Heh. I've hugged both msbelle and Jesse. They managed to just barely stifle their impulse to recoile in horror.

Happy Birthday, Fred Pete!

I didn't!! I might have missed it, but I didn't skip!

While the whole paying for cuddles thing kinda squicks me, some of my best yoga sessions have involved a lot of touching. I'm crap at learning physical stuff, so when a yoga teacher puts her hands on my body and moves it into the position she wants it, there's often a *click* of "Oh, yeah, this does feel more stable/stretchy/whatever." But there's a very clear idea of who is touching and where and how/when/why. There's no emotional context other than, "Let's get this right."

I enjoy getting my hair cut as long as the shampoo person stays the fuck away from my neck. I love a good head massage, but I have neck-touching issues and have walked out of haircuts because the stylist ignored my "Please don't touch my neck" requests.

When I told a doctor the same thing once, her answer was "Were you ever strangled?" She seemed genuinely surprised that I hadn't.

t goes back and reads

Well, it's not like anyone is surprised I'm slow on the uptake. I just found out "Afternoon Delight" was a song about sex!

I just found out "Afternoon Delight" was a song about sex!

Was it from that Arrested Development episode?

I just found out "Afternoon Delight" was a song about sex!

Perky, antiseptic, "Up With People" sex though.

Well, it's not like anyone is surprised I'm slow on the uptake. I just found out "Afternoon Delight" was a song about sex!

Right, and you found Emaline under a cabbage leaf...

I realize that the majority of the time I'm ground-fighting with other guys and that I do feel kind of self-conscious in the rare instances I'm paired up with a woman

It's the bits inbetween the fighting that seem surreal for me. Like when you pause in midguard to have a conversation with someone else, or listen to the instructor or tell a joke, and you realise you have your legs wrapped around the waist of some guy you've only just met, and in a second will be pulling him down on top of you.

Of course, the scenarios that are plainly the attacker trying to pin you are inherently squicky, but it's self-defense and as Jars mentions -- mental training.

I touch when I teach. It's just what I need to do to get body parts in the right place, or see what it's supposed to feel like (krav does translate to contact, after all). Maybe there have been a couple times when it was charged, but we both knew and studiously avoided admitting it.

Was it from that Arrested Development episode?

No, I was listening to Perkins' AM Gold cd's one afternoon and I liked the songs so I looked up the lyrics and laughed and laughed and laughed.