sexpricewatch.net

Exciting Sex [6]
. . . .
Source: edstrong.blog-city.com

Cock-and-Bitch Story [Most Popular Last 28 Days]
. . . .
Source: edstrong.blog-city.com

clit monster

AdellSexy
(live cams london) - AdellSexy adult tv live sex - A tit regarding AdellSexy noisily plays a swimsuit with the grave accent flanking a private enterprise.
Source: www.blogator.com

Motor City’s urban rot
Detroit’s lost generations are manifested in the rows of decaying structures boarded up tight against the spring sunlight. It has been ranked America’s most dangerous city and one of the most abandoned.
Source: www.nationalpost.com

Bullets in the rafters
Video: Brett Gundlock takes a look at the secret club hidden in the rafters of Toronto’s Union Station
Source: www.nationalpost.com

wholesale adult entertainment sex toy,sex toys
sexy toys,sex toy,vibrating dildos,sex vibrator,adult vibrator rabbit dildo,glass dildos,g spot vibrator,penis,sex toys
Source: www.alibaba.com

Each Day Like It’s My Last
Acclaimed author and musician Paul Quarrington was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. This is the first instalment of his continuing journey.
Source: www.nationalpost.com

strong man (adult product,sex capsule,sex enhancer)
strong man (adult product,sex capsule,sex enhancer) Medicine for men 100%natural for man. :applies to impotence premature eja
Source: www.alibaba.com

The best adult dating sites on the net..!!! Los mejores sitios para
Join us..!! and have fun. Regístrate, es gratis..!! Encuentra las mejores recetas en Yahoo! Cocina. http://mx.mujer.yahoo.com/cocina/ (Non-text portions of
Source: finance.groups.yahoo.com

Gallery: The 2009 Academy Awards
Hollywood’s best and brightest didn’t disappoint at the 81st Academy Awards on Sunday night
Source: www.nationalpost.com

free anal sex

The Need for Changes in U.S Health Insurance
Kaiser Health News, (unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente health insurance company), publishes a monthly newsletter named, KHN. This month, in conjunction with the LA Times, they discussed the serious issue of health care in the United States. What they had to say was sobering indeed. What they pointed out was that there is not much difference between those who are uninsured and those who are. How is this possible?

Source: feedproxy.google.com

Exploring the Upside of ADHD
In an earlier blog titled Mindful Approaches to ADHD I hinted at the upside to ADHD and I think it's worth exploring a bit more. For many, being labeled with a "disorder" can be a vexing experience. However, part of our experience with dealing with mental health challenges is in our interpretation of it. If we view it as a "disorder" then our minds automatically focus on the gap in between where we are and where we want to be. By focusing on this, we can't help but be drawn into automatic

Source: feedproxy.google.com

Why it May be Good If Your Kid has ADHD or Bipolar Genes
In a recent issue of the Atlantic Monthly, David Dobbs outlines a new genetic theory that says having the high-risk gene doesn't mean they are destined to potentiate the qualities of that gene. How you parent and the environment that the child grows up in may be more significant than we think, it may actually be the factor that turns tragedy into triumph.

Source: feedproxy.google.com

ADHD and the Holidays
The holiday season can be very difficult for those with ADHD whether they are children or adults. These difficulties spill over into and affect personal and family relationships. The reasons for the difficulties are not hard to understand but there are things people can do to minimize any potential for upset The nature of ADHD is that over stimulation is extremely distracting and frustrating. Streets are crowded with people, stores are filled with shoppers, music, bells, toys, all types of br

Source: feedproxy.google.com

Family Ties: Knowing Why and How They Must Remain Snug & Tied!
One of the hardest things in life is to remain fair and be successful in maintaining family ties with parents, siblings, grand parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and spouses and their families. It's sad how soon and how deeply, rifts get created among families and happier times are lost, no memories can be had to cherish in later years. The ultimate sadness is individual regrets, embarrassment for one's actions, rightful realizations, yes, maybe, but then, even more sadness for losing one's own, e

Source: feedproxy.google.com

Feeling Good, It’s Not Just In the Brain
Did you ever hear the expression "Smile and the whole world smiles with you?" Certainly, a smile reflects the inner good feeling a person has and is outwardly expressing. However, this raises the old "which came first, the chicken or the egg" question? In other words, does feeling good inside cause a person to smile or does the smile cause the person to feel good? The answer might be that it can be either.

Source: feedproxy.google.com

Freedom from Your Anxious Mind
Part of the key to mental health that many people have been saying for quite some time is this move into wholeness and acceptance. Think about it, if we were able to drop our anxieties over our imperfections and just accept them, what would be left?

Source: feedproxy.google.com

Do I Have ADD?
For one thing, during childhood, no one ever suspected ADD. Both in school and at home, the question of any type of learning disorder was ever raised, neither by teachers nor his parents.

Source: feedproxy.google.com

Depression? Stress? How Sweet they Are? A Dissertation on Dark Chocolate
Remember how difficult it can be to remember to take your medication? Remember how difficult it can be to remember to call the pharmacy to renew your prescriptions? None of us are experiencing any of these difficulties. Curious, huh? The only possible downside to the experiment is that weight can be gained and that can become stressful. However, other researchers report that dark chocolate causes people to feel very full and, therefore, eat less because their appetite is lowered. The only rea

Source: feedproxy.google.com

pussy cat doll picture

Girl VS Gator!! (11.27.09 - Day 211)

Hey guys! Thanks for taking the time to not only watch our videos but help with the voting! Its a lot to us and don’t worry we have a surprise for you for helping coming soon!! our proposal video to be video of the year here http://mashable.com/owa/votes/category/44?c=44 best online video web series too!! http://mashable.com/owa/votes/category/39?c=39 best use of youtube: http://mashable.com/owa/votes/category/3?c=3 THANK YOU GUYS! YOU EFFIN ROCK! CTFxC FTW!!! More Super Duper Stuff: http://facebook.com/charlestrippyfriendcore http://twitter.com/CharlesTrippy http://twitter.com/AlliSpeed http://dailybooth.com/CharlesTrippy Download our iPhone/iPod App here: http://bit.ly/v9bGW

Author: CTFxC
Keywords: charlestrippy alli zoey marley cute puppy girl vs gator women zoo lemur left dead l4d xbox 360 video games hot gorilla girls black friday 2009 best buy bestbuy
Added: November 28, 2009

Source: youtube.com

BEST HOTEL ROOM IN VEGAS! (11/27/09-268)

We did the Flash Mob tonight in the PLANET HOLLYWOOD casino. The video will be up tomorrow night sometime. My Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/shaycarl My DailyBooth: http://www.dailybooth.com/shaycarl

Author: SHAYTARDS
Keywords: shaycarl shaytards Las Vegas Planet Hollywood hotel casino
Added: November 28, 2009

Source: youtube.com

FFA Sniping Tips By Hutch (Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Gameplay Videos)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joKfHFdCF6s Click the above link to watch more Modern Warfare 2 gameplay videos by Hutch. FFA Sniping Tips By Hutch (Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Gameplay Videos) Hey guys, Hutch here. Thanks again for all your support with my videos and my channel, which can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/user/shaun0728 Playing a Free For All with a Sniper is not the smartest way to go, but it will teach you eventually to be quick with your reaction time. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, FFA’s help improve how well you do with a sniper rifle. Peace! FOR MORE MACHINIMA GOTO: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=machinima TAGS: Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 MW2 UPC 47875333376 PS3 047875837492 XBox 360 XBox360 X360 0047875333376 PC MPN 83747 Infinity Ward Activision Duty 6 hutch hutchisyodaddy theimightyhutch themightyhutch the mighty hutch imighty yt:quality=high

Author: machinima
Keywords: Call of Duty Modern Warfare MW2 UPC 47875333376 PS3 047875837492 XBox 360 XBox360 X360 0047875333376 PC MPN 83747 Infinity Ward Activision hutch hutchisyodaddy theimightyhutch themightyhutch the mighty imighty yt:quality=high
Added: November 28, 2009

Source: youtube.com

NAUGHTY ELEVATOR GIRLS! (11/28/09-269)

SO we did the flash mob at 7:07pm in the Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino. We will upload the whole edited Flash Mob Monday November 30th on my shaycarl channel around noon California time. Check out the rightous band the kids were rockin out to! http://www.myspace.com/blorrmusic My Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/shaycarl My Dailybooth: http://www.dailybooth.com/shaycarl

Author: SHAYTARDS
Keywords: shaycarl shaytards Las Vegas Planet Hollywood Flash Mob Dancing
Added: November 29, 2009

Source: youtube.com

Results - Name That Number

RULES: The number is a 4 digit number anywhere from 0000-9999. You are allowed 5 guesses BUT they must be made on 5 separate “Text Comments” The 10 closet people to the correct number will win one deck of bicycle cards. IF somebody guesses the right number THEN ONLY the FIRST person to guess it right wins A Red,Blue & Green Deck of Bicycle Cards. Contest ends Wednesday December 2nd at 2:00 p.m. Denver Colorado time.

Author: mismag822
Keywords: Not Card Trick contest tricks cards lucky numbers
Added: November 30, 2009

Source: youtube.com

young ass

Carnal A dragon joins other species in virgin birth
A Komodo dragon named Flora proved last week that you don't always have to wait for your prince to start a family. Though she lives in the Chester Zoo in England with just her sister, Nessie, the 8-year-old virgin laid a clutch of fertile eggs last spring. After a long incubation period, five baby Komodos finally hatched.
Source: www.philly.com

Dance queen Lady GaGa fashions booming career
Sprawled on her bed in an Amsterdam hotel, Lady GaGa is channeling Lady Godiva-sans the horse.
Source: _ http

ass hole

Are You Wired to Worry?
A recent NY Times article brings up the work by highly esteemed developmental psychologist, Jerome Kagan, who wondered if some people are just always "mentally preparing for doom." For the past 20 years, Kagan has been following hundreds of people to see if their tenuousness as a baby follows them into adulthood. In other words, are some people just wired to worry?

Source: feedproxy.google.com

Object Relations Theory 101: All the World’s a Stage
Today, we have a beginner's introduction to object relations theory. Right from the start, let me acknowledge that I have difficulty writing about object relations theory in a simple, conversational style. For me, it is like conveying the experience of a warm sunny day while using the language of quantum field theory.

Source: feedproxy.google.com

What is the Key to Less Stress at Work and Life?
As we start our workdays most of us have one thing in mind. No matter the task, whatever project is in front of us, the question is, how do we get from point A to point B as quickly and efficiently as possible so we can get onto the next thing? However, there is one key thing that is missing in this logic…

Source: feedproxy.google.com

finger ass

Sex and presidential politics meet at The Kinsey Institute
Just in time for the upcoming elections, The Kinsey Institute at Indiana University offers a glimpse of presidential politics from adult and underground media sources.
Source: newsinfo.iu.edu

IU Health & Wellness
IU Health and Wellness for September discusses research that looks at how living conditions impact reproductive health and how attitudes about female genitals can impact sexuality and sexual health. It also provides workout tips for runners driven indoors by allergies or weather.
Source: newsinfo.iu.edu

“Sexploration at IU” to begin Monday
“Sexploration at IU,” a weeklong series of events that offer Indiana University students information about sexuality related issues in a fun, interactive and positive way, begins on the IU Bloomington campus on Monday (Oct. 20). The event is sponsored by the IU Health Center’s Health & Wellness Department. Events include a talk by nationally recognized sexuality expert Marty Klein, who will discuss “America’s War on Sex,” free HIV tests and a rowdy cabaret performance by the “Crimson Cabaret & Burlesque Revue.”
Source: newsinfo.iu.edu

How To Have Sex in a Car

Since it arrived in the 20th century, the automobile has provided an alternative place for sexual congress. The following are simple instructions for heterosexual, two-person sex in a car.

Author: jonz

Source: www.howcast.com

Do-It-Yourself Disasters
Consumer Correspondent Susan Koeppen Takes at Look at What Can Happen If You Decide to Take On a Project Yourself

Source: feeds.cbsnews.com

school girl

revival of the pumpkins
“When I played the final Smashing Pumpkins show on the night of December 2, 2000, I walked off the Metro stage believing that I was forever leaving a piece of my life behind. I naively tried to start a new band, but found that my heart wasn’t in it. I moved away to pursue a love that I once had but got lost. So I moved back home to heal what was broken in me, and to my surprise I found what I was looking for. I found that my heart is in Chicago, and that my heart is in The Smashing Pumpkins.

For a year now I have walked around with a secret, a secret I chose to keep. But now I want you to be among the first to know that I have made plans to renew and revive The Smashing Pumpkins. I want my band back, and my songs, and my dreams. In this desire I feel I have come home again.”

.dec…
Source:

Get Through the Holidays with Humor and Grace: Four Strategies for Couples and Families

Source: feedproxy.google.com

Depression, ADHD, Psychotherapy and Medication
I recently received an interesting question from a forty year old man from the UK who stated the he is suffering from depression. He wanted to know what types of medication would help him feel better. He asserted that he had neither the time nor the money to invest in psychotherapy. Besides, he stated, he has a chemical imbalance in his brain and knows that medication will solve his problem. He also happened to state that he has suffered from many stresses over the years.

Source: feedproxy.google.com

The Need for Changes in U.S Health Insurance
Kaiser Health News, (unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente health insurance company), publishes a monthly newsletter named, KHN. This month, in conjunction with the LA Times, they discussed the serious issue of health care in the United States. What they had to say was sobering indeed. What they pointed out was that there is not much difference between those who are uninsured and those who are. How is this possible?

Source: feedproxy.google.com

Letter to the Editor: Daily evironmental coverage is appreciated, needed

To the Daily:

The Daily did an excellent job of covering the members of Repower America who were promoting clean energy on the Diag by running a photo of them on the front page Nov. 20. It’s reassuring to see the Daily covering the hard-working individuals who devote their time to environmental advocacy at the University. I hope to see more coverage in the future.

Source: www.michigandaily.com

ass porn

Michigan loses third striaght, fall to Eagles 62-58

Coming into the season, Michigan coach John Beilein knew that just like last year, the Wolverines had to be the hunters instead of the hunted — they needed to focus on their opponents and not on their ranking.

But for the third straight game, the Michigan basketball team looked like roadkill throughout much of yesterday’s 62-58 loss to Boston College at Crisler Arena.

Source: www.michigandaily.com

Letter to the Editor: Daily evironmental coverage is appreciated, needed

To the Daily:

The Daily did an excellent job of covering the members of Repower America who were promoting clean energy on the Diag by running a photo of them on the front page Nov. 20. It’s reassuring to see the Daily covering the hard-working individuals who devote their time to environmental advocacy at the University. I hope to see more coverage in the future.

Source: www.michigandaily.com

Trailer Review: ‘District 13′

There’s some very clever editing going on in the trailer to “District 13: Ultimatum,” the new French action film and sequel to 2004’s “District 13.” Namely, there’s not a single word of dialogue uttered. Thus, the trailer will appeal to people who love watching explosions but have a natural aversion to hearing any language other than English between those explosions. What about the actual film?

Source: www.michigandaily.com

ass is ass

Coming Herself

Source: edstrong.blog-city.com

Flashing Her Arse

Source: edstrong.blog-city.com

40 years and a glass of wine

Dave Matthews is on the bill at the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival.

Woodstock, for all its muddy, revolutionary glory, was missing a few things. Like oysters on the half shell and wine seminars.

Outside Lands, the giant rock festival running Friday through next Sunday in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, encompasses seven stages and 65 acts. It also refines the idea of festival food and drink by featuring Hog Island oysters, Cowgirl Creamery cheeses and a tent area called Winehaven where 25 wineries will offer products and advice.

“It’s not like (other festivals), where you can only get a hot dog or a piece of pizza,” says Rick Farman of Superfly Presents, which is co-organizing Outside Lands, now in its second year. “(And) it’s unique for a festival to have really good wine.”

Outside Lands’ focus on food, wine and technology (via the social media platform www.CrowdFire.net) represents the Bay Area of 2009. Yet its setting harkens back 40 years, to a time when the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane held free concerts in the park.

Outside Lands, by contrast, charges $89.50 per day or $225 for a three-day pass (if tickets are purchased in advance). Last year, rock fans were happy to pay, with the inaugural festival drawing a total crowd of 130,000. Nearly 60,000 people showed up just the first night, when Radiohead and Beck shared a bill.

Headed by Pearl Jam and the Dave Matthews Band, this year’s Outside Lands lineup doesn’t immediately impress as much as last year’s. But it runs deep.

Jack Black (Tenacious D) and Jack White (the Dead Weather) both are reporting in, as are the Black Eyed Peas, Incubus, Ween, Modest Mouse, Lucinda Williams and the darlingest of today’s critical darlings, TV on the Radio.

That Tenacious D – Black and Kyle Gass’ rock/comedy duo – gets top billing Sunday night (Pearl Jam heads up Friday; Dave Matthews, Saturday) seems a bit curious at first. But the band was an 11th-hour replacement for the Beastie Boys, who dropped out in July after band member Adam Yauch was diagnosed with cancer.

“It was a difficult situation, obviously,” Farman says. When the promoters began sussing out available replacement acts, Tenacious D just seemed like a good-time fit.

“We thought the same kind of people who were into the Beastie Boys would be into Tenacious D,” Farman says. “That it’s a similar sensibility.”

Presale tickets haven’t moved at the same pace they did last year, Farman says, but sales are building as the event nears – an indicator that “people want to hold on to their money a little longer” in the recession.

Ticket sales for festivals are holding up well in general, Farman says – with Bonnaroo, the Tennessee festival that Superfly co-presents each June, even improving on last year’s attendance. Fans are opting for the “better value” of a multiact event, the promoter says.

For the price of a decent seat at a show by a single marquee act, Outside Lands festivalgoers can sample several bands, upload photos at the CrowdFire station or hang out at Eco Lands, a designated area where Earth-friendly organizations will seek out new ways to preach to the Bay Area choir.

Among those roaming the festival grounds will be the good-natured Matthews. Before a show, the singer likes to move among the throngs and “smell the people,” he says during a conference call. To do so, he usually dons sunglasses and a baseball cap.

“If I don’t show my receding forehead, I don’t really stick out at all,” Matthews says. “So I can just wander.”

Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam) is on the bill at the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival.

Source: www.sacbee.com

Photo Gallery [12.01.09]

Source: edstrong.blog-city.com

Sex Seen: Would You Fuck a Mannequin?

Source: edstrong.blog-city.com

‘Nite Tales’: From Delta to a series on WGN

An episodic TV series shot in the Sacramento area will make its national debut this weekend.

“Nite Tales,” a horror anthology series created by local director and producer Deon Taylor and hosted by Flavor Flav, starts a 13-episode run on Chicago-based WGN America (available in Sacramento through SureWest cable and the DirecTV and DISH network satellite systems) at midnight Friday.

An offshoot of the two-part “Nite Tales” movie that aired on BET last fall, the series will feature a “Twilight Zone”-like twist in every episode. But it will contain more humor than “Zone” did, Taylor says. “It’s tongue in cheek. … It’s not bloody, and not really horror, but more thriller.”

The first episode, shot on a soundstage in the Delta community of Hood, stars comedian DeRay Davis (the “Barbershop” films) as a night watchman in a mannequin storage facility. Episode 2, shot primarily in a private home in Elk Grove, features former Flav flame Brigitte Nielsen as a suburban mom with a secret.

Taylor says he has funding for 50 episodes. He anticipates that the production eventually will hire 300 local cast and crew members.

Each episode will feature a recognizable name in the lead role and lesser-known local actors in supporting and/or background parts.

The series is coming to the air in a somewhat unusual fashion: CAF, a production and advertising company, brokered a paid-airtime deal with WGN America for “Nite Tales,” complete with its own advertising, on behalf of Taylor and the show’s other backers.

The deal, Taylor says, allows him to maintain greater ownership of the show.

Source: www.sacbee.com

Spotlight: Calling all Clash fans: Old Ironsides tribute will convene local bands

The Clash’s “London Calling” was a landmark album for its blend of punk, ska and reggae.

Each week, Spotlight focuses on something – props, lighting, makeup, costumes, etc. – that’s essential to an arts or feature presentation.

In 1979, English punk band The Clash incorporated ska, reggae and politics into what would become its signature album, “London Calling.”

For Sacramento rock promoter Jerry Perry, then a teenager living in what he calls “the land of ‘Dazed and Confused’ ” and 1970s rock ‘n’ roll – a.k.a. Rancho Cordova – the album served as a nice bridge between genres.

” ‘London Calling’ had the punk-rock attitude, but it was also just a great rock album,” said Perry, who organized a tribute show Saturday night at Old Ironsides during which local bands will play “London Calling” from start to finish.

The show will feature obvious punk-rock fits The Secretions and The No- Goodniks along with acts that seem less likely to cover The Clash, such as rockabilly band Stars & Garters and the young, blues-inflected indie trio The Kelps.

“London Calling,” which includes the irresistibly poppy “Train in Vain (Stand By Me)” along with harder, politically charged tracks, lends itself to varied musical interpretations, Perry says, and therefore makes a good subject for a tribute show.

An album “has to not be too much of one thing” to stay dynamic when performed by a series of bands, said Perry, who previously staged a tribute to the Beatles’ “White Album” to mark that landmark disc’s 40th anniversary.

Source: www.sacbee.com

Porn Clip: Young Woman Plays with Her Rabbit Vibrator

Source: edstrong.blog-city.com

Movie Review: A fitting tribute to the late King of Pop

The mesmerizing “This Is It” pays tribute to Michael Jackson as a singer, dancer and, most strikingly, as the guy in charge.

Judging from the behind-the-scenes footage contained in this concert film (or more precisely, rehearsal film), Jackson still possessed, at age 50, the moves, the pipes and the ability to command the camera’s and audience’s attention.

More illuminating, however, is the way he commands the whole show in “This Is It.” Though always polite in interacting with musicians, dancers and lighting people, Jackson comes across as an exacting boss.

It is an idea somewhat at odds with the demure manner Jackson exhibited in interviews. But maybe the key to why he compels so fully in this film is that he isn’t interviewed. Rather, he is simply observed in his element – performing on stage or explaining to music supervisor Michael Bearden, during rehearsal, that the intro to “The Way You Make Me Feel” needs to “simmer” longer.

The Jackson of “This Is It” knows how to combine, for maximum effect, his own talents with those of top-tier background dancers, musicians and singers. He also had a strong hand in producing the sophisticated music videos made in conjunction with the 50-show London concert series for which he was rehearsing at the time of his death in June.

One gets the feeling the Jackson we see on screen would not fully approve of the movie he’s in. Not because of its content, necessarily, but because his perfectionist tendencies might cause him to blanch at director Kenny Ortega’s occasional use of out-of-focus or otherwise raw-looking footage.

On the whole, Ortega (who also appears in the film, as Jackson’s creative partner in planning the stage show) did a wonderful job in putting together “This Is It” in only a few months. Working with footage never intended for the big screen, Ortega succeeds in showcasing not just Jackson but the process of mounting a behemoth stage production.

When a background dancer pops out of an opening in the stage floor and into the air, toaster-style, it gives us insight into the intricacies – not to mention athleticism and hydraulics – involved in such a huge show. Though a concert that is choreographed within an inch of its life can give one an empty feeling in its final form, seeing the genesis of such a show fascinates.

How Jackson’s stage show would have been received never will be known. But “This Is It” strongly suggests he would have surprised people with the degree to which he had retained his onstage magic.

As Jackson performs “Billie Jean,” the years seem to fall away. Even during slower numbers, Jackson brims with an energy that tends to snake up his torso and flick out his hands.

At some moments, however, he looks exceptionally thin, even frail. The film doesn’t indicate its scenes’ chronological order (the footage was shot in the four months before Jackson died), but one can assume that scenes in which he looks thinner were shot later, after months of strenuous physical activity.

Or rather, one is forced to assume, because “This Is It” puts nothing into context beside Jackson’s talent and professionalism.

A safe approach, to be sure, but ultimately a smart one. If the filmmakers had attempted to frame the rehearsal footage within the context of Jackson’s offstage life, it would have seemed rushed or distasteful, given the movie’s release just four months after his death.

The glimpses “This Is It” allows into Jackson’s professionalism and the long stretches it devotes to his magical stage presence do not feel like exploitation. They feel like gifts.

Source: www.sacbee.com

Davis’ Christopher Koehler one of 31 men writing in ‘The Good Men Project’

Christopher Koehler, who made a positive decision in a time of crisis, is one of the essayists in “The Good Men Project: Stories From the Front Lines of Modern Manhood.”

It was Christmas Day, and Christopher Koehler was in the throes of the depression that had plagued him for much of his life.

He thought about suicide. Then he considered what that would do to his 5-year-old son, who was in the house with him.

“There are few times in this life where I have found we are given to understand something very clearly,” said Koehler, sitting on a sofa in the Davis home he shares with his son and husband. “And that was one of those moments.”

Koehler, 39, a freelance editor and writer and stay-at-home dad who had been on and off medication, made a decision for the sake of his son. He would try to work through his depression on a daily basis, even if that meant a “fake it till you make it” approach at first.

He and his son since have grown closer, Koehler says. He hopes his essay describing that Christmas Day, part of the new anthology “The Good Men Project: Stories From the Front Lines of Modern Manhood,” will speak to people with depression, gay parents – and any parent who can appreciate his exceptional candor in discussing the challenges of interacting with a small child.

“People don’t talk about how hard parenting is,” Koehler said. “And I think if more people admitted that, maybe we would be a lot happier as parents.”

Composed of 31 essays by men from around the country – gay, straight, married, divorced, devoted to their families or regretful about their absences – the “Good Men” essay compilation and its accompanying DVD, out Tuesday, chronicle life-changing and life-affirming moments in men’s lives.

Part of a nonprofit aimed at at-risk boys and men, the “Good Men” compilation is the most prominent of several current books targeting issues affecting males.

“More is expected of us as fathers, more is expected of us as husbands, and we are still trying to be a provider at some level,” said “Good Men Project” co-founder Tom Matlack. Though conflicting expectations for men have existed for some time, Matlack says the issue has crystallized amid wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that are being fought primarily by men and, more pointedly, by a recession that has hit male workers hardest.

Insecurities about employment have “catalyzed these issues that have been coming the whole time” about men’s roles, Matlack said.

Offering essays by Wall Street power brokers, a war photographer and a former inmate at Sing Sing prison, the “Good Men” essays share a humility, a bracing honesty and a willingness to reveal the male mind-set without trying to defend it.

“We don’t make the argument that men are oppressed,” Matlack said. “From our standpoint, well, men certainly do have more power than women. (But) women have spent the past 25 years liberating themselves to come to the point where they have a well- defined emotional vocabulary and are able to talk about conflicts and roles that they are trying to maintain. … Men are just kind of getting to that point.”

The project started with Matlack and James Houghton, former partners in a Boston venture capital firm, discussing the sometimes stark contrasts between men’s personal and public lives. Matlack, for instance, had as a younger man been wildly successful in business but also hard-drinking and emotionally distant from his family – a state from which he emerged only after his first wife left him, taking their two children.

Matlack, 44, who writes about his own journey in the essay “Crash and Learn,” found that he and other men in his circle wanted to overcome the reticence many men feel about discussing their interior lives.

“But we were a bunch of 45-year-old white guys, and that is not very interesting,” Matlack said. So he reached out, through friends, associates and contacts in the publishing industry, to men with diverse backgrounds and experiences.

The “Good Men” founders also held an essay contest, which is how Koehler, who read about the project in a rowing magazine, became involved.

“In our very diversity as men, the commonalities become even more resounding,” Matlack said.

Whether set in prison or in suburban homes where brothers settle differences by duking it out, the essays explore aggression as part of the fabric of the male experience. If there is a prevailing theme to the content, however, it is the difficulties men can experience in adjusting to fatherhood.

“A woman carries a child for nine months, so she is used to living with a third party” during her pregnancy, said Rolf Gates, a Santa Cruz yoga teacher, entrepreneur and former Army Ranger who contributed to the book. “The guy’s life doesn’t change during that time, because his wife can still go to the movies with him and to dinner with him.”

Then, suddenly, a baby arrives and promptly bonds mostly with the mother.

“The guy goes through a hard time that first three years” of a child’s life, said Gates, 45, who recalls feeling guilty that his wife had to get up with his two children when they were babies, even though he needed to sleep to be able to function at work the next day to provide for his family.

As an African American man who had been adopted, along with two Korean American siblings, by white parents, Gates also had to acclimate himself to unexpected aspects of family life.

“This was the first time anyone in my family looked like me!” he said of his daughter’s birth – a life transition he embraced fully with the help of meditation.

It is the emphasis on transitions, rather than the “men” aspect, that Gates appreciates most about the book. Indeed, the touchstones of his poignant essay “A Death and a Birth” involve females – the suicide of his beloved elder sister and the birth of his daughter.

“There is an unfolding into a person’s potential” whether that person is male or female, said Gates, who details how the death of his sister, who had addiction issues, inspired his own commitment to sobriety.

Another unifying factor in the essays is straightforward, unfettered language that separates the “Good Men” compilation from books in the self-help genre.

“Men stay silent because they are afraid they are going to end up on Oprah’s couch crying their eyes out,” Matlack said. “That would never work. … Our answer is we need to develop our own vocabulary. … It is really about men telling hard-hitting, brutally honest stories about what is really important to them.”

Source: www.sacbee.com

ass parade.com