A small interlude
The bloody computer at my parents' house went doo-lally and refused to publish the post explicating my point about Hattifatteners, which just goes to show that, however middle-aged and frugal, one should never buy serious hardware from Tesco.
Perhaps the best thing to do is just to point people towards 'Tales from Moominvalley' (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tales-Moominvalley-Puffin-Books-Jansson/dp/0140306099/sr=8-1/qid=1162754456/ref=sr_1_1/202-3917978-2857417?ie=UTF8&s=books - gosh I'm helpful), which explains why you wouldn't want to be, or be led by, a Hattifattener. You might also look at Tove Jansson's The Summer Book, which is for grown-ups but shouldn't be discarded on that basis.
A friend posted an interesting quiz on facebook, perfect for procrastinators like me, to be found at http://quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=43870. This quiz (and there are many) is called What's Your Theological Worldview?, and I scored as Roman Catholic.
'You are Roman Catholic' (said QuizFarm). 'Church tradition and ecclesial authority are hugely important, and the most important part of worship for you is mass. As the Mother of God, Mary is important in your theology, and as the communion of saints includes the living and the dead, you can also ask the saints to intercede for you.'
Those results in full:
Roman Catholic 79%
Neo orthodox 75%
Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 71%
Charismatic/Pentecostal 50%
Emergent/Postmodern 46%
Reformed Evangelical 46%
Classical Liberal 43%
Modern Liberal 43%
Fundamentalist 32%
Actually I'm not Catholic, I'm Anglican. Not for much longer, perhaps, although it's quite difficult to square active Catholicism and active (note) homosexuality. But I do think this is all of a piece with my results from politicalcompass.org. I have a couple of problems with this site, but it does have me tapped as a member of the Authoritarian Left.
The Anglican poet John Betjeman reputedly said in the last year of his life that a great regret was not having had more sex. I'm tempted to agree, but I find it difficult to write about sex, partly because it's basically crass and partly because I don't want to upset any of my partners who happen to be reading.
So let's approach this obliquely. A friend of mine has slept with - damnable euphemism! has had sex with - literally dozens of other men. I sometimes wish, I really do, that I could do the same - that is, enjoy the pleasure of sex on its own merits. We all - and if this isn't true I apologise - have this fantasy idea of perfect sex, mutual physical understanding with a handsome partner. No emotion, no regrets, no calling it a shame. And the aforementioned friend is a very attractive guy and there's a certain amount of envy that lots of other guys have enjoyed his attentions.
But I can't do it. There's a line somewhere in CS Lewis where he says that, although what he calls 'fornication' was transiently enjoyable, he couldn't shake the feeling of 'okay, so what?' And this is no sign of great virtue on my part to sympathise; I wish it were different. But in practice, it isn't that easy. Accomplishing fantasy sex, in fact, isn't that easy - and again, a part of me wishes it were different. Every hook-up is undertaken with the idea that it might work this time; that this guy will square the circle (which is not a euphemism for some bizarre sexual practice).
There must be some people who can enjoy sex with a partner and casual sex, and somehow separate the two without injuring themself or their partner. (Actually, that's theologically impossible, but I'll stick with baser levels for now). Of all the people I've kissed, leaving sex on one side for a minute, 25% can reasonably be categorised as a mistake on any criterion.
Crunching these numbers is interesting if unpleasantly clinical. But it's clear that the occasions of satisfying sex are way below the occasions of sex, and the usual correlation is an emotional attracttion. This happened last week, and I have to leave the guy on the other side of the Atlantic, and so maybe I'm a little sad.
But then one of my friends writes to tell me that a previous entry ' made me smile and go to some sort of chocolate brownie mooosh'. And that is, I assume, a good thing. So, not being a hattifattener, I'll carry on for the time being.
Perhaps the best thing to do is just to point people towards 'Tales from Moominvalley' (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tales-Moominvalley-Puffin-Books-Jansson/dp/0140306099/sr=8-1/qid=1162754456/ref=sr_1_1/202-3917978-2857417?ie=UTF8&s=books - gosh I'm helpful), which explains why you wouldn't want to be, or be led by, a Hattifattener. You might also look at Tove Jansson's The Summer Book, which is for grown-ups but shouldn't be discarded on that basis.
A friend posted an interesting quiz on facebook, perfect for procrastinators like me, to be found at http://quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=43870. This quiz (and there are many) is called What's Your Theological Worldview?, and I scored as Roman Catholic.
'You are Roman Catholic' (said QuizFarm). 'Church tradition and ecclesial authority are hugely important, and the most important part of worship for you is mass. As the Mother of God, Mary is important in your theology, and as the communion of saints includes the living and the dead, you can also ask the saints to intercede for you.'
Those results in full:
Roman Catholic 79%
Neo orthodox 75%
Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 71%
Charismatic/Pentecostal 50%
Emergent/Postmodern 46%
Reformed Evangelical 46%
Classical Liberal 43%
Modern Liberal 43%
Fundamentalist 32%
Actually I'm not Catholic, I'm Anglican. Not for much longer, perhaps, although it's quite difficult to square active Catholicism and active (note) homosexuality. But I do think this is all of a piece with my results from politicalcompass.org. I have a couple of problems with this site, but it does have me tapped as a member of the Authoritarian Left.
The Anglican poet John Betjeman reputedly said in the last year of his life that a great regret was not having had more sex. I'm tempted to agree, but I find it difficult to write about sex, partly because it's basically crass and partly because I don't want to upset any of my partners who happen to be reading.
So let's approach this obliquely. A friend of mine has slept with - damnable euphemism! has had sex with - literally dozens of other men. I sometimes wish, I really do, that I could do the same - that is, enjoy the pleasure of sex on its own merits. We all - and if this isn't true I apologise - have this fantasy idea of perfect sex, mutual physical understanding with a handsome partner. No emotion, no regrets, no calling it a shame. And the aforementioned friend is a very attractive guy and there's a certain amount of envy that lots of other guys have enjoyed his attentions.
But I can't do it. There's a line somewhere in CS Lewis where he says that, although what he calls 'fornication' was transiently enjoyable, he couldn't shake the feeling of 'okay, so what?' And this is no sign of great virtue on my part to sympathise; I wish it were different. But in practice, it isn't that easy. Accomplishing fantasy sex, in fact, isn't that easy - and again, a part of me wishes it were different. Every hook-up is undertaken with the idea that it might work this time; that this guy will square the circle (which is not a euphemism for some bizarre sexual practice).
There must be some people who can enjoy sex with a partner and casual sex, and somehow separate the two without injuring themself or their partner. (Actually, that's theologically impossible, but I'll stick with baser levels for now). Of all the people I've kissed, leaving sex on one side for a minute, 25% can reasonably be categorised as a mistake on any criterion.
Crunching these numbers is interesting if unpleasantly clinical. But it's clear that the occasions of satisfying sex are way below the occasions of sex, and the usual correlation is an emotional attracttion. This happened last week, and I have to leave the guy on the other side of the Atlantic, and so maybe I'm a little sad.
But then one of my friends writes to tell me that a previous entry ' made me smile and go to some sort of chocolate brownie mooosh'. And that is, I assume, a good thing. So, not being a hattifattener, I'll carry on for the time being.
posted by BoB at 4:48 PM
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