March is finally over, and it’s April Fools Day on a Stay Naked Sunday too! Sorry, no jokes to play on you today, but I’m sure someone out there in cyberia will come up with something entertaining. I cannot begin to describe the huge psychological lift I’ve gotten just from waving bye-bye to March; it’s so odd because all month long I felt like I was strapped with a yoke across my shoulders with two buckets of water suspended on either side, and I had to climb up a mountain and not spill a drop. Talk about pressure. It wasn’t that work was too terribly overwhelming either, or that I’m having relationship problems, or parenting problems, tho I am having girl problems, but that only lasted a week so that isn’t it. No, I can’t put my finger on it, but I’m just glad April is here. It’s going to be getting warmer and I can start gardening for real, and I can go shopping for shoes! See? Now there’s something I can get excited about… new shoes!

Okay. I’m probably dating myself a bit, but if you didn’t get the Imelda reference off the top, Imelda Marcos was the former first lady of the Philippines whose extensive shoe collection is world renown. Imelda was a beautiful woman who was also crowned a beauty queen; The Rose of Tacloban at the age of 18. But what about the shoes you ask? Well, without going into a big long political essay about what happened to Imelda when she and her husband were kicked out of the Philippines, it was discovered in the Malacañang Palace after she left that she owned over a thousand pairs of shoes, along with 15 mink coats, 508 evening gowns, and 888 handbags. I see no problem with that!

I’m not quite in Imelda’s league when it comes to the accumulation of attractive footwear and accessories, but I can see myself coming close, and when I stop and think about it, the last pair of shoes I bought myself, well boots really, was back in January. That’s two whole months with no new shoes! Are you kidding me? I’m in freakin’ withdrawal over here! I need new spring shoes damn it! So, with Visa in hand, I’m going to forgo Stay Naked Sunday today (he’s whining about his back being sore anyway… but I told him that I don’t mind being on top, but… err… more on that later) — I’m going shopping today!

The poor man has reason to complain tho because I did work him pretty hard yesterday… in the garden I mean. We raked leaves and scrub, and he dethatched the lawn with this machine he rented at the Taylor Rental near us, and then we prepared the flowebeds and turned the soil, so yes, after basically being sedentary all winter, we kind of overdid it a bit yesterday. I was sore too, but a hot bath and a glass of wine did the trick for me. Of course my baby was being a big baby after all the work he did for me, and I took good care of him last night. Men do love blowjobs now don’t they? And of course now he won’t complain as much when I come home from shopping with at least, and I’m talking a minimum here, of at least two new pairs of shoes. I think that’s more than reasonable. But I worry what’s going to happen to him when we get on our bikes if he’s whining this much after just doing some yard work.

I’m beginning to think that I’m going to have to change his diet again, and as I write that sentence, I don’t want it to seem as tho I control my husband’s life, but as his wife I think I have a responsibility to take care of him because if he had his way he’d live on a diet of Mountain Dew and Salt & Vinegar potato chips, and that just will not do. But he’s becoming more difficult when it comes to the food department, so much so that grocery shopping has become a nightmare for me because I have no idea what on earth to make for dinner anymore. At least my son is conscious about what he eats and he doesn’t give me a bad time about eating balanced meals, but my husband is a nightmare. For example; he grew up in New England on Cape Cod and he doesn’t eat fish! How is that possible? I would eat fish almost every night if I had my way, but no, he flat out refuses to eat fish. And vegetables? Forget it. I’m thinking that a wifely intervention is in order here, and soon too. Tho he’s lost about twenty pounds since we got back together in January of ’06, but that’s because he exercises regularly, because I make him do it. I swear, what would happen to men without us?

But enough about my boring and mundane world for the moment; I actually have something to talk about today. I’ve been given an award, and no, let’s not revisit what happens when I have to compete with people for awards, ugh… good lord never again, but this award is very, very cool. It’s called the Thinking Blogger Award, and it was given to me by the lovely Frayed Angel. Thank you so much sweetheart! I’m humbled and honored that my words have meant something to you! So, this is kind of a meme as well as an award, and I’m going to display my Thinky-Blog Award button in my sidebar because I’m geeky like that and because I think it’s kind of cool, but as I said, this is also like a meme because it perpetuates with each recipient then awarding five other bloggers with a Thinky-Blog Award.

According to Frayed Angel:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote.

Okay, this I can do. I read many different kinds of blogs for lots of different reasons. Some I read because I know the author, others because I enjoy the subject matter, and still others because they’re amusing or entertaining in one way or another, but some blogs out there truly do make me think about things, often inspiring me in some way or giving me some kind of food for thought. So in keeping with the Thinky-Blog Award meme, I will now award five blogs/bloggers with this honor, because reading them truly makes me think, and hopefully they will make you think too.

The Dating Couple

Sometimes when reading Jonathan and Crystal it’s like looking at my own relationship in the mirror. This blog is exceptionally well written, with thoughtful and insightful content as this couple tries to make their way in the world. Crystal is bisexual and Jonathan is straight, and the two of them are simply just the cutest couple, but there’s also something just beneath the surface here too that strongly suggests that these two people bring much more than just their sex life to the table. Posts vary from topics of sexuality to music to life to relationships to women; it’s what I think lazy geisha would be if my husband did this blog with me. It’s a great site, and both Jonathan and Crystal are wonderful friends who have a lot to say. From a purely aesthetic standpoint, the site is very appealing which really is important I think. Yes, I believe in substance over style, but if you can have both, as they do, then it’s the best of both worlds and it makes reading there very pleasant.

The House of Yes

This is a new blogger and blog I discovered a couple of months ago when I noticed that she was linking to me. It’s written by a woman named Echo who has such a gift for creating visual imagery with her words that I find it impossible to take my eyes away from anything she writes. She successfully melds and morphs classic Greek characters and mythology; effortlessly weaving them into her own life with remarkable ease and beauty, and you also get the sense that this woman is deeply introspective and sensitive, but she’s nobody’s fool either. She’s sharp, witty, sensual and passionate in ways that make me want to scream yes, yes, yes! The House of Yes indeed! I always come away from reading her with a profound sense of depth and with the feeling as if I’ve just walked a mile in her shoes. It’s a very thought provoking journal and one that I truly enjoy.

Lone Sloan Delirius

Aside from the fact that the LSD team is creating a graphic novel titled The Illustrated Lazy Geisha, this collaborative blog is also an extension of the collaborative lives of the people involved. The people behind LSD are all brilliant and special in their own way, with each of them adding their own particular seasoning to the mix. The artwork included with many of their posts is simply breathtaking, and the sheer brilliance and magnitude of their writing often demands that I return several times just to be able to absorb it all. These people are the perfect blend of creative thinkers, artists, philosophers, lovers, with some of that special intangible thing which sets them apart from all the rest. I identify with some of their members on a cultural level, and with other members on social and femininity issues, but there is always something intrinsicly sophisticated and just plain smart in their melting pot to make you stop and think and want to come back again and again.

Creating Passionate Users – Kathy Sierra

I doubt Kathy Sierra reads my site, or even knows who I am, but I became interested in her blog after reading about what happened to her online as it relates to the topic of cyberbullying; but once I started reading her I was hooked. Women working in technology fields like Kathy and like myself are still something of an oddity, and Kathy completely captures this dynamic in a post titled Code like a girl. I’ve found her blog to be sharp and smart as well as being something I can identify with on multiple levels. I get my geek girl groove on around here in geishaland every now and again, but Kathy’s blog is all about the geek girl with a dash of espresso. I truly hope that the chill of cyberbullying doesn’t derail her on any kind of permanent basis because her writing is very good and it would be a shame if her voice were silenced because of these events. She’s posted that all the attention she’s received has in some ways made things worse, but I hope my Thinky-Blog Award might cheer her up a bit and let her know that some of us out here appreciate other smart women.

On Female Dominance of the Male

This blog written by Saratoga is by far one of the most thought provoking journals I’ve discovered. Aside from the fact that its subject matter is completely foreign to my own sexual identity (I am not a Domina by any stretch of the imagination), still I find much to think about in Saratoga’s words. I’ve found myself using the phrase “Her Golden Champagne” on more than one occasion (You can figure that one out for yourselves), but this is a man who is deeply passionate about his lifestyle choices, and who is unafraid of who he is and what his life is all about. I have such respect for that quality in anyone. If you can be who you are and be unafraid to be that person, that says more about your character to me than much else ever could. Saratoga brings a lot of thought and intellect to his posts, and he’s also become a good friend, despite the fact that he’s politically conservative.

So there you have it; five blogs and bloggers who make me think on a regular basis. This was a tough exercise because there are many great blogs out there written by equally wonderful people, some of whom I even consider friends of mine, or whatever that means these days. I tried to be completely objective with this, so hopefully no one gets upset. Please, no one get upset? Please? I’ve had an entire lifetime’s worth of upset bloggers, I don’t need more! :kissing:

So what else is new?

Well JW sealed the deal for me with his comment on my Sex on Hardwood post; I’ve bit the bullet and will now put everything on the front page, making it easy for everyone to find new content. In thinking about this, that’s probably the best thing to do anyway, so that’s what I’ve done. I also want to thank everyone who emailed me about Kate and for the offers to help. I sincerely appreciate it, but my purpose for writing about her situation wasn’t to solicit donations from people who read my journal. I simply wanted to raise awareness about domestic violence and to hopefully call attention to the problem, and to also embarrass the asshole who did it to her, which I did. He emailed me, all bent out of shape and making all sorts of nasty threats, but all that said to me was that it was motivated by a guilty conscience. He knows what he did, and he knows he fucked up; but out of respect for Kate, I’m not going to continue to update everyone on her situation. A special thanks tho to Gary, KJ and Butterfly for the lovely emails offering support. It’s very much appreciated. When we have the party, I’ll let everyone know how we did. I expect we’ll do well. Kate has a posse.

I’ve also been revisiting my Connection series as many of you know, and it’s been fun to re-read all of that material again, and to relive in my mind the experience. I’ve also got some new sex toy reviews which will be done soon, and hopefully some of my other long range projects can get some attention now that March is finally over!

I’ll be adding some new links on the Links page, so stay tuned for those. I haven’t updated my blogroll in a while and I really need to get to that soon. And oh yes, even tho I mentioned Lone Sloan Delirius in my Thinky-Blog Awards, the next chapter of The Illustrated Lazy Geisha is due out soon! I simply cannot wait to see what they’ve come up with! Stay tuned for that too!

And special thanks again to Gary (pile0nades) for letting me know that the OhMiBod made it to the front page of Digg! How cool is that? I’ve also been bad and spending money on iTunes again as I mentioned here. I just picked up Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black which is fantastic, and I also bought I by Infidel inc which is a very cool band and great album. My husband traded me one of his video iPods for my nano so I got an upgrade! Yay! So I also bought a game for it to celebrate. I picked up a cool EA Games version of Mahjong Tiles for my new iPod!

I also would like to thank Stanley of Sexoteric for always keeping me in mind, and for including Craving Completion in his blog. Sexoteric is consistently the best sex blog on the net and it’s a personal lazy geisha favorite.

So… it’s Stay Naked Sunday, and if you’re so inclined, stay under the covers with your lover and make some! As for this lazy geisha… I’m going shoe shopping baby!

Enjoy your Stay Naked Sunday!