It’s disturbingly obvious from the stored images in my digital camera that I have a lot to learn about the intricacies of capturing complex, dynamic, poorly-lit scenes (such as parades) with my little freehand pocket camera. That’s a polite way of saying I came home from New Orleans with a whole lot of blurry pictures of the backs of people’s heads.

I do, however, have a few shots that hint at just how seriously people dive into their Mardi Gras revels. Here’s a random parade watcher:

She’s cute, eh?

I find it ironic, really. In the years I’ve been doing this sex blog, I’ve read a lot of other sex blogs, the vast majority of which seem to be written by women. Whenever one of these women talks about trying internet personals or doing any other project that involves making an email address available, she almost invariably grouses about guys who open hailing frequencies by sending along pictures of their penises.

Aphrodite has to be different — she’s now the one woman on the internet who has actually solicited dick pictures. If I were a betting man, I’d bet that the pictures will still be flowing into that email address five years from now.

Me, if I’ve got to see a dick, I still prefer that somewhere in the picture, there’s a woman paying it some friendly attention. Call me old fashioned, like this picture:

From Usenet.

For those of you keeping score at home, it was a year ago today that The Nymph and I started living together. As I told her yesterday, it’s been the best year of my life.

I still can’t believe how lucky I am that we found each other.

Here’s a Valentine for ya:

I didn’t have a specific Valentine’s image to share this year, but I figured any of you out there without a sweetie of your own could imagine something entertaining to do with this bondage sweetheart from Hogtied. Enjoy!

Do you have trouble keeping the players straight without a scorecard? Are you always getting into, and losing, bar bets over which Buffy character slept where, and with whom?

Nope? Me neither. So I’m not really sure what this Buffy sex chart is for. But it’s surely a triumph of obsessive fandom. Enjoy!

Tell me how, how in the name of Hera’s humongous hotbox, did I manage to miss Rollertrain for more than a year? The engineer of the train calls herself “Charges”, and I just love her foul-mouthed ranting style. Example, from Top 10 Reasons Why I Hate Fake Lesbian Porno:

Answer me this, bitches: If a dick devotee like myself can figure out that all clitori pretty much require the same kind of stimulation that mine does, then why – you eighteen-year-old Californian cretins, with your sexual boundary issues and your ass tattoos and your daddy deficits and your navel rings and those cheap plastic stripper shoes – shouldn’t you? We’re watching you.

If you don’t know how to eat a pussy, why are you trying to eat one? And why don’t you try a little harder? It’s your JOB. That girl’s dirty crotch is bringing home your bacon. If you want to do porn without eating pussy, there’s no shame in that! But please, just go straight to the 5-man gang bangs. Skip the snatch. I am tired of watching you pussy amateurs trying to act like you enjoy screwing around with girls.

Or how about this observation about porn stars?

I’m critical of pornstars, especially the high-school graduates who jump into their Jenna Jameson fantasies without any prior research. It always amazes me to catch stories about these dodo birds showing up at gonzo studios without any idea of what to expect. I mean no idea. When I hear little gonzo bitches bawl over what happened to them in Golden Guzzlers #17, all I can think is didn’t you at least rent Golden Guzzlers #1? How could you decide to start doing porno without doing any homework?

Being a pornstar is probably the easiest way for unmotivated young girls to make a lot of money. All they have to do is show up. Being a good pornstar, however, is a very hard job that takes endurance, intelligence and a lot of balls, and the few women who do it well should be commended and highly compensated. I am still critical of good pornstars; once your privates become part of public domain, the images no longer belong to you. But I deeply respect women who succeed in the sex industry, because they have bigger balls than me, and because they’re fucking beautiful.

Too much fun!

We’re back! Thanks ever so much, Aphrodite, for keeping things hot here while we were in New Orleans.

Long trip, and we’re utterly worn out from all the walking and standing at the parades. Had an absolutely excellent time. There is a photo or two to share (nothing very nude, I fear) and I have some nifty “Bacchus” swag thrown at the parade of my spiritual brothers in the Krewe of Bacchus. (I’m considering holding a “show us your tits” contest to give some of the swag away — or would that fall short of the already-low ErosBlog standard of taste?)

But first, I’m afraid, I have about four thousand emails to sort through. One of the sex spams made me wonder. Subject line: “Mature fillies are awaiting you!” My brain’s first reaction: Isn’t a “mature filly” a, er, mare? Say it with me, please: EEEEWWWW!