hi all. hows it goin? so summer is here & a young mans fancy turns to thoughts of... and Im plugged into yet another new job. its pretty elite stuff, I surprised even myself this time. & got through a crunch with a lot of busy work outside of work. you know what I mean?

the big news the last few months is the 50 shades of grey book-- erotica, erotic fiction. holy cow! what a phenomenon. even my sig other heard the news about it. its sold about ~10M copies in just about 3 months. amazing, viral stuff. also the movie rights have been quickly sold for a rumored sum between $4-5M.

wild stuff man. what not everyone knows is that the book actually started out as Twilight fan fiction on the internet! wow! Im sure all us bloggers have always had fantasies about being "discovered" and rocketing to fame. its great to see a one-in-a-million scenario like this play out right before our eyes.

Ive read various ideas on why this book is popular. I mean geez, erotic fiction has been around since the dawn of time, its readily available, theres certainly no shortage. so why would this book strike a nerve? no one can really say exactly but there are various factors:

• supposedly a lot of sales are in ebooks where women feel more comfortable about purchasing a guilty pleasure that no one can see what they're reading.
• S&M going mainstream. S&M is defn not really my thing, but I can certainly appreciate some elements of it.
• its a viral phenomenon among middle age women, so-called "mommy porn".
• I was thinking the theme in the book reminds me a lot of the turning-the-tables theme that is common in romantic literature. the woman starts out as subservient, inferior, or in a compromising position, but through the guy starting to fall in love with her, she flexes her relationship muscles and levels the playing field, getting what she wants. one of the bigger/famous examples of this in the movies is the timeless richard gere/julia roberts flick "pretty woman"
• any other ideas why? please enlighten me & everyone else in the comments section.

so yeah predictably this book is generating a lot of controversy and "love it or hate it" type polarized responses. below-- an article where dr.drew describes the setup of the book "pathological" from a psychological pov. included, some Open salon writers on the subj. [cute that it made the front page/EP]

so its not entirely surprising that this sexy book is blazing new trails. but I must admit Im a bit mystified also. theres a lot of critical complaint about the quality of writing in this book. therefore its seems there is some deeper factor in play. it does attest to the seeming inscrutability-at-best, unfairness-at-times of viral hits. there are a lot of other authors out there who have written high quality erotica for years. are they burning up the bestseller lists? *

overall though Im rooting for it. heck the book makes a pretty good male fantasy as well because I think the young college girl is dating an older guy. [& no further comment on this matter.]

actually I suspect that this has probably not "fully climaxed" yet because of the movie coming out, and the author EL James is set to do a book tour. wow! I think I might hold my nose and go to one just to see all the hot sexy freaky women [er, uh, maybe a MILF or two...?] who show up in the audience. what do you think? weird hair color? peircings? strollers?

EL james seems to be kind of secretive or publicity shy so far, I dont think she's given any interviews whatsoever. theres some kind of story there.

I also read in one account or rumor that EL James is insisting on major control on the movie such as casting influence or even a veto. whoa man! I believe in hollywood there are many cases or legends of too much power given to the writer turning into a fiasco. on the other hand of course there are many of the opposite case that its completely typical, where the author loses most control entirely and hollywood runs off amuck & spoiling the original.... ah, the mounting suspense!

^{* see eg resident open salon erotica muse extraordinaire & my personal favorite, Keiko Alvarez.}

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a ton of interesting gender related links this time, see below. is it just me or is it getting more intense every month? a quick rundown. sexting as an innate instinct? "cognitive impairment" of seeing beautiful women built into male brain? worlds most beautiful face based on perfect dimensions.. "emotional infidelity".. worlds most prolific sperm donor [who doesnt always use a cup], goldman sachs as not feminine enough.. models vs militant women in india.. hormones messing up womens heads to go for cads.. the model who makes more than a half million a year and still trawls for wealthy men online..

a tale of female hyper-cyber-sex.. can more sex save a relationship? the spreading world of swingers.. male vs female desire after sex.. "sex will change totally" as breadwinning women take on masculine traits and vice versa.. madrid escorts declare sex war on bankers.. gspot hype, gspot located? like the bermuda triangle? why the right wing is wrong about sex.. high profile yoga sex scandal.. Phd states: is cheating a rational choice?

porn is in the news as usual. porn brain study shows that porn movies "shut down" the brain.. absurd myths that porn has about sex.. can porn be feminist? "the demise of guys" due to porn and video games.. porn star banned from prom.. highly read & commented open salon article, "the evolution toward headless porn"..

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without further ado, the fresh new batch of beautiful women of open salon. so its now proven that merely looking at beautiful female faces has a significant effect on male psychology. it could be discombobulating to some extent, but I think it also has an antidepressant effect. Im serious man! so yeah life can be a "grind" sometimes, so to speak. choose your grind carefully I guess is my advice.

misc gender-related news/links

• Is the desire to 'sext' naked pictures hard-wired into human brains? Being wanted is important to women in particular | Mail Online
• Why Interacting with a Woman Can Leave Men "Cognitively Impaired": Scientific American
• Florence Colgate, 'Britain's Most Beautiful Face' Has Scientifically Perfect Looks
• Sheri Meyers: Infidelity and Emotional Sex: How to Tell if You're Chatting or Cheating
• Faith Popcorn: You Can't See the Future From the Man-Cave
• Papa Ed: The Busy Life of a Prolific Sperm Donor - SPIEGEL ONLINE
• Models vs. Militants: Nisha Pahuja’s Film Shows Two Worlds of Indian Women - The Daily Beast
• Hormones make 'sexy cads' look like 'good dads' – USATODAY.com
• Nikki Howarth earns £300k a year but still trawls for wealthy men on SeekingArrangement.com | Mail Online
• Evolutionary Psychology | Psychology Today

• Dr. Drew: '50 Shades of Grey' pathological, poorly written - WTOP.com
• Erotica Amidst the Monkey Bars, "Fifty Shades of Grey" - Beth Cone Kramer - Open Salon
• Porn Lit: Why the S&M "50 Shades of Grey" Is Freaking Everyone Out | | AlterNet
• Marlo Thomas: Fifty Shades of... Buzz!
• Universal just dropped a bunch of money on "mommy porn" Fifty Shades Of Grey | Film | Newswire | The A.V. Club
• The Lost History of Fifty Shades of Grey - GalleyCat
• 10 Erotically Charged Books | Photo 1 of 10 | EW.com
• 'Fifty Shades' Book Trilogy Hits 10 Million in Sales - The Hollywood Reporter
• Ester Bloom: A Closer Look at 'Mommy Porn'

• Fifty Shades of Grey: Junk Food For the Soul - Ann Nichols - Open Salon
• Fifty Shades of Say Wha?! - Sara Bynoe - Open Salon
• Fifty Shades Of Grey And Other Hype By-Products - Hippocratic Oaf - Open Salon
• Mommy Porn: Fifty Shades of Bad Writing - Starshine Roshell - Open Salon
• Fifty Shades of Fantasy Porn - pretend_farmer - Open Salon
• In Defense of Literary Junk Food - Jaime Franchi - Open Salon

• How Casual Cyber Sex Became My Most Intoxicating Drug | Sex & Relationships | AlterNet
• Can More Sex Save a Relationship? | Sex & Relationships | AlterNet
• Swingers: Inside the Secret World of Provocative Parties and Couples Who 'Swap' - ABC News
• Do Men and Women Want Different Things After Sex? | Sex & Relationships | AlterNet
• Sex Will Change Totally, Liza Mundy Predicts In New Book 'The Richer Sex'
• Banking services withdrawn: Madrid escorts declare sex war — RT
• Don’t Believe the G-Spot Hype! - The Daily Beast
• Yes, it does exist: U.S. gynaecologist says he has found the G-spot (but it's very, very small) | Mail Online
• Culture Warriors vs. Sex for Pleasure: Why the Right Wing is Wrong When it Comes to Sex | | AlterNet
• Yoga Fans Sexual Flames and, Predictably, Plenty of Scandal - NYTimes.com
• Eric Anderson, Ph.D.: Is Cheating a Rational Choice?

• Porn-Brain Study: Erotic Movies Make Brain Regions 'Shut Down'
• The Absurd Myths Porn Teaches Us About Sex | Sex & Relationships | AlterNet
• Can Porn Be Feminist? - The Daily Beast
• 'The Demise of Guys': How video games and porn are ruining a generation - CNN.com
• Porn star who agreed to be student's prom date after he asked her out on Twitter is banned from attending | Mail Online
• The Evolution Toward Headless Porn - SMKulik - Open Salon

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