Sweet Charity

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - A Chilean prostitute has auctioned 27 hours of sex to raise money for the country's largest charity during an annual fund-raising campaign.

Maria Carolina became an overnight celebrity in the conservative Roman Catholic country, making news headlines and appearing on talk shows since she made her unusual donation to the televised charity event, which runs for 27 hours starting on Friday evening.

"I've already auctioned off the 27 hours of love," Maria Carolina told Reuters on Wednesday, saying she had raised about $4,000. "One of my clients already paid. It seemed like a good deed to him."

Adult prostitution is legal in Chile. Chile's two-day Teleton fundraiser is endorsed by television stars and aims to raise funds for poor, disabled children.

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I don't suppose it's going to happen here anytime soon, but, wow, what a concept -- having sex to help poor, disabled children.

An Old Recipe for Happiness

Fall Fading...

Song of Childhood

Song of Childhood By Peter Handke

When the child was a child
It walked with its arms swinging,
wanted the brook to be a river,
the river to be a torrent,
and this puddle to be the sea.

When the child was a child,
it didn’t know that it was a child,
everything was soulful,
and all souls were one.

When the child was a child,
it had no opinion about anything,
had no habits,
it often sat cross-legged,
took off running,
had a cowlick in its hair,
and made no faces when photographed.

When the child was a child,
It was the time for these questions:
Why am I me, and why not you?
Why am I here, and why not there?
When did time begin, and where does space end?
Is life under the sun not just a dream?
Is what I see and hear and smell
not just an illusion of a world before the world?
Given the facts of evil and people.
does evil really exist?
How can it be that I, who I am,
didn’t exist before I came to be,
and that, someday, I, who I am,
will no longer be who I am?

When the child was a child,
It choked on spinach, on peas, on rice pudding,
and on steamed cauliflower,
and eats all of those now, and not just because it has to.

When the child was a child,
it awoke once in a strange bed,
and now does so again and again.
Many people, then, seemed beautiful,
and now only a few do, by sheer luck.

It had visualized a clear image of Paradise,
and now can at most guess,
could not conceive of nothingness,
and shudders today at the thought.

When the child was a child,
It played with enthusiasm,
and, now, has just as much excitement as then,
but only when it concerns its work.

When the child was a child,
It was enough for it to eat an apple, … bread,
And so it is even now.

When the child was a child,
Berries filled its hand as only berries do,
and do even now,
Fresh walnuts made its tongue raw,
and do even now,
it had, on every mountaintop, the longing for a higher mountain yet,
and in every city,
the longing for an even greater city,
and that is still so,
It reached for cherries in topmost branches of trees
with an elation it still has today,
has a shyness in front of strangers,
and has that even now.
It awaited the first snow,
And waits that way even now.

When the child was a child,
It threw a stick like a lance against a tree,
And it quivers there still today.

As it Was, As it Is

As the world around us changes with blazing speed, it’s nice to happen on a spot that hasn’t changed in decades, and that’s a stretch of road between York Springs and Mt. Holly Springs, Pennsylvania. Peters Orchard store is along this road; it seems the same today as when my parents stopped there with me many years ago after a day searching for antiques.

This time of year you’re always knocked over by the smell of fresh apples when you walk into the place, and I always think ‘ah, still here, still the same.’

Where in the World is Malle Poom?

Pen & Ink

Prime Time Snapshot

If you had watched the most-watched programs in each time slot last week:

Monday
Dancing with the Stars
Samantha Who?
CSI Miami

Tuesday
NCIS
Dancing with the Stars
Law & Order; SVU

Wednesday
CMA Awards

Thursday
Survivor: China
CSI
Without a Trace

Friday
Ghost Whisperer
Women’s Murder Club
Numb3rs

Saturday
Cops
Criminal Minds
48 Hours Mystery

Sunday
NFL Football
60 Minutes
Extreme Makeover
NFL Football
Desperate Housewives

We like dancing stars, country music, some reality shows, some football, and lots of crime.

Annoyances

Presidential debates. Do we really need this many, and do we really need to have them this far from the election. No and no.

People who read while they’re walking. It’s dangerous, and you look stupid. Stop it.

People who use cell phones while driving. It’s not an urgent matter that your best friend Jill know you’re driving around aimlessly, that you couldn’t get a spot out of your blouse last night, and that your husband has a wart on his toe. Shut up and drive.

Wireless headsets on cell phones. Hey Buddy, are you talking to me? We’re out in public here. I don’t want to hear you chatting up your secretary or outlining your grand plan to reorganize the office. Please, SHUT UP!

BMW drivers. We should demand mandatory valium doses for these aggressive bastards. Aggressive behavior is fine in many situations, but not on the highway.

Shrinkwrap packaging. Jesus, it takes crowbars and knives to get into some of this stuff. Can’t someone invent a simple way to open this shit.


Hey, I feel all better now.

Fall Foliage

Mae West Said

- Between two evils, I always pick the one I haven't tried before.

- When women go wrong, men go right after them.

- I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it.

- Sex with love is the greatest thing in life. But sex without love - that's not so bad either.

- Too much of a good thing can be simply wonderful.

Buddy and Sky Revisited

At the East Gallery, Washington, D.C.

This Morning at Great Falls