The still of the moon, crashing waves, gentle breezes. All the pieces are in place for a romantic interlude with the girl of your dreams. You've waited weeks or this moment. You both lean in ever so slowly, pucker up your lips and... you start making out.

Oops...

Did I hear just hear a record scratch somewhere? Did the heat of the moment come to crashing halt? There is no need. Because in the final analysis all the passion and murmured phrases of  "I love you" just mask the basic animal instict of why you are both in the lover's embrace: you enjoy making out. A boy kissing girl, a woman kissing a man, people kissing. Whatever the schematic, it all adds up to the same thing. Sometimes there is no substitute for the unbridled feeling of lust that you get from the serious lip-locking of making out.

I'm not sure at what point I distinguished between making out, necking and just plain "having sex". The kissing thing is certainly the road to all future success. What some people think is great kissing, others may dislike. Some people like light tender kissing while others prefer to get all hot and heavy. It is really a matter of preference, practice and chemistry that determines how good you are at kissing. There are a few kissing don'ts that are agreed upon by most people; thumbs down to wet and slobbery kisses, over eager partners, unromantic gestures, overly busy hands and too much tongue. Although far be from me to dictate what constitutes all of the above. I have had girlfriends and lovers who have enjoyed heavy tongueing and slobbery making out, overly busy hands and too much tongue (the tongue not necessarily being in my partners mouth).

I hate to break it down, but if you want to get technical - making out usually serves as a slang term or the act of two people engaging in prolonged kissing. Again, all the variables: a boy kissing a girl, a girl kissing a boy, and people kissing in general - it is usually done to express affection to a boyfriend/girlfriend or spouse, or it is done to express the sexual attraction to a prospective sexual partner. Making out is usually comprised mostly of french kissing although this is not a requirement. While the act is called making out the experience is often referred to as a make out session.

After a period of some prolonged kissing, two people may choose a more sexual form of making out, known as necking. Necking, as the term implies, involves kissing and licking of the neck, sometimes considered to be an erogenous zone (because of the relatively high sensitivity of the skin there). Necking is usually done one partner at a time, since a couple both kissing each others' necks is usually difficult or uncomfortable at best.

Let me be the first to state (OK, maybe not the first) that in some circles making out is now being heralded as more exciting than sex. Maybe it is this era of political correctness that we have trapped ourselves in, but whoever decided that the whole touchy-feely thing is more exciting with your clothes on is really missing out on something.