I stumbled upon an interesting site. The guy takes photos of regular, average people (of different ages and body types) and photographs them. You hover over a clothed photo and the clothing fades away to reveal the real person beneath. It makes me think about what it would be like if I could do that (in my mind) in real life. …not to get off, mind you, but to see how people really are, without the facades and masks they employ to hide their true self.
http://www.naked-people.de/index.php/pictures.html?page=1
(a little hint, click the little right-arrow to progress to the next photo)
Also, one of these days, I’ll get around to it… “it” of which I speak is to run two miles with only socks and shoes on.
I’m not worried about flopping around, I’ve run in loose shorts before and suffered no ill effects.
I’m not worried about the cold, it’s summer and, besides, I’ve run in the cold before, it’s refreshing.
I’m not worried about someone seeing me, I don’t care if someone sees me.
I’m not worried about mosquitoes, there aren’t many where I live.
I’m not worried about assault, I think I could hold my own (and females seem to be assaulted far more than men seem to be).
The only thing I’m worried about is someone getting offended at seeing me (and not the seeing-me part itself). People often blow things out of proportion. And people have distorted preconceived notions about nudity… according to conventional wisdom, a naked female is at worst a playful or mischievous exhibitionist, whereas a naked male is at best a perverted exhibitionist. Females get away with a lot more than males do. Females sometimes get arrested and put in jail overnight (if jailed at all). Males get a tracking device around their ankle and their name on the county web site (for life). It’s entirely unjust, and it’s especially unjust to males who have no deviant intent at all.
Thus, the only time I could run naked would be late, between eleven and four (at most); and the only place I could run naked would be far, far away from residential areas (or in San Francisco, which is out of the question, based on money and time). And wanting to keep it casual would make the late part and the distant part both conspicuous and the opposite of casual.
One other item that prevents me is how my wife still feels like my body is hers, hers alone, and for her eyes only. I don’t fault her. I still feel the same way about her body, regardless of her own attitudes toward displaying it for more than just me (possibly because of how I subconsciously know that she still subscribes to the “keep it covered up” dogma, and that dogma still has an available parking space in my mind). So, out of respect for her feelings, I hesitate to do anything that would put her sense of sole ownership in jeopardy or disregard. I love her, and her feelings take precedence over my frivolous whims.
So there I stand. Or run. Clothed.
I’ve also had desires to mow the lawn in just socks and shoes. I don’t know if there’s a better or worse chance of that. It would have to be during daylight, and I’d be closer to neighbors. But, I’d be on my own property, behind my own fence (albeit a shorter fence than I wish it were), which invokes a deeper sense of freedom and privacy (being on my own property instead of being in public). And I’d be doing something productive, something that is exhausting enough to possibly justify the absence of restrictive clothing, reducing the perception that I was just a perverted exhibitionist trying to streak.
Anyway. We’ll see what the future holds. Always in motion is the future.
