When Athena sent me her latest article—an entry in Open Salon about 16th birthday vibrators for one’s daughters that I think is positively awesome—I thought to myself, meh, do I want to sign up for Open Salon just to leave a comment? Another network? For real?
I did sign up; you know, what the hell… and when I scrolled down to leave my comment, I noticed something fascinating.
Open Salon blogs allow registered readers to tip bloggers.
There’s an amazing little widget right at the bottom of the post that lets you tip the author a buck, or however much, and although I assume I’d have to sign up for an additional function in order to make it work—attach my credit card, or some such thing—I had to pause a minute and think about the whole idea. My determination of viability is really based on one thing, most of the time: Do I feel the urge to actually do it?
And I really did.
In fact, if I’d had any money in my bank account at that particular moment, I would have tipped the woman ten bucks. (You should read her stuff. It’s fabulous.) I wonder if tips show up on the post? Surely there are pros and cons. But what a concept! I’m sure someone’s done it before now, but I’ve never seen it implemented, especially in a way that made me actually want to participate.
In the same way that I typically show my gratitude for a great experience at a restaurant, I can also show my gratitude for a great experience reading a wonderful article… and this makes perfect sense to me.
Wow. I love it.
And oh! Geeze! I almost forgot…
Not too long ago, I got my grubby paws on Athena Bradford’s ebook, The Intelligent Woman’s Guide to Vibrators. I’m a fan of intelligent, informative sex literature (ask anybody) and I freaking loved this book. I was so pleased by the hour or so I spent reading it that I wrote her an off-the-cuff review to vent my excitement. I’ve been looking for an excuse to post it somewhere ever since I emailed it to her, and I figure, hey, here’s my chance, right?
So, Athena Bradford has obviously found the ultimate way to make a living: Reviewing vibrators. (Crap, why didn’t I think of that?) What’s more, she’s a genius at it. She’s very honest and straightforward (even if you happen disagree with her on one or two items) and she lets you make your own decisions about the information at hand. She’s also FUNNY —the book made me laugh out loud constantly, which made the hour I spent reading all 40-or-so pages of it (and browsing links!) absolutely enjoyable.
The Intelligent Woman’s Guide to Vibrators is witty and super informative, with adorably cheesy puns and lots of understanding and encouragement. This is exactly what many women are looking for (and this review is my way of chipping in and helping them find it). Not everyone wants to discuss their sex lives at length the way I tend to do, and if you’re not used to the off-putting barrage of sex and porn advertisements that can await anyone searching for sex information on the internet, looking for what you need can be downright scary. Athena has put together a fabulous primer for women who like their private lives to stay private. She links you straight to the good stuff (and she picks GREAT good stuff).
She reviews lots of items, from the pocketbook-friendly to the top-of-the-line (and we both have been impressed by a few top-of-the-line models that are definitely worth the additional expense). Her categories are sensible and the information she provides is quite helpful. Plus, there are pictures of the toys in question (so you know what you’re going to look at when you click).
My final word: This is a DAMN good book. I’m pretty well-versed when it comes to toys, but I’ll probably make my next few purchases based on this guide. You can slog through the internets to find vibe information, and probably find a few good vibrator guides while you’re at it—but this one is brilliant and funny, right here in front of you, and more than worth its $17 price tag. If you’re at all apprehensive about finding solid, easy-to-parse information about sex stuff you don’t really want to discuss at length or deal with ads to find, this is going to make your day.
Did you read all that? I have a Twitter / LOLcats version, too:
PLS SEND @AthenaBradford MONEY TO CONTINUE VIBE RESERTCH. http://intelligentwomansvibrators.com/ kthnxbye!
See? Easy.
Anyway, if you decide to go experiment with Open Salon, make sure to tip Athena a few bucks for me. I’ll owe you coffee. ;}
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