Category: General Posts

Casting Across America: “Sex Sent Me to the E.R.”

It happens all the time.  You’ve done the wine and dine thing, got the old scratchy Barry White tunes looping in the background, the mojo’s hitting on all cylinders and some happynekkidpagandancin’ is imminent.  Life is good.  Then suddenly: WHAM!  The next thing you know, you’re trying to explain a cruel twist of fate to Nurse Ratchet who’s lightly tapping her stubby little foot, rolling her squinty, condescending eyes and pushing a clipboarded stack of forms in your face.  Yep.  It happens all the time.

The thing is, as serious as something like that might be, there are certain occasions where it’s just one of those silly things you hysterically laugh about later.  If that’s the case with you, here’s your chance to share the laughter–and maybe even become a T.V. star in the process.

The award-winning producers at MysticArt Pictures are currently casting a new program featuring fun, real-life couples with a funny story to share about a time when a romantic encounter turned into a trip to the E.R.  According to the casting department at MysticArt, the producers are conducting a nationwide search for couples between the ages of 20-50 who are dating, married or broken up and comfortable with sharing this kind of personal experience.  They also noted that compensation may be provided for selected stories and selected couples may be flown to Los Angeles as part of the program.

So, if you and your significant other are ready for your fifteen minutes but don’t know anything about crab fishing, gold mining or duck decoy retailing, drop the casting department at MysticArt a direct email or visit the show’s casting site for more details.  Please feel free to share this far and wide if you think someone else in your social network might enjoy this opportunity as well.

Ready?  Action!

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Valentines Across America

It’s coming.  Some love it.  Some hate it.  Some are completely ambivalent about it.  It produces emotional responses ranging from high anxiety to outright giddiness.  Greeting card suppliers, jewelers, lingerie outlets, chocolatiers and florists from sea to shining sea are gearing up for it like an invading fleet of Cupids closing in on the coast.   You can fight it, you can blow it off, but you’re not going to stop it.  It’s coming.  Sound the ‘Red Alert’ as that one day of the year especially devoted to romance and matters of the heart is drawing neigh: St. Valentine’s Day.

Almost no one can tell you the actual basis for why the day is celebrated with any degree of certainty, but that’s okay.  While there are all sorts of myths and legends with varying degrees of plausibility, the ambiguity behind the alleged origins just makes it easier to attach any convenient meaning.  It’s probably somewhat intentional that it evolved that way–and fairly certain that it was molded for entrepreneurial purposes (at least in the U.S.) by an enterprising woman named Ester Howland in the 1800s.  Accordingly, many see it as an ultimate ploy in marketing and consumer manipulation, second only to the commercialization of Christmas.  Boiling it down to its lowest common denominator these days–a designated time for expressing love and affection–it hardly seems that anyone could rationally argue against it regardless of how it got started, but therein lies the proverbial sticky wicket:  Shouldn’t that happen every day?  Why wait for one, dictated day each year specifically for expressing affection?  Hmm.

Yes, yes, the notion of making an annual hubbub out of it does serve the supposed purpose of ensuring that we do at least take some time out of our busy-bee lives to show our significant others that we care, but even that tends to create more friction than it solves–especially when it comes to placing a monetary value on determining ‘how much’ we care.  Last year, CNN reported that the average person’s Valentine’s spend was estimated at about $130.  What do you want to bet that somewhere, someone spent about fifty bucks and got hammered for being ‘below average’?  Of course, it’s probably equally so that someone who spent over $200 got bonus love-points for demonstrating ‘above average’ caring.  Ah yes.  Love and capitalism.  What a combo!

Supposedly, it’s the thought that should count most and no price can be put on sincere affection.  We have nothing against celebrating the day, but the sentiment behind it certainly shouldn’t be reserved for just once a year.  Ultimately, the real value is not in what’s bought, but rather in what’s done–every day–to show genuine love. True caring doesn’t cost a dime.  Just something to think about.

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Are New Sex Education Standards Needed?

We’ve said it before:  Sex education in America needs to be improved.  The point can certainly be argued rationally and there are, of course, many valid perspectives on the matter, but while some progress is being made, a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control cited that over 80%  of teens ages 15 to 17 have had no formal sex education before they have sex for the first time.  At Sex Across America, we think that kind of figure indicates that a serious problem exists.

Without a doubt, it’s often an uncomfortable subject to bring up at local school board meetings, but the sad state of sex education across the country should be inspiring educators to lead rather than give in to that discomfort.  That said, it’s often not just a matter of overcoming community objections to curricula content or gaining consensus about what material should be taught to which age groups, but also about ensuring teachers are fully prepared to deliver the information and appropriately mentor students through the process.  In that regard, some leading sex educators are stepping up and investing their experience in building a framework that makes sense.

As a project sponsored by the non-profit organization, Future of Sex Education, a comprehensive plan entitled, The National Teacher Preparation Standards on Sexuality Education, was recently published which outlines standards for preparing teachers to deliver sexuality education.  Specifying seven standards along with success indicators and examples, the project seeks to establish a common national foundation for ensuring that every middle and high school student receives a complete, age-appropriate sexuality education.  The result is the first time that specific standards have been established for educators charged with the responsibility of providing sex education.

Of course, a plan is only as good as the degree to which it’s implemented and while this project is a nice step in the right direction, it has to be adopted in order to have any real impact.  It’s hard at this point to gauge the actual interest in it, but with the stakes as high as they are and recognizing the genuine challenges involved with sexual health education, embracing a reasonable structure for better preparing those who will eventually be responsible for providing sex education has tremendous merit towards solving a serious and growing problem.

If nothing else, it does demonstrate that there are many who are not content with just sitting around and hoping for better results.

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Top Gun Love

It’s an all-too-familiar scene that happens to the best of us:  A confrontation occurs with your significant other and, as things heat up, one wants to break contact and cool off while the other wants immediate resolution and just can’t seem to let it go.  Is it just a “normal” relationship dynamic?  A sign of incompatibility?  Verification that opposites attract?

According to relationship coaches Judith Claire and Frank Wiegers, the core of such issues is actually rooted in biology.  Their new book, So That’s Why They Do That!, uses an interesting and innovative approach to not only explain the physiology of intergender communication, but also offers effective, easy-to-use strategies for working through and improving many other related concerns.  The first in what they intend to be a series on relationship dynamics, the book applies a fresh approach that balances being user-friendly for men while being fully engaging for women.  Systematically, they describe this approach as Top Gun Love.

Without a doubt, it’s a catchy name, but there’s also some interesting background in how it came about.  Understanding that the primary market for relationship improvement books is comprised of women, the authors wanted to create a unique approach that would be equally inclusive for men.  Wiegers, who earlier in life was a Vietnam-era fighter pilot, recognized that military-style operations manuals used a highly effective syntax that made it very easy for a diverse audience– comprised mostly of men at the time–to capture essential information and put it to immediate use.  Collaborating with Claire, who has over 30 years of relationship counseling and coaching experience, they developed a systematic methodology that basically resulted in a “user’s manual” for interpersonal relationships–and one with a balanced feel that is evenly appealing to both genders.

The eclectic blend of their respective styles and experiences works in ways that are both informative and entertaining.  More importantly, their collaboration has produced a useful system for people to proactively share a relationship with compassionate understanding instead of suffering through the reactive effects that seem to be so common.  With almost 140 years of practical experience and expertise between them, it’s certainly worthwhile to take a few moments and see if what they have to offer might benefit you and your loved one.

(If you would like more information about Judith Claire and Frank Wiegers along with their Top Gun Love approach to satisfying relationships, you can connect with them through their accounts on Facebook or Twitter.  Their website, TopGunLove.com, will officially launch in early July.)

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