World's Oldest Mother

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MADRID, Spain: A 67-year-old Spanish woman became the world's oldest mother after she gave birth to twins in the northern city of Barcelona on Saturday, a hospital official said.

The woman, whose identity has not been revealed by Sant Pau hospital, gave birth by caesarian section on Saturday having previously undergone in vitro fertilization in the United States, according to the national news agency EFE.

-- The Associated Press

Isn't this a little like giving birth to orphans?

I suppose it must be a rich family, and they want to spread the wealth to blood. That is the only way this makes sense to me.

I hope this record is not a contest. It is not exactly like breaking the record for running the mile.

xXx

World's Oldest Mother

♠
MADRID, Spain: A 67-year-old Spanish woman became the world's oldest mother after she gave birth to twins in the northern city of Barcelona on Saturday, a hospital official said.

The woman, whose identity has not been revealed by Sant Pau hospital, gave birth by caesarian section on Saturday having previously undergone in vitro fertilization in the United States, according to the national news agency EFE.

-- The Associated Press

Isn't this a little like giving birth to orphans?

I suppose it must be a rich family, and they want to spread the wealth to blood. That is the only way this makes sense to me.

I hope this record is not a contest. It is not exactly like breaking the record for running the mile.

xXx

A Mark Steyn New Year

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It has been a while since this blog has had some of that muscular Mark Steyn vinegar. Although he goes rather far afield for Monk's taste, I find him nicely bracing - like a cold shower with humor.

( Steyn column )

xXx

A Mark Steyn New Year

♠
It has been a while since this blog has had some of that muscular Mark Steyn vinegar. Although he goes rather far afield for Monk's taste, I find him nicely bracing - like a cold shower with humor.

( Steyn column )

xXx

Slow but Sure Raj

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I enjoy playing an opponent who eats some of his clock, yet I am not so fond of having to wait for him to make a move. It also reminds me how pathetic a person can look doing nothing but staring over the board for minute after minute, thinking back to high school days and playing with friends. It looks retarded. After all, it is not like Monk would be mulling over long, complicated chains of combinations. The mind just vainly spinning away out of its groove.

And, after beating ol' Duke handily, I had to resign to Raj. I have a feeling that Monk is going to be seeing a lot of Duke, Raj and Lucy for the foreseeable future.

xXx

Slow but Sure Raj

♠
I enjoy playing an opponent who eats some of his clock, yet I am not so fond of having to wait for him to make a move. It also reminds me how pathetic a person can look doing nothing but staring over the board for minute after minute, thinking back to high school days and playing with friends. It looks retarded. After all, it is not like Monk would be mulling over long, complicated chains of combinations. The mind just vainly spinning away out of its groove.

And, after beating ol' Duke handily, I had to resign to Raj. I have a feeling that Monk is going to be seeing a lot of Duke, Raj and Lucy for the foreseeable future.

xXx

A Frenchy Sunday

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The King is backing off.... He is always afraid of making a mistake. Once the first impulse is passed, he is no longer tormented by anything but the fear of having done an injustice... it seems to me that in government as in education one should not say "I will it" until one is sure of being right. But once having said it, never slack off from what you have ordered.

-- Madame Elisabeth, King Louis XVI's sister

Hindsight is 20-20. The tide of democracy was rising, and the French just may not have had as good a ground work of democratic institutions to make that transition more smoothly, in the way the English and the Americans did, relatively speaking. If Louis XVI was vacillating between paternalistic repression and idealistic cooperation with the rebellious masses and lesser aristocrats, it may be because there was just no easy way out of that historical jam, though it is also true that this king was no Abraham Lincoln or Theodore Roosevelt - and certainly not the Sun King.

After finishing the "Suicides" chapter this morning, Monk is content to put aside Schama's "Citizens" for the weekend, and to finish off the rather frenchier "Spike Trap" this afternoon. All work and no play make the primate-protagonist a dull reader.

xXx

A Frenchy Sunday

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The King is backing off.... He is always afraid of making a mistake. Once the first impulse is passed, he is no longer tormented by anything but the fear of having done an injustice... it seems to me that in government as in education one should not say "I will it" until one is sure of being right. But once having said it, never slack off from what you have ordered.

-- Madame Elisabeth, King Louis XVI's sister

Hindsight is 20-20. The tide of democracy was rising, and the French just may not have had as good a ground work of democratic institutions to make that transition more smoothly, in the way the English and the Americans did, relatively speaking. If Louis XVI was vacillating between paternalistic repression and idealistic cooperation with the rebellious masses and lesser aristocrats, it may be because there was just no easy way out of that historical jam, though it is also true that this king was no Abraham Lincoln or Theodore Roosevelt - and certainly not the Sun King.

After finishing the "Suicides" chapter this morning, Monk is content to put aside Schama's "Citizens" for the weekend, and to finish off the rather frenchier "Spike Trap" this afternoon. All work and no play make the primate-protagonist a dull reader.

xXx

Lunch with Mother

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Trying to fall into his afternoon nap, Monk has a fanciful memory of being at a restaurant with mother. She engages him in a discussion about why he blames her for his life. This comes out of the blue for Monk, since he had long gone beyond blaming his parents. Unbeknownst to Monk, Dr. B. and his troupe are seated at the next table to overhear the conversation, and this is why mother prompts him.

Monk indulges her, and assures her that he appreciates that she has a good basic maternal foundation in her, that she generally places the kids above her own interests. However, he also acknowledeges that she has that sickly malicious streak, and she nods knowingly and appreciatively, knowing this about herself.

But Monk expresses his surprise over this conversation, "I stopped blaming you years ago. I have even gone beyond blaming society. I am up to blaming human nature. Next... I suppose will be utter acceptance, and I will no longer need to blame anyone or anything. That will probably take me a few years, though. I may need to give up a few more years of youth."

I really enjoyed this afternoon's imaginative conjuration. This is as close as I have been to mother for several years now. I was at the table with her, watching her facial expressions, hearing her modulating intonation, reliving it, more there than here - like a Mallway Dialogue.

Thinking about this dialogue, Monk even gave up the unconscious sigh, "I love you."

___ ___ ___

It was then that I realized this was some needed self-therapy. Monk has recently been regressing in his attitudes and emotions, actually going back to blaming his parents for his absurd life, even feeling some hatred. We obviously needed to come out of that tailspin, which could have been a symptom of approaching dementia.

xXx

Lunch with Mother

♠
Trying to fall into his afternoon nap, Monk has a fanciful memory of being at a restaurant with mother. She engages him in a discussion about why he blames her for his life. This comes out of the blue for Monk, since he had long gone beyond blaming his parents. Unbeknownst to Monk, Dr. B. and his troupe are seated at the next table to overhear the conversation, and this is why mother prompts him.

Monk indulges her, and assures her that he appreciates that she has a good basic maternal foundation in her, that she generally places the kids above her own interests. However, he also acknowledeges that she has that sickly malicious streak, and she nods knowingly and appreciatively, knowing this about herself.

But Monk expresses his surprise over this conversation, "I stopped blaming you years ago. I have even gone beyond blaming society. I am up to blaming human nature. Next... I suppose will be utter acceptance, and I will no longer need to blame anyone or anything. That will probably take me a few years, though. I may need to give up a few more years of youth."

I really enjoyed this afternoon's imaginative conjuration. This is as close as I have been to mother for several years now. I was at the table with her, watching her facial expressions, hearing her modulating intonation, reliving it, more there than here - like a Mallway Dialogue.

Thinking about this dialogue, Monk even gave up the unconscious sigh, "I love you."

___ ___ ___

It was then that I realized this was some needed self-therapy. Monk has recently been regressing in his attitudes and emotions, actually going back to blaming his parents for his absurd life, even feeling some hatred. We obviously needed to come out of that tailspin, which could have been a symptom of approaching dementia.

xXx

Fun with Polygamy

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POLYGAMY: Cult or Calling?

~
Preparing his roast beef sandwiches and fries for dinner, Monk sees that title banner on CNN's show. He snickers, "More like excessive horniness."

xXx

Fun with Polygamy

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POLYGAMY: Cult or Calling?

~
Preparing his roast beef sandwiches and fries for dinner, Monk sees that title banner on CNN's show. He snickers, "More like excessive horniness."

xXx

Spike Trap

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“Does it hurt very much?”

Her answer was simple and honest. “Yes.”

“Is that the hardest you've ever been whipped?”

She turned her head to look at him, and her hair flowed like enchanted gold between sculpted shoulder blades. The instant was so beautiful that Charlie forgot to breathe until she'd turned away again.

“Not by a long way,” she said. “You could have gone further, if you wanted. You could have gone as far as you liked. That's what I'm for.”

-- "Spike Trap" by Han Li Thorn

Ah, that sounds so promising, doesn't it? And it is true that this is what we call a rereadable, which is not readily true for erotica, since it is so pointed in purpose and it is hard to get something that scratches your most particular itch. This does a good enough job, but the bottom really falls out as the novel lands square in safe politically correct territory.

It is not "Story of O," which goes to show that only a woman can write erotica with an uncompromising misogynist air, and maybe nobody can really do so in these days of feminist enlightenment.

Mind you, Monk is all for egalitarianism, totally and absolutely. But can one not be allowed to be a male chauvinist pig in the realms and media of fantasy!?

xXx

Spike Trap

♠
“Does it hurt very much?”

Her answer was simple and honest. “Yes.”

“Is that the hardest you've ever been whipped?”

She turned her head to look at him, and her hair flowed like enchanted gold between sculpted shoulder blades. The instant was so beautiful that Charlie forgot to breathe until she'd turned away again.

“Not by a long way,” she said. “You could have gone further, if you wanted. You could have gone as far as you liked. That's what I'm for.”

-- "Spike Trap" by Han Li Thorn

Ah, that sounds so promising, doesn't it? And it is true that this is what we call a rereadable, which is not readily true for erotica, since it is so pointed in purpose and it is hard to get something that scratches your most particular itch. This does a good enough job, but the bottom really falls out as the novel lands square in safe politically correct territory.

It is not "Story of O," which goes to show that only a woman can write erotica with an uncompromising misogynist air, and maybe nobody can really do so in these days of feminist enlightenment.

Mind you, Monk is all for egalitarianism, totally and absolutely. But can one not be allowed to be a male chauvinist pig in the realms and media of fantasy!?

xXx

Real Big Times in Ol' San Antone

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I spoke too soon. We would have to have a few families vying to make this dull, down-trodden neighborhood of sleepy San Antonio into Times Square. We cannot get a few minutes of silence so that a dog can take care of business. Baghdad must be filled with less of the sound of gunfire and explosions!

And I guess we all get to stay up to greet the new year. Oh, the community life. Oh, the joy!

xXx

Real Big Times in Ol' San Antone

♠
I spoke too soon. We would have to have a few families vying to make this dull, down-trodden neighborhood of sleepy San Antonio into Times Square. We cannot get a few minutes of silence so that a dog can take care of business. Baghdad must be filled with less of the sound of gunfire and explosions!

And I guess we all get to stay up to greet the new year. Oh, the community life. Oh, the joy!

xXx