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Wednesday, December 13, 2006

There was an article in the LA Times last month on the advances made by the pharmaceutical industry in creating and researching alternative birth control measures for men besides the condom & vasectomies. Several labortories are in the testing phases of different types of birth control (most applied via injections, implants, gels) that will effectively reduce a guy's sperm count while still maintaining the ability to orgasm. In addition, once he stops using it, his sperm count will bounce right back to normal.

The studies are still in the experimental stages yet are going on so well that thousands of men have volunteered to be guinea pigs of the various forms of contraception. So far, they've been able to cut down the production of sperm, however there have been side effects that are similar to steroid therapy side effects. Mainly because they are physiologically changing the chemical balance of testosterone and progestin levels in the body.

There is no proof that this will be available in the next 10 years, but the researchers have been making significant leaps towards success.

My questions are:

Would you let your guy get on hormonal birth control?
Would you stop using yours if he did?
Would you trust him to implicitly prevent you from getting pregnant the same way you have been protecting him from it all this time?

Read the article in it's entirety HERE.

Labels: All About Sex

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Monday, December 11, 2006

One of Those Days

This is one of those days that everything that could go wrong did.
And everything that could go right didn't.

I'm exhausted. I think I'm going to just crawl under the covers and start the day over from the very beginning.

I wish I had those 'Groundhog Day' powers.

*sigh*

Labels: Announcements

Posted by Vixen @ 3:42 PM :: 1 trainees letting it rip!

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Friday, December 08, 2006

Doing a World of Good

The gift-giving industry is an annually 51-billion dollar industry. All this money is going to pockets that are just getting richer and richer instead of to where it really should be going to---the less fortunate. While doing your Christmas shopping this year, how about you put your dollars towards a loftier goal as well?

World of Good is a company dedicated to bringing quality, unique handicrafts to a wider mainstream market. Local artisans all over the world in third world countries design and manufacture every single item by hand. On the website you can find bright, unique gifts ranging from baskets, journals, scarves, jewelry and accessories. Everything is custom made with authentic cultural products and only the finest craftmanship is involved.

No, this isn't some outsourcing scam, or a company that is reaping a huge profit from underprivileged natives---in fact, World of Good is a non-profit organization that incorporates most of it's profit back into the communities and countries where they are doing business with. Last year alone they helped build a school in Guatamala, a water project in Kenya, medical equipment to a clinic in India and a computer lab in South Africa. In addition, they pay 50% of the cost of the product upfront, so the workers don't have to wait for you to purchase the order before they get paid as well as provide market analysis so that artisans can adapt their product to the rapidly changing marketplace.

Think about a woman in Swaziland, India or Venezuela (or one of the other 15 countries that World of Good currently deals with), trying to make ends meet with her large family wondering where she will get money for the next meal. Due to urbanization and development, the decent paying jobs of course need an education that she doesn't have. She starts working with an artisan co-op in her community and is paid fairly the market value for her work. You are enabling her to help herself and her family just by buying a keychain that you would buy anyway from somewhere else. Your dollars are not just getting a gift for your friend/family member, but helping out a whole 'nother family somewhere else in the world, and helping out their community and society as well.

There was an artiisan co-op last year in Guatemala that incorporated their profits from making these handicrafts into renovating a large, abandoned three story building, turning it into their craft shop, with a school downstairs for the children as well as a updated hospital on another floor. Doing that changed the whole block around the vicinity, gradually lifting the neighbourhood from a slum with high crime rates to a thriving business community with a family oriented ideology.

If that's not enough selling points for you, think about it this way...it's our generation that is responsible for social change and this is another way for you to get involved, all from the comfort and security of your computer.

So...click HERE and start shopping now!

Your thoughts?

TECHNORATI TAGS: world of good/christmas shopping/doing good/charity/women empowerment/relationships/love/sex tips/sex/men/women/vixen's articles/bad girls guide/the bad girls guide blog/sex advice/relationship advice

Labels: reviews

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Tuesday, December 05, 2006

College Scholarship

This is for the younger Bad Girls out there, especially those of you needing extra money for college. It's come to my attention that Always.com is sponsoring a contest for young women who have the opportunity to win up to $1,000 for college tuition.

All you have to do is submit an essay of 1,000 words or less about a subject that every woman surely knows all about. (Feel free to pick one of the zillions of topics we've talked about if you run out of ideas;)

Details of the contest can be found here:

http://www.always.com/extras/freshface.jsp

In addition to the scholarship, each winner will win a sponsorship donation of up to $1,000 for H.E.R.O (Hearts Everywhere Reaching Out for Children, Inc), a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life and of children infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS.

If you know anyone that might be eligible, please forward this information to them as well. Remember, every little bit helps.

Labels: Announcements

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Sunday, December 03, 2006

Book Review: How to Avoid Marrying a Jerk

Written by John Van Epp, this book totally revamped the way I thought about relationships. I've been harping alot on realizing your previous relationship patterns, the baggage we carry around from relationship to relationship and working on fixing the common denominator in your past hurtful relationships---you.

This book crystallized that idea process for me. Van Epp uses real life stories from his practice, modules and tools to show you how to focus on building a lasting relationship that doesn't waver at the first sign of stress.

Here's an excerpt...

Unhealthy emotional needs lead people to develop one of three relationship patterns that attempt to interpersonally resolve what can only be fixed intrapersonally. In other words, when you do not deal directly with your issues, they often become embedded in your relationships. At that point, you may no longer recognize them as your own issues, because they have become clouded by the dynamics of the relationship. You plunge forward to fix the relationship, all the while needing really to fix yourself. Regrettably, it does not work and your relationship continues to suffer. This will repeat until you identify your own problems and make the necessary changes within yourself.

This is why is ultimately essential to take a break from dating until you figure out what it is that is affecting all your relationships. It takes alot of self-evaluation, and a stringent examination of your own flaws, your past history and even your childhood to determine what the underlying issues are. It's only then that you can work on fixing it.

The further I read, the more I realised that there was so much that I didn't even know about the self-actualization process. And for some reason, in alot of aspects, I had my blinders on to even my own glaring flaws.

Are you too trusting, always seeing the good and jumping to positive conclusions too quickly? Do you get into a relationship and immediately become swept away by the furious waves of attention and love? Do you find yourself enamored with this prince or princess, spending every free moment with that person, constantly conversing by phone or computer, or just talking to him or her in your head? If so, then you need to step back and look at your track record. If you have a history of these dreamy love attacks that end up spiraling into nightmares, then you may be avoiding some of your past pain by projecting your ideals onto a prince or princess who is nothing more than an ordinary frog.

In addition to staring at your soul through those really harsh glasses of truth, this book will also give you tools to evaluate the complexities of your partner and potential for long term value of the relationship without just relying solely on the temperamental whims of love, emotion and lust. It will enable you to put your head about your heart in this careful decision making process of choosing a partner and eventually separate quite easily the good guys among all the rubble.

Has anyone read it? If so, what do you think?

Check it out on Amazon HERE.

TECHNORATI TAGS: how to avoid marrying a jerk/relationship books/love books/book review/john van epp/relationships/love/sex tips/sex/men/women/vixen's articles/bad girls guide/the bad girls guide blog/sex advice/relationship advice

Labels: reviews

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