Lubrication is apparently really important and something I never realized I even needed. A debated-if-it-exists medical condition called Death Grip Syndrome is caused by men using too much pressure with their hands — it doesn't take much both because that's an extremely sensitive part of your body and because hand muscles are basically always going to overpower the natural muscles that you would normally meet — and ends up basically deadening your nerves.

I heard about this by stumbling upon a podcast called Doing It! and listening to a recent male-sex-health-centered episode.

I mentioned a little bit ago (though it may have been in a different thread) that I joined a group of people that (mostly) talk about reading and writing erotica. It's been quite an experience for me, and I may have gotten lucky, but it's been a very open and accepting place with very knowledgeable people and not just filled with perverts. Well, they are "perverts," but not the miserable kind that lurk in the dark corners of the internet.

They have helped me challenge my views on a few things recently, and specifically I think I'm coming out of my shell regarding sexuality (just as in humans being sexual regardless of preference or culture). There are some things I remember saying here that I'm starting to regret now, and I'm also kind of re-examining some opinions I formed on pieces of media, simply because of sexual inclusions (Saga comes to mind).

Because of things I've already brought up here, you all have also made me feel more comfortable, because you've been more accepting of things — things that I would normally dread to talk about — than I expected. I'm not sure how far I am going to be willing to push on my old boundaries (I still have a general problem of confidence in my abilities beyond the issues of sex, after all), but I am really glad that, should I choose to go a little blue, I don't have to worry about making people uncomfortable.