This is how it all started, two years ago. I am in love with this text and I am leaving it on the new site for sentimental reasons.

“THANK YOU FOR YOUR SEX” T-SHIRTS, HATS AND OTHER APPAREL PROVIDE A WHOLE NEW WAY TO ACKNOWLEDGE RANDOM PARTNERS.

Musician/Artist Unveils Apparel to Express Gratitude for Temporary Hook-Ups; For Sale Online.

“Happy Anniversary.” “Sorry I missed your birthday.” “You’re the world’s best dad.”

Consumer culture offers us myriad ways to deliver all kinds of personal messages – whether printed on cards, frosted onto cakes, emblazoned on coffee mugs or written in the sky by airplane. But what on earth can we purchase to express our gratitude for a night of anonymous, commitment-free pleasure?

Never fear; capitalism is riding to the rescue once again, this time in the form of shirts, hats and other items bearing the slogan “THANK YOU FOR YOUR SEX.”

Created by alt-pop musician/cultural provocateuse Lena and available at ThankYouForYourSex.com and CafePress.com/lenashop, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SEX apparel is the perfect way to say, “I appreciate the fact that you shared your body with me, although there’s no need whatsoever for it to happen again.”

With a stylish graphic trumpeting its message, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SEX attire is the perfect gift for that random hook-up, drunken one-night stand, bridesmaid’s wedding-weekend mistake or friend who became a lover and probably shouldn’t have. But it’s just as suitable for one’s partner in a night of fabulously guilt-free fornication. The important thing is: It’s polite to say thank you.

The Russian-born Potapova (now a fixture on New York’s music and culture scene) launched the THANK YOU FOR YOUR SEX line and simultaneously celebrated the release of her new identically named EP (out now on Fa Records), at New York’s Knitting Factory in May of 2008. And speaking of temporary love, those shirts would make a perfect V-day gift!

#2

MOCK POP ARTIST LENA ASKS: IF HE WON’T PICK
UP THE CHECK, SHOULD SHE JUST SAY “GOOD BYE”?

Button-Pushing Single Addresses Postmodern Dating Etiquette;

Song’s Question Perfectly Timed for Sex in the City Fans

It’s a problem that every heterosexual who goes on a date these days has likely encountered: A meeting in a restaurant, some flirty conversation and then the check comes. And it just sits there.

Should the man automatically pick up the check in this situation? And if he doesn’t pay, should the woman be outraged? Or should she be “liberated” enough to open her wallet and her legs? If she gets angry about the issue, how should he respond?

Is chivalry an absurdly outdated concept in this era of speed-dating and Internet hook-ups? Or does the issue get to the heart of a conflict – between the irresistible force of how women feel and the immoveable object of how men think – that can never be resolved?

Is there any such thing as normal dating behavior anymore?

Alt-pop singer/songwriter Lena confronted this situation – and then wrote a song about it. The track, “Good Bye,” appears on her recently released maxi-single, My Little, Temporary Loves (out now on Fa Records).

The Russian-born, Chicago-based artist has invited her fans to create and upload their own videos for the song; the winning clip will win a $5,000 prize. The song plays when you load Lena’s MySpace page (myspace.com/schizowave). Contest details can be found at http://www.farecords.com/lena-contest.html.

With women (and at least a few men) going in droves to see the Sex in the City movie, it seems like a fair topic – should there be any sex in the city if the check sits on the table?

Lena wants to know what you think. Check out the song and weigh in at lena.fm or her MySpace page.

Of course, if he relents and decides to pay – or otherwise proves too charming to resist, regardless of his financial maneuvers – the man in question could end up receiving one of Lena’s freshly minted “Thank You for Your Sex” T-shirts, which have been seen adorning the torsos of the erotic cognoscenti nationwide.