Leisure
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Aug 25, 2011 | Leisure, The V-Spot
I’m the breakupper who likes to disguise the demise of my relationships as something else. I like to call my breakups “breaks” or an “attempted open relationship,” or blame them on an early “mid-mid-life crisis” and then feign...
by Yanna Tallon-Hicks | Sep 1, 2011 | Leisure, The V-Spot
Nobody likes a liar. This is probably why many people hate porn—though rare, truthful porn does exist. As I’ve said before in a past column (“Feminist Porn,” May 5, 2011), there is good, positive porn to be had. You just have to know how to...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Sep 8, 2011 | Leisure, The V-Spot
Pubic hair is like wrapping paper. Originally, it was designed to keep you warm, prevent dirt from falling into your sensitive bits, and trap and share mate-attracting pheromone scents. Most important, it served as an organic neon sign, letting potential mates know...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Sep 15, 2011 | Leisure, The V-Spot
The cold speculum, the stirrups, the swabbing—we can all think of better things to spread our legs for than a pelvic exam. But if you actually love your vagina, you’ll get them regularly to detect and prevent cervical cancer, infections, STDs and other...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Sep 22, 2011 | Leisure, The V-Spot
We’ve all taken showers when we intend to get more dirty than clean. Clothing is peeled off and dropped like a kinky Hansel and Gretel trail to what appears to be a steamy, sexy gingerbread house of waterborne sex. You flirtatiously stick a soapy finger out of...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Sep 29, 2011 | Leisure, The V-Spot
“Get this blondie off my jacket—we’re leaving.” My friend Alex looks at me quizzically. My eyebrows pop up schoolmarm-style as if to say, “Are you an idiot? Obey me!” If I were a schoolmarm, I’d have a yardstick so I could...
by Mark Roessler | Oct 6, 2011 | Leisure
John Race has the finest ride around. Perhaps the slickest I’ve ever seen. Chances are, if you live somewhere in the Connecticut River valley, you may have seen it yourself while Race was taking a spin around your neighborhood, speeding past, engine roaring....
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Oct 6, 2011 | Leisure, The V-Spot
The latest women’s fitness craze doesn’t involve a liquid diet or counting calories and isn’t endorsed by Kim Kardashian. It doesn’t come in a bottle or a portion-controlled box, but it definitely comes. Well, at least you do. The organic...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Oct 13, 2011 | Leisure, The V-Spot
I can tell you a lot about semen. An hour of research and I can tell you how to create a summery cumcoction (“I Bet Lance Armstrong Makes a Great Cocktail,” May 12, 2011) or how to increase the volume of your little soldier’s final gunshot...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Oct 20, 2011 | Leisure, The V-Spot
As I write this, Hampshire hipsters are making “awesome connections” over a mutual appreciation of analog photography, Smith girls are wavering on their sexual orientations and Amherst preppies, like a slightly grown-up cast of Gossip Girl, are always in...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Oct 27, 2011 | Leisure, The V-Spot
It was over a year ago that I wrote one of the first V-Spot columns about how much K-Y personal lubricant sucked. This continues to be true, even if they did debut a commercial last month featuring a rather boring lesbian couple talking about how much they heart K-Y...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Nov 3, 2011 | Leisure, The V-Spot
As the great pre-rehab, pre-celesbian Lindsay Lohan once recited in my favorite guilty pleasure movie: “Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.” If you happened to be lucky...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Nov 10, 2011 | Leisure, The V-Spot
W.W. W. here. Remember me? Well, I have another question for you. It involves the same guy, same hands. Obviously, I enjoy sex, probably more than most women my age. My partner is great in all respects. I do have one question, though. When we are having sex, and...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Nov 17, 2011 | Leisure, The V-Spot
Screw Sex and The City and their Rabbit Habit vibrator. The Hitachi Magic Wand would kick that little bunny’s ass in the vibrator wrestling ring (hitachi-magic-wand.com). The Hitachi is the secretly world famous heavyweight champ of buzzing sex toys, earning its...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Nov 24, 2011 | Leisure, The V-Spot
First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Libra in the baby carriage. It’s no surprise that this easy-going autumnal sign likes to follow tradition. Libra (Sept. 23rd—Oct. 23rd) is a homebody devoted to creating the perfect domestic atmosphere for...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Dec 1, 2011 | Leisure, The V-Spot
Get your gamer off the couch and into the sack with LELO’s new SenseMotion remote-controlled line of technologically titillating toys. Always fancy-shmancy and rechargeable, the ever-popular Swedish designers of LELO have really shaken things up this time by...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Dec 8, 2011 | Leisure, The V-Spot
I’ve never participated in an orgy—unless you count that time at boarding school, which is a story to be told in a newspaper not religiously read by my parents, who paid big bucks for said education (thanks, Mom and Dad!). Being an orgy virgin, I was keen...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Dec 15, 2011 | Leisure, The V-Spot
There are two ways to host an orgy. One is to prime the scene for the “oopsie orgy,” an “unplanned,” tipsy night with a handful of curious friends who all happen to trip and fall into your bed after a series of suggestive suggestions…...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Dec 22, 2011 | Leisure, The V-Spot
Yes, men are the hardest people to buy holiday presents for. A guy can only get so many shaving kits. This holiday season, get him something smoother than a Mach3 and hotter than a cup of cocoa. Get him hornier than a red-nosed reindeer, make him want you a Latke and...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Dec 29, 2011 | Leisure, The V-Spot
Giving a lady a sexy gift is almost as much about what you don’t get her as what you do. We’ve all had those moments when we thought a slinky piece of lingerie would be a good gift for us both, but then it was too big or, maybe even worse, too small. Too...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Jan 5, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
My natural-born frenemy Dan Savage popularized the term “pegging” after it was voted the winning entry in a contest he ran in 2001, when he and his loyal readers realized that there was no common word for a woman strapping it on and penetrating her man...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Jan 12, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
Until Shiloh Jolie-Pitt grows up to be a hunky transguy (fingers crossed) or Glee welcomes a new trans cast member who represents as well as Naya Rivera’s lesbian hotness (yes, please!), we’ve got few icons bringing transmale-sexy back. Though Chaz...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Jan 19, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
Capricorns (December 22–January 19) are hard-working, goal-oriented and natural-born leaders who, with a dash of stubborn arrogance, have perfected the recipe for hard-earned success. This makes Cappy a loyal provider in lifelong partnerships, as cheating simply...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Jan 26, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
As their virginal white megastores suggest, Apple doesn’t condone “overtly sexual content” in its 500,000+ iPhone Apps. However, searching for the term “sex” reveals plenty of tired Cosmo-inspired position guides and boobie pictorials in...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Feb 2, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
Fat people have sex. But if you look around an adult store, even progressive sex-positive ones like Northampton’s Oh My, you’ll be hard pressed to find the evidence on vibrator boxes, porn covers and book jackets. Like trying to have raucous sex in a...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Feb 7, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
Whether your libido is a convenient Mini Cooper, a sexy Lexus or a trusty, reliable Ford pickup, you’re bound to get a flat eventually. But in order to keep yourself out of permanent park, it’s important to understand what deflates our sex drives. Stress....
by Mark Roessler | Feb 9, 2012 | Leisure
I confess: while I thought Co-opoly an interesting concept, I didn’t have high hopes that the board game would be much fun. I enjoy games that simulate real-world situations, but mostly I’m looking for opportunities to explore scenarios I’m not...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Feb 16, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
On January 19th, HuffingtonPost.com published an article titled “G-Spot Does Not Exist ‘Without a Doubt,’ Say Researchers” in which Dr. Amichai Kilchevsky told me that my G-Spot isn’t real—clearly, an idiotic thing to say....
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Feb 16, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
Before you blow another $4 on Cosmo’s “best-kept, mind-blowing, sex secrets!” (aka reprinted, boring sex cliches), consider turning some pages that, though not glossy nor graced by Kate Hudson’s smiling blondeness, will actually soak the...
by Pete Redington | Feb 23, 2012 | Leisure
“If you don’t like the weather in New England, wait a few minutes,” Mark Twain once quipped. While he may never have experienced a winter quite this mild and storm-free, Twain’s counsel has proved practical for generations of New Englanders,...
by Pete Redington | Mar 2, 2012 | Leisure
The Phantom Menace is back in theaters, and like you, I am faced with a cultural identity question of existential proportions: Is experiencing the Star Wars galaxy in 3D worth reliving the disappointment of the prequel trilogy? “What does your heart tell...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Mar 2, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
Today I’m doing two things: packing to move and prepping for my very first sex party. “Packing to move!” you might say. Don’t worry, you loyal little pervs, sex nerds and casual exhibitionists. I’m not leaving you! To the minority of...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Mar 9, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
“You write a sex column. So that means I can ask you anything,” says my friend Cam over coffee. “Yeah—I guess that’s true,” I laugh. “So why do I like watching penis porn?” she spits out. “You mean like...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Mar 9, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
I’m a classic romantic. I’m simply brought to my knees with the promise of a mouthful of… chocolate and a fistful of pussy… willows. I’m just soaking wet… with happy tears, of course… if someone comes at me with a big,...
by Advocate Staff | Mar 16, 2012 | Leisure
“Egypt: Anatomy of a Revolution” is a lecture on the inner workings of the demonstrations that brought down the Mubarak regime in Egypt during the Arab Spring. Lecturer Paul Amar of U.C. Santa Barbara is joined by political organizer Mozn Hassan (pictured)...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Sep 20, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
Orgasms. Why have one when you could have many? Am I right? Obviously I am. Though a phrase like “multiple orgasms” may imply a focus on quantity and not quality, don’t race to the first finish line in the orgasmic marathon you hope to compete in....
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Mar 23, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
I don’t pickle things at home. I don’t shower, shave and brush my teeth all with the same bottle of Dr. Brauners that I picked up from Cornucopia. I do love the farmer’s market and admire the Pedal People’s devotion as they carry our...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Sep 27, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
Dear V-Spot— I’m a big fan of your column and have learned many good things to make sex not only better for my girlfriend but for me also! I have a question about squirting. I’m a very selfless lover. I’d rather please my girlfriend than be...
by Mark Roessler | Mar 30, 2012 | Leisure
A hundred-dollar yo-yo? To anyone for whom grade school is a distant memory, the idea of spending so much on such a basic toy may seem preposterous. A lot has changed, though, in the world of yo-yoing over the last decade. As with the snowboard and Frisbee before it,...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Sep 27, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
What does a sex writer read about when she’s not jack— I mean, doing research for columns? Gossip rags, natch So, when I first read that crazed KStew/RPatz fans are buying up “Kristen Stewart is a Trampire” T-shirts in response to the cheating...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Mar 30, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
I recently responded to a Craigslist ad seeking administrative help in a home office. You can already see where this is headed, I’m sure. I’m considered a bit of a pro at sexual innuendo myself, and I’m rarely duped. Call me old-fashioned, but when I...
by Pete Redington | Oct 4, 2012 | Leisure
Leigh Youngblood darts off across northern Franklin County. And I struggle to follow. Tully Road in Orange. Athol Road in Warwick. Our scenic driving route meanders through forests of hemlock, past the gladed slopes of rounded mountains, by woodland ponds and the...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Apr 14, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
Being a good bottom is like having someone very important over for dinner. You want to cook them whatever they like. Everything must be perfect, not just to please them, but to please you, too. Being a good bottom isn’t just about lazily “taking it.”...
by James Heflin | Oct 4, 2012 | Leisure
Let’s get one thing out of the way: yes, I drive a Volvo. One with a Karl Marx autograph on the hood. When I drive, that is. I also have a manservant who hands me my eight iron and offers me chilled Chardonnay in the back of the limo. So it won’t surprise...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Apr 21, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
Whether you’re going through a sexual drought or just appreciate some quality bonding time for you and your penis, you may be shopping for a male masturbation sleeve. Before you get your boxer-briefs in a bunch, let me assure you that we’ve already been...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Oct 9, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
Happy 2nd Birthday to the V-Spot! Thanks to a tiny pink laptop, a couple of dildo-slinging jobs, and of course, you wonderful, sexually curious readers, we’ve made it through 104 weekly columns together. Thank you, readers! You came, you conquered, you came...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Apr 28, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
A new contraceptive for men? That prevents pregnancy after 15 minutes and lasts for 10 years? That’ll not only kill your baby-making potential but also HIV? Sounds too good to be true! Because—well, it may be. RISUG (Reversible Inhibition of Sperm Under...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Oct 18, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
R eader Ram writes the V-Spot: Hi. I don’t write in to anywhere but you seemed to be trying to solicit responses, so here you go. I’ve been picking [the Valley Advocate] up for a while just to do the crossword in it. However, I read your article once and...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | May 5, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
Anyone who’s read any recent quotes from a Republican knows that it’s not a great time to have a womb in this country. It’s truly concerning. More concerning, however, is that Rush Limbaugh doesn’t know how birth control pills work. Though...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Oct 23, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
It’s not easy being a condom. You’re pressured to protect against STIs and pregnancy and get mega-blamed when you don’t. You plunge head-first into some shady places and then you’re tossed aside like common trash. And at your distinguished age!...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | May 12, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
Apparently, the first thing you have to do when you’re initiated into the secret lesbian society, after cutting your hair into a faux-hawk, attending a Tegan & Sara concert and applying to Smith, is make funeral arrangements for your bed. Popular rumor and...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Nov 1, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
From the famous pink ribbon symbol to pink cleats on Monday night football (awww!), October has promoted the health and happiness of tatas everywhere with my all-time favorite color for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Here’s to the survivors, the fighters, the...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | May 19, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
Like peeing in the woods, it’ll always be anatomically easier for men to masturbate than it is for women. I’d love to think that this is the only reason that, to this day, a woman masturbating solo is practically unseen, unheard and unacknowledged by...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Nov 5, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
Last night I ate six bowls of Rice Krispies. This represents half the number of orgasms I had 10 minutes prior, compliments of some stellar, dominant BDSM performances by my favorite male porn star James Deen on KinkOnDemand.com. It’s obvious why a few bowls of...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | May 26, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
Factoid 1. The clitoris is the only part of the human body that exists solely for pleasure. Other pleasurable spots like the nipples, neck, tongue and penis all have at least one other function. 2. The clitoris is bashful, only revealing one-fourth of herself outside...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Nov 12, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
When my wife and I lived in South America, we really improved our Spanish. Most importantly, we learned that the slang word for “lesbian” (roughly equivalent to English’s “dyke”) is “tortillera.” This literally means “a...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | May 31, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
My Christian high school-attending wife’ll tell you I suck at religion. A born-and-bred apathetic atheist, I wouldn’t know the difference between a Catholic and a Protestant if God smote me with a lightning bolt himself. Because the Bible doesn’t...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Nov 19, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
Cougars and sugar daddies pave the yellow brick road to Sexual Stereotypesville. While people can “understand” why an older woman might want the confidence boost and sexual stamina that comes with the attention of a much younger man, or how a rich dude...
by Pete Redington | Jun 7, 2012 | Leisure
Arm guard in place, I straddle the line left foot first. I nock the arrow, pointing it down toward the grass; hold the bow loosely but confidently with just two fingers and my thumb; look up toward the target 30 feet away, and raise the bow. As I take a long, deep...
by Yana Tallon-Hicks | Nov 27, 2012 | Leisure, The V-Spot
What’s up, Yana! I have many questions for you, but here’s my first: I am… sexually inexperienced. I’m assuming you didn’t grow up in an Irish Catholic family, but I did, and, boy! We don’t talk about sex. I’m really just...
