This is the 8th essay in the #26essays2017 challenge that I’ve set for myself this year. I’m doing this because I’m the first to admit I’ve become a lazy writer: allowing guest posts and series and cross-posting to make up the bulk of content on The Diane Lee Project across 2016. The brave, fearless writing that readers admired and respected me for has all but disappeared. This year—2017—will be different. I’m reclaiming my voice—my write like a motherfucker voice! This weekend, here in Hanoi, I voided an awful sexy times encounter with a Frenchman (aka That French Fucker) that happened at the beginning of 2016. That
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This is a companion piece to the last post I wrote about the 10 Things I Learned From Being Single For 10 Years. Because you can’t talk about being single without discussing sex… 1. The desire for sex is always there… Sex—reproductive urges aside—is a basic human need, just like shelter, food, safety. Maslow was onto something with his hierarchy thing. Humans are sexual beings. There’s no getting away from that, even when you are single. Coupled up people will tell you that they don’t really get that much sex… well, at least not as much as when they first
Continue reading...I’m nearly 51 years old. It has been around eight years since I’ve been in a relationship. I have only really ventured back into the world of dating in the last 12 months because it took me that long to feel ready again after aforementioned previous relationship. I have learned more in the last 12 months about dating—if you could call it that—than I have in all my 40ish years of dealing with boys and men. And I don’t like what I’ve learned. I’ve learned that things out there are ugly. Really ugly. Maybe it’s the demographic* I’m dealing with, or
Continue reading...Following last week’s post about biting dogs and do overs, I’ve been doing some soul-searching and navel gazing. The same(ish) gnawing doubts have resurfaced around the intentions of this man, despite the fact that he’s overseas. I’ve re-examined the events of the week and realised I missed key inconsistencies between words and actions, as well as things in his conversations with me that just didn’t add up. I glossed over those red flags because I got swept away. I am – after all and to my detriment – quite the romantic. I want to believe that I can have that
Continue reading...One of my favourite sayings – and hence one I say an awful lot because it is a part of a veritable litany of Very Wise Stuff I Say – is Never Get Bitten By The Same Dog Twice. Not Getting Bitten By The Same Dog Twice is the ultimate in protective behaviour. If someone has done something once, they are bound to do it again because humans, if nothing else, are generally consistent. Being wary of the dog (human) that bit you once means you are less likely to be bitten by that same dog (human) again. It’s a metaphor that
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