womb to tomb

life: a temporary illusion we experience as "individuals"

my seven year old had a facts of life question the other evening. not "where do babies come from?", rather, "where do babies come out?". I didn't have a good answer so just said "out of a woman's privates". being in the full-blown potty humor stage he asked "out her butt!?"...

"no", said I, "another place...". I searched for a good response that wouldn't fuel his seven year old joke generator. 'birth canal' just didn't sound right. luckily he lost interest at that point, a little disappointed that babies don't pop out of ladies butts along with the poo.

later I thought of the word I had been looking for: womb. sure! I could even tell him a little joke about the baby who had a "womb with a view" (which would go over his head and hopefully I wouldn't need to explain what "view" implies). so maybe next time the topic comes up...

anyway, it got me to think more about being in the womb.
that period before separation from the mother must be the most comfortable state I can possibly recall. (though they say it is quite impossible to remember, the habits and patterns started there give us some hint of how comfortable it must be). but before that separation and even before conception, the comfort of being an integral part of whatever energy and matter that is morphing into an eventual new life evidenced by birth (a necessary separation dictated by evolution) -- that comfort level must be heavenly. Imagine all your atoms happily bonded, your electrons snuggly tucked away in their shells. sublime, eh?

so a return to that heaven is, I suppose, as inevitable as death and taxes. and I'm not so sure about taxes anymore :)

top 100 novels of the 20th century (1923 to present)

here's my status on each of the novels:
(btw, I'll email you my .xls version of this list on request)...

Title	Author	Status
The Adventures of Augie March	Saul Bellow
All the King's Men	Robert Penn Warren
American Pastoral	Philip Roth
An American Tragedy	Theodore Dreiser
Animal Farm	George Orwell	started
Appointment in Samarra	John O'Hara
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret	Judy Blume
The Assistant	Bernard Malamud
At Swim-Two-Birds	Flann O'Brien
Atonement	Ian McEwan
Beloved	Toni Morrison
The Berlin Stories	Christopher Isherwood
The Big Sleep	Raymond Chandler
The Blind Assassin	Margaret Atwood
Blood Meridian	Cormac McCarthy
Brideshead Revisited	Evelyn Waugh
The Bridge of San Luis Rey	Thornton Wilder
Call It Sleep	Henry Roth
Catch-22	Joseph Heller	saw movie
The Catcher in the Rye	J.D. Salinger	read
A Clockwork Orange	Anthony Burgess	read
The Confessions of Nat Turner	William Styron
The Corrections	Jonathan Franzen	unfinished
The Crying of Lot 49	Thomas Pynchon
A Dance to the Music of Time	Anthony Powell
The Day of the Locust	Nathanael West	started
Death Comes for the Archbishop	Willa Cather
A Death in the Family	James Agee
The Death of the Heart	Elizabeth Bowen
Deliverance	James Dickey	saw movie
Dog Soldiers	Robert Stone
Falconer	John Cheever
The French Lieutenant's Woman	John Fowles
The Golden Notebook	Doris Lessing
Go Tell it on the Mountain	James Baldwin
Gone With the Wind	Margaret Mitchell	saw movie
The Grapes of Wrath	John Steinbeck	started
Gravity's Rainbow	Thomas Pynchon
The Great Gatsby	F. Scott Fitzgerald	read
A Handful of Dust	Evelyn Waugh
The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter	Carson McCullers
The Heart of the Matter	Graham Greene
Herzog	Saul Bellow	started
Housekeeping	Marilynne Robinson
A House for Mr. Biswas	V.S. Naipaul	audio
I, Claudius	Robert Graves
Infinite Jest	David Foster Wallace
Invisible Man	Ralph Ellison	read
Light in August	William Faulkner
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe	C.S. Lewis	read
Lolita	Vladimir Nabokov	read
Lord of the Flies	William Golding	read
The Lord of the Rings	J.R.R. Tolkien	unfinished, saw movies
Loving	Henry Green
Lucky Jim	Kingsley Amis
The Man Who Loved Children	Christina Stead
Midnight's Children	Salman Rushdie
Money	Martin Amis
The Moviegoer	Walker Percy
Mrs. Dalloway	Virginia Woolf	started
Naked Lunch	William Burroughs
Native Son	Richard Wright
Neuromancer	William Gibson	started
Never Let Me Go	Kazuo Ishiguro
1984	George Orwell	read
On the Road	Jack Kerouac	started
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest	Ken Kesey	read
The Painted Bird	Jerzy Kosinski
Pale Fire	Vladimir Nabokov
A Passage to India	E.M. Forster
Play It As It Lays	Joan Didion
Portnoy's Complaint	Philip Roth	started
Possession	A.S. Byatt
The Power and the Glory	Graham Greene
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie	Muriel Spark
Rabbit, Run	John Updike
Ragtime	E.L. Doctorow
The Recognitions	William Gaddis
Red Harvest	Dashiell Hammett
Revolutionary Road	Richard Yates
The Sheltering Sky	Paul Bowles
Slaughterhouse-Five	Kurt Vonnegut	read
Snow Crash	Neal Stephenson
The Sot-Weed Factor	John Barth
The Sound and the Fury	William Faulkner
The Sportswriter	Richard Ford
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold	John le Carre
The Sun Also Rises	Ernest Hemingway	read
Their Eyes Were Watching God	Zora Neale Hurston
Things Fall Apart	Chinua Achebe
To Kill a Mockingbird	Harper Lee	read
To the Lighthouse	Virginia Woolf
Tropic of Cancer	Henry Miller
Ubik	Philip K. Dick
Under the Net	Iris Murdoch
Under the Volcano	Malcolm Lowry	saw movie
Watchmen	Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
White Noise	Don DeLillo
White Teeth	Zadie Smith
Wide Sargasso Sea	Jean Rhys
	total read:	12
	total did something with:	27

boycott sony

here's the details
sign the petition
I wasn't planning on buying a PS/3 anyway... but now nobody should buy 'em! for a while anyway :)

where do croissants come from?

see pop'n'fresh doughboy's accident... click on the link in the title because I obviously don't know enough about copying html to get the video to work here (hey you experts, how about helpin' a guy out here - why doesn't it show below? - is the owner of the filename I'm referencing not allowing a download or what?)

just for yucks...

I posted a pic of me self on HOT or NOT.
let's see if others think I'm as hot as I think I am. feel free to vote!

perfect male scents...

since I accidently broke my (amost full) bottle of Obsession,
I tracked down some replacement recommendations which I will share here:

Perfect? I love Romeo Gigli Cologne by Romeo Gigli... and Fahrenheit by Christian Dior but whether they are perfect for men...

Fiona 4/4/2004 6:09 AM
allessandro dell'aqua for man is my best for now. it's very organised and i feel it's like bracing air. i like moderate ones for men.

Frederique 4/5/2004 12:50 AM
what about... Aqua di Parma?

Taner 4/6/2004 2:47 PM
Well I just put on some Venezia -Uomo while reading forum, I liked it very much for the first few seconds so why not.
I would say Very Sexy from Victoria Secret is also very tempting, not same kind of alchemy though.

Lobna 4/7/2004 7:41 PM
D&G has one that smells... intoxicating.. i love it- but i dont know what its called -one of my guy friends had it on

Frederique 4/8/2004 1:21 AM
D&G... Does it come in a silver top bottle, with a light greenish colour perfume?

Does it smell fresh, lemony and musky at the same time?
It could be D&G Masculin.

Indeed it is lovely.

Do you also know Déclaration by Cartier?
I'm sure you'd like it.

Carla 4/11/2004 7:33 PM
Definetly Chaleur D'Animale for men,it's devine!The best male scent ever!

Lobna 4/12/2004 7:31 PM
that sounds like it, i mainly remember that it was strong- reminded me of aramis

Anna 5/19/2004 3:06 PM
I really like Angel for Men. My husband uses that exclusively ever since it came out.

5/24/2004 1:12 AM
i still have to turn my head and follow the scent with my nose when i recognize it in any man in the street,Kouros, my unique, great and lost love's perfume (although he used it in excessive amounts and gave me headaches :OP)
here are my favs: 6/12/2004 9:01 PM
1) Kenzo pour homme (to DIE for)
NOTES: Marine, Cloves, Nutmeg, Sandalwood, Vetiver

2) Dior - Fahrenheit
NOTES: Hawthorn, Sandalwood

3) Dolce & Gabbana - pour homme
NOTES: Orange, Lemon, Bergamot, Lavender, Sage, Sandalwood, Tobacco, Cedar.

J. 6/23/2004 11:21 AM
Angel for men & Xerius Rouge Givenchy

Celso Issey Miyake 6/23/2004 4:27 PM
The best male scent is definetly L'eau D'issey by Issey Miyake, it's like THE parfume!!

Raquel 6/23/2004 8:59 PM
My favorite one is Boss in Motion- Hugo Boss...... it´s outstanding.
I also really like Ferrari Black and 212

Katrin 6/25/2004 4:07 AM
Laura Biagotti "Roma"...uhh it makes me crazy:)

Cha L´Eau d´Issey 6/28/2004 4:36 AM
That´s my favorite.

Juan 6/28/2004 11:24 PM
"Envy" by Gucci!

Cha Found out.... 7/2/2004 12:53 AM
that the "brand new" Polo Blue is really gooooooooooooooooooood!

Marta GREAT ONES 7/2/2004 9:26 PM
i love Mont Blanc (but just a few men wear it) and also a MOSCHINO, just don't know exactly which one...

L'eau d'Issey - Issey Miyake 7/8/2004 3:43 PM
simply wonderful!...

Le Male! 7/9/2004 7:21 AM
I idolatre "Le Male", from Jean-Paul Gaultier... I just LOVE that one... geeeeez, it seems to me that i feel that fragrance in the air...

Leonardo 7/10/2004 6:08 PM
Definitly the best parfum is Escada

Roberta 7/12/2004 7:43 AM
I simply love Carolina Herrera 212 for Men and Hugo Boss Elements. Polo Blue is also amazing! They are very sexy fragances...

Heloisa 8/12/2004 3:15 PM
It depends..... Herrera for men -by Carolina Herrera

DKNY for men - Donna Karan

Armani pour Homme - Giorgio Armani

Fendi- Uommo

CK - Calvin Klein
it depends who is wearing it!

Samara 8/12/2004 5:03 PM
oh I just LOVE Hugo Boss #1 and Angel for men

Berit simply the best.. 8/17/2004 5:08 AM
...perfume for men is carolina herrera 212, mmmmm all time favourite:P

Paula One of the best! 8/17/2004 11:10 AM
In my opinion, one of the best male scents is XS, by Pacco Rabane!

Cavanhaque HUMNN... 8/17/2004 11:16 AM
Aqua di Giò pour homme and Kenzo!!
:-)

Onaiza 8/21/2004 10:13 AM
Issey Miyake !!!!!!!! and ice berg isnt bad too !
perfect for the ones who seek for perfection!;)

Le Male is Incontestable !!! 10/20/2004 10:54 AM
Le Male by Gaultier is the best male scent in the "world of parfums" !!!

Will 12/16/2004 9:56 PM
MY TOP 4 cologne picks as of now ******
#1 . Aqua di Parma/BLU/Mandorlo di Sicilia

#2. Himalaya ( House of CREED )

#3. Comme des Garcon INCENSE series #3
"Avignon" it smells just like
a catholic church after they burn the Frankencense !!!! Totally UNIQUE !!!!!

#4. L'Occitane Vetiver !!!! YUM.
earthy but classy .

Gustavo 12/17/2004 9:04 AM
i dont know.. i really like my fahrenheit...

but.. this thing is not very exactly as we want it to be... each perfume has an unique smell for each person... not even talkin about personal taste...

dont you think?

Usama 212 rocks 12/18/2004 3:06 PM
212's the best ................
coz its soo strong so gd so awesome..........i mean u just have to smell it to fall in love wit it
TRY it seriously

Carla 12/19/2004 7:01 AM
Escada Magnetism, Jill Sander, Chemistry by Clinique and Marc Jacobs for men.
platinum egoiste and d&g 12/22/2004 3:33 PM
chanel egoiste platinum! i can't tell if it's better than chanel egoiste non plat (which is harder to find, and more of an older man smell). platinum works well on guys who don't naturally have much smell of their own. (or in my experience- tall, skinny guys). it is SO YUMMY.

oh and d&g masculin is very good too. but i always associate it with this one guy i'm not attracted to- i think this works best on those that are a bit on the trashy side (with pretensions of elegance).
1/27/2005 5:01 AM
platinum egoiste by chanel and 1881 by cerutti!

Monica Safari, by Ralph Lauren 1/28/2005 2:52 AM
For me, Safari´s scent is unbeatable.If only all men could smell like this one! Pity I cannot have it always around - my husband is allergic to perfumes...

Le Male and Joop! (the red one) are second best. But not for men - I wear them!
I like... 1/28/2005 11:56 AM
Dolce & Gabanna pour homme
Mont Blanc Individuel pour homme
Herrera for men by Carolina Herrera
what do you think about l'instant pour homme? 2/15/2005 2:12 AM
i was just wondering about whether some of you or your partners are using the new guerlain l'instant pour homme... i thought it was surprisingly very sweet...


Jazzmin I just love it... 2/16/2005 7:28 PM
the best male scent is and always will be aqua di gio..... =)

Stephanie 2/19/2005 10:02 PM
I Think D&G
and 212

Suzanne 2/20/2005 11:59 PM
another vote for acqua di parma

i wear the classic one myself...

HELENA-REET For Men 3/22/2005 1:07 PM
I like Chanel "Platinum Egoiste"!

Patricia 3/23/2005 1:26 PM
Lolita Lempicka for Men, top best...sexy...delicious...

Ulli 3/26/2005 2:23 AM
For men..there's nth better than Higher Dior and Aqua Di Gio.I really love them!

Arsalan 3/26/2005 5:02 AM
Aqua Di Gio and hugo boss i like them

Sarah 6/8/2005 7:17 AM
HhhMmmm.... I really like

1. curve (liz calirborne)
2. very sexy (victorias secret)
3. armani (armani)

seriously, any guy who uses these perfumes, automatically looks hot..lol!

Usman hummm 6/14/2005 11:40 PM
1 . Aqua di Parma
2. safarai...

Wen KenzoAir 6/19/2005 10:47 PM
i am wearing it myself, i love it!

Shama 6/21/2005 4:43 AM
Safari.....
and and and
Blue Jeans

Zuraida 6/21/2005 5:15 AM
HUGO red for men and another all time fav is cool water by davidoff

Carlinha 6/23/2005 9:21 AM
Hugo Boss and 212 Men...
issey miyake! 6/25/2005 7:50 AM
i think itz da best

...so I gave my wife the list for her to choose what she likes best on me. I'll find out on Christmas. in the meantime, feel free to share your opinions with a comment below...