DO SOMETHING YOU HAVE NOT DONE BEFORE

PREFACE
If you want something to happen that has not happened before, do something you have not done before. To expect different results from doing the same thing over and over is the definition of insanity.

STORY
If you are single:

...walk up to five people of the opposite sex and say, "I think you are very attractive and I wanted to introduce myself to you. My name is ... and here is my card. Get in touch if you are interested. Have a great day." Only do it if you are genuinely attracted to them. What have you got to lose? Five business cards?

Join a group that shares an interest of yours. You will be among peers and make new friends.

Take a lesson. Sign up for dance lessons, flying lessons, swimming lessons, adult education classes...it could be JUST ONE CLASS. Try something new.

Go somewhere you have never gone until now...it could be a restaurant, a street you haven't explored, a neighbor you don't know, or out of town. Change your scenery, make a friend, try new food...it will do wonders for your enjoyment of the day.



CONCLUSION
A new day, a new year, a new decade...Happy New Year!

WHEN DOES NUDITY BECOME PORN?

I'm an artist. I love photography and creating paintings from photographs. The nude body in all it's splender is a beautiful thing. Somewhere along the line, our ancestors decided that looking at the nude body was dirty, evil, reprehensible...so they called it pornography and hid it from view. The Supreme Court defines pornography as "Anything having no artistic value and stimulating sexual thoughts" and as Bill Hicks said in one of his comedy routines..."that defines almost every commercial seen on television!" Sex sells! So are commercials pornography? Is a picture of two people engaging in sex pornography? Are photos of "private parts in various stages of stimulation" pornography? Or is it all just natural...the nature of us as human beings?

I notice that many older female artists go through a phase of erotic expression in their favorite medium. I wonder if this is instigated by the change of life as it has been for me. Georgia O'Keefe and her 'flowers' is a prime example. A former female art professor went through a period of painting penises, in all imaginable forms...incorporated into flowers and landscapes...'popping up' in all kinds of images not related to a nude male body. Some said she did it for shock value. I think it was just experimentation with the taboo society puts on full frontal nudity for men (not as much for women).

Later in life when women start the journey through menopause, creativity is heightened and inhibitions seem to melt away. (I'm just speaking for myself and those I know.) I know that the change has brought about more exploration for me into who I am, what I look like (all of me), and what I want (from life, love, sex, career) and what I want to accomplish. I think more about sex now than when I was 15! I can understand (not condone) why a woman in her mid-thirties would seduce a boy of 13, since menopause can start that early and a woman not even know it or control it. I remember being attracted to the son of a contemporary who was 15 and I was early thirties. I could control my urges but there are some who can't.

I have taken many photographs of myself naked. Many different poses and parts. And I have invited opinion from those I know and trust and have received photos in return too. All reviews have been favorable but I take them with a grain of salt (since they're all men and not all artistic). I am painting a self portrait of one of these nude photos and I think it would be considered not pornographic. Artistic in the same sense as Degas's women at their bathing rituals. But some of my more intimate photos are inspiring to me too and they may be considered porn by some in the art world. Not that I really care (lol).