"Hello?" I'll ask warily.

I'll hear sniffles, sobs and a lot of blubbering. This is not a good sign. Then, "It's me."

It may not be the same friend calling, but the stories never seem to vary. "We broke up. I don't know how it happened. It was just so fast. Another argument. I don't know."

They always call me, and always with a remarkably similar set of relationship woes. One friend once told me that if all else failed, I should become a relationship counselor. I was an excellent listener, she explained, and I possessed an objectivity which the vast majority of … Read More

When I was five I wanted to sucker-punch Brooke Shields.

It was 1984. While I was listening to the Thriller album over and over on my dad's record player and kissing Michael Jackson's face through the TV on Solid Gold (yep, I was that kid), Brooke Shields was a stunning teenager who was busy climbing out of limos and cavorting into celebrity parties on his arm. They were both bright-eyed, white-toothed, glitter-donning adolescent superstars; a match made in Hollywood—but in an exclusive interview for Rolling Stone's tribute issue to the King of Pop, Brooke finally reveals the truth about their relationship. Read More

Herbivore: an organism which gets its food energy from plant tissue.

Good start. According to CNN, a Japanese columnist is very concerned that a subset (possibly a generation) of young Japanese men is going soft. Maki Fukasawa applied the term "herbivore" to men who are not interested in typical manly pursuits (money, sex, kendo, rock gardening et cetera).
In the past one hundred years, the Land of the Rising Sun has gone through a myriad of identity shifts. They've gone from agrarian to industrial, from aggressively expansive to sternly pacifist, from fiercely isolated to a great cog in … Read More

The morning quickie: the perfect way to start your day. Read on for three interesting love and sex tidbits.

Interesting: the rate of divorce for second marriages is ten percent higher than it is for first marriages. Does getting divorced once make it easier to end a marriage a second time? Are some people just more likely to split up? [Psychology Today]

A marriage counselor writes in his blog (called Barbeque Ribs) about intimacy with yourself. He says that often when people feel they've lost their connection with their spouse, that they don't have the passion they once had, they've … Read More

From The Times Via Fox News By Rosemary Bennett For anyone looking for sex, the Internet is often the first stop, with its array of dating sites and chat rooms devoted to the subject.

It is probably the last place that those seeking a celibate relationship would consider looking.

However, an online dating agency has been launched for those seeking intimacy without intercourse.

Platonicpartners.co.uk says that it will help the silent minority of adults seeking "celibate, platonic, non-physical or partly physical relationships" and help them to find a mate.

The site was founded by Susie King, a … Read More