Book Worm Meme: The Myth of Monogamy

I’ve been tagged with the Bookworm Meme by Maria of "Writings of Maria". Thanks, Maria! You just gave me a reason to share with everyone this wonderful book.

Here’s how this meme works:

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 56.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next two to five sentences.
5. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the cool book or the intellectual one. Pick the Closest.
6. Tag five people to do the same.

MY BOOKWORM MEME

For a "married" male to engage in out-of-pair heterosexual sex, his EPC partner must in turn be (1) seduce, (2) coerced, (3) a willing co-participant, or (4) an active initiator. ... We'll find that all patterns occur, in animals as well as human beings.

THE MYTH OF MONOGAMY: Fidelity and Infidelity in Animals and People by David P. Barash, PH.D., and Judith Eve Lipton, M.D.

I bought this book after watching Penn and Teller's show, Bullshit! The episode's topic was "The Business of Love". Several experts on love were interviewed, including authors of my favorite books, "The Rules" and "Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus".

The only book featured in the show that I haven't read was "The Myth of Monogamy". I had to get my own copy immediately! For a household manager like me, it is important that I am kept abreast of research on home topics such as Romance and (In)Fidelity.

It was a funny and informative read. Here are some of my favorite quotes:

"Unattractive males guard their mates more closely."
(The uglier the guy, the more more jealous he'll be.)

"Males who remained monogamous when they apparently had the opportunity to attract a second or third female were those mated to unusually aggressive females. (This aggression, incidentally, was directed toward the potentially home-wrecking females, not toward the male.)"
(I'll be watching "No Retreat... No Surrender... Si Kumander" for a few tips.)

"In territorial species, a female generally chooses a male based on the quality of his territory. ... By getting a resource rich male, a female also gets the best genes. But this need not always be true. If a male who is genetically subpar ends up with a high-quality piece of real estate, he may also end up with a female who looks elsewhere when it comes to a sexual partner."
(Gold-diggers are bad news. "You've got to love me for what I am, for simply being me...")

It must be noted that Dr. Barash and Dr. Lipton were talking about the mating habits of birds and not humans. I never knew birds live an exciting life.

Despite all the examples of infidelity in the animal kingdom presented by the authors, they ended the book with a positive note.

"By establishing a durable, long-term relationship with someone who not only cares, but also shares an expanding history, who understands one's strengths, weaknesses joys and despairs, the successful monogamist assures himself and herself a companion for life, long after the children (if any) have grown, when work is no longer an option, when even sex may be mostly a memory, at just the time when two devoted people can keep track of the doctor appointments, change each other's senior diapers, and sit together, watching the sunset."

Sigh... *googly eyes*

I wonder where my husband is right now. Time for some mate-guarding.

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Promises, Promises: Waking Up Early

Interview of First Lady Laura Bush by Jay Leno

MRS. BUSH: This was back in 1977 when we married, he was thinking about running for Congress, which he did, in our home district in the Panhandle of Texas. So I said, you'll have to promise me I'll never have to give a political speech. And he said, oh, no, of course, you'll never have to. So much for political promises. (Laughter.)

But also, I have to admit, I promised I'd jog with him, too. And I never did.

JAY LENO: You never did?

MRS. BUSH: No. (Laughter.)

JAY LENO: Well, okay, so that works. One cancels out the other.

PROMISES! PROMISES!

I promised my husband that I will ALWAYS eat breakfast with him. I was able to consistently do this the first few weeks of our marriage. I was even the one preparing breakfast! However, as time went by, I began slipping to the point that my husband would sometimes say goodbye to me while I'm still in bed. So much for promises!

But it's not too late. I can still make good on my promise. I resolve now to wake up early and make sure I eat breakfast with my husband EVERYDAY.

I was never a morning person so this won't be easy. Good thing there are so many self-help sites in the internet today. I am trying some tips from www.howtowakeupearly.com.

1. Advice #1. To Wake Up Early, Go To Bed Early

What?! This is like DIET and EXERCISE. Obvious and correct but nobody wants to hear it.

No fast fix? Fine. I resolve to sleep no later than 11:00 12:00 12:30PM.

2. Advice #6. Take A Nap In The Afternoon

This one I likey! However, it is advised that afternoon naps be limited to 20-30 minutes. No more 2-hour afternoon naps for me.

3. Advice #27. Advertise Your Early Wake Up Habit

"Start spreading the news. I'm waking early today..."

I already announced my wake-up-early resolution to my Plurk buddies last week. So far, today is the only day that I was able to successfully wake up before 6:00 AM. I woke up at 5:47 AM and was connected to Plurk by 6:14 AM.

(I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my Plurk buddies for the encouragement and support you have given me this past week. I couldn't have done it without you. *bow*)

There are 45 cool tips in the website but I'm only trying 3 this week. I hope it works.

What time do you wake up?

Note: The White House transcript is dated Oct. 7, 2004. I watched that interview when I was already married which meant that it couldn't have been earlier than mid-2006. I've always known that the Leno shows here are reruns but 2 years?

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The Vinegar-Baking Soda Duo Strikes Again

Immediately after my eye surgery, I could not let water drip down my eyes so I had my to tilt my head back when I shampoo my hair. This position plus the fact that I can now see clearly even without my glasses allowed me to notice these little rust spots in our shower enclosure.

Yikes!
















This is a job for the Vinegar-Baking Soda Duo.

Click here for the instructions. Early detection and prevention is important. Don't wait for the rust to eat into the chrome. Nip it in the bud.

TADA! No more rust spots.












The formula works really well with chrome. My next project will be to clean this rusty chrome hamper.

Wish me luck!

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Wordless Wednesday: Christmassy Brown Paper Bags

THE PROTOTYPE





















THE BROWN PAPER BAGS

Finally, a use for my alphabet craft punch set.

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Potpourri: Coffee Stains, Shopping and Christmas Gifts

NO TV?! NO COMPUTER?! WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!

After my Lasik surgery last Tuesday, I had to say goodbye to blogging for awhile. Although I still plurked using my phone, I could not blog hop nor update my posts.

I never realized how addicted I am to plurking and blog-hopping until last week. Forced to find other things to do, I was able to accomplish a lot of tasks at home. I went shopping too!

Banished Coffee Stains

Using my Magic Formula (Baking Soda and Vinegar) and a small green scour pad, I was able to remove the coffee stains from all the cups in our cupboard.

What you need:

* Baking Soda
* Pure White Vinegar
* Scour Pad

Instructions:

1. Mix baking soda and white vinegar. (go for pasty consistency)
2. Dip the scour pad in the baking soda and vinegar mix.
3. Gently scrub the stain.


Speed Shopped














MM dragged me to this private shoes and bags sale in Corinthian Gardens. We were in and out of the place in less than 30 minutes. She bought shoes and I bought a bag.

Assembled Car Safety Kits















Inspired by Martha Stewart, I decided to put together my own Car Safety Kit. Do you have an emergency car kit?

Tata! I need to rest my eyes now.

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P35 Project: Take Your Vits

Sick and tired of reminding family members to take their vitamins?

Try this!

Slide in your Vitamin Schedule in a small acrylic menu holder (P35/$0.70 in National Bookstore ).










Place everything in a tray and serve during meal time.














You can go a step further by making a schedule for each family member.

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Eat Good, Live Bad Longer

I've been sick the whole week and I left my readers with a post on death. I'm so sorry.

Now that I'm feeling a bit better, I want to share with you the new craze in our household -- ORGANIC FOODS.

















We are starting with breakfast. We still eat junk food and order from Jollibee but it's a big step from the greasy bacon, ham and spam we eat every morning.

P.S. Mai da Paypay, our switch to organic is partly your fault. LOL!

P.P.S. More posts on this when I get better.

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Morbid Thoughts: Living Will

Photo by eqqman














Talks on Death

Me: If I die first, I don't want any fanfare. Just cremate me. It's cheaper. (Kuripot hanggang kamatayan.)

Husband: Me too. I want to be cremated immediately. No viewing. No wake.

Me: What if your family wants a wake?

Husband: Tell them I don't want one.

Me: What?! That will be difficult given the circumstances.

Husband: Just tell them.

Me: Bah! You're dead anyway. I'll do what they want.

Remember the Terri Schiavo case? She suffered severe brain damage and was only kept alive by a feeding tube. Claiming that it was her wish not be be kept on life support if there's no hope for improvement, Terri's husband petitioned the court for the removal of the tube. This petition was vehemently opposed by Terri's parents and the case dragged on for around 7 years.

I don't want to put my husband in the same position if something like that happens to me. I am publicly declaring now that I DO NOT WANT TO BE KEPT ON LIFE SUPPORT IF THERE IS NO HOPE FOR IMPROVEMENT.

I surfed the net and found some samples of Living Wills. I want my husband and I to make one. One day of morbid planning will save us all the trouble in the event that one of us dies first. In the perfect world, we die at the same time.

According to Eternal Reefs, a good End-Of-Life plan consists of 4 documents.

1. Advanced Directives
2. Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care
3. Final Directives
4. Last Will and Testament

The Last Will and Testament takes care of your estate. The first three documents contain your dying wishes.

Do you want to be kept on life support? Do you want to donate your organs? Do you want to be cremated? Do you want to ban Malaysian Mums (this is a type of flower, not mommies from Malaysia) from your wake?

Morbid thoughts...

Will you be making your own Living Will soon?

Note: This is not a paid post. I do not endorse Eternal Reefs. However, their End-Of-Life Planning page is really helpful.

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