By:Dr. Sue Johnson/DivineCaroline

Sex often draws us into a relationship and then helps keep it alive. But what is “good” sex?

If you look at the images that bombard us every day from magazines and movies, good sex is instantaneous, totally mutual, cataclysmic, and is best at the very beginning of a relationship.

Cracking the problem of what holds the universe together seems relatively easy compared to the challenge of keeping sex good. Personally, I’ve had so many sex problems over the years that I thought that’s just the nature of sex. If only I’d had this book years ago: When Sex Isn’t Good, Stories and Solutions of Women with Sexual Dysfunction, by Lillian Arleque, Ed.D.; Sue W. Goldstein, A.B.; and Irwin Goldstein, M.D., Director of Sexual Medicine, Alvarado Hospital, San Diego, CA, Medical Consultant.

There comes a time in every woman’s life where she has to sit herself down and ask: boyfriend or sex toy? Let’s face it, there just isn’t time enough for both of them.

I was thrashing around with this internal debate when an email popped into view inviting me to a sex toy party that night. A hundred new B.O.B.‘s (Battery Operated Boyfriends) at the drop of a credit card, I thought to myself. Count me in. And my girlfriend, Emma, too. There’s no way I’m going alone.

Here’s a great article about specific, science-based ways to increase the joy in your life. Based on some relatively small studies, these tips range from the abstract to the hard-nosed. Take a look at the list below, then read my take on two of these tips - one gets a yes! and, one gets an I’m not so sure about that one…:

1) Allow your golden self to emerge
2) Design your life to bring in joy
3) Avoid “if only” fantasies
4) Put best friends first

Being a teen today is challenging. Add to that an unwanted pregnancy, it becomes a disaster. Pregnancy should be a happy and wanted situation but that isn't the situation for pregnant teens. If you look at the facts, they ring out loud and clear: abstinence does not work and teens today need not only information but access to birth control.

Lindsay Lohan blogged this week about Bristol Palin's pregnancy and made some fantastic points:

By:Dr. Sue Johnson/DivineCaroline

Dr. Sue Johnson/DivineCaroline

By: Brie Cadman/DivineCaroline

THURSDAY, Aug. 21 (HealthDay News) -- One reason why abstinence-only programs don't do much to prevent teen sexual activity is because abstinence can mean different things to teens than it does to adults, according to a University of Washington study.

Teens' attitudes and intentions about sex are more powerful than their attitudes and intentions about being abstinent, the researchers found.

FRIDAY, Aug. 15 (HealthDay News) -- In mice, high levels of the male sex hormone testosterone may play an important role in the spread of disease, according to Penn State researchers.

Previous studies have linked testosterone to immune system suppression and found that males experience more bouts of disease and are responsible for more disease transmission than females. But it's not clear why males are more likely to spread disease.