We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
It's autumn here. Fleece is one of the great inventions for cool weather, maybe second to fire. Lightweight, layerable, and cozy. I always hated wool. It makes me itchy.
I am grateful for those mill folks who came up with fleece.
Can male and female sex drives be compared in any useful or interesting ways? It's difficult to get honest data for studies, individuals vary widely, and there is no easy way to measure "sex drive" anyway. I am pretty much convinced that the average male is more affected by physical sexual pressures and sexual fantasies than the average female. Why do men, especially young men, masturbate so much even if they have a sexual partner? It is because they do not always have a willing partner at hand when the pressure mounts.
There are two things, really: An (interpersonal) "urge to merge," (ie desire/love/lust), and a more impersonal need for sexual release/relief/recreation (a longing in the loins). A few pieces on the topic:
All male animals are like that. The comments are amusing.
Males and females are sex objects, and most want to be that sometimes - plus sometimes, or often, more than that. In today's world, a bold woman has far more easy access to sexual experience than a bold guy.
On the evidence of this book Coates wants to raise up in his son an ideological resentment, to querulous monomania. He repeatedly extols what he calls the “struggle,” though he does not tell his son what it is a struggle for. He makes explicit his disbelief in the likelihood of real change, given that America is ruled by what he so elegantly calls “majoritarian pigs,” so that it cannot be for any concrete or tangible political or economic goal. There is not a single call to his son to expand his horizons beyond “the struggle,” which is really that of giving a meaning to life in the absence of any other. Of course, it is also (potentially) a lucrative career: but while Coates sees the economic beam in everybody else’s eye, he does not see the financial mote in his own. He has successfully commodified his dissent, to adapt slightly the title of Thomas Frank’s book. It does not occur to him that, even in America, outrage cannot be the way forward for millions of people, or indeed that dwelling exclusively on injustice, real or supposedmay not be the best advice to an adolescent (adolescence being, in any case, the great age of resentment).
Mr. Coates, tell your kid he can be a famous neurosurgeon
Following up on the previous theme of finding things to do as an empty-nester, we were at the mall recently (the Apple Store to fix an iPad and iPhone which had gone awry) and found a gallery which was selling/showing Salvador Dali etchings from the Argillet Collection.
Christine Argillet is the daughter of Pierre Argillet, one of Dali's patrons. His relationship with Dali began in 1934 and continued throughout his life. Christine essentially grew up with Dali, and since Pierre's death has managed one of the largest Dali collections in the world.
I love Dali's work and for my sake my wife suggested we walk in. The gallery manager viewed the etchings with us, telling stories from previous shows which Christine had attended. We were invited back for the show (this weekend on Saturday), which I will attend. A bit later, on the ride home, my wife told me she had no interest in Dali, but knew I enjoyed surrealism, was willing to take a look but I'd likely attend on my own. That's fine, I spent an hour by myself in the Time Warner Building on Columbus Avenue when they had Dali's work in the lobby. A lucky find while out walking NYC streets during lunch.
I was lucky that my wife had paid attention as we were leaving the mall. Empty-nesting is a constant relearning of what brought you together in the first place. Sometimes you find things one or both enjoy, sometimes you just indulge the other person. Dali is a great indulgence, particularly on her part.
Psychiatric diagnosis—more overblown, all-inclusive, and shallow in the DSM-5 than ever before—has almost driven the word “unhappy” from the English lexicon.
I think I have settled on the New Balance Minimus 20V-3 Trainer as my all-purpose exercise/work-out shoe. Lightweight, stable for weights, good for everything a Cross-Trainer or gym rat might need. They do not make you feel bare-footed, but close enough.
They have a 20v4 out now, but the 3 is fine. They come in men's and women's because men and women are different.
New Balance (made in USA) tend to run 1/4-1/2 sizes small, so I go up 1/2. They make narrow, which is good.
“He is a progressive on the home front, but he is pretty reactionary when it comes to foreign policy,” says Gloria La Riva, the 2016 presidential nominee for the Party of Socialism and Liberation. “He supported the Israeli war against Gaza. He supports the drone bombing campaigns in other countries, which is a war crime. He has said that Cuba needs to be a democracy, but we believe Cuba already truly is a system for the people there.”
The government experts are 30 years behind current knowledge. I am not sure why this is a governmental task anyway. People can read on their own and make up their own minds.
Plenty of readers know how to do that. Too late to collect fresh firewood for this winter, but it's always the right time to collect wood for next year.
As an empty-nester, finding activities to fill time is a weekly quest. The wife and I are in the second year of being home alone (it had been 20 years since we were only a couple, prior to last Fall), and there is always a question of finding interests we both share, or are willing to endure for the sake of the other.
This weekend we determined to go to the movies. The Martian was playing, and has gotten good reviews. I like Sci-Fi, she does not, but she likes movies where people save Matt Damon, I guess. As luck would have it, the showtimes were all sold out. We then considered The Walk, Robert Zemeckis' dramatization of Philippe Petit's traversing the World Trade Center Towers. It was in 3-D. Generally, I don't like 3-D. We thought maybe this would be a good application of the gimmick. It could be fun to be that close to feeling what Petit felt. The wife was not as sure, and she had see Man On Wire, the documentary, which I had not seen. She had enjoyed the documentary and wasn't sure this would do the story justice. Still, we took the plunge.
If you can deal with 3-D, the movie is relatively true to the story, and told in compelling fashion. Not being a fan of 3-D, I'd have to say it worked. My palms were sweating as he crossed the wire. I flinched twice in scenes which were deliberately shot to make you flinch (knew it was going to happen, but still fell for it).
Mrs. BD's doc is a conservative sort, slow to change advice. This month he was impressed with her physical condition and her numbers. She told him she was either working out or doing Yoga daily and sticking to a low-carb diet with plenty of meat, fats, butter, olive oil, etc.
He told her that that was his new, revised recommendation to all of his patients, after years of advising low-fat, high-grain diet. He acknowledged his error and explained how carbs contribute to the inflammation which leads to arterial disease, not to mention to fat accumulation.
He is an internist and cardiologist, and is in incredible shape. Lifts and works out every day before making his hospital rounds.
Her Gyn doc races a swimming mile each morning before work. She has 3 kids, so I guess hubbie gets them ready for school. He's a surgeon. He doesn't look like he exercises at all.
It's autumn here. Fleece is one of the great inventions for cool weather, maybe second to fire. Lightweight, layerable, and cozy. I always hated wool. It makes me itchy.
How 
I think I have settled on the 
Stop Worrying So Much About Making a Big Impact 
Connecticut School District Bans Halloween, Will Rebrand Day As “Fall Themed”… 
The exercise and satisfaction in 
Forgiveness and Grace: 
A few re-posts:
With Tunisia in the news this week (
Mrs. BD's doc is a conservative sort, slow to change advice. This month he was impressed with her physical condition and her numbers. She told him she was either working out or doing Yoga daily and sticking to a low-carb diet with plenty of meat, fats, butter, olive oil, etc.