a few from the vault (a drunkard's walk for meaning*)

And the warning read: Parents protect your children from mediocrity and blandness. Don't let them grow up to be as boring as you are.

( le cut )

* one valid, albeit inefficient, search methodology is called "the drunkard's walk." Close your eyes, go in a random direction for a random distance. Repeat. It can also be expressed in the wonderful saying, "Even a blind pig finds a truffle sometimes." Peace, love, and truffles to you.

reading (The Function of Orgasm)

A bit of levity here: I always thought this book could have been written in one word, "pleasure." The function of orgasm is pleasure. I finished reading "The Function of Orgasm" last night. Yes, this has been in progress for quite a while, it wasn't an easy read for me. I found it repetitious in parts and just plain off-base in parts, but there was value as well.

There was a lot of interesting context here about popular psychological theory and history. I was surprised to see the way the main Freudian theories mapped to time periods. The different theories make sense when you look at them with the roaring 20's, the 30's, and the rise of fascism. I was glad to get this viewpoint as a sidelight to the main focus of the book. Neat stuff.

Reich was defined by his time as much as he was trying to disregard it. In his view any non-penile/vaginal sexual activity is either foreplay or neurotic. No wonder he rejects monogamy as flawed because it would result in sexual boredom. His views of anything outside of vanilla make me shudder. I'm much less an absolutist than Reich's theories require.

Reich does have some interesting opinions on society and the root of social and sexual problems. I agree with a lot of his premises, although he often takes them to places that I can't agree with.

One thing I must mention here is that Reich only rarely mentions love or emotional fulfillment. Occasionally he will mention it, but in line with the title of the book, he focuses on the orgasm, physical acts. Much of what he was referring to would have been better served by looking at emotional fulfillment in my opinion and experience, but psychologists seem way more interested in the naughty bits.

72. Wilhelm Reich "The Function of Orgasm"