Encore Steff: Jazz Up the Sex Life with a Four-Letter Word: TALK

Ah, I'm too tired to write again. Damned sickness. Soon.

In the meanwhile, this is one of my older posts and one I think missed a lot of people's radars since it was right at Christmastime last year. I think it's a good one to repost, and hope you agree.

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Still not convinced that better communication will up the sexual ante? All right, then read on.

Imagine you get a job. You're excited about it. It's dynamic, exciting. Oh, the possibilities, you think. So, you show up, wing it, and you think, "Hey, it's okay, after I've been here and they've seen what my stuff is, they're gonna wanna invest in me. They'll want to really school me and get me groomed for something better. I'm a contributor. Yeah, they'll tell me what they really want, when they're ready to."

And the management's over there, across the way. "Wow, you know, he may have something to offer. Hmm. We could use someone like that around here. I know what we'll do. We'll wait. When he's ready to know more, he'll come to us. Then we'll really know he'll be able to deliver. We'll let him... acclimatize, for now. I mean, hey, he's doing just fine for now."

Trouble is, "for now" doesn't have a shelf life. Do you know when "for now" expires? I sure don't. And "just fine," well, it never really makes the cut, does it?

The employee in this scenario? Fucked. Rightly. Right fucked. Proper fucked, even. Why? Pretty simple. Without clear direction, without a clear understanding of how he should perform his duties, he will never have the confidence to take risks that might better his performance, he'll never really know where he stands, and he'll never put his all into it. Worse yet, he won't know how to do his job better, nor what management desires him to do.

If you have a relationship where you're not telling each other how to satisfy you, you're going to be like the players above. As a receiver, you'll be the management -- getting loyal, dedicated service that suggests potential and even possibly alludes to brilliance, but always somehow slightly misses the mark, or even worse yet, is highly inconsistent because the areas of excellence go unspoken.

As the giver, you're just a lowly employee, and you'll never really know what your strengths or weaknesses are, nor what areas the management perceives most essential to get done. You might just never really know what you should deliver, and maybe, just maybe, you won't ever really fill the order, if you know what I'm saying.

So, if you manage to get things sorted and discussed, here's what I propose: Bi-weekly run-downs. Or however often you might enjoy a performance review. Have a conversation over dinner -- a private dinner -- and discuss the things you've enjoyed, the things you're feeling more of a craving for these days.

Sex is so much like food it's crazy. We all have cravings, and many of us go through a two-week period where we're eating Chinese every couple days. Well, maybe sex doggy-style's fitting the bill this week. It'd be nice to share that, wouldn't it? "Hi, dear. I want you to ride me like it's the Kentucky Derby finale."

We foolishly seem to talk about fantasies only in absolutes. I'd frickin' love a Mercedes conververtible from the late '60s, y'know, but this week I've been feeling a little more like taking the bus since the weather's so dodgy and the traffic so frantic. We go through flavour stages, and it's there in our sex lives, too, but often in such small, almost inconsequential ways that we often sooner ignore it than address it.

This conversation doesn't need to be clinical. In fact, I say nay to that notion altogether. I say make it dirty, irreverent, sexy, fun, coy, suggestive, romantic, passionate, perfunctory -- whatever gets your rocks off. I say do it over a decadent meal you cook together, and then eat it together in various states of undress with a fine bottle of red wine. (May I suggest throwing some really suggestive footsy into the under-table games? Footsy may not be the most sexually satisfying act, but Jesus, it's erotic, isn't it? Mm!) Or skip the food and sit naked on the couch, sipping wine, as you perform demonstrations on each other's body of what it is you're discussing / wanting.

You get the idea. Play with it. Play is fun. Play doctor like you did in the bushes as a kid. Hmm. I wonder how Tyler's doing these days, anyhow. Been a while. Ah, nostalgia.

So, here's your relationship homework: Periodical sex reviews. No negatives -- only constructive criticism, but really, really try to focus on positives, and try to go with the moment. And never, ever shy away from demonstration... or narration. And if you narrate, be suggestive and coy -- this can really add a little of the sizzle bang-bang I'm always talking about. It's one of those things that sounds ludicrous if you think about it, but in the heat of the moment, narration's a fun thing to toy with.

[Ed. Note: It's official. I need to get laid. Geez.]