(no subject)

A Mind of Its Own by David M. Friedman - This is one of the books I picked up at the Strand in June: a cultural (Western) history of the penis. It's rather a brief overview, but he touches on a lot of key points. Main topics include ancient and medieval attitudes (i.e. the Greeks, the Romans, the early Christians), the Enlightenment (da Vinci, Leuwenhoek, etc.), SIZE (with considerable emphasis on the racial aspects of that), Freud, feminist revisionist ideas (Friedan, Steinem, Millett, Dworkin), and ED and Viagra. I admit that by the end I was getting a little bored, and really really didn't care who figured out how penises stay erect and applied that to pharmaceuticals. I'd say the first half of the book was really fascinating, and then, well, it all got too be a bit much after a while. Too many penises, you might say. I would recommend it though. For my part, it was most fascinating to see how male sexuality is socially constructed - Women's Studies 101 will throw plenty of things at you about how that happens to women, but I hadn't seen much from the other side. Mostly lots of fun.

Otherwise - it's a lovely cool windy day here. I love this weather. It could stay like this forever and I'd be happy. This is why you'd think I woulda liked living in Seattle. :)