the tao of cycling: prudery

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

prudery

I was going to write about something completely different, but as I stood here by the computer, waiting for my 16 year old son to finish what he was doing so I could have a turn, I overheard the lyrics to a song that was playing. the phrase I caught in this lovely rap song was premature ejaculation.
which immediately brought to mind all the times this past year I've driven him to school while listening to his favorite morning radio station. (its tag line is Radio from Hell, if that gives you any indication of what kind of programming it adheres to.) at least half of the mornings we listened to the dj's chat, the program had news stories or discussions that involved some form of sex. whether it was sexual discrimination, sexual absurdities, or sexual harrassment/abuse, I was totally amazed by how often this kind of story made the news.
I somehow managed to find a happy medium between blushing, completely ignoring the radio, and making some lame comment about the current story and by the end of the school year those stories didn't impact me quite so intensely.

I didn't have to deal with this kind of stuff when I was 16.
I can't think of a single song from my youth that contained the phrase premature ejaculation.

maybe it's better this way: not much is secret or hush-hush anymore. when my girls were 12 they knew what the word ho meant, and that I considered it a thoroughly offensive and derogatory name, not just something you called your woman.
it's out there: I should just be grateful that it's made it easier for me to talk about it with my kids.
they know exactly which swear words are cut from the "radio version" of their favorite songs.
they ask me if it's okay to sing a swear word if it's in the song.
they know what just about everything means, and the words have become part of daily common language.

I studiously ignored my son's face when I heard those words in the song he was listening to tonight. what am I going to say, hon, you know what that means, don't you?
the kids say it's just a song.

I say there's got to be something better to sing about.

they say it's news, it's funny to hear about.

I say there are some things that don't need to be shared.

so, signing off, I am, respectfully,
miss prude

No comments:

Post a Comment

the Male Ego

The other day I was coming down a canyon in my drop bars (two years ago I would have said, 'what's a drop bar?'), working hard, when I came up on two guys who were also heading downhill but at a more leisurely pace. I passed them, said hello as I did so, and pulled back into the bike lane. a few minutes later they went flying past me, faces looking dead ahead, not a single bit of acknowledgment that I even existed on this planet let alone was involved in and enjoying the same sport they were.
I have to attribute this to the male ego. what else can it be? now I know we all have egos, myself included. and mine even shows its ridiculous little head once in a while, or perhaps more often. but the difference between mine and say, those of certain men on bicycles, is that I KNOW mine exists and I can LAUGH at mine. I know my ego was quite excited to pass those guys, and I could also smile because I knew if the men had really been working like I was, they would have kicked my butt down the hill.
I think I pissed them off.
and I'm sure I will be sharing with you much more of my thoughts about the male ego . . .

a little history

I was married, and I had a mountain bike which I rarely rode. we separated, I moved out, and four months later someone stole my bike. the next spring, 2005, I bought myself a new mountain bike. I rode occasionally, and in april 2006 I rode in my first century, the Cactus Hugger in St. George, Utah. I made it 54 miles on that mountain bike, and it took me about 6 hours. I think that included the rest stops where I prayed that someone would steal my bike again . . .
in june 2006 I started riding my mountain bike five mornings a week, a 45-55 minute loop that was intended to be all about exercise. and what I found was that I loved the quiet, peaceful morning full of bird chatter and barely breaking sunrises. by that fall I was hooked, and began considering the purchase of a road bike. I rode up emigration canyon for the first time that Labor Day of 2006, panting and plowing along on my trusty (heavy) bike, and a month later I was the proud owner of my own road bike: I had become a two-bike girl!
a 17-week-long "power camp" over the winter and a handful of new friends kept bicycling front and center in my life, and when spring of 2007 rolled around I was ready to hit the pavement. I rode my first century the end of april, when I again went to St. George and completed that Cactus Hugger. it took me about 7 hours, but this time I rode the entire 100 miles with about 9300 feet of vertical gain. woo hoo!
I started riding canyons around our area, emigration and millcreek, city creek, big cottonwood, little mountain and big mountain, and once--yes, only once--little cottonwood.
then in september of 2007, I rode from Logan, Utah, to Jackson, Wyoming, in the slightly infamous LOTOJA race. I rode, I did not race. and I completed the thing, crediting my good training buddies, the incredibly perfect weather, my support team, and an amazing convergence of all things positive in the universe.
I put in about 3500 miles last season, and as of today, july 19, 2008, I have about 1700 in, adding to it every day.
I have again signed on to ride the LOTOJA race, and my goal is to have just somewhere near as great a ride as I did last year. oh, and to have someone fun to talk with along the way as I got incredibly bored last year . . . star valley is still a nightmare scene in my biking memories . . .
and here is a picture of the machine that has helped me reclaim my life.