4 comments/ 19441 views/ 0 favorites Exclamation Point By: Nick_Scipio Around the corner from my office, there's a place where I like to go. It's a restaurant, with the bar upstairs. We call it the Jazz Club, although it's officially named after its location. It's in a wonderful old Antebellum house, with dark wood paneling, high ceilings and a rich, tasteful ambiance. I like it there because it's got a nice selection of single malt Scotch, and they allow cigar smoking in the bar. I don't actually like cigars—smoking them or being around the smoke—but I do like my pipe. The Jazz Club is one of the few places where I can be comfortable and enjoy the flavors of my sweet Cavendish tobacco and a glass of Macallan. So I'm there once, maybe twice a week, with or without my business partner, to relax after work. The bar opens at 4:30, and I guess I'm a regular. At least, I'm on a first name basis with all the servers, and I honestly can't remember the last time I had to tell the bartender what to pour for me. I usually go there on Tuesdays. The girl who works cocktail is cute, and nice to talk to when it's slow and there are few other patrons. We have an uncomplicated relationship, and she can sense if I'm in a talkative mood or not. Even when there's a crush of people in the bar, and she's busy taking care of them, my drink never runs dry, and she knows not to ask if I want a fourth. Gabriel, my partner, wanted to knock off early yesterday, so we headed to the Jazz Club. We got to the club and were the first people upstairs. I headed straight for my favorite padded easy chair (the one by the fireplace) and Gabriel sat down on the couch to my left. No one asked us what we wanted to drink; the bartender simply had two glasses on the bar and was pouring the amber liquid before we were even fully seated. I like the place. It's nice. Comfortable. Relaxing. Gabriel and I talked about work for a while, and then conversation turned to his upcoming Christmas party. It was stuff we'd spoken about before, but Gabriel is an only child, and he liked to hear himself talk. So I let him, while I simply enjoyed puffing on my pipe and savoring the sherried flavor of the whiskey. The bar began to fill with the after-work professional crowd that favored the place, and I found myself listening less and less to Gabriel and doing more people watching. It's something I enjoy; I like watching human nature in action. Normally, I'd let my glance drift from patron to patron, watching them for a few moments, taking in their mannerisms, and trying to come up with "their story" in my head. Was he a banker? Did the older guy realize that the younger woman he was with was eying the bartender speculatively? Were the couple in the corner married, or was she his mistress? Things like that. Last night, however, my attention was captured by a leggy brunette sitting at the end of the bar. She was talking to an equally leggy blonde to her right. The brunette was in her mid-thirties, perhaps a few years older than me, with dark, wavy, flowing hair that was styled to about mid-shoulder. She was wearing a trim business jacket and a very short matching skirt. Her smooth, tanned legs were muscular, and the strappy heels she wore looked expensive and accentuated her calves nicely. She occasionally crossed or uncrossed her legs as she talked to her friend, and I found my eyes drawn to them as I half-listened to Gabriel. He was in his own world, talking about what he enjoyed (and, more importantly, where he bought it), and didn't seem to notice that my mind had wandered. Anyway, I honestly don't think I could've held a substantive conversation with him about Cajun fried turkey from Neiman Marcus. So, I watched the woman at the end of the bar. She was tall, probably 5'9" without the heels, and trim. The business jacket was fitted, conforming to her flat stomach and then swelling to accommodate her pear-shaped breasts. Her cream colored silk blouse highlighted her tan. It was an elegant outfit, and as I watched, I couldn't decide which part of her it was designed to showcase. I finally decided that her entire body was on display. The way she was dressed, I could easily imagine her nude, every curve of her body highlighted—but not hidden—by her clothing. I admired her elegant figure for a time and then started watching her mannerisms. She drank with her left hand, with an easy grace and no touch of hesitation; and she talked with her hands in precise, controlled motions to illustrate her point. She wasn't emphatic with her movements, just poised and polished. She also had a habit of brushing her hair back with her hand as she spoke, drawing attention to the long line of her neck. As I watched her, I decided that the hair-brushing gesture was more practical than calculated. Women who want to be noticed look around to see who's noticing them. This woman was talking to her friend—crossing and uncrossing her long legs, brushing her hair back—and not paying any attention to the guys around the bar. I immediately liked her attitude, her self-confidence. Under other circumstances, I'd probably enjoy meeting her. In a bar, introducing myself would be entirely too clichéd. Buying her and her friend a drink would fall into the same category. So I simply admired her from across the room, listening with half an ear as Gabriel told me about the Wolferman's mini English muffins he'd ordered for the party. Eventually, Gabriel had to go to the restroom. The woman's friend rose at the same time, and she and Gabriel almost collided as they headed for the stairs. The brunette turned my direction, to stretch her legs, and looked up at me. We made eye contact and I held it. She had pretty blue eyes and I smiled. As she smiled in return, she cocked her head to the side, never taking her eyes from mine, and then uncrossed her legs. When I didn't look down, she arched her eyebrows inquisitively. I smiled again and kept looking at her face, resolutely refusing to take the bait, tempting as it might have been. She shifted in her seat and spread her legs slightly. Her short skirt had already ridden up and I could see a healthy expanse of her taut thighs. Ostensibly drying her hands, she rubbed them over her material-clad legs. When she drew her palms towards her body, she pulled the hem of her skirt deliciously higher. After a questioning glance in my direction, she looked toward her lap and then raised her eyes to look at me again. They glittered and she smirked invitingly; my resistance vanished. My gaze slowly fell from her face, finally coming to rest at the junction of her muscular thighs. "Oh!" I breathed quietly, with only a slight start as I realized that she wasn't wearing panties. Her hands still on the tops of her thighs, she arched her back and spread her knees slightly, affording me a better view. Her pussy was neatly shaved, with only a thin strip of dark hair down the center of her mons, leading to her sex. Like an exclamation point, I chuckled to myself. This woman enjoyed her body, enjoyed her pussy. No, I thought to myself, she enjoyed her Pussy! Exclamation point. My penis swelled at the sight, stiffening and bending uncomfortably against my boxer shorts. I shifted as unobtrusively as I could and straightened it, giving it room to expand down the leg of my shorts, covered only by the thin fabric of my linen slacks. I was captivated by the sight of her exposed pussy for another moment or two, enjoying the feeling as I became fully erect. Reluctantly, I pulled my eyes away and looked up. As my gaze lifted, she closed her legs demurely, and my eyes met hers. She smiled and lifted an eyebrow at me, as if to say, "Well?" I grinned and mouthed, "Beautiful." Her eyes dropped to my lap, to the thickness of my erection, obvious to anyone who cared to look. She studied it for moment, and then licked her lips. I let her look, it was only fair. When her eyes held mine again, they glinted expressively. With an appreciative, whimsical nod, she wordlessly said, "Thank you." She smiled and unconsciously moistened her lips again, her pink tongue sliding over the darker red of her lipstick, and then blushed as she realized what she'd done. I grinned knowingly and we shared a silent conversation with only our eyes. In a moment, both her friend and Gabriel returned. The brunette looked at me and winked as she grinned. I nodded politely, and with a conspiratorial grin of my own, we each turned back to our friends. No, I thought, I didn't need to introduce myself to her. Too clichéd. I relit my pipe and half-listened to Gabriel talk about the Dean & Deluca fruitcakes he'd just ordered for the party. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the warmth of the smoke, and then the texture of the Scotch as it rolled over my tongue. When he saw the smile play across my lips, Gabriel must have thought I was envisioning the Kobe beef filet bites he'd just mentioned. I chuckled to myself. No, I was thinking of something decidedly more delicate. I savored the memory and enjoyed the sensations as my erection slowly subsided. I liked the feeling. It was nice. Comfortable. Relaxing. ----- Copyright © 2002-2003 Nick Scipio. All rights reserved. Exclamation Point 8/25/2013@Published ! The Omnipotence or the Antifascist of the greedy and taking advantage of others whom are less fortunate. A mental state & sense of self-justification of acquired unscrupulous abnormal acquisitions, coupled with self-righteous entitlement objectives of grandiose predilections of impaired objectification's. A constant cognitive state of self-indulgence, denial of empathic connotations coupled with arrogance & self-gesturing remuneration's. Or; the Cerebral, cantankerous, predisposition-al, morbid Cranial solidification's of the lex loci delicti. Or; the incredulously, insidious of a UN-benign prefrontal invalidation. Or; the preempted momentary, situational monetarily constructs of degenerative intellectual apparitions. Or; in the most simplistic terms, with the most available & convenient language, IM very ok, but your not! Or; to be overly vulgar, screw you and hooray for me! Historically, 93% of the public masses, never exhibit this kinds of behavior, however, it brings a person to wonder the reasons why? Thousand of thousands of years ago, general guidelines were written for mankind to follow and abide if progression were to be apparent. The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins, is a classification of vices (part of Christian ethics) that has been used since early Christian times to educate and instruct Christians concerning fallen humanity's tendency to sin. In other words, if you are human, you are a natural sinner because, 99 & 15^16ths of the general public have never met anyone who is void of the following list. In the Book of Proverbs 6:16-19, among the verses traditionally associated with King Solomon, it states that the Lord specifically regards "six things the Lord hateth, and seven that are an abomination unto Him", namely: 1. A proud look 2. A lying tongue 3. Hands that shed innocent blood 4. A heart that devises wicked plots 5. Feet that are swift to run into mischief 6. A deceitful witness that uttereth lies 7. Him that soweth discord among brethren Wrath, being vindictive with malice & forethought. Anger is an emotion related to one's psychological interpretation of having been offended, wronged, or denied and a tendency to react through retaliation. Anger is a normal emotion that involves a strong uncomfortable and emotional response to a perceived provocation as displays of anger can also be used as a manipulation strategy for social influence. While many philosophers and writers have warned against the spontaneous and uncontrolled fits of anger, there has been disagreement over the intrinsic value of anger. Greed, Greed (Latin, avaritia), also known as avarice or covetousness, is, like lust and gluttony, a sin of excess. However, greed (as seen by the church) is applied to a very excessive or rapacious desire and pursuit of material possessions. Thomas Aquinas wrote, "Greed is a sin against God, just as all mortal sins, in as much as man condemns things eternal for the sake of temporal things." In Dante's Purgatory, the penitents were bound and laid face down on the ground for having concentrated too much on earthly thoughts. Scavenging[citation needed] and hoarding of materials or objects, theft and robbery, especially by means of violence, trickery, or manipulation of authority are all actions that may be inspired by Greed. Such misdeeds can include simony, where one attempts to purchase or sell sacraments, including Holy Orders and, therefore, positions of authority in the Church hierarchy. As defined outside of Christian writings, greed is an inordinate desire to acquire or possess more than one needs, especially with respect to material wealth. Sloth, Sloth (Latin, Socordia) can entail different vices. While sloth is sometimes defined as physical laziness, spiritual laziness is emphasized. Failing to develop spiritually is key to becoming guilty of sloth. In the Christian faith, sloth rejects grace and God. Sloth has also been defined as a failure to do things that one should do. By this definition, evil exists when good men fail to act. Over time, the "acedia" in Pope Gregory's order has come to be closer in meaning to sloth. The focus came to be on the consequences of acedia rather than the cause, and so, by the 17th century, the exact deadly sin referred to was believed to be the failure to utilize one's talents and gifts.[citation needed] Even in Dante's time there were signs of this change; in his Purgatorio he had portrayed the penance for acedia as running continuously at top speed. Pride, In almost every list, pride (Latin, superbia), or hubris (Greek), is considered the original and most serious of the seven deadly sins, and the source of the others. It is identified as a desire to be more important or attractive than others, failing to acknowledge the good work of others, and excessive love of self (especially holding self out of proper position toward God). Dante's definition was "love of self perverted to hatred and contempt for one's neighbour". In Jacob Bidermann's medieval miracle play, Cenodoxus, pride is the deadliest of all the sins and leads directly to the damnation of the titulary famed Parisian doctor. In perhaps the best-known example, the story of Lucifer, pride (his desire to compete with God) was what caused his fall from Heaven, and his resultant transformation into Satan. In Dante's Divine Comedy, the penitents were forced to walk with stone slabs bearing down on their backs to induce feelings of humility. Lust, Lust is an emotion or feeling of intense desire in the body. The lust can take any form such as the lust for knowledge, the lust for sex or the lust for power. It can take such mundane forms as the lust for food as distinct from the need for food. Lust is a powerful psychological force producing intense wanting for an object, or circumstance fulfilling the emotion. Today, the meaning of the word still has differing meanings as shown in the Merriam-Webster definition. Lust is: 1. a: pleasure, delight b: personal inclination: wish 2. intense or unbridled sexual desire: lasciviousness 3. a: intense longing: craving, a lust to succeed b: enthusiasm, eagerness, admired his lust for life According to historical & biblical records; Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife; you shall not covet your neighbor's house or his field or his male slave or his female slave or his ox or his draft animal or any animal of his or whatever belongs to your neighbor. The most notable work to touch upon the sin of lust, and all of the Seven Deadly Sins, is Dante's la Divina Commedia. Dante's criterion for lust was an "excessive love of others," insofar as an excessive love for man would render one's love of God secondary. In psychoanalysis and psychology, A person is more likely to lust over someone who does not resemble oneself. Self-relatedness is a cue of kinship and causes an instinctual reaction to not be attracted. Therefore, self-resemblance decreases attractiveness and sexual desire in a person while less resemblance increases attractiveness and sexual desire creating a higher possibility of lust. Envy, Like greed and lust, Envy (Latin, invidia) is characterized by an insatiable desire. Envy is similar to jealousy in that they both feel discontent towards someone's traits, status, abilities, or rewards. The difference is the envious also desire the entity and covet it. Envy can be directly related to the Ten Commandments, specifically, "Neither shall you desire... anything that belongs to your neighbour." Dante defined this as "a desire to deprive other men of theirs". In Dante's Purgatory, the punishment for the envious is to have their eyes sewn shut with wire because they have gained sinful pleasure from seeing others brought low. Aquinas described envy as "sorrow for another's good". Gluttony, Derived from the Latin gluttire, meaning to gulp down or swallow, gluttony (Latin, gula) is the over-indulgence and over-consumption of anything to the point of waste. In Christian religions, it is considered a sin because of the excessive desire for food, and its withholding from the needy. Because of these scripts, gluttony can be interpreted as selfishness; essentially placing concern with one's own interests above the well-being or interests of others. Medieval church leaders (e.g., Thomas Aquinas) took a more expansive view of gluttony, arguing that it could also include an obsessive anticipation of meals, and the constant eating of delicacies and excessively costly foods. Aquinas went so far as to prepare a list of six ways to commit gluttony, comprising: Praepropere -- eating too soon Laute -- eating too expensively Nimis -- eating too much Ardenter -- eating too eagerly Studiose -- eating too daintily Forente -- eating wildly The Catholic Church also recognizes seven virtues, which correspond inversely to each of the seven deadly sins. Greed Avaritia Charity Lust Luxuria Chastity Sloth Acedia Diligence Pride Superbia Humility Envy Invidia Kindness Wrath Ira Patience Gluttony Gula Temperance In 1589, Peter Binsfeld paired each of the deadly sins with a demon, who tempted people by means of the associated sin. According to Binsfeld's classification of demons, the pairings are as follows: • Lucifer: pride (superbia) • Mammon: greed (avaritia) • Asmodeus: lust (luxuria) • Leviathan: envy (invidia) • Beelzebub: gluttony (gula or gullia) • Amon or Satan: wrath (ira) • Belphegor: sloth (acedia) This contrasts slightly with an earlier series of pairings found in the fifteenth century English Lollard tract Lanterne of Light, which differs in pairing Beelzebub with Envy, Abadon with Sloth, Belphegor with Gluttony and matching Lucifer with Pride, Satan with Wrath, Asmodeus with Lust and Mammon with Avarice. In Doctor Faustus, there is a "parade" of the seven deadly sins that is conducted by Mephistopheles, Satan, and Beelzebub suggesting that the demons do not match with each deadly sin, but the demons are in command of the seven deadly sins. In summary, Have you ever wondered where you might fit in the grand scheme of things? allow this writer to recite a little parable/ poem written by this writer, You can chuckle if you like, but always take heed; Without Sin You know living life without sin, Is kinda like pissing against the wind. There really is no way for a mere mortal to win, Than to go through life totally without sin. Now some of you might grin, And some even pretend, But the fact of the matter is, We all know what waits for us at the end. So the next time you feel you want to sinfully infringe, And you don't quite know what position your in, Remember life doesn't come around again and again. Just like I said about, pissing against the wind Written by, Everett c Borders jr. Ph.D.