Please Send Me Absolutely Free

  Folks are bitterly opposed to all of the new charges on AFF, yet it seems to be a trend affecting all "meet people" apps. Here is a New York Times opinion essay titled   It's Not You: Dating Apps are Getting Worse .  It's a "gift" link so you should be able to read it without being a subscriber. TL,DR if you don't want to read the essay:  Modern dating apps spoiled us for a number of years by allowing users to operate on their app even without subscribing.  This was enabled by low interest rates and lots of venture capital floating around.  In other words, they weren't really making money with that approach but were still able to keep operating because of infusions of cheap capital. Now, increasingly, there are add-on charges.   Some sites segregate the more "desirable" members and one has to pay extra to be able to see and contact those profiles.  Tinder supposedly has rolled out a $500 a month plan. 🤯 That actually isn't all that n...

 I'm seeing an increasing number of comments that even Gold members, when trying to view a photo album on someone's profile, are getting prompted to pay $14.99 for the "Voyeur Package" or pay 100 points. It's a bait and switch, as someone commented - why else to do people pay for Gold membership if not to look at pictures?   Seeing as the messaging privileges don't get most men anywhere. It's so outrageous that I almost wonder if it's a programming error - that when they went to add the pop-up for Standards, they added it for everyone. If it's NOT an error, they must really be in dire straits.

  Sometimes on my social media feed I will get delivered a New Yorker cartoon. The other day it was this one: I studied it. The drawings of the grumpy gardening tools were hilarious. But I knew I had to be missing something. I looked in the comments. Several people referred to "WCW". I was still in the dark. So of course I had to google red wheelbarrow. Whaddya know - it's a poem. I confess, poetry isn't my thing. I'm sure if I had been an English major I would have known this. But the cartoon's idea of animate gardening equipment tickled my fancy. I picture mine gradually waking up from a long winter's nap. Getting prematurely excited when I pulled them out to reorganize them and put them into a different spot in the garage (The Great Garage Cleanup of Spring 2024). Never fear my lovelies. Soon. Soon. Next weekend is the gigantic plant sale to benefit the Friends' School of Minnesota. I haven't volunteered for several years - first because of the ...

 Here we go... Craft report Couple of finished objects, recently. First, the Aveena sweater. I'm happy with how it turned out except for the tiny botched stitch halfway down the right hand sleeve (your left). Second, my mosaic table top. In which I managed to repurpose some of the left over tiles, from the bathroom wall tiles that I rejected. It's funny, the colors looked so puegy up on the bathroom wall, but I think they look pretty on this table top. I'm not completely satisfied with the grout. I just smoothed it with my hands. It probably would have been better if I had an actual leveling tool, and a sturdier sponge. But all in all I'm happy and maybe I'll even end up doing a mosaic on the bottom tray of the coffee table, too. Not Crafts I went with two of my besties to see Robyn Hitchcock last night. I first got to like him when a long ago boyfriend introduced me to Fegmania and Gotta Let This Hen Out. He also was in a band called the Soft Boys that had some dis...

 An AFF member posted in Club 7 today that he was no longer able to access chat rooms without getting a pop-up message prompting him to either upgrade to gold or fork over 50 points. Other people stated that they weren't having that issue, however a knowledgable member reminded everyone that the site tends to do a gradual rollout of changes like this so it could be 25% of people are seeing it and the other 75% will get it later. Another member just chimed in, Until just moments ago,,, EVERYTHING was going,,, Great, going as normal... So, I finish up on the Community Side and go to check on the Dating Side,,, I had noticed a few minor changes earlier, the searches were set up differently. But When I go back a few ago,,, EVERYTHING is a Pop-Up,,, Pay for This, Pay for That.... $14.95 to see My Hotlist $14.95 to see Who's viewed me $14.95 to see My Friends Upgrade To Gold OR 50 points per comment In ANY Blog Or Group Chat Room They must be desperate to get people to upgrade.  I...

Witchy picture just for decoration: I should start by explaining that my profile tag line says “Mostly here to blog - select exceptions apply”. Received at the end of March: Let me be your exception. I'm a guitarist and I'll hold your curves like a fine instrument and make you sing. Ok, that was super corny. But at least it wasn’t a crass suggestion to “fill all my holes” or something like that. He was my age and seemingly local, so I went to look at his profile - I’ll admit I do that for everybody, even those who are obviously unsuitable, just because I’m a curious kitty. Turned out he was married. So I replied, “Thanks, but… you’re married, not my thing.” Almost three weeks later (maybe after his “fine instrument” line bombed out with everyone else he approached?) he sent this: Hey there, I hope you’re doing well! So here’s the deal. I’m offering you, without a doubt, some of the best sex of your life. I say this because I know what I’ve done for my past FWB’s. Lonely married...

  As I've been cleaning out old posts, I came across a travel poll from 2016 so I figured I'd do one again.   I've made it to two of the four destinations that were in that 2016 poll - Spain/Portugal (a cruise around the outer edge) and Greece. Here's some of what I'm considering now, for next year: Machu Picchu and the Galapagos This almost seems...hackneyed? at this point but I'm sure it would be exciting to see Machu Picchu. I suspect overcrowded, though. An African safari I've been a little bit "done" with Overseas Adventure Travel, as the pace is kind of slow and elderly. But I figure a safari consists of sitting in a truck most of the day so that wouldn't really matter. I have several friends who have done safari trips with them and really enjoyed it. Costa Rica Not sure if I would do this through OAT. I think ideal would be a yoga retreat kinda place where I would also have the option to book some adventures. Iceland I'm a little amb...

  Now, we all know I struggle with body image, but I do love the message in this song:  'when I move my body just like this, it feels like freedom'. After much deliberation, I've decided my favorite body part is my deltoids.  Odd choice I know!  I was a lap swimmer for many years and also did some open water swimming in triathlons.  I haven't done much swimming over the past few years because I developed an allergy to chlorine.  I should try it again to see if maybe it went away! Last night I told HWD about the theme this week and asked him what was HIS favorite part of my body. He said, "your wide hips". So here's a photo of those. This post was denied by three different reviewers on a row over on ye olde AFF.  I guess they must have something against giant asses.

HWD was over Thursday night. We had been chatting on and off about taking pictures in my new shower, so we decided to experiment a bit - figuring out best spot in the bathroom to put the phone, seeing whether the shower glass would fog up just the right amount, etc. HWD did some video of himself while I was undressing. It was hot. 😊 He has a very nice, lean body and I'm pretty sure the situation was arousing him, because while not erect, he looked very big. 🤭 Then he stopped that video and started a new one. We showered together, embraced, kissed, etc. Once we were all cleaned up we stopped the video, dried off, and climbed into bed to watch our not-exactly-a-sex-tape. His first comment was, "Oh my god I'm so much shorter than you!" 😂 I mean, he   knows   that I'm taller, as he put it, "I know that my chin only comes up to your shoulder but I never realized what it looks like from the outside". My overall reaction was that I didn't like how my bod...

 I've been going through the laborious process of saving off posts on AFF (my count has gone from 1890 to 1765 - woo hoo). Today I stumbled across this post from 2014 - I would love to re-post it there, but of course there's no way it would get approved by the reviewers of today.  So here you go... Who's Minding the Store? There have been a number of posts recently talking about how so many people (ok let's call it as it is - MEN) don't follow norms of respectful behavior on AFF. I heard a fascinating podcast story yesterday that tied in with this issue. First - a recommendation if you like listening to podcasts: check out Snap Judgement. It's a similar format to This American Life - three or four different stories around a selected theme - but the host, Glynn Washington, is like the anti-Ira Glass. Don't get me wrong, Ira Glass is my uber-crush - I go in for that nerdy Jewish intellectual type. Washington's delivery is completely different, but really e...

  HWD helped me with photos this week. Here's the photo that inspired me (even though she's holding crochet hook, not knitting needles). And here are my versions. And while we're talking about knitting, here's my latest FO (finished object): True confession - I used PicsArt on the third picture and used the tooth whitening tool.  It was like a miracle!  What a game changer!  Of course if you ever meet me in person I still will have teeth that look like I've been drinking coffee for 45 years.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been hanging out on Reddit lately and one of the sub-Reddits I follow is about menopause.   I’ve been truly struck by the number of posts expressing pure rage, or coming to a realization that they actually don’t really like their husband (and vice versa). A sampling of post titles: Menopause is so fun.   Hopefully I can keep from getting fired. Menopause has made me realize that my family doesn’t like me. Rage playlist - I’m looking for your loudest, ragiest, hardcore songs that I can add to my rage playlist Losing it.   Lost it. Menopausal insanity? I wanted to slap a teenage girl today My marriage is over Don’t get me wrong, these aren’t the majority of posts - most of them are about hormone replacement therapy and the usual variety of symptoms; hot flashes and night sweats, and so on.   But I find it striking and it also brought me back to the post I did a while back about all of the women in the 50+ solo travel Fb group whose marria...

 The guy who I follow, who posts vintage erotica pics, dropped a few for Easter and I was struck by how the Easter bunny was kinda creepy in all of these: And I have my own contribution.  The bunny doesn't look especially creepy in the picture, but I have a clear memory of looking up and his eyes were these mesh-covered holes, and it freaked me out lol. Oh, late breaking add - I found this treasure trove of pictures that proves Easter bunnies are more often creepy than not:   57 Creepy Easter Bunnies I no longer particularly celebrate Easter (aside from buying some Starburst jelly beans when I was at Walgreen's yesterday, a rare indulgence).  But still appreciate the sentiment of spring hopefulness.  

  The therapist, Seth, was waiting in the lobby when I arrived. I should note that I scheduled with him because on someone's post on my neighborhood page, a couple different people had recommended him. He looked....alternative lol. He was wearing shorts despite it being 30 degrees outside, had lots of tattoos, and had those earlobe stretcher thingies. I'm not bothered by this stuff, just an observation. We went back to his studio and had a fairly lengthy conversation discussing what was going on with my body and what his plans were on how to spend the 75 minutes. He noted that he would communicate a bit early on to make sure the pressure was what I wanted, then would be mostly silent for the rest of the time. Glory hallelujah! One of the things I wasn't crazy about with my last therapist was that he was a Chatty Cathy. For me that's distracting from really feeling what's being done on my body. He left for me to undress, I got face down on the table. When he came in ...