das coitus interruptus HNT

In Almost Like a Whale: The Origin of Species Updated Steve Jones compares species to countries:

Species and nations have a lot in common. What, for example, is a German? The tribe has a shared and guttural means of communication that interrupts intercourse of most kinds.

What does the last part mean? It could mean they interrupt each other in conversation, but that's not unique to Germans - Australians do that too.

Or it could mean they talk during sex, I believe some people do that.

I should know the answer, because I'm half-German, as you can see here. This week's picture was taken a long time ago on the day I finally gave up trying to grow a moustache, and shaved it off in stages. The half-nekkid part is the top lip.

If you're desperate, you can access all the old half baked thursday posts.

scheissbier

I tried a weissbier that they sell here - Schofferhoffer. It's from Munich, and it's properly cloudy, so I had high hopes. But when I opened it, there was none of that strange off/yeast smell, and the taste was disappointing.

The only place you can buy Erdinger here is in an overpriced pub in the city, and then you still have to find your way home. One day I'll make it back to Piddledorf, where the weissbier's cheaper than water. Or maybe I'll be able to buy Erdinger in Edinburgh. They're almost anagrams, so that should help.

boxing childhood HNT

When we were growing up, my brother and I had 2 pairs of gloves and an adjustable punchball. I used to set the ball high, to practice defending myself against bullies. My brother used to set the ball extra low, to practice beating up little guys. You can tell from his stance that he knew how to handle himself, but I seem to be punching myself in the head.

He went on to become school boxing champion. I gave up sport and joined the school shooting team, because you could smoke under cover of the gunpowder smells.

If you're desperate, you can access all the old half baked thursday posts.

after a long period of bliss

Things are a bit annoying just now, but I suppose that's only fair after such a long period of bliss. The rebuilding work is going on around me. The man with the sledgehammer was here yesterday to demolish things, and today it's the tradespersons with drills and their own sledgehammers. Thank goodness for the home brew and the ear muffs.

Two months ago when the kitchen designer was here, he said that getting a new kitchen is the most stressful thing a couple can go through.

Well it's true that one discovers things about one's partner that one would rather not know.

I've been with my partner for about ten years, but some visitors to this blog have been in their relationship for 20 or 30 years or more. Imagine what things they must have seen! Oh, the horrors!

ukulele HNT

This week I've had to cheat and re-cycle an early HNT from two years ago.

There's vaseline on the lens to ensure good taste. Apart from the soft-focus effect, this holiday snap, from my ukulele tour of Greece, is not photoshopped. It's clickable, so you can click through to see the surrounding beach.

---

---

If you're desperate, you can access all the old half baked thursday posts.

birthday flowers

There was a birthday here, and someone was given flowers.

The present I gave was a combination of

1. cooking a candle-lit seafood dinner.



2. dropping my veto on having a cleaner, in fact I arranged for a husband-and-wife cleaning team to come and make some impression on 8 years of mess.



3. caring for the flowers and taking their photies (not photoshopped, though I notice some annoying artefacts crept in after I posted).

my favourite thing 3 (HNT)

I have a few favourite things that I've held onto for years.

Last century, when I was studying Sociology, there was an oil crisis, and Britain was having power cuts virtually every day. Factories were shut for half the week.

I was doing some home repairs and I needed to buy a drill. I was convinced that capitalism was on its last legs before a new stone age, so what was the point in buying an electric drill? So I bought this brace and bit instead.




Well, pretty soon the oil crisis ended, and I relented and bought an electric drill. But the hand drill was a good one, and I wasn't going to throw it away. It has never been used since, but last week I found a use for it, drilling holes in a new door.

And this week I found another use for it. By the way, it isn't photoshopped.






Does anyone else have favourite things that they've held onto for years?

If you're desperate, you can access all the old half baked thursday posts.