"the zipless fuck"

i'm reading (trying to read) nightly. i just finished reading that old ace in the hole by annie proulx (author of the shipping news which incidentally, is also a good movie starring kevin spacey and julianne moore). i chose this book because of the cover.



for some reason this funny looking guy made me a little bit hopeful. if the owner of this mug reads this blog by some unlikely chance, "howdy!"

"so," said uncle tam. "it made me think about my situation here. i've decided to put the shop up for sale, find a new location."

"my god, that's a big step. like move to new york? take a vacation or do something you like?"

"no. new york is not a good place for me. and sometimes it's not a question of doing what you like. i know your generation puts a lot of value on that, but for most of us it's a matter of doing the best we can with what we've got and who we are." (pp 298)

now i'm reading erica jong's fear of flying, which i found for $0.99 at savers. this book would be classed as (avert you eyes mom and dad) erotic fiction i suppose, but i'd also call it a land mine of feminism. i'm only a chapter in and enjoying it.

but a woman is always presumed to be alone as a result of abandonment, not choice. and she is treated that way: as a pariah. there is simply no dignified way for a woman to live alone. oh, she can get along financially perhaps (though not nearly as well as a man), but emotionally she is never left in peace. her friends, her family, her fellow workers never let her forget that her husbandlessness, her childlessness- her selfishness, in short- is a reproach to the american way of life. (pp 10-11)