I remember as a kid I was involved in something being planned that required keeping a secret. The other kid and I made a pact to never tell and I expected him to keep the secret. But evidently that was too much to expect and the other kid blabbed to his parents and then his parents called my parents and then my parents demanded to hear it from me.

Well, even then, as just a little monkey, I had figured out that if you are going to get caught in something, denial is your first defense. “I don’t know what he’s talking about! Why would he make up stuff like that?”

But even though nothing came about as a result of my so-called friend letting the secret out, the lesson learned is that the only way a secret is truly safe is when only one person knows that secret. Once the second person knows the secret, there is too big a chance that the secret will be revealed to another, and then another, and at some point it is no longer a secret. Sometimes that becomes a problem and sometimes it is appropriate. But I can tell you this, if this monkey knows a secret, no one else will ever hear that secret from me.

Did your mom make your Halloween Costumes or did you get to go to the variety store and pick out one in a box? My mom loved to sew and she made most of the costumes that we wore. She was also into drama and the theatre, so we would have makeup and hair done professionally, with accessories like hats and weapons, too.

I used to love looking at all the boxes of character costumes, like G. I. Joe, Donald Duck, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Superman and those the comic book and TV heroes of the day. They were just cheap nylon jumpsuits with a string tie at the back of the neck and a painted plastic mask, but they let you escape from reality for the night and pretend to be a character of your own choosing. But I got to be a clown, a fireman, a gladiator and the Jolly Green Giant (tallest kid in my 6th grade class) because my mom would sew the costumes for the character of her choosing.

Now that I can shop for my own costume I love the internet Halloween Costume stores. I can be whatever character I want to be, and I’m never the same one twice. This year I’m thinking about going as Elvis. I don’t look like Elvis at all, so I need a great costume to pull that off. Found a good one on the internet site that I love to click through, called Costume Cauldron.

This costume site has a lot of other great ideas, though. Elvis isn’t real sexy with that big pot belly but it sure would get a lot of laughs around here. If I want to find something else, they have categories on the sidebar for costumes grouped into “Sexy,” “Couples,” “TV & Movies” and for the larger people they even have “plus” sizes. I like the different pirate costumes and I’m thinking that if I buy the right one I can recycle it next year and wear it to the Ren Fest.

If you take a peek at this web site and want to buy your next Halloween costume here, I can save you a few bucks. There is a secret discount code for my friends reading this blog. Go to the Costume Cauldron site and look on the main page, scroll down about halfway down on the right. See the box with the line that reads “Our Store now has over 8,000 masquerade items for you to choose from!”? Click on the comma and you get a special discount on your order. So have fun!

An ad in the Wall Street Journal caught my eye this morning. It looks like a grafitti covered wall and starts with the premise: You just witnessed a purse snatching. Then it works through a lot of options, such as call the cops, confront him, and some typical consequences of each proposed action. The ad wraps up with the questions, “What’s the responsible point of view? Everyone has one. Let’s hear yours.”

It’s paid for by Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., called “The Responsibility Project.” If you go to the web site they have films, a blog and resources.

Interesting point, this scenario happened a few months ago in the parking lot of a Kroger grocery store. The man who tried to intervene on behalf of the woman who was being victimized ended up getting stabbed by the perpetrator and he died. The perp rode off in a car driven by his girlfriend and there was a massive manhunt underway. It took several days, but they found the guy and his girlfriend holed up at a relatives house in Mississippi and arrested them.

But the guy died at the scene over a purse. I don’t think it’s worth dying for a purse, but I probably would call the police on my cell phone and give them the tag number of the getaway car if I could see it to make note of it. And if I had enough time I might even whip out my camera and discreetly take a photo of the perp. But that would be from the within the safe confines of my own car and I’d be ready to run over the the jerk if he was stupid enough to come toward me.

In the kitchen cleaning up and fixing a little bowl of ice cream last night, I noticed a series of flashing lights on the wall with the stove. So I turned around and looked out of the kitchen window and could see a fire truck and an ambulance at the end of my street. That’s pretty unusual for my neighborhood - we have quiet, mature neighbors and there’s rarely any excitement on our street. Thank goodness. Although it seems that once a year someone driving through the neighborhood does something really stupid, like sideswipes one of the cars parked on the street. In fact, last year, some dummy trying to outrun the cops turned sharply into our side street and lost control of their car, jumped the curb and ran down my neighbor’s wood fence. He wasn’t hurt bad enough to need an ambulance but he sure did tear up my neighbor’s grass and fence.

So last night we had a fire truck and ambulance parked at the end of the street, dealing with some girls who were crying and the police were searching the car and it was all kinds of drama. They were down there for over 2 hours. Thankfully, it was not a bad wreck and no one seemed hurt very bad. Rumor has it that one of the girls was having a drug overdose or some kind of drug reaction, but they don’t live near here and it didn’t make the local news, so I guess we’ll never know the whole story.

Way back in the days when I was a little monkey, things like STDs and using condoms just were not discussed much. Most of the sex ed was learned from a black and white documentary film that the government produced and forced kids in high school to watch as part of their Health class. The movie stressed abstinence and the dire consequences of unwanted pregnancies. If your dad came to suspect that you were actually “getting some” and secretly approved of his boy sowing his wild oats, your dad might actually give you a couple of “rubbers” or tell you to stop by the gas station and buy a couple. You didn’t dare buy them at the corner drug store because the pharmacist and cashier would see you and tell your mom next time she came in to shop.

Well, we are in the new millenium and we can actually talk about safe sex and using condoms and protecting yourself - and your partner - from STDs and unwanted pregnancies. In fact, we can even watch online videos about how to use condoms and other important information presented in a clear, frank, positive manner. Here’s a great way to approach your own kids about the subject - sit down at the computer with them and watch these Sex Videos together. If your son or daughter has any questions, you’ll be right there to help them. These videos are a great teaching tool and they talk about protecting your kids health. So here’s your chance to be a proactive parent. Need more convincing? Read the press relase I came across this morning:

Press Release:

When Sex Health Guru (www.SexHealthGuru.com) went live today, it became the first website of its kind in more ways than one. Most online health websites are focused on the baby boomer generation and rely upon the oldest media – text. By contrast, SexHealthGuru.com is built around new media – video content – and was created for an overlooked portion of the online health market – 18 to 40 year olds.
Effective communication with this demographic requires a different approach then the formulaic one typically taken by traditional health websites. While the content still needs to be built on a foundation of easy-to-understand expert information, it is only relevant to this audience if it’s presented in an engaging, media-friendly format.
Sex Health Guru offers over 200 videos in categories including Birth Control, STDs, Sex Health, Sex Skills, and Sex 101. These videos were created to entertain as well as inform, and deliver an enjoyable viewing experience, on par with the best short-form web clips in entertainment. Even so, every video is hosted by a medical expert, like an OB-GYN, and provides valuable information in a straightforward, easy-to-understand format.
Although SexHeathGuru.com is a new website, this is not the first foray into web video for FullTurn Media, the site’s parent company. FullTurn Media, through the illumistream health brand, is already the largest provider of health video on the web, with over 30 million video views in each of the last two months.
In the wake of the recent CDC study which concluded that 26% of American teenage girls have an STD, FullTurn Media CEO Joshua Silberstein said, “Sex education in the United States isn’t working. People need easy access to accurate, unbiased information about STDs and birth control. More than that – they need that information in a format that will resonate with them.” Sex Health Guru (www.sexhealthguru.com) may be a real first step towards that vision.
About FullTurn Media
FullTurn Media produces and distributes “expert-centric” short-form video content under the illumistream health and SexHealthGuru brand names, and has a library of over 750 videos. Each video features a doctor or relevant expert, and answers a complex question in a straightforward manner. The videos are developed in a dynamic, engaging format, and organized into easily accessible series.
Contact: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Joshua Silberstein, FullTurn Media
Phone: 917-804-5728
JSilberstein@fullturnmedia.com