BERNEVAL

From “Love and Literature” in Texts & Pretexts: An Anthology with Commentaries by Aldous Huxley.

[…] Isolate a new born rat, then, when it is mature, introduce it to another rat of the opposite sex. It will know exactly what to do — will behave as all other rats behave.

Not so an ape. Instinct does not tell it how to behave. Congenital ignorance is the condition of intelligence. The ape is intelligent, therefore knows fewer things by instinct than does the rat. It is not born with a knowledge of normal sex-behaviour, it must acquire this knowledge from its fellows.

Now if the simple sexuality of an ape is an affair of education, how much more so must be the complicated love-making of men and women ! Literature is their principal teacher. Even the most wildly passionate lovers have studied in that school.

Apart from literature there are exchanges that pass mouth to mouth, hand to hand …

And so for day 460
17.03.2008

“Child of All Ages” by P.J. Plauger collected inn The Best of Science Fiction of the Year #5 edited by Terry Carr features a female protagonist that manages never to grow up yet is wise in the ways of the world.

“No, wait a minute. You brought this up,” she persisted. “Look at me. Am I unattractive? Good teeth, no pock marks. No visible deformities. Why, a girl like me would make first-rate wife material in some circles. Particularly where the average life expectancy is, say under thirty-five years — as it has been throughout much of history. Teenage celibacy and late marriage are conceits that society has only recently come to afford.

She looked at him haughtily.

“I have had my share of lovers, and you can bet I’ve enjoyed them as much as they’ve enjoyed me. You don’t need glands for that sort of thing so much as sensitive nerve endings — and a little understanding.

Part of the charm of this passage is its forthrightness.

And so for day 459
16.03.2008

Thomas McNamee in Alice Walters and Chez Panisse concludes the “Death and Life” chapter with a description of the 1987 San Francisco benefit, Aid and Comfort. As the last lines and the concluding sentences of the chapter, they are designed to reveberate:

For the finale, Chanticleer, San Francisco’s highly regarded all-male chorus, sang “Lean on Me,” as the hundreds of volunteers poured onto the stage to join them. The audience stood and sang along, many in tears.

simple clear note

And so for day 458
15.03.2008

Not coded, yet modest in its own way, an exposure of sorts…

DENTS

I thrust my tongue into your ear. I slather spit in the whorls. Rimming hair and wax. Baby ass soft. Behind its curling I let my exploration enjoy the rasp of your short hair. Half asleep you grumble. I grab your piss hard-on. Your turn is blocked by my squeeze. My nipples want to leave dents in your shoulder blades. I’m not budging.

Intriguing to read this almost twenty years on from its time of composition. The attention to texture endures.

And so for day 452
09.03.2008

John A. Sanford Fate, Love, and Ecstasy: Wisdom from the Lesser-Known Goddesses of the Greeks

An important way in which aidos enhances the secrets of love and lovemaking, which intensifies enjoyment, is reflected in the intimacy of lovers. Lovers whose relationship is personal — a “secret” hidden from others, an intimate sharing — participate in the goddess Aidos. When secret ways of making love are shared between lovers, the goddess is certainly present, and these secret ways promote that quality of intimacy which makes the experience of love special and important.

To be balanced by the joys of kiss and tell.

And so for day 451
08.03.2008