Lelo Siri

September 15th, 2010

Lelo Siri

Lelo Siri
N/A from

Lelo has since released the Siri 2.

Ah, the Lelo Siri. How I drooled over this little clitoral vibrator. How I e-mailed all my company contacts and practically begged to review it. How ecstatic I was when someone finally said “Yes, we can send one your way!” How I waited impatiently as it was on the way to my house. I opened the box and the package and was disappointed that it did not come charged. I charged it immediately.

This is not the norm for me, far from it. Sometimes, my excitement wanes so quickly while a toy is in transit that I don’t use it for weeks after I receive it. I used Siri the very first day I had it, as soon as it was charged in fact. Sometimes I use a toy once and then try to forget about it because I am disappointed. I have spent more time with Siri than that.

I very quickly developed some thoughts about Lelo’s newest.

The good:

  • Siri comes in pink, purple and the red I chose. It’s the same as Mona and I am in love with the shade.
  • The velvety silicone is offset by shiny, white plastic (again, like Mona or Ina), which makes for an attractive piece.
  • Siri is rechargeable, like all of Lelo’s buzzy things.
  • Siri’s vibrations are much deeper (rumbly) than those of Lelo’s previous clitoral stimulators (Lily/Nea/Mia). They’re comparable to Mona or Ina in Depth.
  • Siri is easy to use, with the same 4-button setup as other Lelo toys. Siri also features the ability to lock the toy when not in use (but not during use).
  • Siri offers three levels of continuous vibrations and multiple pulsation and escalation settings.
  • The buttons are more accessible, on the top of the toy, as opposed to the bottom where they were on the Lily.
  • Siri isn’t as flat as Lily. I find the rounder and broader shape to be a little more appropriate for what I like (pressure).

The bad:

  • Siri’s buttons might be too accessible. Although larger than the Lily/Nea, Siri is still pretty small, and there’s not a lot of room to place my fingers on top of the toy. Inevitably, I wind up pressing buses because I cannot lock the toy and changing the speed of mode when I do not intend to.
  • Siri still isn’t that strong. Because of my personal tastes, the rumbly vibes make up for this somewhat, but those who need strong and rumbly vibes or strong vibes, regardless of the frequency, will still be disappointed with Siri.
  • Siri has no cover for the charging port. I mean, WTF?! This is standard on most Lelo toys, including Mona and Ina so I’m not sure what happened with this. Does Lelo think it’s less likely this external toy will need a deep clean in the sink? Isn’t that a little presumptuous?

The technical:

  • Siri comes in a black Lelo box and is packaged in a cardboard and plastic package. It rests on top of a cardboard insert to make it look pretty.
  • Lelo includes a 10-year Quality Guarantee, a 1-year warranty, and an instruction manual in the box. There’s also a small white satin pouch for storing Siri.
  • Siri can be cleaned with soap and water if you are careful of the charging port; it is not waterproof.
  • When Siri needs charging, the LED light glows red. During charging, it pulses white and remains solidly lit after charging, which takes about 2 hours.
  • Holding the + and – button locks Siri. If it is on, it will turn off.

What does this mean, you ask?

I found Siri to be more effective than Lily. I have used it several times to achieve one or more orgasms per session on the initial charge, which took fewer than 2 hours. I find the shape to be better for stimulating my clit, but I am frequently annoyed by the placement of the buttons. I would definitely prefer the ability to lock the toy during use. Thus far, I’ve had no issues cleaning the Siri, but I’ve made an effort not to drown out the thing. While I wouldn’t mind if the vibrations were stronger, and I am sure others would agree, the rumblyness makes them quite pleasurable.

Siri is definitely an improvement over previous clitoral offerings from Lelo.

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Short and Sweet

September 10th, 2010

A hand on her hip. Fingers digging into flesh, grasping at bone. She gasps, ruby lips parting in a picturesque silhouette. The hand remains in place, holding her firmly and she remains still, aside from her momentary expression. His other hand roughly fondles her breast, the delicate flesh exposed to the exquisite agony of pinching and pulling and squeezing–all none too lightly.

As if on cue, the hand rests against her skin as he leans his body over hers, his mouth zoning in on her other hip. His breath is hot on her flesh and then his teeth are sinking into it, bruising and cutting her skin. He swirls his tongue inside his mouth, against her skin, before pulling away. His teeth leave marks on her skin as droplets of blood spring from open wounds.

She cries but cuts off shortly as he casts her a swift glance. She clamps her mouth shut as his finger traces the marks on her hip. The touch is gentle but every movement is searing in her imagination, worse than the bite itself. She holds her breath and, almost without realizing it, clenches her thighs. He feels the movement and is upon her in a second, roughly pushing her legs apart. Her vulva glistens in the lamp light, wet from her arousal. Yet, he knows she will be wetter still before the night ends.

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We Vibe II

September 9th, 2010

This is an archived review. WeVibe now makes several options for couples vibrators.

The We Vibe was always a toy that interested me, but not the type of toy I was willing to spend my hard-earned money on. You know the type. But I quickly asked to review it, and it arrived at my door shortly after. GV packed the box with a ton a swag. I mean, damn! A sample GV wipe, refrigerator magnets, a packet of sensitizing lube, and even a sample of massage lotion by Jimmyjane. I think I may be missing something. Regardless, swag is awesome.

I was as surprised by the size of the We-Vibe II as I was by the swag. I shouldn’t have been. I’ve seen countless pictures and several videos but this thing is just.. tiny. Any other dual stimulator vibe I have would dwarf this thing. f course, it makes sense when you consider that you need to be able to insert this and a penis into your vagina.

The We-Vibe II is about the length of the palm of my hand and much slimmer. The “U” shaped design features a thinner, insertable arm with ridges on the inside. These will, ideally, stimulate the G-spot. The external arm, for clitoral stimulation, is thicker and has smoother ridges along the inside (where it will touch the skin).

At the very end of the external party is a tiny, raised circle that you press to operate the toy. It makes an audible click when you do so. However, it is small and a bit more difficult to use when the We-Vibe is in place, as opposed to just sitting in your hand. Fleshy ladies may find their labia blocks access to the button but even without anatomical issue, it is tiny and requires precise movements.

We-Vibe II has a total of 9 settings. High, low, and multiple modes. According to a product card with the toy, these settings are throb, wave, pulse, ramp, tease, ascend and cha-cha. There’s a good mix of pulsation and escalation. I stuck to the steady vibrations, as I usually do.

Let me tell you that the We-Vibe II does not have the strongest vibrations that I have ever experienced but they are damned deep and rumbly. IT’s like.. straddling an idling tractor. Not that I’ve ever done that but that’s how I’d imagine it. The We-Vibe II quickly made me squirt and squirt a lot!

I do have two slight complaints about the controls/settings: no medium?! It threw me off every time. I’d try to increase the vibrations and skip “high” right to “throb.” I enjoy that you can turn the toy completely off just by holding the button for 2 seconds but I’d prefer two buttons so I can cycle either way.

Now, not having a real live penis to fully test out this toy, I opted for a vibrator. I grabbed a ceramic G-spot piece. In hindsight, it may have been wiser to pull a straight toy out of the box as, you know, most penises aren’t rigid, nor do they have an angled head like that. If only I had received my Vixskin dildo a bit earlier. Regardless, I gave it a go.

The toy I used has a 1.5″ diameter. Insertion without the We-Vibe is easy, and I rarely use lube. Insertion with the We-Vibe was a bit difficult. The ceramic obviously offers a lot of rigidity and the core of the insertable arm on the We-Vibe is quite rigid itself. I want to say that insertion would be easier with an actual cock but I’m not sure if that’s actually true.

I can tell you that because the casing of the We-Vibe is made of silicone, you should only use water-based lubes and, because said silicone is sticky in a smooth way, I’d be wary of trying to use it with other sticky toys (silicone, jelly, etc).

After insertion, I found that thrusting caused the We-Vibe to slide further into me, past my G-spot a bit. The general rumblyness of the vibrations still hit the spot but I don’t need pinpoint G-spot stimulation. If you do, I’m willing to bet you’ll spend a lot of time holding the We-Vibe II in place. In fact, I’d say this is not the toy for a rough and rowdy round of sex.

Admittedly, it was a bit uncomfortable when the widest part of the We-Vibe was sitting against the widest part of the toy and my pubic bone, so when it slid further in, the thinner neck wound up against my bone, and it was more comfortable.

Externally, the We-Vibe II just didn’t provide a whole lot of pressure or targeted stimulation. The neck is quite flexible, so I didn’t get the pressure I loved. However, the rumbly vibrations did provide a lot of general stimulation. I probably wouldn’t get off–clitorally–from it, but assuming that I could make it work during intercourse, I think I’d enjoy it.

At least, I would have.. if it hadn’t broken. You see, I used this toy right out of the box (after soap and water washing, of course). It came with a charge already, despite the fact that the manual says to charge it for a day before use. I was talking to Jules, who said that hers came charged but was much stronger after charging so I inserted what I thought was the AC adapter into the little hole under the button. The problem was, it was not the right adapter and I didn’t realize this until after I had it plugged in for several hours–of course!

I unplugged it as soon as I realized this error but the damage was done. My We-Vibe no longer powers on. )= It probably didn’t help that one of the cats decided to use it as a chew toy during charging.

My bad.

But, it does bring to light the fact that the charging port is kind of weird and I don’t really like it. There’s simply a hole in the silicone, and the portal is somewhere in there. You can’t see the edges of the port, like you do on any other rechargeable toy. It’s completely possible to miss the port at all, which I think I did a few times. I kept wondering, “Is it in yet?” It’s not the most difficult thing ever but I found it annoying, probably more so because I was using the wrong adapter at first. d=

Anyway, if it hadn’t broken, I’d have cleaned my We-vibe and put it in the included cinch pouch to prevent it from becoming covered in cat hair like it has. That’s definitely one of the things that I hate about silicone.

As it stands, the We Vibe is interesting enough that I am considering swapping or using some major couponage to replace it.

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Happiness and Love, Totally Mutually Inclusive

September 7th, 2010

I know, I know. A post with a title like that has potential to be all sorts of fucked up. This one’s not. Trust me.

I’m not one of those people who needs love in order to be happy. I have been one of those people but I am not now. Being in love makes things better, I admit, but things can be pretty awesome with it.

Yet, when I feel happiness, I feel love. I feel more love for everyone and everything. My friends, my family, my cats, my possessions, Republicans. It’s true. I feel happy and, by default, I feel and give love. I also feel a lot of gratitude. It’s probably the most awesome way to confuse a group of emotions.

It makes me even happier to think there is such love, that it even exists in the world. That I ever felt it. That anyone else does. It’s kind of a positive catch 22, an upward spiral, if you will.

I think this is making me a better person but even more importantly, a better friend and loved one. That makes me happy, too.

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Sensual Cocoa & Goji Berry Cleansing Bath and Shower Gel

August 31st, 2010

Cocoa & Goji Berry Shower Gel

Cocoa & Goji Berry Shower Gel

This is an archived review of a discontinued product.

Thus far, I have really been satisfied by all the Intimate Organics products I’ve tried. The clitoral gel was intense, the G-spot gel made me squirt, the water-based lube is decent if not smelly and the shower gel is pretty much amazing.

Sensual Cocoa & Goji Berry Cleansing Bath and Shower Gel comes in a 240ml bottle with a press-top cap. The label features a typical woman’s abdomen in blue hues, and the clear bottle shows the gel, which has a porgy (pink + orange) hue.

This cocoa and goji berry scent smells a lot like chocolate-covered cherries with a hint of mocha, to me. Thankfully, the coffee undertones are not strong as I am not a huge coffee fan. This shower gel creates a giant fluffy lather on my shower poof. It’s.. totally fun. It feels silky on my skin and leaves it smooth immediately after. The combination of scent and lather and silkiness make for a great shower experience. I’d say that calling this product “sensual” is right on the money.

And while my skin stays pretty soft during the day, the scent doesn’t stay with me, sadly. I like shower gels that do that, but Sensual Cocoa & Goji Berry Cleansing Bath and Shower Gel just doesn’t. Still, it’s enjoyable in the shower. It’d be great for partner play or a long bubble bath. In fact, you could combine it with Intimate Organics’ bubble bath of the same scent and top the whole thing off with the body souffle. I’m pretty sure you’d smell quite chocolate and fruity, then.

While not the perfect product, Sensual Cocoa & Goji Berry Cleansing Bath and Shower Gel makes my shower time enjoyable and I bet it will last forever.

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Categories: Reviews, Sexual Health and Beauty
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All About the WordPress Database

August 27th, 2010

A lot of my fellow bloggers and reviewers are using WordPress. Whether they started with it or have made the move from another (potentially inferior..) blogging tool, does not matter. What does matter is that many of these bloggers do not have a strong grasp of WordPress or how it works. It’s relatively easy to set up, out of the box, if you are not a demanding customer. However, what happens if you wish to move hosts, change your domain name or something goes wrong with your blog?

What is a database?

For a lot of people, this means turning to their hosts. That’s an okay solution. It usually works but it involves a middle man unnecessarily. If you have access to your databases, you can back up, move or restore your WordPress database without help from your webhost or anyone else.

Of course, if you don’t understand the concept of a database, you’re much less likely to try this (or, perhaps, to succeed). A database is a means of storing data in tabular format. When you, your host or a script installs WordPress, it edits the config file to instruct WordPress where to stores its information. Installation scripts such as Fantastic tend to create a new database and user, frequently with “WordPress” in the database and user names. However, if you are installing WordPress yourself, you can include multiple installations in the same database. I currently have 4 installations in a single database.

For the sake of this article, I will use the term “WordPress database” to simply refer to the actually data inside the database associated with your WordPress installation. Thus when I say you can backup or restore your database, I am saying you can backup or save all the pertinent data within the database.

And what sort of information is stored in your database? Posts, post meta (tags, categories), user information (names, levels), plugin information, widget contents, settings, comments, links and more. If I could somehow turn off my WordPress database for this blog, you would pretty much only see the header and background images.

Backing Up the Database

The WordPress Codex (which, I admit, I found ridiculously confusing at first) explains how to back up your WordPress database. By following this tutorial, you can save the contents of your database to your computer to upload at a later date, should the need arise. However, the article glances over how to access your database or PHP admin. Assuming you own your domain and have access to a control panel such as cPanel, H-sphere or a custom control panel (such as the one GoDaddy uses), you will first need to log into that control panel.

In my control panel, there is a link to phpMyAdmin on the index. I can click that, choose the account with access to my WordPress database and click the link. My control panel automatically logs me in. I can reach the same page in a slightly more complicated way by clicking “MySQL Server,” choosing my database, clicking the link to launch the admin panel and manually logging in. I frequently confuse my usernames and passwords so the first option is much easier. You likely have one or both of these options available to you. Then you may proceed with backing up the database.

The Codex tutorial explains that you will need to export the various tables in your database by checking the box next to the table. Typical installations use a prefix of “wp_.” Thus, you’ll see tables such as “wp_categories” or “wp_options.” If you do have multiple blogs or scripts installed to the same database, you will want to back up only the tables that belong to your blog. For example, of Sex and Love has a prefix of “wp_osal” to differentiate it from my other blog and script tables so I check only those tables to export.

This is the long and manual way. It gets the job done but so does the WordPress Database Backup plugin. It may even come with WordPress by default, now. I’m not sure because I use it on every single blog I own and for good reason! This plugin allows me to create an instant back up of my WordPress database directly from the WordPress dashboard.

Furthermore, I can use it to schedule back ups and I do. I schedule a weekly back up which the script e-mails to me. At my current posting rate, I would lose 2 posts at most if I only relied on this method. If you post more frequently, consider a daily back up.

WP DB Backup also allows the option to save your data to your webhost’s server and you should remember to check all the database tables that you want to save because the plugin only backs up the core tables by default. Tables created by other plugins are not included in this. I would lose information for my related posts and feed plugins if I did not check their tables. Note that you will see the list of all tables on the plugin management page. Thus, I see several closely named tables because I have multiple blogs in the same database. Pay attention when marking your tables for back up.

Restoring a Database

Once you have a copy of your database, you can do several things with it. You can restore your blog. This may be handy if your server crashes or someone hacks it. The Codex gives instructions on how to restore using PHPMyAdmin. But you probably want to drop all your extsing tables first to prevent errors.

You can use this same method to move to an entirely new host. Log into PHPMyAdmin or a similar tool in your new control panel. Create a new database and user, if one does not exist. For example, I have the option to add a database after clicking the “MySQL Server” link on the index. I can then choose to give access to a new or existing user. Import your WordPress database. When moving hosts or databases, you will want to perform this step before installing the actual script. Furthermore, you will want to install the script manually. This allows you to edit config.php to specify the new database and username. When you install WordPress, it will bring up your existing information.

You could also use this method if you wanted to switch domain names but remain on the same host. However, you could leave your existing database as-is and manually install WordPress on the new domain (after you add it to your hosting account) and enter the existing database credentials into your new config.php. Note that if you switch domain names, you will want to change the settings in your WordPress dashboard to reflect the new domain. Also note that you can work on your database or edit your WordPress installation even before a domain propagates. Simply use the dedicated IP, temporary URL or instant access domain name.

Blog Files

After extolling the virtues of the database, you may be curious how much necessary information is stored in the actual files that you can see via FTP or file manager. In the best case scenario, these files contain no necessary data for your blog. That’s right. None.

This scenario assumes you are capable of editing some files upon re-installation. If you know your database information, you don’t need to save config.php but it may be helpful. It’s easy enough to edit index.php if you place your WordPress installation files into a separate directly, which I suggest you do (http://domain.com/wp, for example).

The rule of thumb I would use for every other file is, if you edit it, save it.

Although widgets allow you to really customize your theme, many of us edit the actual code. Without my theme edits, you wouldn’t see my custom header, both sidebars, review images or ads. There are a million tiny other edits that only I would notice. If I were moving, I would save my entire theme folder inside the wp-content/themes directory.

Plug ins also have a folder of their own, within the wp-content folder. If the plug ins are currently and available as the repository, you really don’t need to back them up. If you have edited the plug ins or their folder contain data files, you can save them.

You may occasionally find important files within the wp-content folder itself. I have several files there that a plug in references to display my advertisements. The files that I would most likely forget to save are the images I have uploaded through the WordPress media tool. They exist in dated subfolders in the wp-content/uploads directory.

Of course if you have upload any other files to other locations, you will want to save them before moving hosts or domains. In the most complicated scenario, you will save the config.php, index.php, theme folder(s), plugin folder(s), uploads and user-created files.Uploading these and importing your WordPress database will recreate your blog as it was.

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Pinwheel (Wartenberg Wheel)

August 25th, 2010

Pinwheel

Pinwheel
$14.00 from Good Vibes

The Wartenberg Wheel was originally a medical instrument used to test sensitivity. It has since been adopted by kinksters who enjoy all sorts of stimulation, and many non-kinky sex toy retailers have started to sell it as well, including Good Vibes. They bill it as the pinwheel, which I will use from here on out.

So I asked for the pinwheel, and it showed up shortly thereafter. Immediately, I was surprised by how sharp the pins are. I guess I expected them to be a bit duller and others have said the same. However, I am wondering if different brands of pinwheel (this one’s made my Kookie International) may actually be more dull. I only have one, so I cannot say. Nevertheless, I do know that some brands come with a storage pouch/sheath, and the one that Good Vibes says it does, but mine did not. This is a shame because it’s sharp enough that I’d want to wrap it up to avoid damaging anything else or, Heaven forbid, stepping on it!

Let me back up a bit to describe this. The pinwheel is a long, metal handle with a slightly angled head that holds a wheel consisting of 20 or so metal protrusions or pins. A flathead screw connects the layers of the handle and the wheel itself to allow it to spin. The space around the wheel is enough to allow it to move slightly to the left and right, so there is a bit of wobble, and this causes it to make a metallic sound as well. The pins actually flatten toward the end, so they’re not exactly conical.

I am partnerless so I tried this one on for size myself. I quickly discovered that a super light roll across my upper back tickled in the way that I love. It sent shivers down my spine and created goosebumps that made the touch of the pins painful in a not-so-bad sort of way. It also worked to sensitize my lips (the northern ones). The same light tough was pleasurable along my thighs and outer arms.

Yet, I didn’t really enjoy it on my breasts at all. As I said, the pins are much sharper than I expected. So I have barely tried to apply any pressure at all. However, I can tell that the type of sensation a firmer touch would provide would be more enjoyable with a partner, especially because being aroused typically makes it easier to take more pain. With pressure, you can draw blood, and it becomes more apparent that the pinwheel isn’t perfectly produced. Some of the spokes are a little rough or a bit bent.

That doesn’t stop my mind from racing to determine other ways to use this. Over clothes or fabric? Sure. Heated or cooled? A little side-to-side scratching? If you so desire. If you hold the wheel still, you can use it to poke. And even the typical roll can vary from a steady path that never leaves the skin to quick strokes that pull away from it.

Traditional Wartenberg wheels were stainless steel, but there’s an area on mine where the finish has been scratched off, and I can see something coppery or brassy beneath it. I filed off a speck on the handle, and it seemed to be the same metal throughout. I have no idea what’s going on with that. And it doesn’t affect the functionality in the least, it’s just.. weird.

So, my final thoughts are that this Pinwheel is pretty neat. I don’t know what’s up with the sheath and coating, but I do know you should be careful when dropping it. Don’t catch it and cut yourself.

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Categories: BDSM, Reviews
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Image © MisterUnlucky; used with permission.