Does government regulation create more problems than it solves?

My God! The answers on this question were considerable! Speaks volumes…

 

Check it out: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Au4o9UXWC4xb0.2LT4JfeX3py6IX?qid=1006022409894

 

 

Yahoo Answers: A Different Perspective

 

Ok. So sue me. I know I sound a bit like a PR person, and then again, I guess it’s in my blood.

 

I was like this when I opened a new account with ECOBANK (http://www.ecobank.com) last summer. I couldn’t stop telling people about it till they named me In-house  Manager of ECOBANK. Now, I am the guy they come to for information about that bank.

 

Right on!

 

Also, I love radio, and CITI FM (http://www.citifmonline.com) has been a station I have been promoting, despite the many problems I may have with some of its editorial policies on censoring, and whatnot. People also come to me when they want to know something about that station, and surprisingly, I know about the history of the station like no-one’s business.

 

Good stuff.

 

Now, I have found Yahoo Answers, I can only encourage you to go check it out. It is very addictive. You get points for answering people’s questions, and LOSE points for asking too many. It’s incremental. The points that is.

 

Are you like that? DO you feel the need to do major PR for something when you find it works for you, or do you like to keep stumm…(sp??)

 

Here’s the link: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AiD.WZ1T8X6HuRuEhjgUECKZzaIX?qid=1006022802902

 

Enjoy!

 

 

The Deceptiveness of Appearances

--a view of my desk at work

So there I was two Friday nights ago, clad in my pyjamas, around 11.30pm when a car cruises by my house.

 

It was my two work colleagues. One male (head of programmes), and the other female (programme assistant). My parents cars were parked outside, so they had to be careful turning the steer rather sharply.

 

As soon as they got out, Fenix got out to bark at them. “Fenix, it’s okay”. Then he stopped.

 

I was invited out to a night-club, or something. I declined. Not when I was preparing to go to bed, and clad in my pyjamas.

 

No way!!

 

As a result of me having turned down an invitation to go indulge in some hedonism, I have now been derided as needing to “enjoy myself” since I am still young.

 

Young, cos out of the whole organization of 23, I am the second youngest. Everyone else is in their thirties, mid-thirties, or older.

 

SO I am accused, implicitly, of leading a boring life, cos, first of all, I do not wear casual clothes to work (I tend to wear blue/beige/grey shirt, or short-sleeve shirt, with black/blue-black trousers to work). In my last workplace, I was wearing a tie and suit, so imagine the names I got when I first came here in August 2004, where NO-ONE wore a tieJ.

 

Secondly, whilst there are cars at home,  I do not drive to work. I get driven by my parents, despite knowing how to drive.

 

Short answer to that is that, yes, I can drive, but since I don’t have a license, it’s not my priority

 

Finally, the perception is that though I am perceived to have “many girlfriends”, I am far from being a Romeo or a Don Juan. I am a one-woman man, despite occasionally thinking about old flames, which won’t amount to anything, I DO NOT have a wandering eye.

 

Maybe, I am considered rather vanilla? Too bad…

 

The truth of it is that I am a very dark horse, and I know my work colleagues are unaware of this blog, so I will write freely.

 

I am a VERY dark horse. I have a girlfriend, which they do not know of. I had sex only last week—on Valentine’s day, and it was one of the most explosive days so far. My significant other has professed her love for me, and I have done more than that…

 

Not to say that sex is the only thing that makes you have an exciting life. but I really do not think I have to go out and indulge in an act of public hedonism  and drink my guts out (I am tee-total) before having a good time.

 

I am meeting my gfriend next Saturday for an intimate hour if you might care to know…though I do not go out on Saturdays. Go figure that one out!!:-)

 

Oh, I maintain this blog, like to be there for my close friends; and like to keep a JOURNAL (which I have been maintaining for the past 18 years!!); as well as this blog…

 

Just a cautionary tale, I like to think, about appearances being deceptiveJ

 

Happy Blogday!!

Happy Blogday!!

I hadn’t even realized it, but Feb 7 this year was a year since I started blogging. Having come so late into the game, I meandered and ruminated unnecessarily over the utility of my input in the big, bad blogosphere.

I quite remember never being sure of what type of blog I wanted mine to be. Should it be a sex blog? No, I couldn’t certainly divulge the details of my non-existent sex-life; secondly, reflective blog? Introspection is sometimes a dangerous game when it comes to blogging. The subjectivity associated with it may be off-putting for some. How about political? I think it is sufficiently and excessively audience-specific that I may end up with fewer readers than anticipated.


So, it was that I would settle on a combination of all these!!:-) But not before taking a look at other blogs first. I re-call reading Laura Tooth’s blog, which I continue to read up to this day. That was the day when she was "Yellow curious". She was sexy, smart, witty; and indeed a "thinking pervert".

She still is.

You must check her blog out for the incisive comments she makes about sexuality. Her intelligence is literature-intelligence, so prepare yourself for some existential references to feminists I have never heard of, and pls, do check her links! She takes you into her world, screws you up mentally, and brings you back to reality through a different lens.

I re-call a few other blogs, like what is now secretsonmadisonavenue.blogspot.com, when it was The Unknown Naughty Girl. Gosh, Joey Madison is so sexy. She’s been wounded lately by a guy whom she loved, but seems to be recovering. Her posts reeked of sensuality, mixed with intelligence. After all, what is sex writing without intelligence?

Then came Daniel’s blog. His blog has gotta to be checked out. His candid style of writing, coupled with his worldview of life/this world—that is very consistent with mine—was one of the reasons why I continue to read his blog today. He approaches politics from a very different perspective that makes my political reporting sound very low-key. He rarely writes about love or sex, though he used to occasionally post porn pictures in his busier periods, but he is a guy who is as frank and candid as you can ever find. And honest, too. His research for his postings are enviable, and I am always green:-) In fact, I am trying to do more research for my posts too, but am doing a woeful job, hence the periods of days without posting. Need to work more on that.

And there are so many more, whom you can find on my links on this page. And the very fact that they are there suggests there is something unique about them that I like. I like mine to be eccentric and eclectic.

But in all honesty, I thought there was something interesting about celebrating the birthday of a blog that I should touch on.

Like the celebration of birthdays, we celebrate the birthday of a blog so as to mark the continuity thereof. The birthday is important because it suggests that there will be continuity. By extension, this suggests that this continuity will manifest itself by a maturity in blog-writing. In other words, as you have clocked one year of awful writing, the second and subsequent years of blogging can be better-written and, frankly, far better than the previous year.

Finally, celebrating a birthday for a blog suggests, to me, that one is extending their personality to ways not seen heretofore. This means that the blog has now become a part of you and, just like your real birthday, you hope to improve upon it, and let it reflect more of your values…and, ultimately, you.

Maybe, I am all wrong, too. Send me some comments if you can:-)

Happy blogday to me!:-)

What's Love Got to Do With It?: On Playing Sex to Get Love

The deeply cynical view expressed by that blogger down on http://offkilter.blogspot.com, and the responses that flowed from that comment early February suggests a chasm between the sexes as far as sex versus love is concerned.

OK, so only one male made a comment, and it was one that seemed to say that generalising that men play love to get sex is problematic.

I couldn’t agree more.

I conceded myself that I have – with much regret – done it in my life-time, and as one bordering on the brink of getting a ring over my finger sooner rather than later, I am not going that way by any stretch of the imagination.

However, if my last relationship was anything to go by, where I practically broke down over my break-up with Gee in September 2005, I think it is safe to say that she, upon hindsight, did a role-reversal by playing love to get sex.

I can understand why eyebrows might be raised right now, because I am the only one who knows her, and I guess you have to trust what I am writing about her—it might sometimes lend itself to partiality because of the acute nature of the break-up—and the fact that she cannot riposte. But I do think the facts speak for themselves.

She and I slept with each other on 18 February 2005. Her words, when I asked her whether she wanted to was "doesn’t mean that I am cheap", which she certainly isn’t. However, upon hindsight, given the mostly taciturn nature of our relationship, with me doing more talking than her, and her telling me that she wasn’t ready, and time would tell, this relationship, with the benefit of hindsight, was, frankly, a six-month-long one–night stand.

My best friend –herself female— told me that I was used—and I couldn’t agree more. I really do think she used love to get sex, because she KNEW how much I loved her, and I have to admit that deep, deep down in my heart somewhere, there is still a very soft spot for her – I called her last week to find out how she was – but despite my consistent professing of what I felt for her, she refused to consider taking me back.

I am glad I gave her what for last December by texting her a message that I no longer loved her, and she should stop get off feeling proud that I am forever thinking of her.

But I digress.

As Laura said, there are guys out there who want to feel loved—and I am one of them. I won’t go into too many details except to say that I am very much loved by a beautiful young woman (pls see picture below) I have known since 2004. We met early this year, and she broke down. Her feelings for me, that is. I have succumbed. And let’s just say I am a very happy young man.

There is truly nothing more beautiful than knowing someone loves you—no matter how far they may be—and that their love envelopes you like…erm, an envelope:-) I believe I am getting flashbacks of JeN when she was, I guess, feigning disinterest by the so-called boy slut…:-)

On a more serious note, sissoula made reference more towards the pedagogical aspect of love, which sounds rather pedantic, but isn’t.

Consider this: some people maltreat others emotionally not necessarily because that is the way they are, but because that is what they have seen, acquired, or come to know. So, when sissoula writes that both guys and gals are TAUGHT to express it in different ways, I think I am inclined to understand where she is coming from.

Still, though, I suspect that that in no way will stop guys AND gals playing love to get sex, and sex to get love.

Food for thought this Valentine: Relationship-building and...reading?

These are some of the things I miss about this little country of BelgiumJ

 

ANTWERP, Belgium -- It could be a Valentine's setting at any restaurant or bar: Young couples drink red wine and chat eagerly at intimate tables aglow in candlelight and adorned with flowers.

But this romantic venue also features books. Hundreds of them.

 

Singles who like to read are descending upon libraries across Belgium as part of an experiment in what two librarians have dubbed "lib-dating."

By designing a new place for singles to find love, creators Eric Van der Straeten and Danny Theuwis are hoping to draw more people to books by appealing to their hearts, as well as blow the dust off stereotypes of libraries as stuffy and solitary places.

"Basically it's speed-dating, but in a new setting -- with books," Van der Straeten said, referring to the popular dating method where singles are paired for a few minutes of chat before switching partners.

Theuwis experimented with the dating idea three years ago, combining 14 single bookworms -- most between 18 and 35 years old -- with novels.

"I got some flowers for the tables, got some candles and gave those who came a glass of red wine," Theuwis said.

The informal setting and two people huddling to discuss their favorite books was all that was needed to break the ice and let relationships blossom, he said.

He said many of the participants wrote him afterward saying it was a pity the get-together was a one time thing.

He and Van der Straeten have since held sessions at Antwerp's Permeke library to train librarians from more than 300 libraries across the country on hosting lib-dating sessions. Van der Straeten said he hopes many of the libraries will set up their own dating groups in the next few months.

Participants are given 10 minutes to introduce themselves to others in the group, which Van der Straeten said should not exceed 20 people to ensure intimacy.

Upon arriving, participants pick a small piece of paper from a glass with a question on it, such as: What was your favorite book as a child and why? They are instructed to go around the room with the question and mingle.

For the second round, readers take the three favorite books or passages they were asked to bring, and share their thoughts one-on-one with others for a few minutes before switching to a new partner and new books.

At the end of the session, participants are instructed to put their books down and write a note to placed in the book of the person they would like to meet again.

"The ultimate is to plan another lib-date, or to meet elsewhere in the library ... by the letter 'L' for love maybe," Van der Straeten said.

Frederika Van Wing, manager of the Flanders public library network's campaign to boost visits, hopes the idea catches on, and draws more readers to the library.

She said only 35 percent of those living in the northern Flemish region of Belgium belong to a public library, though a recent survey conducted by the network found that libraries are the No. 3 spot for recreational activity, after the cinema and sporting venues, in Flanders, including Brussels.

"Libraries are turning into cultural hubs. They have a social role and are the only meeting place in some communities," she said.

Librarians seemed hesitant to embrace the idea at first but said they are warming up to it.

"Maybe we should start this; there is a market for this," said Monica Jacobs, a librarian from the town of Deurne. "After all, the image most have of us is of some sort of a reading club of old English aunties."

* __

On the Net:

http://www.vcob.be

 

From: http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-belgium-library-dating,0,6352850.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines

 

Thought for the Day--Playing at Love?

 

“i mean for all the great, positive social change that has taken place between the sexes, i think women still play at sex to get love and men play at love to get sex”

 

From a blogger commenting on http://offkilter.blogspot.com (http://offkilter.blogspot.com/2006/01/i-hate-yet-date-assholes.html#comments) or Overworked and Underf*cked’s blog on why she “hate{s}, yet date{s} assholes”.

 

Serious mental pabulum, dontcha think?

 

I know I have put into practise the “playing at love” at some time in my short lifeL