Up Front by Emma Hart

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Up Front: The British Are Coming

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  • Islander,

    Excellente Jackie!

    Now - if only we can be (dry sob) truly *inclusive* and we have "Fuck you! Dont hate me 'cause I dont screw! I'm a human too!"

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    Now - if only we can be (dry sob) truly *inclusive* and we have "Fuck you! Dont hate me 'cause I dont screw! I'm a human too!"

    We could begin by adding a comma. Fuck, you.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    I'll go along with a comma - or even just a general hiatus-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark,

    It's talked about so little, isn't it, Islander? And you're right, of course. True inclusion would involve people of all sexualities - including those who have none. Sensuality, now, that's another matter altogether, wouldn't you say? Your obvious love of your environment, the joy you take in what you see and hear, your love of words - all would point to you being a sensualist of sorts.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    Steve Braunias once wrote a piece about me that he entitled 'The Great Sensualist'....you're not wrong Jackie - I'm a thorough-going sensualist & I have a problem with ascetical people -probably the same sort of problem as sexual people have with asexuals! All that goodness you could be enjoying & you're not interested?!

    But hey, we number about 1% of the general population and seem to have been around as long as the rest of us- which does make me wonder a bit about the evolutionary aspects.

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen,

    Fuck you! Dont hate me 'cause I dont screw! I'm a human too

    This strikes me as plain weird. Why would anyone object to someone because they don't want to have sex with anyone???

    Part of the problem has to be because we mostly equate Love with Fuck. And hence if you don't have sex then you don't love, which is of course complete and utter bollocks.

    What is more complex is the idea that you could still love, with all the emotions associated, without loving any one person specifically.

    As for evolution selecting for asexuals, it isn't that uncommon in nature. Lots of examples exist where asexual brothers or sisters care for the progeny and hence pass their genotype on. In some cases those brothers ad sisters turn out to not be as asexual as first thought. But the principle is still there. Islander's genes are continued in the lines of her relatives who prosper because of Islander's contributions.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Now - if only we can be (dry sob) truly *inclusive* and we have "Fuck you! Dont hate me 'cause I dont screw! I'm a human too!"

    Heh... Reminds me of the truly uncomfortable silence when I mentioned, in passing, that I'd been celibate for five years and, no, my relationship was fine and there's nothing wrong with us. As Bart so elegantly puts is, Love isn't the same as Fucking. Hell, in my experience they can quite easily be mutually exclusive.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen,

    The old saw about putting a penny in a jar for every time you have sex in the first year of a marriage* and taking one out every time you have sex after the first year is kind of interesting.

    Most folks read it as saying after a while marriage becomes stale and uninteresting - the evidence being the reduced frequency of sex.

    But you can also look at it from another perspective. Happily married couples can be loving and care for each other without needing to boink constantly. Instead of being proof that marriage is boring it becomes proof that sex isn't all there is to love.

    *please note marriage here should be replaced with "committed long term loving relationship" but the sentences become somewhat unwieldy.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • JackElder,

    WWZ...
    Indeed -- but I'll be damned if I can see a way its going to work as a conventional feature (and with a budget lower than the GDP for a medium-sized country) without carving out everything that's interesting about the book in the first place.

    Agreed. WWZ could work really, really well as a TV miniseries. Specifically, as a "historical recreation"-style miniseries in the mode of Band of Brothers. Much of what makes the book worthwhile is the little touches, the depths of thought into the actual implications of a zombie apocalypse and how to deal with one. Condensing it down into a two-hour feature would leave you with just a lot of blood & guts; still fun, but probably nothing we haven't seen before.

    Blood: my previous workplace used to have people who came around and cheerfully guilt-tripped everyone into donating. Which is a good idea, but did mean that every four months I had to explain to a new chirpy bird that no, I can't donate blood, I've tried and they don't want it. No, they really don't.

    Anyway, it means I can keep up a regular 3-monthly tattoo appointment cycle without worrying too much that I'm doing someone out of lifegiving fluid.

    Wellington • Since Mar 2008 • 709 posts Report Reply

  • Deborah,

    Lovely coat, Emma.

    The old saw about putting a penny in a jar for every time you have sex in the first year of a marriage* and taking one out every time you have sex after the first year is kind of interesting.

    Most folks read it as saying after a while marriage becomes stale and uninteresting - the evidence being the reduced frequency of sex.

    We would probably have raided the penny jar to pay for something, leaving the jar empty long ago.

    I like to point out that twenty years into our "committed long term loving relationship," that although frequency may be down, a little, quality has sky-rocketed.

    That's all.

    New Lynn • Since Nov 2006 • 1447 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Hosking,

    Sometimes, I like to have a cup of tea.

    Which takes me back to a mock celebrity vox-pops, early 80s: various famous Brits were asked how they felt about sex. Boy George was quoted as saying he preferred a nice cup of hot tea, "but it doesn't half make your willy sore."

    South Roseneath • Since Nov 2006 • 830 posts Report Reply

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