I’ve been going through a tough time since the break-up. But, I’m getting better. Frankly, I just haven’t felt like writing or being creative. I’ve been drinking too much and watching too much TV, not to mention watching too much porn. I’ve been very lazy. Over the last several weeks, however, I feel like I finally have turned the corner and am on a new and much improved street.
But let’s get back to what I’m sure caught your attention in the first paragraph. Porn. Now, I realize that I have a rather diverse, yet small, group of readers. And I’m sure that all of you have strong feelings about this topic. Some of you may be “disgusted” by it. Some of you may be “confused” by it. Some of you may have numerous online subscriptions to various porn websites. Whatever. There is room in this world for all of you. And I’m not here to discuss the benefits or detriments of porn. So please don’t turn my blog’s comment section into a porn discussion board. Different strokes for different folks. eh hm.
Anyway, in the interest of full disclosure, here’s my perspective. After all, it is my blog. I like porn, I like nudity, I like sex. I always have. And I treat it like I try to treat anything else in my life: Moderation in all things.
Here’s a little history of me and porn. It all started in 1985 when I was in 5th grade. A friend of mine named Bret invited me to his house to show off his stash. Evidently he had been slowly stealing Hustler magazines from his dad’s collection. As I entered his bedroom that special day, I had no idea what awaited me. But, I was lucky, Bret was already a porn “pro” and was able to explain to me what all the parts were and what they did. Honestly, 24 years later, I still haven’t thanked Bret for what would be my initial lesson in sex education. My parents were not what I would call communicative. We did not discuss problems or even really have any kind of discussions at all. Especially when it came to sex. So I was clearly on my own. Until Bret stepped up to the plate. Thanks, Bret, I owe you one.
Without getting too graphic, let’s just say I learned on that very special afternoon a lot about human anatomy. Honestly, I don’t remember much about the woman in the picture. But I can still describe to you in full detail the man (including his feathered, bleach blond hair and 80s porn ‘stache). It was enough to fully pique my interest. And from that moment on, I was incredibly curious about men’s anatomy. My imagination went wild. Which is why I loved my new best friend…the JC Penney Catalog. You see, the JC Penny catalog had like a 5 or 6 page spread of men in their underwear. It was like the holy grail of soft porn. And when my Grandma would receive her quarterly catalog, I was in underwear heaven. It was like being allowed to visit a guy’s locker room–without the teasing and shame and threats of swirlies.

I think this model (on left) is actually Ashton Kutcher's dad...
Well, my history with porn strangely came full circle this past summer when I was home visiting my grandma. While sitting next to my grandmother showing her pictures that I had taken at the Iowa State Fair, I inadvertently entered into a very special and very private section of pictures in iPhoto. Shit. Yes, that’s right. I accidentally showed my 88-year-old grandmother gay porn. Full on, hard penis, legs spread, gay porn. And this was G-ma’s response to seeing some random dude in all his glory: “Ohhhhhhh.” Immediately my fingers fumbled across the keyboard, in an effort to close iPhoto, only to forward through several more naked photos. Finally, flustered and unable to stop the peep show, I just slammed the laptop shut. I took a deep breath, feeling my face burning red, and slowly slid away from G-ma. After several minutes of painful and complete silence I simply said, “I’m kind of tired, Grandma, I think I’ll go to bed.” And that was that.
My family has mastered the art of not talking about things, at least directly. So I called my sister the next day and told her. It’s just how we communicate. I’m fairly confident Grandma and I will never talk about it. Just like we never talked about why the men’s underwear section of her JC Penney’s Catalog was always missing or left tattered.