Half
Almost half of Britains surveyed had cheated on a partner.
And, you know, if that many English would cheat, the numbers have got to be waaaaaaaaaay higher for the more confident countries.
I’m just sayin’.
Almost half of Britains surveyed had cheated on a partner.
And, you know, if that many English would cheat, the numbers have got to be waaaaaaaaaay higher for the more confident countries.
I’m just sayin’.
So, there’s this radio station in Seattle, KEXP, 90.3 FM. I may have posted about them before; I listen to them on the IntarWeb (using iTunes) because they offer high-quality streams of their stuff, plus they archive the past two weeks of broadcast, plus they save all their in-studio guests’ shows, blah, blah, yadda, yadda… They’re great.
They’re all listener-supported. This week they’re having a pledge drive. Go. Listen. Give them money. They’re totally worth it if you like independent radio and are tired of listening to whatever the Big Five record companies are paying Clear Channel to play.
Anywho, reason I bring them up again is because yesterday morning, they played a new track from William Shatner. Yes, Captain Kirk-slash-T. J. Hooker-slash-“legend in his own mind” William Fucking Shatner. He’s been recording a new album, which is being produced by Ben Folds, and they’ve released a single from the album. It’s a remake of “Common People” by Pulp.
And it totally fucking rocks. The actual singing is handled on one chorus by Joe Jackson, but hearing ol’ Bill talking his way through the song, with his emphatic repetitions and weird pauses… dunno. It just works. This song, and my cat, is the only thing that’s made me smile today.
So, see, here’s where the coolness of KEXP shines through. Even though they played it yesterday, you can still hear it. Go to KEXP’s streaming archive, select Tuesday, 28 September 2004, around 7:23 AM, and pick one of the streams (Windows Media Crapper or RealCrap, hardly matters which) and, after hearing John and Amanda beg for donations for a minute or two, you’ll hear the song.
And, believe me, you’ll want to hear it over and over again. I know I do.
I dreamt about Sasquatches last night. Fake Sasquatches, but the costume was really very good.
I was in Michigan (in my dream), on a road trip with my sister and her kids, my niece and nephew. Grosse Point, Michigan. You know, like the movie. Except John Cusak wasn’t there.
Yeah. Dreams are weird. Like when I was flying around, and thinking, “They may be fake Sasquatches, but at least I’m safe while I’m flying.”
Heh. Dreams.
Oh, remembered another point about trusting people:
There are many reasons I should not trust someone:
There’s a difference, I’m learning, between selfish flirting and (for lack of a better term, I’ll call) giving flirting. This is something I’ve been thinking about and trying to notice for at least a couple of weeks now. I first started to think about it when I noticed that some women I flirt with, even though it’s exciting, leaves me feeling nervous. Powerless, basically. But other women, when I flirt with them, it’s fun and sets a mood but is generally a positive experience. What is the difference between the two types of flirting?
After paying close attention, I decided that you can flirt to draw attention to yourself, or you can flirt to give attention to the other person. And, actually, you can mix the two in one encounter (which is probably more common). But, overall, the tendency to flirt to draw attention to yourself leads to the feeling I was describing above, where the other person leaves the encounter feeling bad, or put-down, or… powerless, weak. That’s not a good feeling. Obviously.
And, actually, in the times I’ve noticed the more positive feeling, it was only a word or a phrase, out of the entire encounter, that caught my attention and made me realize that the other person was being a giving person.
I’ve been trying to find, or make up, specific examples and it’s difficult, because a lot of it is body language and tone. I wanted to make a note of it in my blog, though, to bookmark the idea for myself. Expect more posts on this subject as I work through this idea and incorporate it into my life. It’s something I want to do more of, and something I will be looking for in women.
I’m in the process of adding some new pages to my site, pages dedicated to running. The first page is my Running Log, which will (eventually) be where I record, day-by-day, all my running, my times and pace (when I record them) and any notes. There’s no content there right now, as I post this; I’ll start filling it in on Monday.
The second page is where I’ll record my “standard” courses, along with notes on hills, mile points along the course, and total distance. There’s some basic content there, but I want to play with the format to see if there’s a better way to organize the information. I’d like to add some pictures, too; some of my runs are pretty scenic.
The links are over on my linkbar (to the left) but, as I said, not much content there.
In the future, I won’t be writing about my running in my blog much, unless something odd, funny, or notable happens. I will probably still note any actual races I enter in the main blog, however. I’m trying to separate out my running from the journalling that is the main purpose of my blog.
I’ve also started to redesign my site, to help with load times and to make it a little prettier. But I’m not promising anything since it’s something I work on in my spare time.
Sorry I haven’t been posting here much lately. Three things have been preventing me:
OK, actually, there’s been a fourth situation that’s been taking my time and attention lately, that is hopefully dealt with… you may or may not be reading more about that here. But even if you do, it will be in non-specific terms…
I ran to work today. 5.07 miles, did it in 48:25.61, for a 9:33 pace!!!
Whoo-HOOO! I’m a rock star!
Remember those old stories about Faeries? I’m not talking about gay folk (not that there’s anything wrong with that). I’m talking the mysterious magical folk, the ones that modern lore has reduced to tiny elves baking cookies or working at the North Pole. Yeah, I’m talking about the inspriation for faerie tales.
However, the original faeries were powerful beings, only vaguely human, and as beautiful as they were cruel.
In a lot of the old stories, some dumb lucky human would stumble, at night, into a circle of mushrooms or something, or be lured into a forest by a glimpse of some alien exotic beauty, and come face to face with an enigma: faeries. There would be riddles, or dancing, or seduction… and somehow he’d come away with gold. Lots of gold, enough to make him and his descendents richer than a clever pirate, certainly richer than a king or other lord or lady of the time.
He’d escape, and plan revenge on his enemies, or benevolent dreams of rescuing a maiden, or whatever turned his crank. None of it mattered, however. He’d haul his bag of faerie gold back towards his village or the castle or whatnot, thinking that this morning was the turning point in his dreary life.
But as soon as sunlight, rather than the fickle and changing moonlight, touched all this glittery wealth, the illusion was revealed. All those coins and jewellry would crumble into sticks and leaves. He’d be left with worse than dirt. All gone. He’d been fooled into thinking that faeries were dumb enough to let a stupid mortal vanish off some of their treasure. Silly mortal.
Sigh.
Some relationships are like that. Under certain, controlled conditions, everything seems fine. There’s laughter, fellowship, familiarity. Good times, had by all involved.
But when the cold light of reality is allowed to touch the friendship… poofta! Nothing but twigs and dead plants and scraps of spider silk. Maybe even a spider or two, to add a poisonous bite to the lesson.
Why is that? What makes a son of Adam think that he can battle a denizen of an eternal race that thrives on uncaused effects… and win? When he knows, from stories told by friends and family, and even from direct experience, that such a creature is not to be trusted, not to be believed? When he knows that to allow faerie gold into his life is to invite chaos, and giving someone so untrustworthy any power over him at all is to wish pain and confusion on himself?
Life. It’s a funny ol’ thing… ain’t it?