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I paid a visit to the office commode just after closing this evening.  As I sat there doing what that particular seat was designed for, I noticed that I could hear music playing in the shop next door. I could hear it quite clearly. The song was a Mexican balad, or maybe it was a bolero.  I don't understand a lot of Spanish, and I'm not sure what the difference is between a bolero and a balad, but it sounded nice.

As I sat there on the commode listening to the music filter in through the wall separating our two shops, I reached into my shirt pocket and retrieved my iPhone 4S.  I opened the Shazam app on my iPhone and pressed the "Touch to Shazam" button.  I pointed the mic on my iPhone towards the wall and let it listen to the song playing through the wall.  The app connected to Shazam's servers, and informed me that the song playing through the wall separating the two shops was called Esclavo Y Amo by Pepe Aguilar.  Shazam also offered me the option to purchase Esclavo Y Amo by Pepe Aguilar from iTunes.  I touched the screen, and seconds later, while Esclavo Y Amo still played in the shop next door, I was able to purchase and download that song from iTunes as I continued to sit on the commode listening to Esclavo Y Amo play through the wall.

My friends, we live in remarkable times.

A couple of posts ago, I mentioned watching the most recent episode of Shameless.  During the episode Stan, an elderly bar owner played by veteran character actor Jack Carter, can be seen leaning out an apartment window above the bar that he owns screaming threats and obscenities at people passing on the street.  Stan, is no longer a well man. Stan is clearly suffering from dementia.  The scene shifts to the interior of the apartment.  Kevin, one of Stan's bartenders, enters the room and instructs Stan to get away from the window.  He also suggests that Stan put some pants on, countering Stan's insistence that he is wearing pants with, "Then those are the ugliest flesh colored pants that I have ever seen".  The camera pulls back, and for the first time we see that Stan is not wearing any pants (Nor is he wearing trousers).

Stan got me thinking...

I've seen nudists of all ages, shapes, and sizes.  Regardless of their age and physical conditioning they all had one thing in common.  They all seemed happy and full of life.  Believe it or not, that observation about happy and full of life even applied to a couple of people who actually suffered heart attacks, some fatal, within days of the last time I saw them.  There's something revitalizing about a day in the sun. I've also been exposed to the bare bottoms of elderly individuals experiencing a state of rapidly deteriorating health.  It's just not the same.  While the mere sight of a happy nudist enjoying a day in the sun, or a card game with friends, can fill one with a sense of immortality, there's something completely unsettling about nakedness resulting from a loss of dignity and self awareness.

Had Stan responded to Kevin, "Screw you!  It's hot, I have an itchy ass, and I am in my own apartment. I don't have to wear any damned pants if I don't want to!". The whole scene might have appeared more positive.  I can get behind cantankerous eccentricity even if it isn't very attractive, but Stan's nudity was more a signal of a his lost sense of self.  That, my friends, is what I would call bad naked. It's the kind of naked that, instead of providing that sense of freedom and liberation that we all love, exposes our frailty, vulnerability, and an an ultimate decent into the abyss.

And a pleasent good morning to you all. Here's to hoping that some of you got the help you needed last night. I'm working on a twelve step program designed to get me off smiley emoticons, so I will not insert one here. Let's start off the day with a few clips from Twitter.

Who is going to the SCNA, South Bay/Torrace, CA Meet-up Dinner? ow.ly/8uavV

— TheNaturistSociety (@NaturistSociety) January 25, 2012

Once again, the link first takes you to the SCNA welcome page, but I have faith that you, my most intelligent reader, will manage to drill down to the calender and hit activity paydirt. Who knows, I might even see you there tonight.

The Nudism and Naturism Daily News is out! bit.ly/uzFwWa

— nudiarist (@nudiarist) January 25, 2012

Have you read today's Nudist and Naturism Daily News? Why not, it's free!

and finally...

The top 10 reasons to celebrate Work Naked Day on February 1-- fb.me/1D0fkl65H

— AANR (@aanr_nudist) January 25, 2012

Pay a visit to The Alltogether, the Official ANNR Blog, for the top 10 resasons to celebrate Work Naked Day on February 1, 2012. You can show the list to your boss, or if you work in a public place, the judge before sentencing. Have a great day folks. I'll try to have mor for you later.