06 Sunday Nov 2016
Posted in Uncategorized
I told you they were crazy thoughts. Are you glad they’re not in your head?
04 Friday Nov 2016
Posted in Exercise/ Fitness, food, Gender Roles, Sexual Identity, Sobriety
Tags
If you follow my blog, you might have learned a few things about me.
This takes us to the first topic in the title, Lurking. All you Butch Lesbians and Bisexuals out there should know I read your blogs. Occasionally I will “like” a post. I realize most Butches are OK with my reading. Some aren’t. To those who aren’t OK with people of my demographic reading your blogs, I’m sorry. But I’m not quitting, unless you bore me to death.
Topic #2. Substitutions. Since I like to cook and am in Recovery, I find substitutions for wine, beer and spirits in food challenging. Most times I simply not use a recipe with alcohol. I know how alcohol cooks off in a lot of cases. But the “esters”, those wonderful compounds that give different wines their unique and characteristic flavor, give me a headache. Any tips on substitutes for alcohol would be appreciated.
Topic #3 Sleep. Between not having a job and chronic, albeit moderate, pain. I don’t sleep well. Throw in the Cubs winning the Series, and my circadian rhythm has no rhythm. I’m like Ward Cleaver dancing.
That’s it. I’m done for now.
02 Wednesday Nov 2016
Posted in Sexual Identity
I love that term “Prurient Interest”. I first came across it when I was reading about how the Supreme Court came up with definitions of “obscenity”, about fifty years ago. Prurient is defined as “having or encouraging an excessive interest in sexual matters”, according to the Oxford English Dictionary (online). The Court, way back then, was saying that, if a book or movie appealed only to prurient interest and had no other redeeming artistic or social value, it was obscene. I don’t know if they argue about matters like these any more. The time has kind of gotten away from what was considered obscene fifty or eighty years ago. Does anybody read Joyce’s Ulysses for its powerful eroticism any more? I saw the film The Lovers (Les Amoreuses) a few months ago. What is significant about the film is that it figured in what constituted “obscene” in films. The film would probably get a PG-13 rating today. It’s actually a pretty good movie, starring Jeanne Moreau, and her character was having an affair. We can’t leave the subject of defining obscenity without bringing up the Justice Potter Stewart quote, “I can’t define obscenity but I know it when I see it.” By that standard The Lovers is patently NOT obscene.
“Prurient Interest” basically alludes to curiosity about sexual matters. What is left unsaid is that curiosity is a good thing and we human beings can’t help but be curious. My readers will recall some entries I made about my lesbian cousin, Cousins Part One and Cousins Part Two. I became intensely curious about the phenomenon of “Butch”, so I started reading up. The sexual interest aspect was lost soon after I started reading about it, but what remained was an enormous appreciation for lesbian-themed literature. I ordered Best Lesbian Love Stories 2004, and Set in Stone, edited by Angela Brown, published by Alyson Books. The quality of the writing just blew me away. I am in awe of these writers who have extraordinarily good storytelling skills. What follows from reading the stories is empathy for the predicament of LGBT people, and respect for LGBT people.
A cheap thrill will dissipate. Where the search for a cheap thrill led me were places I never dreamed I would go.
01 Tuesday Nov 2016
Posted in cooking, Gender Roles, Sexual Identity, Suburbia
That term “Gender Nonconformity” is pretty daunting. Why would I, a committed macho-type heterosexual male, dare to venture into this semantic minefield?
In 1961, the 4-H Club came to Skipwith Elementary School. We were still considered a rural area at that time, before the few farmers remaining sold out to the developers. There were two teachers, facilitators, I guess they would be called now. There were two programs offered, Insect Collecting presented by the male teacher and Home Economics, facilitated by the female. The unspoken cultural norm was that the boys would sign up for the Bugs, the girls for the Cooking and Sewing.
I signed up for Home Economics. I had no real interest, at that time, in collecting insects. The wonders of entomology had yet to seduce me. I did, however, have some interest in cooking and the other “Domestic Arts”. I was the only boy in Home Ec. I do not know if any girls signed up to catch bugs, kill them with ether in a jar and present them pinned to a board. The point is that it was no big deal. Nobody said anything. My mother was not concerned that I might become a “homo”, to use a contemporary term. She always welcomed any help around the house.
I did learn a thing or two. It kindled an interest in cooking, cleaning, and interior design that I still have. Regrettably, there wasn’t much focus on sewing. I could have benefited from learning sewing. I wish I had pursued it.
“Gender Nonconforming”. A boy takes Home Economics. A girl collects bugs. It seems the term inflates the significance and obfuscates the reality of what’s actually happening. I don’t mean to disparage anyone dealing with these issues and encountering difficulty. I know that this is a very tough issue, from what I’ve read from my blogging colleagues. Simply put, my experience in doing a “girl-type” thing was, all in all, rather benign.
To all you Gender Nonconformists out there. Rock on!
Dispatches From Dystopia 