay with the family friends a few weeks ago and I met them for the first time with the mother of the bride drunkenly telling me over and over again, "he married my daughter. Did you know he married my daughter?"
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@Erda: I've always enjoyed your contributions; you'll be missed. At this point I'm having trouble keeping straight all the strange things I've noticed in the comments/responses lately so I'm not sure what your specific situation is, but I will agree with you that things seem to be changing in recent weeks and I've been uncomfortable with much of it.
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@forgetfulgirl: Thanks! I'm having so much fun with it; I'm going to have to be careful not to wear it too often like a weirdo.
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@bellzar08: Reported. Gah, it's bad enough that it exists but so many of the members are women...
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@cuckoo chanel: Thanks! Jumpsuits/onesies are amongst many fashion trends that I started out hating and then grew to covet, so I'm excited. Here's the link to the guy's website: [cameleonclothes.webs.com]
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@brenbrowning: Holy crap. I'm so sorry someone said that to you; I hope that person gets banned.
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