Tuesday 30 August 2011

Spotty

This blog is currently experiencing some spottiness.

Spottiness is a fact of blog-life, a condition that even the most rambling of blogs will, most likely, have to contend with at some point. It is not life-threatening and, often, a full recovery is possible. However, some caution is advisable during its early stages, as spottiness can transform into the more severe lineyness, if left unchecked. Plenty of fluids, rest, and strange smelling broths should keep the spots to a minimum. Still, some spottiness is not always a bad thing and, in fact, there are creatures who positively thrive in a spot-infested skin:



(Photo from Wild Leopards of Beijing)

Monday 22 August 2011

Teenage Boys and Sex: WTF?

I have just started reading a completely ludicrous book titled "Why Gender Matters" by Leonard Sax. I have read one chapter only and have based my assessment of the book on this one chapter (chapter 6: Sex), indeed on one passage:

"The motivation for sex is fundamentally different for most teenage boys compared with teenage girls. Teenage boys want to have sex to satisfy sexual desire. It's a gut-level, base-of-the-brain impulse, not far removed from the need to have a bowel movement when you feel the urge." (Page 125)
Ah, sex and poo, quite the erotic combination - thankfully (especially for teenage boys, or so it would seem), there's a whole subsection of porn devoted to fecal lust. (OK, I'm done now).

Also, on behalf of my teenage sisters, I would like to point out that the having of sexual desire - and the wanting to satisfy sexual desire as a motivation for sex - is very much a part of we XX humans. It is completely healthy and normal to be interested in sex while being female. AND, as proof of the link between being imbued with lust and (mostly) imbued with estrogen, astute readers will notice that I, a womb-bearing member of humanity, opened the ludicrous book at the chapter on Sex. Baby!

Tuesday 16 August 2011

Struggle in the Car Park

Whilst walking through the car park, on my way to get food, I passed an almost fallen tree branch. The attempt at branch-tree separation was not proceeding smoothly; the branch was refusing to disengage. Its bent and splintered bough clung tenaciously to the trunk, while its leafy head lay prone against the bitumen, plotting. I wanted to shout, "You go, branch!", but decorum, and the eyes of strangers, prevented me.

Friday 12 August 2011

Too Much Dream-Psychoanalysis?

[NEVER!!!]

So, last night I had series of involved and rollicking dreams - yee-hah! I was a little worn out upon awakening. I won't go into lurid detail of the dreams, for there may be children watching, and, quite frankly, the lurid detail of a person's dreams is mostly only interesting to that person. Nevertheless, there are 2 details from my dreams on which I feel I must comment:

1. the crumbling doorway of the house I lived in (with my family) from age 8 to 18 - this house often appears in my dreams (interestingly - to no one but me - the house I lived in before I was 8 never appears in my dreams).

2. the meandering presence of the person I like (sometimes with his girlfriend, and what appeared to be her entourage) - but there was a specific detail that struck me; he poured himself a drink of frothy pink bubblegum (it's okay to drink bubblegum in a dream), then poured some of it into a second glass and offered this to me. I refused the liquid bubblegum as I was already drinking a beer but he insisted (in a friendly way) that I take it, so I did, which seemed to make him happy.


The psychoanalytic interpretation of detail 1 is quite clear - obviously myself and my family need to stop letting evil into our lives, and we need to check that our front doors have sturdy locks (and, possibly, call in a termite inspector).

Detail 2 is a little more free-form. Clearly, the frothy pink bubblegum drink holds great meaning - but what is that meaning? Most likely it's sexual - Freud would see much phallic symbolism in the offering of a frothy pink bubblegum drink by a man I find attractive - but I see this explanation as being too easy (or, duh!). No, I'd like to believe there's something quite esoteric hidden in the pink bubblegum: Do I need more decorative polymer in my life? And, by extension, do I need to find a man who will understand and accept my need for decorative polymer? Ponderous...

Tuesday 2 August 2011

Musical Interlude: A Hazy Shade of Winter


Hang on to your hopes, my friend,
That's an easy thing to say, but if your hopes should pass away,
Simply pretend,
That you can build them again...

The song A Hazy Shade of Winter (by Simon & Garfunkel), with its plaintive but sanguine melody and lyrics, has been covered a number of times by various musicians. Below are 3 versions which I like. I think my favourite is by Bodyjar - raw and angry (like me!), though I have some nostalgia for the pop-rock Bangles version, being that it's the first version I ever heard (back in mid-80's teenageland). And I like the gentle harmonizing of the S&G original. The versions are listed in order of chronology and intensity:

1968 (S&G)



1987 (Bangles)



1995 (Bodyjar)