devolution

in an interview at the white house earlier this month, president bush stated that schoolchildren should be taught about "intelligent design," a view of creationism that challenges the theory of evolution and promotes the idea that god is behind the development of humanity.

pennsylvania senator rick santorum, has argued that “intelligent design is a legitimate scientific theory that should be taught in science classes” and managed to slip the “teach the controversy” language into the no child left behind act.

what controversy??!? last i heard the monkey trial ended in 1925.

and "a legitamate scientific theory"? just because life is too complex to be explained or understood completely by science at this time does not necessitate invoking a designer. since when is the god explanation scientific theory? even if one believes in a designer, why must this exclude evolution? i.d. proponents may argue that a neutral-sounding "intelligence" is responsible for design, but it is clear that a deity - in particular, god as he is conceived of by certain conservative christians - is envisioned as the agent of design. this newly created 'controversy' has just been a clever ruse for appropriating scientific-sounding arguments to advance a moral and political agenda, one they hope to force into the public-school system. and have succeeded - they are actually teaching 'intelligent design' in the biology cirriculum in dover, pennsylvania.

it is mind-boggling that this is even an issue - that we need to defend the teaching of evolution over religion (disguised as science) in our public schools.

cravings

why do we crave?

i had read about a study where vitamin deficient babies when given the choice of any food - they went for cod liver oil. using this logic, i figured any time i had a craving (say, for like chocolate) it must be for a good reason.. after all, our bodies must know what it needs..

ah, the fine line between hedonism and gluttony.

there is something admirable in the pursuit of or devotion to pleasure, especially to the pleasures of the senses.. but not of overindulgence nor addictions.. is there such a thing as a good addiction? to sex? to love? to excercise? to knowledge?

can we sublimate one addiction or craving for another? is coffee my gateway drug to tobacco, sex, and chocolate?

all things in moderation, they say - but i want to experience life fully, enjoy thoroughly, love completely..

markers of time

birthdays, anniversaries, holidays.. arbitrary days on the julian calendar celebrating the passage of time.

what makes the yearly mark of time so special? and why doesn't it count if we don't celebrate such events on that specific day? david sedaris comments in one of his short stories, "asking for candy on Halloween was called trick-or-treating, but asking for candy on November first was called begging.." my friend who loaned me this book loves to have multiple birthdays throughout the year.. she has succeeded in confusing me - to this day i'm still not quite sure how old she is.

i had never been much for celebrating these occasions, but am enjoying them more and more - and learning to enjoy surprises.. it's good to remember accomplishments, reflect on where you are in life - and any excuse to celebrate - bring it on!

obscenities

as per writer bill bryson, after the word 'o.k.', 'fuck' may be one of the most versatile words in the english language.

fuck, originally meaning to have sexual intercourse, becomes 'fuck you' - an insult, rather than a come-on, 'fucking-A' - an interjection, 'fuck off' - to send someone away, 'fuck over' - take advantage of, or 'fuck up' - to make a mistake.

i had heard the term 'snafu' - but i did not know that it was originally a military term - 'situation normal all fucked up', nor two other acronyms 'fubar' - 'fucked up beyond all recognition', and 'fubb' - 'fucked up beyond belief'.

what makes something obscene? why does the term 'fuck' strike us as vulgar, but 'sex' not? or why is it 1000 times worse when you call someone a 'cunt' here than in the u.k.? since there really are no curse words in japanese, calling someone 'stupid' there has the same meaning as calling someone an 'asshole' here. it's all a matter of culture, perception and propriety...

what's in a smell?

that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
words, phonimes, morphemes, pheromones..

whether for finding food, avoiding predators, or choosing a mate, the sense of smell is critical for most animal species.
the average human being recognizes 10,000 different odors. olfaction is handled by the limbic system - the memory and emotional center of our brain. people are now using aromatherapy to treat amnesia - to trigger memories. and scientists have actually found a way to use odors to create false memories of not liking certain types of food to avoid overeating.

pheromones which exist in human sweat, saliva, vaginal secretions - not only trigger emotional changes and physiologic changes by smell, but are also absorbed by touch. a woman's sense of smell is keener than a man's and is influenced by estrogen - it peaks when women are the most sexually responsive and fertile - women who have sex regularly tend to have more regular periods. it's what makes all of your girlfriends synchronize on the same cycle.

pheromones in body scent are unique to each person - like a fingerprint - generally underestimated, it plays a huge part in human attraction. how our body odors are perceived as pleasant and sexy to another person is a highly selective and individual process. according to an article in 'psychology today', we usually smell best to a person whose genetically based immunity to disease differs most from our own. which evolutionarily would benefit you making for stronger, healthier children.

so if you're in love your man's smell, chances are he may just be 'the one'..

words, words, words..

Polonius: What do you read, my lord?
Hamlet: Words, words, words.

Hamlet's answer suggests that the words which he reads are meaningless, yet he then with his own words, dances around Polonius' interogation, mocking him and insulting him while pretending to be mad..

the power of words. they can crush your heart, or make it soar. make you angry, aroused, uncomfortable, or laugh in hysterics. what a marvelous thing to put thought, emotion, playfulness or jokes into a means of communication through words. like music or art - but with less room for different interpretations.. the whole point is the degree of precision or ambiguity of expression..

independence vs. codependence

when it comes to relationships, is there a happy medium?

most dysfunctional relationships seem to suffer from too much of one or the other. either they are too independent - taking separate vacations, staying for prolonged periods away from eachother seem 'normal' to them - they lead completely separate lives despite living under the same roof. the codependent couple is way too enmeshed, can't make a single minor decision without the other, do anything without the other, or have an independent thought from the other.. in both cases, the growth of the individual and the couple is stunted, stifled.

when two people are together they should both be growing, becoming better individuals because they are with eachother. so how does one accomplish this without falling into the traps of independence or codependence? 1) stay in love - love to be with eachother, truly enjoy eachother's company 2) care about one another's individuality - their space, their relationships with individual friends 3) communicate - debate, discuss and accept differing opinions. 4) and always remember why you fell in love in the first place.

what women want

'sex and the city' portrays women in nyc as single, smart, sexy, and eternally searching for 'mr. right'.

sadly this all too familiar cliche rings true. nearly all of my girlfriends are single (myself included) - why is this? they are a group of beautiful, fascinating, fun loving, intelligent professionals. any man would be lucky to have them. so why is it that they are all still in search of 'the one'?

to grossly generalize, two generations ago marriage was a woman's only choice. most women were completely financially dependent on their husbands, and in so doing, locked themselves into a union where they lacked power. indescretions were tolerated - what other choice did a woman have? over this past generation, women had to choose - career or family.. there is no fault in being an educated housewife - i probably would have done the same.. but in this generation, women are refusing to choose. they want both - the security and independence of their career and a lifelong partnership of equals.

is this why it's so difficult to find the perfect man? is it hormonal, pheromonal? do most men fear sharing the power in a relationship? or maybe it's just plain difficult/near impossible to find your one true soulmate.

women today i think are setting a higher standard for themselves- we won't settle for less than what we want. we won't settle for less than true love, less than the security that we create for ourselves. so if it takes a little longer to get to where we want to be, so be it - i applaud us for waiting. we can achieve what we are looking for, and as unlikely as it seems, 'the one' does exist.