| Distinguished (they say) and mellow Dad/mentor/friend - in fact, very friendly and very masculine real guy - until you're over my knee. Even mature guys (20s, 30s, 40s) - sons, students, athletes, corporate types - need occasional firm guidance applied to the seat of the pants/briefs/bare butt. But afterwards, your dignity and pants restored, the friendship resumes. And by the way, very good at dealing with two equally deserving 'brats'. Recentlly that involved providing a very humiliating butt-warming to a coach who'd lost it with an arrogant player, then tanned the jock for provoking the coach in the first place!. And no, it's not just about spanking (though that's real!). Looking for friendship that includes any occasional necessary discipline - but there are many, many passions: food, wine, books, TRAVEL, long walks, long talks (all night is 'long'), a good film,a neat risk. Yes, I'm a 'renaissance' guy, but while I love classical, jazz, fado, capo verde, and the occasional opera, if you're into country ... well ... I can deal with that too. So, I'm basically looking for someone who'll work out with a klutz, eat with a chef (ok - chef wannabe), travel with a wide-eyed tourist (I wanna go to Prague!!!), tolerate a Starbucks addiction, argue with a news/politics fiend, split the cost of the NY Times, watch a britcom, encourage me to finish the book(s), help me over the fact that I am extremely fashion challenged, share a glass of wine, not laugh at my feet and, in general, help me keep launching the boat into the darkening seas. I will, of course, do the same for you. If one or all of those appeal, we need to sit down and talk - even if you find the sitting part a tad tender initially. :-) See? It ain't all about spanking! Yes, very firm hand here, and not reluctant to use it. Pretty strong heart here also, though, and I'm also not afraid to use that. Will trade face pics, but I walk down streets without frightening dogs or small children. And YES, the pictures are all real! View them as 'discussions' underway. (Clearly, pictures/videos are ok) Oh, and every once in a while, I`ll add a real account of what happens in my study: Tales from Dad`s Study: 1 College sons discover that one advantage of higher education is an increased facility with words. And words, of course, are an essential part of excuses. No longer are they 'lazy' or 'irresponsible' young men. Now they are 'attempting to transcend the mundane' or dealing with 'a professer's inappropriate reliance on archaic evaluation strategies' or 'resisting the university's attempt to compartmentalize thoughts'. Uh-huh! What all this means is said son hasn't got his lazy ass in gear and is now facing a pile of incomplete essays and lab reports. I listened to the above excuses with a totally calm demeanor, silently suggesting to the talkative boy that I was actually listening to all this crap. In fact, I had decided that we needed to get beyond words but I saw nothing wrong with letting him temporarily show off this expensively acquired vocabulary. Eventually he ran out - or down - and I was able to ask if he were finished. He replied that he was and got up to leave my study. I indicated that it was now my turn. Hauling him over my knee was easy - I had the element of surprise on my side. Applying my hand to the seat of his jeans brought the normal 'too old' protest and the occasional 'let me up.' Now Dad is himself a wordsmith, so, to indicate to the brat that I was taking his new vocabulary seriously, I replied, 'Son, this will be finished when I complete the amelioration of what your behavior has exacerbated.' I stood him up and took down the jeans and returned to my task. He was now having trouble with simple sentences. When I eventually stood him up again, lowered his briefs and returned to my efforts, he soon started having trouble with words longer than 'ouch' or 'ow'. Yelps and wails became more his theme. Words have their place, but so do lazy or unmotivated collegians. And in my study, when words have been abused, that place is over my knee! |