How to have the best date ever

Today marks the 6-month anniversary of my sex column Let's Get It On in Philadelphia City Paper with my best dates column, including my outing myself as a full-on nerd whose top dates included Boggle and going to the boardwalk. Thank you to my interviewees, Jessica Walsh and Timothy Goodman, authors of the new book 40 Days of Dating (pictured below) and Abiola Abrams, author of The Sacred Bombshell Handbook of Self-Love.



It may be small in word count (it used to be around 700 words and is now 550 words) but I'd like to think it's mighty in content and reach; after all, one of its topics, OrgasmQuest, spawned tons of media, including its subject's appearance on Dr. Drew's TV show. To me that was a prime example of what I try to do with all my work: make it accessible to a wide range of people, not just those in the "sex world." I know it could end any moment now, so I am doing everything I can to make it interesting, timely and worth reading. I'm trying to apply that same attitude toward my life; if it ends tomorrow, I want to be proud of myself. I don't expect my column or my life to end tomorrow, but really, who knows about either?

If you want to see the column stick around for lots more months (and maybe even years!), please read it, like it at the top, Tweet it, spread the word. And I am always open to suggestions for future column topics (keep in mind my tiny word count!) at rachelkb at gmail dot com with "City Paper" in the subject line.

I think one of the key differences between writing this alt weekly column now and my old Lusty Lady column in The Village Voice from 2004-2007 is that I'm being told that my readership matters. I get told if a lot of people read it and if few people read it. Another key difference for me personally is not living in the city in which the print paper is published. I used to feel honored and uncomfortable in equal measures to be taking the L train home to Williamsburg, Brooklyn and see people reading my Voice column. That was a paper I grew up reading, back when it wasn't free; my friend would bring it back from Manhattan to our suburban New Jersey high school. Now, I live in suburban New Jersey and am quite a different creature than my 17-year-old self. The other difference, and probably the biggest one, is that this is weekly which means the day my new column comes out, I'm filing next week's. It's meant lots of planning ahead and at times has been a challenge, but a welcome one.