A Taper in a Rushing Wind - Part One

I had said I would tell the story of how we got together some day. A friend asked, and I am inspired. Bear with me as I try not to encumber this story with too many details. I don’t want to accidentally divulge the identity of anyone I’m writing about.

I’ll start by confessing how I am overwhelmingly visually-oriented, so for me visual attraction is a key to my own stimulation. Try as I might to keep it in check, sometimes I objectify women. Of course a clue to the things that personally titillate me would be found in my galleries. My preferences in women are best distilled to “healthy” and “vibrant.” Beyond that, I have a preference for short hair and smaller breasts. A mortal weakness for a Pixie. I have certainly come to understand over the years (I’m 62) that objectification is sometimes at play to some degree. I can be a self-centered prick, but I expect the fact that I know this about myself and admit it freely is … a good start.

A good example of what a total prick I am according to some people is that when I say “healthy,” I tend to think it does not include women who are "fat." I know “fat” means different things to different people, but being in life science, I also know there are definitions for what is and what is not fat, how to measure it, and how to change it. Now you are getting to see how big of a prick I can really be. But yeah. Diet and exercise. Some things never change. And the whole point is, a lithe woman makes my penis erect. A woman who is not lithe does not. I am not sure I can change that.

But I digress.

In 2006, a blip came up on my professional radar – a woman on another continent who was doing some of the same things I was to champion a small global constituency of young families overwhelmed by a rare birth defect with no cure. I had a k** with it, and so did she. She was a career scientist. I was an advocate for the families.

Due diligence - an investigation performed to confirm the facts of a matter under consideration.

I googled this person to understand better how she fit into the puzzle we were apparently both working on. What I found was a trace of a professional autobiography and a not really very good photo.

My heart leapt. Everything about her seemed perfect – not just for the work I was pondering, which was a formidably good fit by itself, but when I took in her appearance and her brief bit of word-craft, I was smit to the core – At that time I was not one to shy away from mixing business and pleasure. I felt sure I would enjoy getting to know her better!

She pointed to a blog. I consumed it. More validation that my hunch was likely good. Not a lot of photos, but her words. Oh, her words! This woman had a way with words that simply gave me hearts for eyes. She had a brilliant eye for graphic design in an HTML- encoded world. I think I’m in love. She never mentioned her c***d professionally. For her it was important to make sure nobody assumed she had become a biologist to cure her c***d, or that her family life somehow affected her objectivity as a scientist.

I could read all this between the lines of her blog. And what luscious lines they were. She said all the right things.

Embedded in the blog was a sub-plot about chronic knee problems from cycling, hiking and skiing (oh fukkk), and how she was probably going to have to get one of her knees worked on. I seized this opportunity to introduce myself formally in writing, to suggest we should consider ways to work together. I then attempted to pique her curiosity on a different level, by including small-talk about knee surgery, with a photo from my own arthroscopic procedure, knowing a biologist would find the photo intriguing, and this owner of these words might ask herself why on earth a quirky guy she had never met would send such an intimate photo of the inside of his own body.

I’m funny that way.

Her response was purely professional without reference to my attempt at knee flirting. She was going to be … tough.

You should understand about me that I cannot resist a challenge, especially where there is an attractive woman to be conquered (there I go objectifying again). I was not daunted. I was inspired!

Well loves, that’s about all I have time for this morning. Real Life calls. But do stay tuned.

Joe