ok, ok...so i miscounted again. this morning's blog was actually #17, not #15. i'm not very arithmetically inclined when it's after midnight and my head is a peach. i'm happy to report that after a mere 45 minutes under the bleach, my hairs are now light blond and not breaking. Laurie, my hairdresser, said that we will have to bleach my hair for two days in a row from now on to get the color i want without looking like a badly shorn animal. my hair will never be bleached into whiteness again, but i can adjust to this color. if i get sick of it, i can always dye it 'cotton candy pink'. (i also have 'neon orange', but i don't think i'll go there. 'little boy blue' is for my husband. )

there recently seems to be an inordinate amount of blogging on virginity.

this led me to ponder the meaning of virginity and sexuality in general in american society. i remember that during the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky episode reading that european commentators thought that american society is entirely too prudish and repressed because the american people were making such a big deal about Clinton having an affair (this has nothing to do with Clinton lying under oath or possibly taking advantage of his intern by being in a power position, both of which are, to me, completely separate issues). i believe that this is actually true for some, but not all, americans. so, as a proud, rebellious, first-generation american from the continent on NYC (some say that NYC is not really america), subcontinent of Brooklyn, my current philosophies on this complicated issues are:

1. all sexuality is relative ;

2. virginity is an overrated concept ;

3. sexual expression between consenting adults that is not coerced because of control issues, power positions, etc, is OK ;

4. double standards based on gender are totally inappropriate ;

5. sexual addiction is a disease that has similar neurochemical/behavioral expressions as drug/alcohol/food/etc addiction. this disease should be treated based on a medical model which includes therapy, medication, 12-step programs and, if it includes illegal behaviors, incarceration and other legal remedies;

6. sexuality, as i am blogging about it at this time, does not include pedophilia and sexual exploitation, which are illegal and need to be dealt with in that manner, and pornography and prostitution, which are borderline and are not something that i want to blog about;

7. sexuality has nothing to do with sin, god, or satan ;

8. dirty jokes are sometimes fun , sometimes gross and disgusting , and sometimes utterly boring . it all depends on the joke.

these philosophies that i have stated above constitute #18.