Dear Amarinda…

So I got this email last night in relation to yesterday’s blog – see below – the one about eye for an eye.

“Do you hate men so much that you would advocate the cutting off of penises?”

As promised to the sender I would not put her name on the blog. Firstly – thanks for the email. Opinions are always good and the best ones come through amarinda_jones@yahoo.com.au.

My answer – no, on the contrary – I love men – they fascinate me. They are funny, complex, moody, smart, smart arse, loving, boyish, arrogant silly, crazy, sweet, stroppy, maddening, strong individuals. As for hatred, my mother always instilled in us the belief that ‘you only hate what you fear.’ I fear very little and the only thing I truly hate is baked beans…not sure how that works in line with childhood teachings…but there is it… However – and there is always a ‘but’ or a ‘however’ lurking – I am intolerant to injustice and prejudice against any minority group who has no power or voice. I am against people who preach one thing and then do another. I am against people feeling helpless. I am intolerant of bullies who use the name of religion to keep others under the thumb.

“I could suggest cutting off his penis to even things up – be a warning to others - maybe then he could know what it feels like to be a woman in a world where being born without an appendage between your legs gives you no power.”--AJ Blog 06/03/09

It was merely a suggestion, not an advocation. It is the thought that sometimes those people in authority need to have power taken from them – to become one of the downtrodden – to understand that the their idea of justice or beliefs is inhumane and wrong.

And on the whole, I find penises quite useful…

Will I write a similar blog to this again? Most certainly. And yes – absolutely email please. I am interested by all thoughts.

www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Go Ahead : Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?

Injustice

An Iranian woman living in Spain said on Wednesday she welcomed a Tehran court ruling that awards her eye-for-an-eye justice against a suitor who blinded her with acid.

Ameneh Bahrami, 30, told Cadena SER radio, "I am not doing this out of revenge, but rather so that the suffering I went through is not repeated."

Late last year an Iranian court ruled that the man - identified only as Majid - who blinded Bahrami in 2004 after she spurned him, should also be blinded with acid based on the Islamic law system of "qisas", or eye for an eye retribution, according to Iranian newspaper reports from November.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/newshome/5368690

I’ll be honest – I’m in two minds about this. The arsehole that attacked and scarred this woman should be punished. He is an arrogant male sod who ruined a woman’s future because she said ‘no’ to him. What a childish, spoilt, prick of a man. Reasonable, rational, real men do not act like this. Sure, they may be pissed at a knock back but they move on. They do not blind for life in a childish attempt to make an inferior woman suffer for denying them some manly right they perceive is theirs.

And if this case wasn’t sick and insane enough, the court has ruled that because the victim is an inferior woman who was blinded in both eyes, the man should only be blinded in one.

"They have told us that my two eyes are equal to one of his because in my country each man is worth two women.”

So while I do believe that an eye for an eye is justified in some cases, what is the point of this? How is this a ‘win’ for this lady? And no, you are right, none of us can know how she feels and what justice she demands to move on with her life. But the ruling alone indicates that prejudice in this archaic, male dominated society and religion is never going to change. How is taking the sight in the one eye of the attacker going to help her or change anything if they deem she is only worth half of what her attacker is? I could suggest cutting off his penis to even things up – be a warning to others - maybe then he could know what it feels like to be a woman in a world where being born without an appendage between your legs gives you no power. Yes, revenge can be sweet and no one will ever really know how this woman suffered. If it gives her peace then I cannot deny her that but once again I am saddened and angry at how stupid these penis based societies are and how they never learn the value of the people they have.

From ridiculous pretend men to…

Four firemen stripped to their underwear in Melbourne's CBD today to protest against Pacific Brands' decision to axe nearly 2,000 Australian jobs.
Hundreds of Pacific Brands workers rallied in Bourke Street to call for the company to reverse the decision.

The firefighters, who are members of the United Firefighters Union, drew huge applause when they stripped off their Pacific Brands-made uniforms to reveal Bonds boxer shorts while Men At Work's _Down Under_ song played.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/newshome/5369917

Click on the video for the full story.

Good one boys. I am 100% behind the workers at Pacific Brands and with the nation at the appalling greed of a company that can dump workers yet reward the executives. I refuse to buy anything – not even my fave Bond undies – from these corporate leeches and any protest – and this was most excellent – that draws attention to the plight of the workers who are losing their jobs, in this company and others, due to cooperate greed I support.

www.amarindajones.com
Go Ahead : Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?

The morning….

Ida, my car, was making choked strangling please-piss-off-and-leave-me-alone-in-the-garage-as-I-am-not-well-today-and-I am-not-hauling-your-fat-arse-anywhere- sounds when I started her up. Well, too bad. I was late for work and I didn’t have time to deal with a hissy fit – but in saying that I did reverse out and leave the car running for a few moments while she dramatically choked and carried on like a pork chop (crazy person). On the 15 minute drive to work, lights on the dashboard were flashing constantly and I had the feeling that at any moment I would be Flintstoning the car. But I kept her moving and made it inside the parking lot just as the car died. I went inside and dumped my stuff and started to call the auto club to arrive and fix whatever boo-boo Ida had. I suspected it was the battery. Why? Am I a mechanical genius? No, it was the light the flashed the most.

As I was on hold, I mentioned casually to a male colleague that the car had conked out. He instantly started to tell me all the dire problems that could be happening to my car. It was this and that and they all would cost a fortune and I would probably have to have the car towed or a least leave it in the car park over night and that proper maintenance would have avoided this. My lips responded “Thank you – but I’m sure it’s just the battery” while my eyes said "bugger off you harbinger of doom.” I love men – they’re fascinating but sometimes they can be so negative and it’s not something you want to hear when you are mechanically challenged is it? And this is why I pay professionals to fix things and not deal with amateur theatricals.

Anyway the car club person came out and said "it’s the battery.” The harbinger of doom came out to hear the pronouncement and he just shook his head and walked away mumbling something about the ‘alternator’ and ‘this is only the start of your problems.’ Naturally, as with all spontaneous problems, I had no money on me so once more the credit card got a few more racing stripes on it…you have to love plastic.

The afternoon…

I went grocery shopping – yes, quel excitement but it was interesting because the guy on the checkout was covered in tatts. This is unusual as you rarely see a corporate money making giant with tattooed staff on display. They seem to hide them in the background. Anyway, me, being me, had to ask about the tatts as all things tattoo interest me at the moment. He had some beauties and my groceries were forgotten as he told me about each one…no, I did not get to see the ones on his thighs (probably against corporate policy to drop your strides) but the ones on his forearms and wrists were pretty specky (spectacular). They were all horror with screaming mouths, eyes in pain and blood dripping everywhere - kind of weird as he was such an amiable, soft spoken guy. I asked why the horror theme and he said ‘it’s just where I am in this moment of my life.’ Interesting. And yes, he confirmed that tatts do sting when being inked but even worst the next couple of days but the pain ‘was worth it to mark where I am in my life.’ Quite fascinating. I am just thinking now how I can use my grocery receipt as tax deduction due to my tattoo research for my books….

www.amarindajones.com
Go Ahead : Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?

The bestest…

Tourism Queensland has announced the 50 Short-listed Applicants for the Best Job in the World. Amongst the candidates from over 22 countries are a charity fundraiser, dance instructor, physiotherapist, chef, radio DJ, scientist, actor, interpreters, adventurers, students, television journalists and photographers.

Vote for your favourite now to ensure they have a chance of becoming the Wild Card candidate to attend the interview event in May.
http://www.islandreefjob.com/

I wonder what it would be like to have the “best job” in the world. Queensland is a fantastic albeit crazy place where cane toads hop around, the people are casual and no one takes anything real seriously unless its money placed on cockroach races, sausage sizzles or lamington drives – and that’s only the subtropics where I live. Up north they’re all troppo. I can completely understand why someone would want to score a job here. We’re fabulous.

Best job in the world? Never had one of those - though the one I have now is tolerable as I get to do a lot of personal stuff at a work. To me that’s important in a job. Fancy titles? A company car? Meetings in the boardroom? Soiree/junkets with the clients? Yeah, if that turns you on, do it. But can you write at your desk, make unlimited personal calls, send personal emails and leave whenever you want because basically everyone trusts you and no one measures what time you spend at actual work? That beats any fancy executive stuff. Lurks abound if you look at every avenue open for exploitation.

I also didn’t mind working as a chambermaid – okay - the naked people who would wait for you to open the hotel room door, after you thinking no one was there – well, calling out ‘chambermaid’ and the ‘please come and clean my room sign’ generally made you think it was empty - and then them stand there waving their sad, little cocks in the air - I could have lived without – have you ever noticed that flashers never have anything of note to flash? And how many women go – “yeah baby, let’s do it right here, right now”? Other than that it was a job you could do really quickly if you had more interesting things to do – well, I was in London for god sake - and you could score all sorts of free stuff that people either gave you because they could not fit in their suitcases – no thanks on the pretty white powder – or they left behind things like alcohol and money. Now when I say money I mean 1p and half p (pence) coins. Yeah, they’re useless but collect enough of them in a communal glass jar of useless coins and you could buy all sorts of stuff – of course whoever you paid your bill to in 1p coins was not impressed but hey – you were paying so what’s the problem?

As far as I am concerned no job is the best in the world. Everything has pitfalls be they flashers or rules. Would anyone work if they had a choice? I think not.

www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Go Ahead : Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?

The news is...

Have a good Tuesday...

www.amarindajones.com
Go Ahead : Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?

Fear of Being...

So, I got word of a new editor – a male – yesterday. Hmmm, a male…that should be interesting. Never had a male edit my erotic romances. I warn him now to start stocking up on gin or whatever his favourite alcoholic beverage is as I am hell to edit – typos, split infinitives and I tend to make up words. My long suffering Ellora’s Cave editor will swear to this fact. I am a trial and a tribulation but hey I like me so I’m not changing any time soon.

The book that he will be editing is called Fear of Being – and yes I have a release date for this year so that was a heck of a surprise. The book is an erotic horror ménage romance – so basically it’s about orgasms and people screaming while the hero is all heroic and the heroine is her usually pissy self as some creepy guy tries to frighten the bejeezus out of her. This book is totally different to my others – sure, it has the same Jones style but it’s pretty creepy – hence the horror angle. It’s based on a recurring nightmare I have. I wrote it in some weird, existential hope that it would rid me of these night time visitations. It didn’t – bummer - but life goes and like all my books they are based on me in some way. Why? Is it a narcissistic complex I have? Probably - but there’s nothing wrong with a healthy ego – it keeps you hopeful and active and ambitious. Without an ego you’d probably sit and stare at a wall and want for nothing…actually, that could be good at times too. Hmmm…wall staring….anyway…writing from my own life is more the fact that I absolutely believe you have to write what you know. You have to live what the heroine has done and believe what she says.

This book is coming out through Whiskey Creek Torrid. Why? Because they wanted it and it’s a genre they are interested in. Will I write another horror? Depends if I have another nightmare that makes me wake up punching the air fighting off an invisible foe. Someone was telling me that the dreams we have now relate to our past lives and the things we should or could have done differently. I think that’s too much stress to place on yourself. My theory is that you and I will probably continue to stuff up our lives until we die and when we come back for the next shot at life I expect we’ll do the same. I think that sort of consistency is comforting. It allows you to accept the failures with a small shrug of your shoulders…c’est la vie baby.

www.amarindajones.com
Go Ahead : Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?

You know you're Australian if....

You believe that stubbies can either be worn or drunk

You think it is normal to have a Prime Minister called Kevin

You understand that the phrase 'a group of women wearing black thongs' refers to footwear and may be less alluring than it sounds

You believe the 'L' in the word ' Australia ' is optional (oz-stray-ya)

You can translate: 'Dazza and Shazza played Acca Dacca on the way to Maccas' (Darren and Sharon played ACDC on the way to McDonalds)

You believe it makes perfect sense for a nation to decorate its highways with large fibreglass bananas, prawns and sheep

You call your best friend 'a total bastard' but someone you really, truly despise is just 'a bit of a bastard'

You believe is makes sense for a country to have a $1 coin that's twice as big as its $2 coin

You understand that 'Wagga Wagga' can be abbreviated to 'Wagga' but 'Woy Woy' can't be called 'Woy'

You believe all famous Kiwis are actually Australian, until they stuff up, at which point they again become Kiwis (Kiwis = New Zealanders)

You believe that the more you shorten someone's name the more you like them

You understand that 'excuse me' can sound rude, while 'scuse me' is alway polite

You understand that 'you' has a plural and that it's 'youse'

You know it's not summer until the steering wheel is too hot to handle

Your biggest family argument over the summer concerned the rules of beach cricket

You shake your head in horror when companies try to market what they call 'Anzac cookies' (Always Anzac biscuits or bickies)

When returning home from overseas, you expect to be brutally strip-searched by Customs - just in case you're trying to sneak in fruit (foreign fruit, due to disease, is a big no-no)

When working at a bar, you understand male customers will feel the need to offer an excuse whenever they order low-alcohol beer

You get choked up with emotion by the first verse of the national anthem and then have trouble remembering the second!

**I had to have Hugh on the blog as it’s been a while and he is an Aussie and I just like to look at him…okay?

www.amarindajones.com
Go Ahead : Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?