But life here at Links castle never really stops - here we are on a sunny saturday and i just had a meeting with a very nice lady who travelled in from Essex to meet me.  I am glad she did, I am sure we will find someone special for her.   She was rather shy which I like as a quality (better than brazen) and with realistic hopes in the romantic arena.  She was a very independent type of single mum who has fared very well for herself over the years and doesnt want to give up her own freedom when she dates.

Noticed a piece in the Daily Mail the other day about guys losing their sex drive in a long term relationship.  I do get a lot of women saying that their bloke had gone ‘all pipe and slippers’ on them when they hit 50 and as we know a woman in her 50’s is hot to trot 24/7!   So we delight in the pipe and slipper brigade since it sends the wives to us looking for a bit more.

Back to regular blogging tomorrow.

Dan and I dated for a year and the relationship was quickly intense sexually and emotionally, because that’s what I craved."

For Clare, it marked the start of a decade of unhealthy, addictive relationships with men.

"I finished with Dan after that exciting initial period ended because I craved that intensity again…

It is this intensive initial period that fascinates me because I have always believd that is what LL provides best - what I call the ‘pink fluffy period’ at the start of the relationship when everything is an explosion of chemicals and hormones.  It is what the Observer quoted me as calling ‘the crack cocaine’ of relationships.  

"I was with heroin and cocaine addicts in rehab," says Clare, "and I realised that our addictions were fundamentally the same.

I see this addiction time and time again especially amongst longterm private clients and I think it is essentially different and more interesting than the ‘I want a shag’ brigade who congregate in the sex industry and porn parlours.   I think Clare’s need to go into rehab is a trifle extreme and although she says it is now under control I have my doubts.  I know in my own case I am a ‘lapsed’ smoker but there are times I am am so so close to having a ciggie

I was just reading the latest issue of Scarlet magazine (I get it free ‘cos we advertise) and they have a wonderful agaony aunt column.   Some girl is concerned that her new boyfriend only gets turned on if she shoves a butt plug up his arse.  Advice ranges from - ‘didnt the faintest lighbulb go on in your mind that he might be less than 100% heterosexual?’ to the ‘let’s try a super new sex thing called normal naked sex’  Also one advisor said at least he doesnt want to shove it up your arse!   Scarlet is wonderful fun  and it seems to be doing very well we welcome their readers with open arms.

With Jesus as my personal Savior, I felt like I had it all. But then we hit a rough patch, and before long, I was beginning to question both my faith in Him and His commitment to me. At one point, it seemed the relationship was doomed. But I did a lot of soul searching, and together we found a solution that fit both of our needs by adopting an alternative theological lifestyle.

Now that I’m in an open relationship with the Lord, I feel a greater spiritual satisfaction than I’ve ever known.

It all started when I was 16 and first asked Jesus to enter my heart. It was incredible. He filled me up with His love. I’d never been redeemed before, but with Jesus it felt so right, as if the sins of the world had been lifted off my shoulders. For a while there, we were communing via the sacraments several times a week! And every night we spent what seemed like hours in long, mutually satisfying sessions of prayer. I worshipped Him.

Soon the honeymoon period ended, however. Whenever I spoke to Him, He seemed distracted and distant—sometimes I wondered if He was listening at all. Daily devotionals felt like we were just going through the motions of repetitive, meaningless dogma. A few months later, I made a potentially disastrous discovery: I found out I wasn’t the only one He was sanctifying.

One day, I overheard my coworker Sally talking on the phone about how much God had helped her through her recent divorce. She said she "saw the light" after just one night with Him. At first I kept thinking, "Is she talking about the same Savior?" The next Sunday, I followed her to an unfamiliar church on the edge of town and just sat in my car for a while in disbelief. I finally walked up to the front door, but before I could open it, I heard the unmistakable sounds of ecstatic praise coming from inside. There was no denying it. I’d caught Sally red-handed, making a joyful noise unto my own special Lord.

I was devastated. How could He do this to me? Here I had let Him into my soul in the most intimate way possible, and He had betrayed our personal bond by accepting the thanks and adulation of Sally, and God knows how many others as well. I was humiliated I ever let Him wash my soul in His blood in the first place.

But I began to realize that He wasn’t the only one who needed more. Hadn’t I been growing tired of reciting the same old liturgy week after week? So I steeled myself with a stiff drink of communion wine, opened up my Bible, and confronted Him. In His divinely inspired scriptures, I learned that I hadn’t driven Him to seek out others. He just needed to redeem as many sinners as He could to fulfill His destiny as Messiah. It was part of who He was.

If He could forgive me all of my trespasses, shouldn’t I do the same for Him? He saved my soul, and now it was up to me to save the relationship. I decided then and there to start experimenting outside the boundaries of traditional monotheistic worship.

To be honest, I’d been flirting with polytheism all along by accepting the doctrine of the Trinity and simultaneously worshipping the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. If I could see all three of them as viable deities, why not others? I took it slow at first. I’d always been a strict Protestant, but I started practicing some Catholicism on the side. Before long, I was meditating on the Buddha. I felt serenity coursing through my body like never before!

The Lord my God is a jealous God, and He didn’t like the idea at first. He made it very clear that I should take no God before Him—but he never mentioned anything about taking one after Him! And now that I’ve opened myself up to exciting new spiritual experiences, our bond is stronger than ever.

I’ve gone to Native American drum circles, New Age channeling workshops, and Shinto temples. I hung a mezuzah over my door, and last summer I made a pilgrimage to Mecca. I even spent a weekend in a no-holds-barred, worship free-for-all with two dozen Hindu gods!

See, we have an understanding: He can save any sinner He wants, and I can worship any deity I want. But we are still together. Some may think it’s strange, but I’m no longer worried about other people’s unenlightened moralizing. My spiritual life is better then ever! I love God—heck, I love all of them—and I am one deeply, deeply fulfilled woman.

Too cheap for Loving Links - 44 (East/Central London)

Reply to: pers-642963470@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-04-15, 11:23AM BST

Okay, so maybe 85 quid for two months’ ‘premium’ access isn’t outrageous, but it seems like a lot to me!

I’m looking for a long-term ‘thing’ with a woman my age - likely married or in a relationship (as am I), but looking for excitement, fun, and really wild things. A lover, friend, confidente - an interest in rock music would help, but that really would be a bonus.

My keywords are: musical, geeky, mathematical, moderately twisted, literate, six-foot-three, hairy, well-covered, brown hair, brown eyes, dominant-but-caring, open-minded, left-field, left-wing(ish), extrovert, introvert (yes, it’s possible!), tactile, cunning, funny (in my mind, as Izzard would have it), generous, free-spirited, orally-fixated (yeah, yeah, yeah), non-smoker, very light drinker (cheap date), curry-loving, kinky, green (in an environmental sense), discreet, body-sex, mind-sex, mind-otherthings, friendly.

…and yours?

Really had me chuckling..