Tips for a Safe, Healthy Spring Break
Spring Break is a rite of passage for U.S. college students. As millions of young adults head for popular hotspots this month, it’s crucial to remember that the motto "what happens on Spring Break stays on Spring Break" doesn’t always ring true. Risky behavior can lead to serious health issues, such as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) or an unintended pregnancy.
"An American Medical Association survey of college students found that 83 percent agree that Spring Break trips involve more or heavier drinking than typical college life(1a)," says Jennifer Wider, M.D., author of The Doctor’s Complete College Girls’ Health Guide: From Sex to Drugs to the Freshman 15. "Almost three-quarters of the surveyed students acknowledged that increased sexual activity takes place on these trips(1b) — 70 percent know friends who were sexually active with more than one partner on Spring Break(1c). STDs and pregnancy are two very real risks of spontaneous sex that have lasting consequences after the trip ends."
Dr. Wider notes that the only sure way to prevent an STD or an unintended pregnancy is to abstain from sex; however, if you do have sex on Spring Break, always use a condom. She also suggests the following tips for a safe and healthy vacation.
Herpes Singles
Have you ever been in a singles night club and taken a good look around at the number of people there and realize that 1 in every four people that are laughing and having a good time could very possibly be a member of the herpes single scene?
Herpes singles are making their way to social support groups all over the U.S.
For years, herpes singles found themselves in a virtual hiding for fear of transmitting the virus or facing possible rejection if they revealed their intimate secret to a potential partner. Fortunately over time, things have changed and the internet gave a new hope to herpes singles everywhere.
Herpes singles can be found in a number of places including dating sites tailored to meet the needs of those living with herpes and social support groups which are somewhat an extension of the well known Help groups that cater more to those seeking medical information and emotional support.
Social support groups are being founded to meet the needs of Herpes Singles by offering a social setting in which to fraternize with others who have the same affliction by don’t need quite the emotional and informational support that newly diagnosed people do.
Herpes singles have an abundance of options available today as opposed to even 10 years ago. There are better treatment options; there are scientifically supported ways to reduce the risk of transmission to a non-infected partner, which certainly is a great promise to herpes singles. And for those who would rather not ever have “that talk” - there are dating sites just for people with herpes and various other STD’s. The Herpes Dating site we recommend most is Positive Singles.
One product that herpes singles are choosing to help control their outbreaks and to increase the healing time of existing outbreaks is Dynamiclear. Dynamiclear is supported by real testimonials and a product guarantee.
Tags: dating herpes, herpes singles, herpes test, chat herpes, get herpes, herpes image, celebrity herpes, dating herpes site, group herpes support, herpes oral sex, cause herpes, genital herpes information, genital herpes image
Link To Human Herpes Susceptibility Found
There’s a high probability that people who are prone to herpes simplex virus (HSV) outbreaks can inherit that susceptibility through their genes, University of Utah researchers report in a new study.
It’s very exciting seeing so much headway being made in herpes research. With a greater idea of how herpes is contracted, there’s a much stronger possibility of finding an effective vaccination sooner.
Tags: herpes, genital herpes, vaccination, genetic link, std, research
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Friends with benefits
Only 33 per cent use condoms with friends
That friend with benefits could also be a friend with chlamydia. How sexy is that?
An Acadia University graduate student is researching FWB relationships, with an eye to finding out why friends who have sex aren’t likely to use condoms.
“Sexually transmitted infections - like chlamydia, AIDS, HIV - among adolescents and young adults, have rapidly increased over the past couple of years,” Heather Patterson said. “By understanding what goes on in the friends-with-benefits relationship, it would be possible to develop prevention programs specifically geared towards increasing consistent condom use.”
Perhaps it’s because people who view their sex partner as a friend first may think that a friend would tell them openly if there were anything to be concerned about.
What do you think?
Tags: friends with benefits, sex partners, sexual health, dating, std, sexually transmitted
Ann Coulter Founds Naked Dating Club
Palm Beach, FL: Columnist Ann Coulter has announced she is starting a new, online subscription-based naked dating club. “It is for busy people like myself who don’t have the time for traditional dating rituals.” she said. “It is entirely internet based, though ultimately the goal is for the dating couples to meet in person. Naked of course.”
Coulter says the club will concentrate on traditional, christian, right-wing American family values and that ‘liberals, Democrats and ‘outed’ homosexuals need not apply’. “But, traditional type Neocon perverts are OK as long as they are discreet.” Coulter remarked. “Folks like Senator Larry Craig, or ex Representative Mark Foley are entirely welcome for example - as long as there’s no ‘outing’ and no publicity.”
The club will feature online listings similar to current internet dating sites Coulter said. “But, with one big difference. My site will encourage the postings of pictures of others, not yourself. This is to encourage dating successes since many people like myself, are not themselves very photogenic. So, subscribers will be free to use any picture they choose - actresses, actors, whatever. Eventually, we will provide an online library of pictures for people to choose from to use.”
“Sure, it is duplicitous,” said Coulter. ‘but, that is the American way as I see it.”
“And, speaking for myself, I certainly plan to use someone else’s picture. What person in their right mind is gonna want to date a mannish looking giraffe like me with a prominent adam’s apple? The ends justify the means.”
Coulter said she expected Karl Rove to become a charter member.
The story above is a satire or parody. It is entirely fictitious.
Tags: ann coulter, karl rove, naked dating, nudist
7 Surprises About Dating After 50
Don’t get me wrong: Love is amazing at any age. But dating at midlife can in particular give us chills. I didn’t always think this was the case. When I first began interviewing people for my book, Thinking About Tomorrow: Reinventing Yourself at Midlife, I expected to hear of terrible battles and grievous wounds from the dating wars. Instead, I was delighted to find that love is in the air. Men and women are having fun together, savoring romance, discovering true love. Let’s sit in as these happy couples reveal some of the biggest (and most pleasant) surprises that dating at midlife has to offer.
Surprise #1: People are nice—way nice
Remember the Sex and the City episode where Berger breaks up with Carrie on a Post-it note? That would never have happened if they were in their 50s. As my friend Maggie, a veteran of midlife dating, says, “There are no horror stories at this age. People may be Think back to how you felt about your very first crush. Now, get ready for major déjà vu.
duds, but nobody is mean.” In your 20s and 30s, she says, people would not show for a date, or if it were a blind setup, walk right by if you didn’t measure up to their aesthetic expectations. By the big five-oh, though, the game has changed. People return phone calls; they’re considerate. Maybe we’ve been kicked around enough by life to understand the value of being nice. Whatever the reason, The Golden Rule is writ large for us. Maggie reports, “I’ve done a lot of online and personal ads dating, and I haven’t had a single bad experience. I might think, ‘He’s not The One for me, but he’s The One for somebody.’ She even recalls with fondness a date who said, “We’re not clicking but I have a friend who would really like you.” P.S.: He did.
Surprise #2: You see old friends in new ways
Sarah and Matthew grew up three blocks from each other in a suburb of Atlanta. They were buddies in high school, but then went their separate ways. Sarah moved to New York and launched a career as a news producer; Matthew went to law school. He married, she didn’t, and over the years, they stayed friendly. When they were in their early 50s, his marriage ended. The next time Sarah and Matthew got together — just a casual dinner with an old friend — Cupid sat in. Suddenly they saw each other with new eyes. “I always thought he was a really nice guy, but at the dinner—wham!” Sarah says. Matthew felt it too. Within six months they were living together. The moral of the story: Love can happen anywhere, anytime… and with anyone. And the longer you’re on this earth, the bigger the pool of friends and acquaintances who may suddenly catch your fancy.
Surprise #3: Or sparks may fly with someone you already dated
Judy, an accountant in Des Moines, IA, never married; she never even lived with a guy. She adopted a baby girl from China when she was in her 40s. It was only after becoming a mother that she got the urge to merge. “I adored my daughter but I thought to myself, ‘There’s got to be more,’” she told me. So she started dating—and reconnected with someone she’d met years earlier on a rowing team. “When I met him the first time, I wasn’t thinking about a relationship,” she recalls. “Now, here he was again. I was in a different place. I was looking. We started training together, one thing led to another, and now we’re buying a house.” What Judy learned (and you can,too): Don’t discount people you’ve already dated. Times change, tastes change, and a rematch could be in the stars.
Surprise #4: You can feel puppy love all over again
Think way, way back to how you felt about your very first crush. Giddy? Crazy? Wonderful? The works? Now, get ready for major-league déjà vu. I saw this first-hand when my friends Carol and Joe met. Joe, a doctor in Portland, Oregon, widowed after a long, happy marriage, never imagined he’d fall in love again: “That part of my life was over, I told myself,” he says. But when he met Carol, he was a love-sick teenager. “She’s all I can think about,” he confessed. “Either I’m with her or she’s on my mind.”
Surprise #5: We’re comfortable with our sexuality
Gail Sheehy, author of Sex and the Seasoned Woman, told a story on the Today show recently about speaking before a Richmond, VA women’s club—as she put it, a more conservative group you could not find. Sheehy was a little nervous about the subject of her talk—sex at midlife and beyond. How graphic could she be without offending anyone? But when she arrived, she was greeted this way: “Too bad you got here a little late. We were just having this great conversation about vibrators and orgasms.” The moral of the story: Men and women this age are often beyond having sexual hang-ups and are living it up!
Surprise #6: Nobody sweats the small stuff
“It doesn’t cost you anything to compromise, because your ego is much stronger than it was at twenty,” says Brooks, a 58-year-old psychotherapist in Amarillo, TX. “At 20, every compromise felt like giving up a part of yourself. Now, you just let your date choose the restaurant. It’s no big deal. In a good relationship, there aren’t that many imbalances, and anyway, you’re old enough to say, well, gee, nothing is 100 percent.”
Surprise #7: You don’t have to change each other
We all know the old saw: Marry him now, remodel him later. By midlife, we’ve smartened up. Caroline and Robert, who live in Chicago, married in their 50s. “Dating was a lot less arduous than when I was a kid,” Caroline says. “At 52, you’re a secure person, you’re not struggling with your own identity, there’s no fierce striving at your career. The person you choose—you know he’s not going to change. You’re more accepting.” Robert adds, “The biggest difference in marrying at midlife is having thought it out much better. I have no idea why I married my first wife, other than that she was beautiful.” With Caroline, he shares a passion for travel and books as well, which is a much better recipe for long-term compatibility. And their situation represents exactly the way more and more 50-somethings daters are finding happiness these days.
Susan Crandell is the founding editor of More magazine and author of Thinking About Tomorrow: Reinventing Yourself at Midlife.
Sex Predators May Be on Online Dating Services
Online Dating Magazine, an industry watchdog publication for online daters, has issued a warning to single parents about sex offenders and sex predators who may be using online dating services to find potential victims.
“The issue of sex offenders using online dating services isn’t a big problem,” says Joe Tracy, Publisher of Online Dating Magazine. “However once in awhile it does happen and recent events have caused us to issue this warning to help protect single parents and their children.”
The warning comes after a child advocacy group, Parent’s for Megan’s Law, received anonymous emails that a convicted child molestor named Michael Bradley was using online dating service Match.com. The advocacy group set up a sting, posting a fake profile of a mother of two boys and emailing Bradley. He responded, which is a violation of his parole. As a result, Bradley’s computer was confiscated and he faces the possibility of having his parole revoked.
“It is the responsibility of consumers to protect their safety and that of their families, so do not rely on the assurances of dating sites that attempt to screen out predators,” said Dr. James Houran, spokesperson and feature columnist for Online Dating Magazine. “The best protection is to use your head in matters of the heart. Do not get so caught up in the excitement of online dating that you are not constantly alert – instead assume everyone online is a potential predator.”
Online Dating Magazine recommends the following five tips that parents should follow when using an online dating service:
How to Catch a Cheater
I have to admit, I’m a huge fan of Firefox for so many different reasons. One of the primary reasons is the ability to monitor online activity of those in your household.
If you have kids using the internet or have a spouse or partner you think you might need to check up on, try this…
Make Firefox the default browser. Don’t give them any option on which one to use.
Now click on Tools >> Options >> Security >> Check “Remember Passwords” >> Click the “Show Passwords” button.
There you have it. A complete list of all websites, usernames and passwords.
It sure beats going out and paying an arm and a leg for an investigator or even one of those internet tracking programs.
Tags: cheating, how to catch a cheating spouse, dating, relationships, infidelity, cyber sex, emotional affair
10 Green Dates
The word on the street these days is green, and there’s no reason an earth-friendly sensibility can’t sneak into your love life, too. It’s the time of year to get outside and do right by your planet, especially if you have a new crush to share it with. And who knows? Your low-impact living may have a big impact on that someone special.
1. Go to market.
What could be more fun than wandering around an outdoor market with your new squeeze and taste-testing all of the area’s best foods? Grab a yummy selection of cheeses, fruits, and vino (or organic lemonade) and head to a favorite park to enjoy the wares. This particular date activity supports local growers and makes your tummies happy. More ambitious? Buy a share in a local community farm and enjoy a basket of fresh produce every week to create delicious dinners at home. Find a list of farmer’s markets nationwide by clicking on the map at www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/map.htm.
2. Stroll under the stars.
Getting out in nature makes you want to protect it. For a romantic and environmentally-conscious alternative to dinner-and-a-movie, try a local nighttime stargazing outing. Find one in your area by visiting your state’s parks website—for instance, in California, it’s www.parks.ca.gov.
Could You Ever Be a Polygamist?
As “Big Love” enters a second season on Monday, the HBO series about a fictional polygamous family is inspiring emotions from pride to fury among real polygamists where the show is set in a Salt Lake City suburb.
But out here in the Midwest, I have to wonder just how many people would be willing to live such a life.
Would you ever consider Polygamy?
Why? Why not?
Tags: Big Love, polygamy, poligamist
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