Joni… You. Are. Good! 95, 91 and 88? Most of us recreational golfers would be very pleased - perhaps joyful is a better word - to get those scores. Despite my way high handicap, I’m passionate about golf and write about it for a living. The thing is; Country Club Culture is not Golf Culture. The game itself is not exclusionary, it’s pure and beautiful. Admittedly, golf has an image problem due to its history of segregation and sexism…not to mention fashion faux-pas like plaid plus fours and argyle overdose. As you mention, segregation and sexism still exist in the lush, leafy country club bastions of affluent suburbs, however now we have friendly public courses all over the country, in every town and city, and we have first tee programs to introduce kids from all backgrounds to the game and support them in their pursuit of it. Finally, we have more and more evangelists for the fun game. The open, inclusive, magical game that everyone can be a part of. And guess what? Plaid and argyle are on all the runways this season. :o) So, go hit ‘em straight this weekend and keep it in the short grass…and may all your lies be white or playable. — Patricia http://thegolfgirl.blogspot.com

I’d guess it’s partly primal and partly culturally imposed, but the fact is men are more likely to cheat and more likely to receive kudos and compliments if they don’t. Rarely is admiration expressed for a woman who remains faithful though a woman has far more opportunities to have meaningless sexual flings than a man does, can often have them with much younger more attractive partners and never has to pay for them. The root of this behavior is the different reproductive responsibilities of a male vs a female and the way society has developed around them. Personally, I think women have it so much better then men.

Doesn’t almost every guy over 35 use Viagra or some kind of ED formulation…at least if he’s planning to have sex? I’m pretty sure most do …and as one commenter suggested, how would you actually know? Most don’t talk about it because they don’t want their partner to feel like an outside enhancement is needed for her to stimulate him. Kind of a nice gesture, I’d venture, right? Lot’s of younger guys use it too. It’s become such a part of our culture and Men aren’t like women who often shy away from sexual and physical enhancements they feel might be perceived as unnatural. Men tend to just go for it.

Actually…I wasn’t born with great breasts…LOL…but I developed them and had them throughout my youth. Now I’ve got them again. d:o)

I have artificial breasts and I’m really, really happy with them. I was born with great breasts but over the several decades of my life, gravity took its toll and they lost their beautiful full look. A totally natural transformation and one which many women accept. I look at it differently, however. I maintain my house, I maintain my car and I maintain my wardrobe. Why would I not maintain my breasts. The surgery was a snap very little pain, very little downtime. I do play golf, and had to adjust my swing, but that’s done, and now I’m just delighted. I know it’s not for everyone, but for me it was the right decision and I don’t regret it at all.

What about the Martha Stewarts and Donald Trumps who claim to thrive on only four hous of sleep a night and indicate that the rest of us are lazy, self indulgent and low functioning when we insist on eight?

Yes, it seems like it was so recently that you never saw Russians outside of …the USSR.

It’s so hard for women to accept the fact that the vast majority of men, if they felt reasonably sure they wouldn’t get caught, would cheat in a NY minute. With almost ANY type of woman. That’s just the way they’ve evolved due to perceived male/female reproductive responsibilities…or lack thereof. It’s also difficult for many women to believe that the vast majority of men crave “freaky” sex. Threesomes, exhibitionisunm anal oral…anything but ordinary. Yes they do. Even if they pretend not to. Espedially if they pretend not to, I would venture to say. Ultra rare is the woman (particularly) over 35 that crave that. It’s a recipe for sex scandals.

This is fascinating in that is says so much about so many elemental issues, and really brings to light how very different men and women are in relation to sex and sexuality. More than Mars / Venus different. More like entirely seperate Universes different!

Oh I beg to differ with you on Hillary girls, she flirts. Most definitely, and no, it’s not flirting in the sense of lust, it’s that “flirting socially” that you eluded to. The NH moment. Warm, and friendly…and a little vulnerable. Right? Doesn’t that sound flirtingly familiar? And it worked too, because, it was in fact, charming. I know I was charmed. And I’m rarely charmed by Hillary ;o) The point is, flirting is essentially the act of trying to win someone over with charm, so why does it necessarily have to be a man / woman thing? And why shouldn’t women use it the way men do to connect to a particular audience. Women of our generation tended to be very cautious about appearing feminine and flirty due to the work environment we came into in the last century, but I do believe that’s changing. It’s a fascinating topic in any case. Great to be able to discuss it here.

Liz, what a pleasure to have “access” to you here. Your stories sparkle. Keep them coming.

The interview with Ichan was disturbing in that his brand of self centered corporate swashbuckling is at the root of many of the monumental problems facing the US economy today. And he knows it and he’s fine with it. To me he came off as creepy and unappealing much like many of the men I encounter in my professional life. {{mini rant}}

The minute one becomes a “public persona / person with authority”, what one says is subject to an entirely new set of consequences. Samantha Powers is brilliant, but slipped up with the comments she made because, in her position of authority and consequence, what she says will be analyzed and taken seriously. This is propitious when what’s said reflects her characteristic brilliance, less so in the case of a lapsus linguae.