Dating Deception: When Sex Is On Our Minds, Lying Comes Naturally

First impressions are important, especially when it comes to dating. We all want to be seen in the best light by a potential new romantic flame or sexual partner, but at what point does embellishment turn into an outright lie? If you’ve ever felt like your date or that mysterious stranger you met in the corner of the party isn’t being completely honest with you to better their chances for some bedroom action, a new set of research suggests you were probably right.

- Study Finds

One woman cheated; another was cheated on. Here’s what happened when they tried saving their marriages.

The affair started when her marriage was already falling apart. The decision to cheat was the culmination of several unhappy years of marriage, according to 36-year-old Jessica Lawrence. But the problem started long before, when she dated and soon broke up with her college boyfriend because he was seeing other women. They reconnected a few years after graduation and had a life-changing dinner date. Knowing what she knew, Lawrence says she “set herself up for failure,” but when he kissed her on the forehead, she had a “profound ‘this is the man I’m supposed to be with’ moment and got wrapped up in that fantasy.”

- The Lily

Is Cannabis the Answer to Everything?

One evening a few months ago, I lit a joint of Granddaddy Purple. I had arrived home late—again—from work, anxiety knotting in my chest. There was still so much to do, and I couldn’t seem to start on any of it. I needed to hustle, but first, I needed to relax. Introduced in 2003, Granddaddy Purple is now one of the most popular cannabis strains, largely for its ability to quickly calm users. Mine came prerolled, in recycled packaging printed with soy-based ink, from a Canadian company called 48North; according to the company’s website, the strain is “best loved for evenings spent dreaming (without being asleep, that is).” Each strain 48North produces has a suggested situational pairing: tackling your to-do list, giggling with your best friend, enjoying your favourite meal. I just wanted something to make me feel better.

- The Walrus

Doubting death: how our brains shield us from mortal truth

Brain seems to categorise death as something that only befalls other people. That’s because, researchers say, our brains do their best to keep us from dwelling on our inevitable demise. A study found that the brain shields us from existential fear by categorising death as an unfortunate event that only befalls other people.

- The Guardian

The Married Woman Trying Out Candidates for Her First Affair

Sex Diary : This week, a married woman flirting over Facebook and making lunch dates with men she meets at the gym: 45, married, Upper West Side.

- The Cut

Artist Highlights The Problems Of Our Society Through 30 Illustrations

Just like Neo from The Matrix, we sometimes get a strange feeling deep in our guts that something is not quite right with the world. German artist Steffen Kraft, who also goes by the name Iconeo online, makes amazing social commentary pictures that highlight how ironic, weird and even hypocritical life can sometimes be.

- Madness Hub

How a German inventor's basement experiment led to female orgasms worldwide

When Michael Lenke set out to battle inequality between men and women, he didn't travel far. He walked down a flight of stairs to his hobby cellar in Metten, Bavaria, in southern Germany, took an aquarium pump and a plastic hose and got to work. The inequality Lenke wanted to fix wasn't about money or leadership. It was about the female orgasm.

Many studies show that half of all women rarely or never orgasm. When Lenke read the statistic, he was astonished -- and determined to do something about it.

- cnet

The Incredibly Happy Life of Larry David, TV's Favorite Grouch

The kid is wearing a T-shirt reading “EAT MORE AVOCADO,” one of the designs for sale at this Venice Beach café at which he's a server, along with “WE SELL DESIGNER KALE” and “BEET IT.” He's waiting on me and Larry David, who is of course dressed precisely like Larry David—gray knit hoodie, dark long-sleeve T-shirt with a white shirt beneath that, beige jeans, and sneakers. David chooses or approves all the wardrobe for Curb Your Enthusiasm, and then he keeps all the clothes, from blazers to socks, creating a seamless visual loop between Larry and the character he calls TV Larry.

“Jerry said I dressed like an Upper West Side communist,” David says, referring to the Jerry with whom he created Seinfeld, back in 1989. I think of the look as Alpha TV Writer: In a profession where status is measured by how casually and comfortably one can arrive at work, David's wardrobe qualifies as a kind of normcore bling.

- GQ

STRANGE PIRATE TRADITIONS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT

You knew about the parrots and the Jolly Roger flag and the part where they have to say "arrr," "avast," and "shiver me timbers" all the time because it's like pirate law or something, but there are a bunch of other pirate traditions that you've probably never heard of before. And it's not because they were especially boring traditions that deserve to be forgotten, either, like if there was a pirate tradition about what color socks you were supposed to wear on Tuesdays. On the contrary, these traditions are alternately cool, cruel, and downright progressive and yet somehow never seemed to make it on board the Black Pearl with Captain Jack Sparrow, to the detriment of us all.

- Grunge

Now That’s What I Call a Bedtime Story: F*cked Up Fairytales of Yore

It’s “lights out” for boring bedtime stories. Bye bye to the tired tropes of fairytale princesses, and errant children who somehow pull off the craziest stunts unscathed – I mean, can we just point out that Hansel and Gretel were eating someone’s house? Today, we’re taking a deeper dive into some second-tier fables that didn’t make it to the Disney drawing boards. Figures and legends from around the world that run a shade darker, to deliver a different kind of spice to your dreams tonight. From a princess who spits up diamonds, to Germany’s anti-Santa Claus; from the original, super goth ‘Headless Horseman’ to a psychotic Japanese raccoon, let’s crack open the book on our favourite, f*cked up fairytales of yore…

- Messy Nessy Chic

Is America Ready for the SoulCycle of Sex?

If sex sells, fashion industry alum Daniel Saynt may be one of its finest contemporary salesmen, offering millennial media-savvy marketing and a plan for world domination with his private sex club, NSFW. His aim is to “revolutionize how the world fucks.” But even in 2019, it’s tough to make some people come.

n June of this year, a disturbing e-mail went out to the 2,000-strong membership of the New Society for Wellness, a.k.a. NSFW, a New York-based private pro-sex and cannabis club where a group of mostly 20- and 30-somethings regularly convene to smoke, fuck, and chill (or any of the above).

“This past May has been absolute shit,” Daniel Saynt, the organization’s 36-year-old founder—he calls himself the “chief conspirator”—began, continuing, “I hate to open a message like that, but it’s completely honest. Piles and piles of shit.” The shit, as it were: banning and censorship on various social media platforms as well as public discrimination faced ever since NSFW opened the doors of its very first Clubhouse in Manhattan in 2016. 

- Bazaar

Beautiful. Violent. American. The N.F.L. at 100.

The N.F.L. has never stopped changing. But a few things remain constant, including the league’s popularity and brutality. 

The N.F.L. looks remarkably spry at 100 years old. The game is still spectacularly popular across bipartisan lines in the United States. An array of problems threatens its future — from how it deals with domestic violence to the blackballing of Colin Kaepernick to the concussion crisis to a cord-cutting population migrating away from traditional television. But the league remains enormously popular across lines of gender, race, age, class and even politics, and N.F.L. games remain pretty much the only sure thing for high ratings on the networks’ schedules — in 2018, they accounted for 34 of the top 50 broadcasts.

- The New York Times

How to train your brain to release more happy chemicals

Do you ever wish you could just turn on the happy chemicals in your brain? Imagine how much easier it would make getting out of bed each morning, getting even the most tedious parts of your job done, and finding the energy to consistently show up as your best self for the people you care about the most. But is it really possible – never mind advisable – to try and train our brains for more happiness?

- TNW

Runners Who Get on Your Nerves

- The New Yorker

The Dream Car

This great photo from 1962 shows the NYC Transit Authority ‘Bar Car’ that traveled between Times Square and South Ferry. Adorned with fresh flowers, pastel lighting, and draperies, a bartender served straphangers champagne and bagels between 42nd Street and South Ferry. Today an increased presence of NYPD officers enforcing ‘quality of life issues’ will be quick to a ticket for subway riders enjoying a glass of champagne, but in 1962 the ‘Dream Car’ was part of a Clean Subways campaign sponsored by the New York City Transit Authority.

- NYC Urbanism