Have a question? Email erin@nerve.com. Letters may be edited for length, content and clarity.
Dear Miss Information,
I'm a Seattle guy in his thirties who identifies as straight. I love women — especially giving them oral. But here's my secret: I've been sleeping with pre-op transsexuals. At first it was just oral, but my "friend" and I were partying a little too hard the other night (marijuana, alcohol and a little crystal). The next thing I know, I'm doing full-on anal — giving and receiving. I don't want to imply it was forced. I know on some level I must have wanted it, if I'm being honest with myself. No one knows any of this. My friend circle would be shocked. In the past I've made fun of swishy flamer-type gay men. I guess I felt threatened. Should I just tell them, since they're eventually going to find out? I'm not prepared to deal with this. I have so much drama going on in other areas of my life. If I do tell them, do I say I'm gay? Straight? Help! — Foggy Outlook
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Dear Foggy Outlook, What is this with "a little crystal"? That's like "child-safe ecstasy" or "organic speedballs." Yeah, you might get away with a dibble or a dabble, but the overwhelming majority of users cannot. Outing yourself as a tranny-loving flyboy may help you, but outing yourself as a mixed-up guy on the verge of a substance-abuse problem at an AA or NA meeting might help more. Are you gay? I don't think so. Are you totally straight? Uh-uh. You're somewhere in the middle, which is — despite what the religious right will tell you — completely normal. So normal that you don't have to make a big proclamation or announcement. People don't share that kind of stuff in normal discourse: "How are you, Sally?" "I'm okay, Phil. By the way, I love to watch auto-fellatio videos!" "Oh, really? See me, I like rope play. What's with this crappy weather, huh?" If you've been reading my column for a while you know that I rarely let anyone off this easy with the communication homework. As such, I have a few alternate assignments from the Harvey Milk school:
- Wear condoms with every partner, every time.
- Get tested for HIV and other STDs.
- Tell your partners that you're having anal sex with other people. There's an increased risk associated, so it's good they know.
- Make a donation to a group like GLAAD or, if being broke is part of the drama, at the very least cool it with the homophobe talk.
Dear Miss Information,
I recently left a very short, very intense relationship. Okay, I'll be more blunt: I got dumped. On my birthday. In bed. Three days before a scheduled trip to beautiful Puerto Rico. It's been more than half the amount of time we were together since the breakup and I still find myself thinking of her — even dreaming of her. I realize that she's the loser here. She's missing out on something great. But the problem is, I'm still hurting over it and I still miss her something terrible. I've tried going on a bender — didn't help. Tried to lose myself in other women — they're not her. I've tried introspection — no dice. My question is, how do you, a noted expert on loving, get through a tough breakup? — Can't Think of a Witty Handle |
Dear Can't Think, How do I get over a heartbreak? Poorly. Same as everybody else. I go from mad to sad to happy to horny, until I've covered every shade and spectrum of human emotion. I write long, expository blog entries, and revel in comments like, "Yeah, you're totally right!" and "Fuck him!" from a group of online friends I've carefully groomed to agree with my every word, like some kind of cyber-narcissistic Greek chorus. I scour the internet looking for Facebook updates and rereading old emails when I should be focusing on paid work and creative projects. I talk to my best friend. My shrink. My sister. My mother. My sister again, so I can calm down after talking to my mother. I guess one thing I consistently do that I haven't observed in everybody else — or at least a good number of people who write me letters — is that I don't have a lot of contact with my exes. Interacting with them right after the breakup is bad news, I've found. It always inflicts pain on one or more parties. When it doesn't, it's a temporary sort of pleasure that you have regrets about the next morning, week, etc. as the complications set in. Like eating McDonald's. In addition to being pain-avoidant, another reason I don't talk to my exes a lot is that I'm bad at masking my feelings and too stubborn to grovel. Why would I chill with someone I can barely keep it together in front of, when it's much easier and more enjoyable to hang out with a friend and go crazy in private? The final thing I do, and listen up, Can't Think, because you need to do this too: I don't give myself time limits. I assume your "half the amount of time we were together" is referring to that old equation which stipulates six months healing time for every year of a relationship. I hate to use harsh language, but that's poppycock. You can't put an time limit on how a relationship is going to affect you. It's a reflection of who you are, who that person is and what's going on in the rest of your life. I've mourned short relationships harder and longer than ones that have lasted years. It makes no sense, but neither does anything else. You're on a journey, Grasshopper. There is no end. If you're trying to arrive at a specific place (i.e. getting over her), you might as well stop. You won't know what it looks like until you get there. You might even be there for a while before you realize where the fuck you are. Live. Breathe. Endure. Try to make the majority of your steps forward and realize a few will be backward. Take care of yourself and, if all else fails, listen to schlocky Bruce Springsteen and eat peanut-butter cookies.
©2008 Erin Bradley and Nerve.com
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Commentarium (16 Comments)
Ah, time after a break-up. Once I lost a lot of weight, another time I slept with everything with a penis. The weight guy, he dumped me 12 years ago and I still read his blog (though, to be fair to me, we were friends in high school and I was madly in love with him for 4 years before we dated, so he was the First Love and all that, plus he's really creative and always has something interesting going on); the promiscuity guy, it's been 3.5 years since he dumped me, and I _just_ started to get over him. I directly spoke to his wife (yep, the one he dumped me for) for the first time a month ago, and didn't go home and cry after seeing him.
It may seem to people that I hold on too long, but that's 2 guys out of the 40 I've slept with, plus unnumbered others I've dated, hung out with, or made out at a party with. I don't give my heart lightly. Very few people "speak" to me, and therefore I miss them for a lot longer, I think.
I'd agree with your advice to the first dude that he isn't gay - except that his admission of homophobia makes me think he's much, much more gay than straight.
Can't Think of a Witty Handle,
She doesn
hey Miss I, you give great advice, i've just got to say. i used to read your column after another favorite columnist (dan savage) but now i read you first. i still love dan but i love you, too!!! thanks for all : )
Really great post-breakup advice. Especially that there is no secret formula to get over the heartache. Sometimes it just hurts. Bad. For a long time. I would just add that staying busy helps a lot, especially through the early days. Even if you're just watching tv or playing video games, try to get a roommate or a friend to join, b/c you're more likely to interact with them rather than slipping into the funk of dwelling on the ex.
I suspect this won't be popular advice here, but the best thing you can do to get over a breakup is treat yourself as if you've been very, very sick and need to heal physically and emotionally. In other words - after the first day or two at least - no booze. No overeating. No long tearful discussions with friends. No angry emails. No drama. REPEAT: no drama. Make a project out of being healthier than you ever have been in your life. Eat well. Exercise. Drink water. Go to bed early, get up early. Read good books you've been putting aside. Clean your apartment, get rid of anything you don't need. Wash your car. Take up yoga or meditation. Cut way, way down on media consumption, and throw yourself into whatever interests you have that sustain you - gardening, building stuff, hiking, painting, soccer, whatever your thing is. Take up something new you've always been interested in. There's an old rule about sadness - when you're sad, the best cure is to learn something. Engage your mind to distract your heart. After a while, you'll feel better, and you won't have wasted months of your life in wallowing. Healing is a slow process. You can't make it happen, you can only set up the best conditions for it to progress.
One thing to consider while recovering from a breakup is who your ex actually is. You may be mourning the loss of your fantasy of who the person was, rather than the person him/herself. This is especially true in short-lived relationships. With your new perspective, list what made the person so special, and see if these things hold up to reality. Given that you are so upset and/or surprised at being dumped, there are probably some incorrect beliefs to weed out.
Great article on getting over an ex - I have had a very similar experience and hearing your last comment about putting no limits on it is dead right... Thanks
Re: The time limits thing = I'm really, really glad you wrote that, Miss Info. Sometimes the "ouch" never really goes away.
Thanks Miss Info. I've saved a copy of your advice for future reference as I'm going through a really tough breakup right now. I also found the book 'why we love' by Helen Fisher helpful. It talks about love on a scientific level - goes through a lot of stuff but I bought it for the section on how to get over lost love. May be of interest to you as well.
Don't fill the void with food. You'll regret it later.
If I were in the bumper-sticker business, I'd market one with "HAVE YOU BLESSED YOUR EX TODAY?". Best break-up therapy I can think of (even for agnostics).
This is one of your best weeks, E. Awesome column as always, but with an even larger than usual scoop of empathy. Well said.
Your writing is simple great, Especially for beginners!
Whay are you don't write about politic?
Now you say something