Hot Sex! Fast Cars!

Behold the power of a headline! And a photo! No false advertising here, folks. This post will include references to both hot sex and fast cars (along with a topical rant, of sorts). Let's get started, shall we?

A few weeks ago, the lovely and talented Kristen Chase (she of Cool Mom Picks and The Imperfect Parent) sent me a copy of her magnum opus The Mominatrix's Guide To Sex: A No-Surrender Advice Book for Naughty Moms. That very day, I also received a copy of Mark Bechtel's He Crashed Me So I Crashed Him Back: The True Story of The Year The King, Jaws, Earnhardt, and The Rest of NASCAR's Feudin', Fightin', Good Ol' Boys Put Stock Car Racing On The Map. (I sometimes wish I got paid by the letter.) 

Before I get into those books, however, I feel compelled to say something about the recent New York Times article about mommybloggers (or bloggers who are also moms, or blogger/moms, or mom/bloggers) that's gotten everyone all upset and talking about boycotts and counter-articles and open letters and so on. It's pretty controversial. How controversial, you ask? So controversial that I feel compelled to make you hit the Read More button because otherwise you'd just stare at Jessica Simpson's rack.

The New York Times article is full of provocative statements. Like this one, which (gasp) paints blogs as a real and honest alternative to staid parenting mags:

Just as television viewers have a seemingly insatiable hunger for reality shows, mothers often prefer the warts-and-all experiences of other moms online — and the ability to discuss them interactively — to the dry, inflexible pronouncements spouted by experts in books and parenting magazines.

Then there was this incendiary remark, which suggests that blogs may be viewed by readers as some sort of "community":

For many, the blogosphere functions as a modern-day kaffeeklatsch, a vital outlet for conversing and commiserating about day-to-day travails, especially at a time when many mothers raise their children far from family and friends, or work outside the home at 9-to-5 jobs.

Finally, apparently there is some sort of Advertising Secret Masonic Illuminati organization that has attracted some 150 A-list bloggers (DISCLOSURE: See those ads to your right? Courtesy of Federated Media. A-List!), and enables about 2 of the mommybloggers to live off of the money they make from ads, kind of like, you know, how the magazines and newspapers that you have no problem buying make money:

“The blogosphere is where authentic conversation is happening,” said Pamela Parker, a senior manager with Federated Media, which sells ad space for an A-list roster of about 150 bloggers that includes superstars like Dooce and the Pioneer Woman, who’ve parlayed their blogs into lucrative one-woman industries.

Perhaps it's because I'm a guy (it's axiomatic - I can't possibly understand how the piece demeans women, right?), and a dad (because dads aren't really parents, right?) as well as a professional blogger who struggles mightily to make a living as a writer, but I'm looking forward to the day that the New York Times writes an innocuous linkbait article about dadbloggers. Meanwhile, I'll just shut up and bang out blog posts. 

Speaking of which, the books. Bechtel's book about "the most important year in NASCAR history" - 1979, with its that year's Daytona 500 serving as its centerpiece - is entertaining, dealing as it does with the outsized personalities and rivalries of NASCAR legends like Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, and Darryl Waltrip, but rather than dispel the notions of stock car racing as a "sport" by and for (hate to say it) rednecks, it only serves to reinforce them. Much is made of the fact that fighting is as essential to NASCAR as it is to the NHL - the 1979 Daytona 500 was the first time the race had been televised and wouldn't you know, Bobby Allison and Cale Yarborough got into a brawl, to the delight of millions of new viewers. Bechtel's enthusiasm for NASCAR is apparent, but if you weren't a fan prior to reading the book, you won't be a convert upon finishing it.

Likewise, if you're not a fan of sex before reading Kristen Chase's book, you're stupid and you probably smell funny. Of course the book is written for moms (hence the title), but dads, you can certainly benefit from her insight. In fact, she devotes an entire chapter to new dads who are looking to roger their exhausted mates. And the advice she dispenses is not merely technical in nature. (Leather cock rings are "way easier on the pubic hair" - who knew?) Chase devotes large chunks of the book to both sexy and decidedly non-sexual ways of bringing back the spark to your marriage - sharing chores, looking for new hobbies and activities to do together, watching porn (that's actually a hobby of mine, so everybody wins!) And she does so in a light, conversational tone that makes the book a fun read. I'd say you should buy it, but if it sells a lot of copies Kristen Chase might be the subject of a New York Times article about a blogger becoming a successful print author. God forbid.