Today was mostly spent preparing the Farnham, Alton and Haslemere Heralds for the Talking Newspaper recording tomorrow. This entails dividing the online version of the paper into individual stories for Ann and me to read. This is then followed by the usual editing.
Today it took ages, mostly because the ‘clipping’ function on the papers site stopped working. This forced me to create a work-around with screenshots and Photoshop which was far from ideal. Still, it worked.
Then, having cut out all the stories, I prepared the running script. Then, finally, I can edit my stories to make them easier to listen to.
I eventually finished at about 3pm. Okay, I did have a few breaks in there but, essentially, it took me most of the day.
I was so busy that I only managed to take one photo.
I include it here because Mirinda said it was the only way a bandana should be worn (I use it as a mask normally) and, secondly, because after I posted it to Instagram, Lorna claimed I was channelling Bukowski. I’m taking it as a compliment given I’ve been a big Bukowski fan since first reading him many, many years ago.
Actually, I was cleaning the bathroom, something I doubt Chuck ever did.
Today, this happened
On October 8, 1980, at his weekly public meeting, Pope John Paul II told the people gathered before him that if a man looked at another woman with lust, it was adultery. Or at least it was the same as the sin of adultery. He based this on the fact that Jesus apparently said something similar.
Leaving aside the fact that anything written about Jesus was recorded, at least, 200 years after his death, I am amazed at how the Catholic church can control the thoughts of its believers. Okay, I get that’s been the case for the last 2,000 years. At least.
Presumably, after his announcement, Catholic men everywhere raced to the confessional box and confessed to having all sorts of nasty thoughts about women they were not married to. Then, of course, the priest would have told them to say sorry, and they were forgiven.
It occurs to me that if the thought was as bad as the act then why wouldn’t you just go the whole hog and commit the act. It has to be more fun than just thinking about it. Not that Pope John Paul II would have known about that. Popes aren’t exactly known for their knowledge of sex.
The Catholic stance on adultery, however, differs slightly from John Paul’s utterance. You can read the whole shebang here. Though, in case you can’t be bothered reading the linked page, basically it has to involve carnal connection between two people or it’s just not adultery. Or anal sex, which is always adultery. Go figure.
