Wednesday 18 July 2001

Pic of the day: Hmm? What's that buzzing sound? Sounds like blowflies on their way to the job ...

The buzz on The Buzz

Time to report on my second paid e-book: The Buzz on Sex, Dating & Relationships. Firstly, despite the word "sex" in the title, it is not pornographic. (One chapter is a bit risque, but I still had to get up and take a short walk to not fall asleep.) On the other hand, it is not really decent. Decency means respect for others, and this book seems utterly unfamiliar with the very idea of respect.

Now in all honesty, when a book is called "the buzz", you should expect it to be very informal. ("Streetwise" as we roleplayers call it.) So I am not put off by the tone. I am however slightly miffed that it consists almost entirely of humorous examples of how things go wrong. True, learning from errors is much more fun when they are not your own. And a modern saying claims "your own success is good, but others' failures are not to be scorned either". Still, you would think the anticipated target group would find success stories more instructive.

My impression is that the "Buzz" is not so much an informal attempt to educate the inexperienced, but rather meant as entertainment for those already in the know. Kind of like Mad Magazine's look at America. (Yes, doesn't that seem to be the main source for many foreign commentators? Heh. "All I know about America, I learned from Mad.")

For me, it hasn't been a total waste of time and money, though. I have picked up new details of urban American culture, much easier and cheaper than going there. Not to mention less embarrassing. No one on the bus looked twice at my e-book...

So, am I going to buy more "Buzz on..." books? I very much doubt it. It was mildly entertaining, but not on the level I usually pay for. And the superficial laugh-it-off attitude simply starts to grate on my soul after a length of time. Shallow books, like shallow people, don't exactly lift my spirits.

***

Oh, and dating was pretty much as I had imagined it. Kind of like going out with SuperWoman without her sister trailing along. (Or the other way around, I guess. Hmmm.) Rather harmless. (Especially now. More about that later, I suppose.)

Oh, and I've picked up a few new quotes, some of which may stay for a while. My favorite is probably this, by an unidentified female philosopher: "I think, therefore I am single." Heh. Lovely.