Sex-uhhhh's and Love's

I was blessed to be one of the lucky few to have the "talk" with a parent. And better yet, I am part of the 0.0001% minority to have had the "talk" in public. Usually, these talks begin with an uncalled-for silence initiated by a comment such as "When did my little girl become a woman?" Then, this silence is followed by an even more humiliating comment such as "When a man loves a woman..." -- and it's at this point that the teenager walks slowly away saying, "I know, I know!" and/or covering her ears and singing childishly until the conversation is over. It's all fine and good if all this "sex" talk is occuring within the home. Even then, the word "sex" should be replaced with the more conventional "it," "sleep with," "make love," and "that thing" between parents and children. And even inside the walls of a home, these words should be whispered like a forbidden taboo in order to prevent siblings from hearing (as if they don't know already). It's like an unwritten rule not to mention sex. I mean, kids know how they were born. They know their birth isn't attributed to storks, magic, and cabbage patch kids. But of course, I guess my mother never got that unwritten manual when she became a parent. My mother has a talent for making an already awkward topic skyrocket into a new level of superawkward.

She started the talk with "I can see your boobs." At this point, I stared down at my barely existent cleavage and shrugged. My mother then stated loudly (as only the Cha family can do in public): "All guys want one thing. They want to have sex--uhhhhh." Due to my mom's korean accent, she had split the one-syllable whispered word into two loudly stated words. She had captured the essence of the word sex by following it with a heavy uhhhhh.

I don't really want to go into the details of what she said. Because that would possibly not make you want to have sex. Ever. For example, imagine your mother saying the word "anal sex" and try not to barf. During that time, my body movements and expressions consisted of erratic twitching, excessively sweaty palms, and other unnatural combinations of squirming and paling.

Lately, I've been thinking about love, and unavoidably, the topic of sex. A friend once told me that when a person is in love, their heart beats like it's on heroin. At that time, I thought that it was strange that a person's body could respond so unnaturally to love--so much so that their emotions change them physically. ---- I thought about it for days afterwards. And I came to an even stranger conclusion. Maybe sex is love. Maybe people can't experience love until they have sex. Now, I know this sounds like I'm either advocating sex, becoming a sex-crazed maniac, or that I'm just plain barbaric. But, perhaps love was created in order for humans to have sex and make babies. Perhaps that's why we fall in love -- in a tangled mess of hormones and physical and emotional responses. And if that's the case, love undoubtedly exists. I thought about the times that a simple brush of the hand or a close hug would jump a normally pumping heart or stir a sensational warmth throughout the body. Then I thought about sex; people are connected almost everywhere to that other person -- both inside and out. I thought about the intense feelings that would flow throughout the body. Their heart would...well, beat as if it's on heroin. Maybe that's why sex is called making love. Because maybe, in the end, sex is just love on high.

*I haven't posted lately because I've been going to college orientations and vacationing with my friends. I got a sunburn at Ocean City. It hurts when I put clothes on. I'm thinking of joining a nudist colony.