Tales of Home [8]

As far as having sex outside procreation, I believe that's a rather recent phenomena. yes, people were practicing birth control before (mainly rhythm), but kids were just a far more expected part of life. They were a largely an inescapable part of life.

halfwise wrote:

Amarië wrote:I'm very done with babies, but get all googligoo if there's one around I can borrow for a bit.

Also, we already have cats, what the next step after that?

Once the kids leave, you get more cats.

And if you are really wild maybe some alpacas.  

Norc wrote:I kinda agree with Blue. It's not all "nature", but i think the reason why humans (among other species) have sex outside of breething is because one can. life is good, and consuequenses arent that bad and we can control it. but this is a whole nother spectrum i believe. i'de like to discuss that too, but i haven't read much on the subject (only know from first hand experience). But i find it interesting when subjects on how men and women relate differently to sex. For example (and i am paraphrasing and there is no sourcing here sorry), i read this though, it is scienty, women connect more during sex, and are much more depending on feeling safe and comfortable prior to sex, while men (not that they sex around feelingless) but they see sex more of a conformation to love, not "making" the love there and then. i dunno if that made any sense at all. but i believe there is a difference. and it is superinteresting. i also do believe that things are changing, because we are not cave-people anymore, and haven't been for a long time, but the human brain and different sexes, we are different. we think different. I am a feminist and do believe in equal rights and that boys should be allowed to cry and be mushy, but i also strongly believe that, deep down in our ancient DNA, we are wired differently.

I found this quite interesting on the subject

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150420-why-do-women-have-periods

Amarië wrote:I'm very done with babies, but get all googligoo if there's one around I can borrow for a bit.

Also, we already have cats, what the next step after that?

Just wait Amarië, the grand payoff is coming!
Sooner than you think there will be grandchildren!!
All of the joys, none of the responsibilities!!!!!

That was really interesting Blue

I never had the clock thing, I never had any maternal instincts whatsoever, like not once in all my life have I thought ooh yeah I want kids, not for one second, maybe I am wired up differently? cats on the other hand, I have always wanted cats and had lots of them around me, and they find me and appear out of nowhere and settle, I am a pussy magnet.

{{ 1st day of Spring!!  Obviously therefore been a day of thunder, sheet lightening snow and hail storms  
Its actually the same storm that hammered North America, having crossed the Atlantic and not improved its mood much on the way!
Friend of mine took this excellent picture of our impending gloom as it swept at us from the sea! }}

wow that's amazing!

reminds me of this, wish I could get rid of the Getty watermarking. its that toxic white beach I posted recently. so the drama is real.

That is a fantastic picture ! Mmm, 1st day of Spring was yesterday & for us "Southern Softies" we had freezing cold rain lashing in our faces & raw cold wind so, for us Summer has obviously begun

so this happened at campus today. flooding. video in the article and also a picture of the smashed window (firefighters had to in order to pump out the water). it pumped like that for 20 minutes until they found the off-switch.

link to article

Why couldn't they, you know, go inside and open the window instead of breaking it? Or was it not the opening kind?

According to Google Translate, the article states that:

Our reporter on the spot said that they have broken route to get into the hoses and to avoid opening the door. The water is several centimeters above the ground.

My first thought was, "well, breaking windows is certainly the obvious alternative to opening doors". But I think what they're saying is the flooding was confined to only one room in the building (and somehow not seeping through the cracks around the door ) and that's why they didn't want to open it.

I think firefighters everywhere will break out windows at the slightest excuse because, you know, they can!
Just like parking in front of fire hydrants. It's a perk of the job!

Eldo is onto something it was only one room.. but the campus is build like several buildings inside a greenhouse, therefore it had windows (because it is a building inside the builiding) the water stood several cm, so they didn't want to open any doors. And no the window wasn't the opening kind. it did seep through cracks though, but it would've been worse if they'd open doors.

So it's my birthday, and since I'm between the age of 40 and 70 I didn't bother to tell anyone, but just lit out on my own.  You'd think I'd head for one of the iconic places downtown, but my neighborhood had been busy busy gentrifying the last few years (talk about mixed feelings), and there's places I haven't tried yet.

first up was a japanese ramen and cocktail bar, where the bartender hails from the legendary Angel's Share, the first Japanese cocktail bar in New York.  It's less than a 5 minute walk from my apartment, but I never checked out the cocktails before.  I started with Smoke - and what you see there is actually woodsmoke layered over a chile infused cocktail.



I had another heavenly cocktail, then staggered a block down the street to a sushi bar.  A year or so ago it was fresh and cramped, with one sushi chef, and I feel it had some purity to it.  Now they expanded, with 4 sushi chefs at the bar, and I feel they sold out.  But their food looks good.



The cocktails simply were wretched compared to the divine place I started.  But I enjoyed my sushi roll, even if bastardized with success and commercialization.

Finally I headed to a place with the best hamburgers in the neighborhood: pure rib meat.  But I wasn't there for the burgers.  Last week when my neices where in I walked by and heard a saxophonist playing, but didn't have time to stop.  Now I planned to remedy that.  The food was great (mac and cheese with bacon - all of it chewy like you never can get anywhere), the drinks unfortunately far below what the neighborhood has recently become accustomed to; but the saxophonist was sublime.



Yeah, this is less than a 10 minute walk from my apartment, every week.  I keep thinking I'll leave New York, but it's getting more difficult.

Happy birthday, halfy! Sounds like a great night out. You always make living in NYC sound very cool.

Happy Birthday Halfy!!!




That boggles my mind Halfy!
A 10 minute walk from here would get me to a farmhouse where I could beg a beer and the use of the wifi. A half hour farther would get me to the Local Tavern (yes, that the only name it has) where they make a really good basic homemade burger, the beer is on tap, pool tables and a poker game on Tuesdays that's to rich for me.

I'd love to visit NY and dabble in the exotic nightlife sometime, but still all things considered I doubt I'd be happy trading with you for more than a week or so....

Happy Birthday Halfy you sly old fox Those snaps look fun Hope you had/have a great day !!

David H wrote:
I'd love to visit NY and dabble in the exotic nightlife sometime, but still all things considered I doubt I'd be happy trading with you for more than a week or so....

Come on by!

I still hold on to my dream of a small house out in the country, where I don't have to spend an hour getting to my car, and no loud music from neighbors, or marijuana smoke wafting from the stairwell. Where I can sit on the porch and watch the leaves tossle in the wind and sun. Someday I'll make it happen. But until I do I may as well enjoy what I have.

Sort of interesting, Dave; your local tavern is not listed on either apple or google maps. There's a 'minit mart' and a 'local store'. Oddly enough those appear on apple rather than google maps. Would have thought google would reign supreme out there.

Oh yeah, I forgot that they had to change the name from just "Tavern" to "Local Bar and Grill" for their food handler's license 30 years ago or so. Something about the old Blue Laws (nothing personal Blue ).

But nobody calls it that. It's just been "The Tavern" or "The Local" since the 1920's. The building burned in the 70's, so it lost a little of it's ancient smoky charm when they rebuilt, but it's still a local institution as any good watering hole should be!

So where DO you keep a car when you live in a city like NY? I've always wondered...

halfwise wrote: Oddly enough those appear on apple rather than google maps. Would have thought google would reign supreme out there.

Google doesn't seem to know what to make of us out here, and there are gaps in their info. Their images seem to be at least 3 years old the last time I had a chance to look, and some of their roads are wrong by my reckoning. But I actually kind of enjoy living below the Google radar.

So where DO you keep a car when you live in a city like NY? I've always wondered...

There's several things you can do with a car.  You can park it on the street, which means hunting for at least 5 minutes for a free space and maybe having a 10 minute walk, plus moving it enough to avoid the street cleaning (4 times a week: twice on each side of the road).  I tried that for a few months but that's no way to live unless you've got nothing much better to do with your life.

There used to be (relatively) inexpensive parking lots nearby, but now all prices are in the $300/month range. (Fancier neighborhoods further south are looking upwards of $600/month).  I found a place in the bronx where cars are parked in the apartment courtyard, and since many people in NYC don't bother to own a car, there are often open spaces.  I'm now paying $125/month, and it takes me an hour to get there.  But as I only use it about every 2 weeks (but store all my camping and hang gliding gear in it), I consider it a worthwhile deal.  The same storage space nearby would cost nearly that much per month, and wouldn't come equipped with wheels.

Most of us who live in Manhattan feel you should suffer for owning a car.  Reduces unnecessary traffic.  You roll your eyes at those who move into the neighborhood and bitterly complain about parking.  It's an essential part of the deal.

HAPPY BRTHDAY! Halfy.

that sushi thingie looked yummy.

Happy birthday Halfy! and damn you for posting such a delicious picture of sushi! hope you had a great evening!