Bare Brains

My wife, Eve, listened to Episode Twelve, and suggested that there was a serious gap in my not talking about my hostility toward my mother and its effect on my not going to Hatcher’s funeral. In the interest of thoroughness, in this episode I talk about my relationship with my parents, possible roots of hostility, parent/child relationships in general, and human relations in general. If you have any interest in such things, perhaps you’ll find some alternative perspectives here for unraveling your own feelings in relationships.

Email: norm@normbear.com

Episode Thirteen.mp3

My father died about a month ago, and I didn’t go to the funeral. I’m not depressed and I’m not grieving. My family is upset with me, and everyone in the area that knows my family thinks I’m a bad son. So I explain here why I didn’t go, which leads to some commentary on a book I read when I was 17 that changed my life, which leads to discussion of a source of many of the problems of humanity: identification with family, community, race, religion, and country. Sorry, kids–no sexual titillation this time–but, hey, we’re all going to die sooner or later–might as well get used to the idea.

You should not click on the link unless you are at least 18 years old.

Email: norm@normbear.com

Episode Twelve.mp3

The Lost Tapes series continues with Part Four, which begins with the subject of variations between women in their experience of orgasm in intercourse, how that affects their receptivity, and how men can understand these variations and accommodate them, both physically and emotionally. Male attitudes toward vibrators, oral sex, and women’s sexual fantasies are discussed, along with the limitations of concentration and consciousness. Real life examples are provided.

You should not click on the link unless you are at least 18 years old.

Email: norm@normbear.com

The Lost Tapes, Part 5.mp3

In Part Four of the Lost Tapes series, the first day of recording winds down with a discussion of bell curves in general, and in particular, the curve of human wierdness. It finally comes to an end with a list of the day’s drugs.

Part Four continues with the beginning of day two, which opens with the question of love and the art of cunnilingus, leading to the relationship between love, fear, jealousy, and envy, and strategies for dealing with these. The ultimate question is how to be happy given one’s assets and limitations, the unaccountability of taste, and the inevitability of behavioral conditioning in exclusive relationships.

You should not click on the link unless you are at least 18 years old.

Email: norm@normbear.com

The Lost Tapes, Part 4.mp3

The Lost Tapes series continues with Part 3, in which the issue of beauty leads to a discussion of the joys of physical fitness, which leads to ideas about longevity and the accumulation of small increments of effort over time. Over time things change; flexibility is an asset, along with acceptance of the tenuous connection between our ideas and reality. Next up is the connection between the LSD experience and reality, with real-life examples, concluding with musings on the reality of fluctuating emotions.

You should not click on the link unless you are at least 18 years old.

Email: norm@normbear.com

The Lost Tapes, Part 3.mp3

The Lost Tapes series continues. As you know, in 1981 there was no World Wide Web, no ipods, and no podcasts. At the time, my thought was that these tapes would later be transcribed and printed, perhaps, so the audio quality only had to be good enough to be comprehensible. I used the cheapest cassette recorder and microphone I could find, and further abused the input by often recording at the beach, with waves crashing and various other background distractions. I have done my best to clean these up in Soundtrack Pro, with considerable improvement, but they are not studio quality. Also, I recorded on 90-minute cassettes–big mistake. The tapes seemed to have swelled; playing them back was a struggle.

I had–and have–no problem talking for 90 minutes at a stretch, but that makes for a huge file. I have tried to break them into manageable chunks, but the endings and beginnings may seem somewhat abrupt. It may be confusing unless you listen to them in order.

You should not click on the link unless you are at least 18 years old.

Email: norm@normbear.com

The Lost Tapes, Part 2.mp3

In Episode Two I played a tape that I had made in 1983, when I was 39. I had also made some tapes a couple of years earlier, in 1981, ostensibly about the art and science of cunnilingus. My thesis had been that one’s execution of the act reflected one’s entire philosophy and attitude toward life, so I had spent a lot of time talking about the kind of approach to life as a whole that was required.

I thought these tapes were lost years ago, but they surfaced a few months back, and in spite of the fact that I am barely recognizable as the same person, I found there was a lot in them that was still useful, some of which I had forgotten.

On the chance that someone else might find them useful–despite their antiquity–I decided to present them here, in all their raw, graphic, uncensored glory. You should not click on the link unless you are at least 18 years old.

Email: norm@normbear.com

The Lost Tapes, Part 1.mp3

Once more sex appears as an item of interest as we explore the possibilities and benefits of developing a more flexible image of oneself and reality. Relationships, marriage, the single life, and the search for truth are involved as well.

Email: norm@normbear.com

Episode Six.mp3

A case of vertigo results in a bout of depression, and a re-assessment of the possibilities for developing mental muscle and psychological tone. Back to the upbeat and optimistic version of myself, I close with a positive–and hopefully realistic–portrait of the future.

Email: norm@normbear.com

Episode Five.mp3

Playing with your brain can be fun and enlightening. You can get a different perspective on reality and the meaning of life by focusing your attention outside Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas (without having to know their names or where they live), and learn to see the beauty in dust bunnies and flaking paint.

Email: norm@normbear.com

Episode Four.mp3