Sunday, December 26, 2010

New Year's Resolution: Have Good Conversations

I recently told a friend about a salon I'd attended, and he said, "Salon? Like a hair salon?" No, my dear young readers. A salon, in the centuries old sense of the word, meaning a gathering, an event, a place to be entertained and to learn (to quote Wikipedia) "under the roof of an inspiring host." My friend Alexandra is the very definition of an inspiring host, and she has recently revived her Sunday afternoon salon series, which is part of her larger "vagina verité" project. (She does not like to use capital letters in that phrase, but I forgive her.) If you are in the New York area, I highly recommend that you treat yourself in the coming year to some great conversation, and some provocative art, and go. Here are the details, from Alexandra's content-rich website.

The topic of the December salon will also be the topic of the January salon, "v-anatomy 101." It wasn't a lecture on anatomy & physiology, however. Yes, we looked at some videos and books about the anatomy & physiology of the vulvovaginal area, but mostly we talked about stuff:  sex (of course), vulvovaginal health, first experience with tampons, where we go for information, how much information we want, and at what age - that sort of thing. We also looked at the "v-portraits," which are now one step closer to being in book format, and one happy participant colored in Tee Corinne's famous coloring book. 


If you're not in NY, well, you can still sign up for Alexandra's mailing list, and why don't you think about starting up your own salon series? I co-facilitated one for nearly two years and it was a blast. Be the antidote to Facebook in your community. Stop communicating in 140 characters or fewer.

I want to wish everyone a very happy and healthy new year. Take care of yourselves, and make the world a better place.

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