happy halloween!!! *8-)

no big plans for me tonight, just staying home and passing out candy - don't get to do that too often, being a night shifter...luckily, this year halloween falls on one of my nites off...

ahhh, winter...the epic work slowdown...we've run out of work with 6+ hours left in the shift...so, let the netsurfing begin!

thanks for this link, cristella! - http://www.dictionaraoke.org/

ready to poke the doughboy? - http://www.whoohoo.net/poke/index.htm

*8-)

interesting article re: Halloween - "And forget those Transylvanian villagers and superstitious medieval peasants -- Halloween is as American as the Fourth of July."

ever wonder how various celebrities (like cybill shepherd) lost their virginity? well, me neither, but it's something to read on a boring sunday afternoon...

What
lesser-known Simpsons character are you?

Brought to you by the good folks at sacwriters.com.


"insluting others" - ha! slight typo there...*grin*

What
cartoon dog are you?

Brought to you by the good folks at sacwriters.com.


hrm - seems that sacwriters.com needs a spell-check and assistance in writing their code properly (i had to fix it so the graphic would properly show up), but other than that...i guess i'd agree with the charming and loveable bit...*smirk*

my left arm's got the flu, and my right arm has pneumonia...went to the doc and got shots on friday...the flu shot arm's still a bit sore, with a big hard lump where i got poked...pneumonia shot arm's just fine and dandy, and i won't hafta get another one of those for 6 years...

also got muscle relaxers from the doc, to help in breaking up the big knot o' tension in my back - the deep breathing and relaxation exercises that sheron taught me in my session on thursday did make a big difference, but i think we'll hafta use some pills to get it totally gone...

speaking of the appt with sheron - kinda weird when your therapist reads your journal and bursts out laughing a few times. guess it's a good sign though - she says it appears that i'm getting my sense of humor back. and i suppose that's true - these days, i'm much more likely to laugh at things rather than make them depress me all the more...

spent way too much money at out word bound last night - went there for girls games night and ended up spending forty-some bucks on goodies...i found something AWESOME - if you're NOT clara, go ahead and click this link to see it...*8-)

certain to be a unique halloween costume for kids this year - Pimp Daddy!

What if all of Indianapolis read the same book? Check out One Book, One City and nominate something good! it'd be cool if we could get all of indianapolis to read a queer book, like fried green tomatoes at the whistle stop cafe or something like that...

click HERE to see what kinda druggie
you are!

hrm - colorquiz.com - pretty accurate, i'd say...

my results:

Your Existing Situation
Dissatisfied. The need to escape continued involvement with her present circumstances makes it imperative for her to find some solution.


Your Stress Sources
Has an unsatisfied need to ally herself with others whose standards are as high as her own, and to stand out from the rank and file. This subjects her to considerable stress, but she sticks to her attitudes despite lack of appreciation. Finds the situation uncomfortable and would like to break away from it, but refuses to compromise with her opinions. Unable to resolve the situation because she continually postpones making the necessary decision as she doubts her ability to withstand the opposition which would result. Needs the esteem of others, compliance with her wishes, and respect for her opinions before she can feel at ease and secure.


Your Restrained Characteristics
Feels listless, hemmed in, and anxious; considers that circumstances and forcing her to restrain her desires. Wants to avoid open conflict with others and to have peace and quiet.
Wants to broaden her fields of activity and insists that her hopes and ideas are realistic. Distressed by the fear that she may be prevented from doing what she wants; needs both peaceful conditions and quiet reassurance to restore her confidence.

Feels that she is burdened with more than her fair share of problems. However, she sticks to her goals and tries to overcome her difficulties by being flexible and accommodating.




Your Desired Objective
Longs for a tender and sympathetic bond and for a situation of idealized harmony. Has an imperative need for tenderness and affection. Susceptible to anything esthetic.


Your Actual Problem
Greatly impressed by the unique, by originality, and by individuals of outstanding characteristics. Tries to emulate the characteristics she admires and to display originality in her own personality.


Your Actual Problem #2
The tensions induced by trying to cope with conditions which are really beyond her capabilities, or reserves of strength, have led to considerable anxiety and a sense of personal (but unadmitted) inadequacy. She attempts to escape into a substitute world in which things are more nearly as she desires them to be.

I am Mario. I like to jump around, and would lead a fairly serene and aimless existence if it weren't for my friends always getting into trouble. I love to help out, even when it puts me at risk. I seem to make friends with people who just can't stay out of trouble. What Video Game Character Are You?

goin to a movie tonite! i'll be meeting angela, robin and diana after work to see a film that's part of the Heartland Film Festival - it's called Touching Wild Horses and has Jane Seymour in it...hey, anything that gets me outta work a little bit early is always good...*8-)

trip to the eye doc today - time to get a new pair of glasses...i'm long overdue, actually...the ones i got a couple of years ago from eyeglass world were shit...

got a new diagnosis to freak myself out about - the doc noticed changes to my macula, so he's concerned about macular degeneration - argh...that's some scary shit.

i just love the cockeyed guy - he's quite a rascal...

interesting blog - http://thehomelessguy.blogspot.com/

it's your god-given right to send email to the president of the united states - so do it now! tell him you want monday night football replaced with pig racing!

monday, 14 october, 1:06 am - argh, blogger seems to be down so i'll hafta blog and then copy/paste!

went to the cowboy junkies concert at birdy's on sunday night - it was so cool! i love going to small venues like that, where you can get close to the performers and they'll come chat and do small talk after the show - i got my pic taken with margo timmons - what a hottie!

the show started off a bit awkwardly - margo didn't really seem into it. she looked like she was strung out on drugs, actually...but she warmed up to the crowd and it was a great show - looking on their website, it's obvious that i don't know much of their recent material, but now i'm gonna give it a try - the few albums after black eyed man didn't really do it for me...hard to believe that was TEN years ago that black eyed man came out. still one of my all time favorite albums - the whole thing is great!

went to the concert with diana, greg's wife. when we got there i saw angela and robin, from games night, so we hung out together throughout the show. (can't remember robin's wife's name - crazy, since i had such a major crush on her before. didn't ask her where she was - erica, that's it! - cuz i couldn't tell if she and angela were just there as friends or not - ya just never can tell with lesbos. i think angela may have thought diana and i were together, cuz when she invited me over to her house for a party for christine next friday, she told me to bring diana...

i've done more socializing the past two days than i have in the past four months...and i've missed it - i definitely DO need to get out more often...

still perky after the Cowboy Junkies concert last night (i'll hafta post my blog about it when i get home) - weird how nobody seems to have heard of 'em - kim told debbie i was going to the "Spastic Cowboys" concert...i got the DVD, and after the show Margo autographed it for me! got my pic taken with her too! she's soooo hot...

after mahjonng last night, the boys took me and diana out for birthday drinks (her b-day was last week, and they hadn't seen me since my b-day)...we went to talbott street...apparently it's recent incarnation has been open for about a month...it was jam-packed with people - including chris, head of HR at work...saw samantha sinclair there (at least i think it was her - she introduced herself to diana as "melissa" though...) and she showered me with love about being an iyg volunteer. i wish things could be the way they were back in the good ol' days of IYG. so anyways, talbott street was packed, ya couldn't hardly move in there, so we headed over to OP's to dance - it's not Our Place anymore though - been renamed Greg's Place...had a gay ol' time there, tho it's obvious that Talbott's has taken a HUGE chunk of their clientel...

finished the book mom got me for my b-day, "Backstage With the Original Hollywood Square" - Peter Marshall's account of hosting Hollywood Squares is very interesting...

i've now moved on to some of the holds i got from the library last weekend...currently about 40 pages into "Stupid White Men ...and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation!" by Michael Moore - holy shit, he tears into Dubya!!

heh heh heh - get yer Evangelist Name here!

i'm Reverend Oral V. Colon...care to make a donation?

don't like that? how about your white lesbian name?

i'm Powerful StickySister...*8-)

a gangsta name?

Off Da Hook Prison Fish right here...*8-)

"He's an ungodly gay waffle chef on the run. She's a beautiful tempestuous fairy princess trying to make a difference in a man's world. They fight crime!"

cute.

check out the crimefighting characters generator at http://www.rain-street.org/fightcrime.htm

stupid joke time...courtesy of a joke thread on fark:

Two parrots were sitting on a perch. One says to the other "Do you smell fish?"

Q: What do you get when you cross a Saint Bernard with a Chihuahua?
A: A bloody Chiuaua.

Two muffins are baking in an oven.
The first says, "It sure is hot in here."
The second replies, "Wow, a talking muffin!"

What's brown and sticky?
A stick.

mommy sent me this link, since i'm gonna try to restrict the carbs in my life, as painful as that may be...

do you know where your polling place is?

wow, what an amazing clock!

a search link to transcripts of the celebrity jeopardy skits on SNL - where'd the whole sean connery mispronouncing the categories thang come from? connery wants "the penis mightier" category, trebek tells him no, it's "the pen is mightier"..."therapists" is connery-ized as "the rapists" and so on...funny stuff...

last night's birthday dinner was at buca di beppo...i ate with mom, pooky and his gf cody...it was great - well, pretty good - the food was awesome, the service sucked. never had chicken marsala before, but i really enjoyed it - might hafta try making it myself sometime...for dessert, we stopped by ritter's - rocky road with hot fudge - yummy!

cody's a cutie, and it's obvious that being in a relationship's having a good effect on pooky...she was a bit shy last night, but she'll warm up to us...it's obvious she doesn't take any shit from adam...*8-)

alright, now this is fucking ridiculous...sunday, i decided to make piggies in blankets for lunch - the damned hot dogs now have a freaking warning label on them! "Keep Kids Safe! For younger children, cut hot dogs into small pieces before serving. They should always be seated and under adult supervision when eating." they even have a fucking WEB SITE for more info on feeding kids! ya just have to wonder - what freakin lawsuit came up or what was the reasoning that they had to warn people - hey, don't let yer kid run around with a whole hot dog or she'll kill herself! crazy...

oh goodness...dunno what made me think of it, but i was wondering about friends of old, on a mud (multi-user dungeon) i hung out at long ago...Kender's Kove - my "marriage" was in 1994, and i'd been on it quite a bit before that...wonder what ever happened to my old mud.wife, Ryke...

very cool site - www.liquidgeneration.com - funny as hell!

modern humorist wants us to head over to amazon to contribute cash to buy dick cheney a segway! i donated $2.47, so why don't you? *8-)

(as you can see, i'm surfing the web on my birthday...)

so, today's the big 3-0. can't say i feel all that different - guess i've had a few days to let it sink in since my surprise party...

need a live techno dj? book my brother! http://www.wellknowndjs.com/adamjay.lexml

Which Smiley are You?

Created by Jessi.

Take the "Which FARK Cliche Are You" quiz!

my amazon wish list is at www.amazon.com/o/registry/24DS9KXZ39XKI

another name change at work...bye trader.com, hello Trader Classified Media....lessee how long this name lasts...

*grin* check out http://www.redpantiesforreproductivechoice.com/ - think i'll be wearing red boxers that day, thanks. *8-)

for those brain novelty needs: http://www.brain-mart.com/brain_novelties.html

woah...a lego version of van gogh's starry night - http://www.brillig.com/lego/starry_night/

hrmmm...Caligula's Budget Orgy Calculator. *8-)

Interesting: The National Low Income Housing Coalition, in its annual "Out of Reach" report, found that the average U.S. employee must make nearly three times the federal minimum wage, or about $14.66 an hour, to afford a modest two-bedroom rental and still pay for food and other basic needs.

$14.66 an hour...

more proof that angelina & i are destined to be together! Null and Voight - like myself, ang is dropping her father's last name as her legal last name...

went to the neurologist on thursday - said what i'd figured he would, that the seizure i'd had on sunday was probably due to my being sick - infections will lower my seizure threshold and since i had more than one going on at the same time, along with the vomiting et al, it was bound to happen. doc hasn't changed my Rx, but did mention the possibility of new meds - Keppra or Topamax. we'll see. he also gave me some info on the Vagus Nerve Stimulator, though i think we both agree that my seizures don't warrant it at this point - 3 or 4 tonic-clonic seizures a year is still too many, but it could be a hell of a lot worse.

magic 8 ball!

Pop, soda, or coke? I tend to call it pop, but coke's probably a close second...

oh sheesh - EPILEPTIC TOLD: PAY £3500 TO WOMAN WHO SAW YOU HAVE A SEIZURE - glad i'm not in the UK...in US dollars, that's $5,445.87. rather ironic finding this article this weekend, after i had a seizure and spent an evening in the emergency room. just having a seizure wouldn't be enough to hit the ER, but since i've had a urinary tract infection and upper respiratory infection as well, it was necessary to make sure something horrible wasn't going on - nope, no West Nile virus or anything, it just happened that i got slammed by a variety of stuff all at once. still not 100% - it's very obvious that the seizures are fucking with my brain more and more - having verbal problems still, tho it's relatively minor compared to the seizure i had in june.

heading to target? drinks are on me! *8-)
go to http://server40.hypermart.net/insanecodes/coupon_coupon.gif for a coupon for a free coke.

hrmmm - i think they underestimate me...

Which Sex and the City Player Are You? Find out @ She's Crafty

tis amazing the knowledge you gain from farking - "A pig's orgasm lasts for 30 minutes", according to firstscience.com - now how do they know the pig wasn't faking it?!?!?

damn, maybe i should become president:

"Bush has spent a whopping total of 250 days of his presidency at Camp David (123 days), Kennebunkport (12) and his Texas ranch (115). That means Bush has spent 42 percent of his term so far at one of his three leisure destinations."

i've also registered with wheresgeorge.com - a site that you can track where your spent money travels...this stuff is neat, gives ya a sense of wonder - what could possibly happen to the $5 bill i just entered and will probably use for dinner tomorrow night?

i've registered with bookcrossing.com - maybe i can empty out a few boxes of books and put them to good use. *8-) i'm totally into the good karma thang that this site gives off...

the South Park Studio has been updated, with new outfits and features et al...check it out! i'll post a new likeness when i get around to it...

i spent a buttload o money at compusa today, buying a bunch of shit i don't need but bought anyways cuz it was free after rebate. *8-) one program has lots of crafts projects on it - you can make your very own cootie catcher! remember those? very cool! there's an online cootie catcher at eCrush - not quite as fun as having a real one, but interesting nonetheless...

according to the densa test, i'm a genius - i got all 12 right!

wow - a website about the state quarters!

hrm, i'll have to read this article i found while surfing the net during a break at work...the headline is "Internet Addiction May Be Form of Stress Management"....

whoo hoo - i got a jukebox - now i can put all my music on it and take it to work! well, not now, really - the damned thing has to charge for 8 hours first - why the hell is that? can't they charge the damned thing up at the factory so that you can take it outta the box and go?

lots of legal stuff at nolopress.com - might be handy sometime...

wow - a transcript of Eddie Izzard's stand-up performance, "Dress To Kill"...the guy is hysterical!

chinese food for lunch today - my fortune cookie reads, "You will have good luck and overcome many hardships." hrmmm...where to start...

do you agree that not everyone needs an SUV? get a free car talk bumper sticker!

oooh - the internet anagram server

went to my first-ever colts game saturday night with my sister paige. mom won a pair of tickets at work, and then decided she didn't really wanna go. they were 4th row seats, on the 20 yard line, worth 65 bucks a piece! so i called to see if my brother matt wanted to go but paige answered the phone and when i mentioned the game, she begged to go. so it turned into sisters' night out. paige is a trip - the girl will talk your ear off! and she's in everybody's business as well, wondering why people were doing things and such - as we were finding a parking space, a couple of boys in colts shirts walked past - she said, "they must be friends, they don't look like brothers, they must be friends." in the first place, why's it matter? so i asked her if she thought people would think we were sisters, since we definitely don't look alike (she's rail-thin, and a thin rail at that!) and there's that 20 year age difference. she still said yes though, that people would assume we were sisters. the game was good, though the colts lost - we had a really good time. i told paige i'd look into the women's pro football league i heard mentioned somewhere - the indianapolis vipers - perhaps we'd go to one of those games.

woo hoo! got my puter hooked up to the router, meaning i'm now using momma's cable modem! whoo hoo! porno downloads, here i come...heh heh heh, just kidding. although buying the router through amazon did score me a free webcam, so maybe i'll make my name into the porno industry soon! ;-)

yet another name generator - i love these thangs! check out the Magix Black Woman Name Generator...from the page: "This be Mo'Nique speakin to you straight from tha Internet. Lass week, one of my girl's axed me how she can get a name so sexy and luxurious as mine. Mo'Nique ain't no average name, and I ain't no average woman. I be tha sexy, full-figered, outspoken glamor doll known as Mo'Nique. Say it, girl!"

and i be Shoonua Houston. *8-)

phil at work gave me this URL - pee-mail.com - cute!

so, ya post a note on your blog saying you hate a specific event, and then months later post pics of yourself at that very event? interesting...

and you thought the thighmaster was bad - this thing scares me...

dontcha just hate it when you get a song stuck in your head for no apparent reason and can't get it out of your head no matter how hard you try?

for some reason, i have a summer camp song in my head - you know, the one about great green globs of greasy grimy gopher guts...that link's got some different lyrics than i remember singing at the Y, but it's all still basically the same - the nastiest stuff you could think of. damn, would ya believe a google search for "greasy grimy gopher guts" would return 664 hits?!? and there's even a book by that name!!

so, charleton heston has alzheimers...how ironic, Mr. NRA man might have to forfeit his weapons because California has laws prohibiting gravely ill people from possessing weapons...

pooky and i may be going to the indiana state fair - seems he wants to try out the latest in fair food - deep fried snickers bars...

you just learn of the weirdest stuff on the internet by going to fark...Perverted Justice is a website that posts the IM conversations of guys that think they're talking to 14 year old girls...they post it all too, the guys pix and phone numbers and everything...

bummer - Josh Ryan Evans, who played Timmy on "Passions" died. the freaky thing is that on the day he actually died, the soap had his character dying! guess those plans for resurrection aren't gonna happen...he was the only halfway decent character on that show...not that it matters now, i have cable - back in the apartment though i'd usually wake up and it'd be the only thing i could get on the tv...i suppose "Passions" is better than other daytime soaps because it IS so cheezy - pure camp!

i'm in a nine inch nails sort of mood right now, here at work. ARGHH!!!!!!!!!!! but i suspect popping the NIN cd into the player would just make things worse - i'm feeling aggressive enough as it is...

interesting salon article about expired domains - for example, bitemedoughboy.com was a reserved URL at some point - alas, it's no more...same goes for sluttydykes.com - hrmmm...not gonna say it. ;-)

aww crap. clara isn't coming for the buffet concert. anyone wanna buy my tix?

this sucks.

*8-(

time for a bowl of cereal- how about some chocolate frosted sugar bombs?

stumbled across a website for PCOS - i just LOVE the name - soulcysters.com

Vote for me! *8-)

Is my Blog HOT or NOT?

so i've been doing the Fark Photoshop Contests more lately...the latest one was "failed dot-coms"...so i did one for "DoughBoySexToy.com" and put in a graphic of the pillsbury doughboy holding a blue jelly butt plug. *8-) it also said "guaranteed to make her giggle" and "absolutely NO yeast infections!"

*grin* let's just not mention this to the pillsbury corporation, alrighty? certainly they couldn't sue me, since it's a parody, right? right? *8-)

oh sheesh, i forgot to clear out the google search and the links - nothing like using mom's puter and putting "blue butt plug" in the search box....*8-O

if the prison bitch name wasn't to your liking, how about a Smurf name? go to the smurf name generator...

mine's totally cool - i am Erotic Smurf.

quit laughing!

*8-)

if you've ever wondered what your prison bitch name would be, go to the Prison Bitch Name Generator

for the record, i'm Rim Shot. *8-)

current workplace discussion topic: Epsom Salt. (like i've said before, we talk about the WEIRDEST shit) so, everyone knows you use it to soak your feet - but WHY? well, it soothes achy muscles and the magnesium is said to help the body heal...

didya know there's a web page just for Epsom Salt? me neither....but now we do!

well FUCK. clara's hubby john needs back surgery and will probably be in recovery for 6 weeks or so - so now she's not sure she'll be able to come visit in august. she said perhaps she can visit some time after that, but i want her here in AUGUST for the Jimmy Buffett concert!! argh, perhaps it's a bit selfish on my part - it's obviously pretty serious if he's gonna take over a month to recover - but i was really looking forward to the concert. i guess it's not totally off just yet, perhaps she'll know more after the doc's visit on tuesday.

major bummer. *8-(

thank god for free email sites!

so, do you agree that bush's Operation Tips plan is a complete crock of shit? well, now you can rat out those people that are ratting everyone else out - Operation TIPS-TIPS: Report TIPS informants. ;-)

ben franklin had it right - "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

we're getting closer and closer to becoming a police state and it's all just a crock of shit.

what does Hello Kitty say about you psychologically?

apparently, i "easily feel stressful" and could remedy this with exercise and karaoke.

karaoke?!?!? i think that would INDUCE stress - me singing in a public arena? not to mention the poor eardrums of anyone in listening distance...

obviously someone not totally fluent in english made this site...for more japanese english, aka engrish, check out www.engrish.com...

woah. very vivid dreams today.

is it a bad thing when you dream your office building is burning down and you're happy about it?

perhaps this weekend i'll make it down to the outlet mall in edinburgh - i think they've got new stuff down there since the place was bought out...

i just love headlines...

ugh, time to clean out the emailbox - damned thing's filling up...

so, every once in a while i find a website or something i wanna check out...so i email the url to myself and then forget all about it...the following are some examples - wonder how many of these sites don't exist any more...

http://www.antibloggies.com/

http://www.trailertrashfamily.com/

http://live.curry.com/stories/2002/02/19/bloggingTuneOutAndSwitchOn.html

http://live.curry.com/

http://www.weblogs.com/

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1443958/20010522/story.jhtml

http://www.songtitle.info/

http://www.modestneeds.org/

http://home.swipnet.se/mooamp/wallpapers.html

http://www.holisticonline.com/stress/stress_home.htm

http://www.frontiernet.net/~cdm/age1.html

so, what's your Glam Rock Superstar name?

I'm Diamond Freak. no, really. *8-)

time for a little poetry...

can't say i've read any walt whitman before (yowza, hope they don't revoke my queerness for that) but clara posted to the list with a subj line of "Icing the Body Electric"...i knew that "I Sing the Body Electric" was a poem of whitman's, but i'd never read it before...and now you can share it with me!

I Sing the Body Electric
Walt Whitman
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1
I sing the body electric,
The armies of those I love engirth me and I engirth them,
They will not let me off till I go with them, respond to them,
And discorrupt them, and charge them full with the charge of the soul.

Was it doubted that those who corrupt their own bodies conceal themselves?
And if those who defile the living are as bad as they who defile the dead?
And if the body does not do fully as much as the soul? And if the body
were not the soul, what is the soul?


2
The love of the body of man or woman balks account, the body itself
balks account,
That of the male is perfect, and that of the female is perfect.

The expression of the face balks account,
But the expression of a well-made man appears not only in his face,
It is in his limbs and joints also, it is curiously in the joints of
his hips and wrists,
It is in his walk, the carriage of his neck, the flex of his waist
and knees, dress does not hide him,
The strong sweet quality he has strikes through the cotton and broadcloth,
To see him pass conveys as much as the best poem, perhaps more,
You linger to see his back, and the back of his neck and shoulder-side.

The sprawl and fulness of babes, the bosoms and heads of women, the
folds of their dress, their style as we pass in the street, the
contour of their shape downwards,
The swimmer naked in the swimming-bath, seen as he swims through
the transparent green-shine, or lies with his face up and rolls
silently to and from the heave of the water,
The bending forward and backward of rowers in row-boats, the
horse-man in his saddle,
Girls, mothers, house-keepers, in all their performances,
The group of laborers seated at noon-time with their open
dinner-kettles, and their wives waiting,
The female soothing a child, the farmer's daughter in the garden or
cow-yard,
The young fellow hosing corn, the sleigh-driver driving his six
horses through the crowd,
The wrestle of wrestlers, two apprentice-boys, quite grown, lusty,
good-natured, native-born, out on the vacant lot at sundown
after work,
The coats and caps thrown down, the embrace of love and resistance,
The upper-hold and under-hold, the hair rumpled over and blinding the eyes;
The march of firemen in their own costumes, the play of masculine
muscle through clean-setting trowsers and waist-straps,
The slow return from the fire, the pause when the bell strikes
suddenly again, and the listening on the alert,
The natural, perfect, varied attitudes, the bent head, the curv'd
neck and the counting;
Such-like I love--I loosen myself, pass freely, am at the mother's
breast with the little child,
Swim with the swimmers, wrestle with wrestlers, march in line with
the firemen, and pause, listen, count.


3
I knew a man, a common farmer, the father of five sons,
And in them the fathers of sons, and in them the fathers of sons.

This man was a wonderful vigor, calmness, beauty of person,
The shape of his head, the pale yellow and white of his hair and
beard, the immeasurable meaning of his black eyes, the richness
and breadth of his manners,
These I used to go and visit him to see, he was wise also,
He was six feet tall, he was over eighty years old, his sons were
massive, clean, bearded, tan-faced, handsome,
They and his daughters loved him, all who saw him loved him,
They did not love him by allowance, they loved him with personal
love,
He drank water only, the blood show'd like scarlet through the
clear-brown skin of his face,
He was a frequent gunner and fisher, he sail'd his boat himself, he
had a fine one presented to him by a ship-joiner, he had
fowling-pieces presented to him by men that loved him,
When he went with his five sons and many grand-sons to hunt or fish,
you would pick him out as the most beautiful and vigorous of
the gang,
You would wish long and long to be with him, you would wish to sit
by him in the boat that you and he might touch each other.


4
I have perceiv'd that to be with those I like is enough,
To stop in company with the rest at evening is enough,
To be surrounded by beautiful, curious, breathing, laughing flesh is enough,
To pass among them or touch any one, or rest my arm ever so lightly round
his or her neck for a moment, what is this then?
I do not ask any more delight, I
swim in it as in a sea.
There is something in staying close to men and women and looking on them,
and in the contact and odor of them, that pleases the soul well,
All things please the soul, but these please the soul well.


5
This is the female form,
A divine nimbus exhales from it from head to foot,
It attracts with fierce undeniable attraction,
I am drawn by its breath as if I were no more than a helpless vapor,
all falls aside but myself and it,
Books, art, religion, time, the visible and solid earth, and what
was expected of heaven or fear'd of hell, are now consumed,
Mad filaments, ungovernable shoots play out of it, the response
likewise ungovernable,
Hair, bosom, hips, bend of legs, negligent falling hands all
diffused, mine too diffused,
Ebb stung by the flow and flow stung by the ebb, love-flesh swelling
and deliciously aching,
Limitless limpid jets of love hot and enormous, quivering jelly of
love, white-blow and delirious nice,
Bridegroom night of love working surely and softly into the
prostrate dawn,
Undulating into the willing and yielding day,
Lost in the cleave of the clasping and sweet-flesh'd day.

This the nucleus--after the child is born of woman, man is born
of woman,
This the bath of birth, this the merge of small and large, and the
outlet again.

Be not ashamed women, your privilege encloses the rest, and is the
exit of the rest,
You are the gates of the body, and you are the gates of the soul.

The female contains all qualities and tempers them,
She is in her place and moves with perfect balance,
She is all things duly veil'd, she is both passive and active,
She is to conceive daughters as well as sons, and sons as well as
daughters.

As I see my soul reflected in Nature,
As I see through a mist, One with inexpressible completeness,
sanity, beauty,
See the bent head and arms folded over the breast, the Female I see.


6
The male is not less the soul nor more, he too is in his place,
He too is all qualities, he is action and power,
The flush of the known universe is in him,
Scorn becomes him well, and appetite and defiance become him well,
The wildest largest passions, bliss that is utmost, sorrow that is
utmost become him well, pride is for him,
The full-spread pride of man is calming and excellent to the soul,
Knowledge becomes him, he likes it always, he brings every thing to
the test of himself,
Whatever the survey, whatever the sea and the sail he strikes
soundings at last only here,
(Where else does he strike soundings except here?)

The man's body is sacred and the woman's body is sacred,
No matter who it is, it is sacred--is it the meanest one in the
laborers' gang?
Is it one of the dull-faced immigrants just landed on the wharf?
Each belongs here or anywhere just as much as the well-off, just as
much as you,
Each has his or her place in the procession.

(All is a procession,
The universe is a procession with measured and perfect motion.)

Do you know so much yourself that you call the meanest ignorant?
Do you suppose you have a right to a good sight, and he or she has
no right to a sight?
Do you think matter has cohered together from its diffuse float, and
the soil is on the surface, and water runs and vegetation sprouts,
For you only, and not for him and her?


7
A man's body at auction,
(For before the war I often go to the slave-mart and watch the sale,)
I help the auctioneer, the sloven does not half know his business.

Gentlemen look on this wonder,
Whatever the bids of the bidders they cannot be high enough for it,
For it the globe lay preparing quintillions of years without one animal or plant,
For it the revolving cycles truly and steadily roll'd.

In this head the all-baffling brain,
In it and below it the makings of heroes.

Examine these limbs, red, black, or white, they are cunning in tendon and nerve,
They shall be stript that you may see them.
Exquisite senses, life-lit eyes, pluck, volition,
Flakes of breast-muscle, pliant backbone and neck, flesh not flabby, good-sized
arms and legs,
And wonders within there yet.

Within there runs blood,
The same old blood! the same red-running blood!
There swells and jets a heart, there all passions, desires, reachings,
aspirations,
(Do you think they are not there because they are not express'd in
parlors and lecture-rooms?)

This is not only one man, this the father of those who shall be fathers
in their turns,
In him the start of populous states and rich republics,
Of him countless immortal lives with countless embodiments and enjoyments.

How do you know who shall come from the offspring of his offspring
through the centuries?
(Who might you find you have come from yourself, if you could trace
back through the centuries?)


8
A woman's body at auction,
She too is not only herself, she is the teeming mother of mothers,
She is the bearer of them that shall grow and be mates to the mothers.

Have you ever loved the body of a woman?
Have you ever loved the body of a man?
Do you not see that these are exactly the same to all in all nations and
times all over the earth?

If any thing is sacred the human body is sacred,
And the glory and sweet of a man is the token of manhood untainted,
And in man or woman a clean, strong, firm-fibred body, is more beautiful
than the most beautiful face.
Have you seen the fool that corrupted his own live body? or the fool
that corrupted her own live body?
For they do not conceal themselves, and cannot conceal themselves.


9
O my body! I dare not desert the likes of you in other men and women,
nor the likes of the parts of you,
I believe the likes of you are to stand or fall with the likes of the
soul, (and that they are the soul,)
I believe the likes of you shall stand or fall with my poems, and
that they are my poems,
Man's, woman's, child, youth's, wife's, husband's, mother's,
father's, young man's, young woman's poems,
Head, neck, hair, ears, drop and tympan of the ears,
Eyes, eye-fringes, iris of the eye, eyebrows, and the waking or
sleeping of the lids,
Mouth, tongue, lips, teeth, roof of the mouth, jaws, and the
jaw-hinges,
Nose, nostrils of the nose, and the partition,
Cheeks, temples, forehead, chin, throat, back of the neck, neck-slue,
Strong shoulders, manly beard, scapula, hind-shoulders, and the
ample side-round of the chest,
Upper-arm, armpit, elbow-socket, lower-arm, arm-sinews, arm-bones,
Wrist and wrist-joints, hand, palm, knuckles, thumb, forefinger,
finger-joints, finger-nails,
Broad breast-front, curling hair of the breast, breast-bone, breast-side,
Ribs, belly, backbone, joints of the backbone,
Hips, hip-sockets, hip-strength, inward and outward round, man-balls, man-root,
Strong set of thighs, well carrying the trunk above,
Leg-fibres, knee, knee-pan, upper-leg, under-leg,
Ankles, instep, foot-ball, toes, toe-joints, the heel;
All attitudes, all the shapeliness, all the belongings of my or your body
or of any one's body, male or female,
The lung-sponges, the stomach-sac, the bowels sweet and clean,
The brain in its folds inside the skull-frame,
Sympathies, heart-valves, palate-valves, sexuality, maternity,
Womanhood, and all that is a woman, and the man that comes from woman,
The womb, the teats, nipples, breast-milk, tears, laughter, weeping,
love-looks, love-perturbations and risings,
The voice, articulation, language, whispering, shouting aloud,
Food, drink, pulse, digestion, sweat, sleep, walking, swimming,
Poise on the hips, leaping, reclining, embracing, arm-curving and
tightening,
The continual changes of the flex of the mouth, and around the eyes,
The skin, the sunburnt shade, freckles, hair,
The curious sympathy one feels when feeling with the hand the naked
meat of the body,
The circling rivers the breath, and breathing it in and out,
The beauty of the waist, and thence of the hips, and thence downward
toward the knees,
The thin red jellies within you or within me, the bones and the
marrow in the bones,
The exquisite realization of health;
O I say these are not the parts and poems of the body only, but of
the soul,
O I say now these are the soul!