New York Times Ponders Nudes and Neighbors in the Big City

Over the weekend the NY Times addressed a question from a 70 year old man about nudity in one's own kitchen, and homeowner association considerations.  Read about it NY Times, Nudity, and the Neighbors .

Hope your week is off to a good start, Platypus readers.

Some Light Reading for a Sunday Afternoon

Brr... Still cold in most parts this winter.  Perhaps too chilly to venture out in your birthday suit.  If you're stuck inside this weekend due to weather, here are a few nude-related stories to occupy your time:

Why A Nude Art Tour Continues to Be Popular in Sydney  ;

Writer for Allure Magazine Describes 1st Visit to Nude Place  ;

Australian Writer Opines Why We Should All Be Naked More .


Here's hoping you all have a good weekend... er... what's left of it!

Parallel Platypus

Hey, the weekend is here and we're celebrating its arrival just a little bit early.  Unfortunately, it is so cold throughout North America that the Platypus team cannot realistically think about being naked... even in our own living quarters with the heat cranked up... It's that cold!

So let's do a bit of imaginative thinking shall we?  What if it was warmer.  If Spring had arrived.  If we could be outside in the sunshine au naturale. 

Now let's turn to even more creative thinking.  If you watched Star Trek episodes, or many other programs on a SciFi network, you know that the subject of parallel universes is a regular theme.  Writers explore alternative realities where Spock and Kirk knew each other as college age friends.  Where Dr. Who never did battle with the Dalek invaders.  Stuff like that.  It's the stuff most episodes of Rick & Morty are made about.

The Platypus Team saw these types of shows, of course, but figured it was all just a matter of fiction.  We'll admit we went for, ahem, a path of "liberal arts" studies rather than hard sciences after high school.  So we never broached anything like theoretical physics and quantum mechanics. 

Turns out, many very sophisticated, educated, experts in the field believe that a theory incorporating infinite universes with infinite possibilities is the best explanation of how we exist.  It makes the mathematical equations work. Professors like Max Tegmark of M.I.T., (who has publicly advocated for the many worlds interpretation) and Brian Greene, Columbia University professor and author of best-selling works about our Universe (who believes the issue and math are not completely settled but admits multiple, infinite universes is a distinct possibility) are among such physicists.

For our part, while we could never make sense of the complex equations and do not know what to believe, we will say that a "many worlds" theory is not necessarily anathema to our faith and belief system. 

Could there be a distinct, different, parallel universe where Adam and Eve never ate forbidden fruit.  Or worlds where, for whatever reason and however history turned out, that nudity is much more accepted than it is in our world right here and now:

- Maybe there are multiple universes where humans never wore clothes, never thought to wear clothes, and didn't need them - so they all go naked to this day;

- Maybe there are universes where people wear clothes day-in-day out for work and school, but always go nude on beaches and lakes, or in the park at summer (On our world Scandinavia once looked a bit like that... parts of Germany too if only for a while);

- Maybe there are worlds where all people always sleep nude, or always live nude in their own homes;

- Or maybe there are worlds where people eventually discovered the joys and benefits of nudity and maybe our own planet in our own universe will get there someday.

Ah well, here's to dreaming and imagination.  Here's to hoping some of those top physicists start mentioning nude universes instead of going to that tired old example of a world where the Nazis won World War II.  No one who is sane wanted that to happen.  But a world full of naked?  Hmmm...

The Platypus Philosophy on Twitter Followers

When the Bare Platypus team began this blog more than five years ago, Twitter was not on our radar screen.  Indeed, it took several years before Platypus tweets and retweets started appearing. As more and more activity takes place on the Twitter forum, we figured the beginning of a New Year would be as good a time as any to explain and clarify our approach to maintaining a Twitter following.

First, we'll note with some regret that there are more than one Twitter users who claim to be "nudists,"  yet make it fairly clear, fairly on in their posts and images that they are seeking a much more risque' audience and conversation.  (We're putting this mildly for the benefit of sensitive folk who may be reading).  If we had a dollar for every Twitter account that began with the disclaimer that "nudism is not about (you know what)" and then went on to present (you know what) in very graphic detail and images... well, we'd have enough dollars that we could arrange to have our Platypus fur dry cleaned, that's for sure.

The approach of many legitimate Twitter nudists is to announce, up front, that any followers with such graphic material will be blocked. While we understand the concerns associated with blurring the lines between nudism and "something else" we're not exactly sure what the term being "blocked" entails.

If, on the one hand, blocking a non-nudist tweeter who doesn't get nudism means that legitimate nudists don't want to (return) follow those accounts, we understand and observe that principle ourselves.  To the best of our ability we do not sign up to receive objectionable tweets and periodically review postings to cull those who post objectionable risque material from our "who we follow" list.  It would not be our practice, of course, to retweet or like objectionable material either.

On the other hand, The Platypus does not usually try to block Twitter accounts from following us.  It's not about trying to inflate lists and numbers...it's from a genuine hope that some folks, at some time, may receive, review, and actually learn something about the difference between exploiting the human body and articles or images legitimately celebrating these creations in a way that respects persons from all walks of life, gray hair, wrinkles and all.

You get the idea.

Occasionally the Platypus Team blocks a follower who consistently demonstrates particularly disturbing trends (such as advocating violence, abuse of persons, etc.) but we try to show more latitude for followers as opposed to those we select to follow for the above-stated reasons.

If you happen to review the list of those who we "allow" to follow Bare Platypus and find some of them objectionable, please understand that allowing people to read legitimate messages about nudism does not mean that we "endorse" those who choose to read what we print.

A bit complicated to explain, but we appreciate your patience.  And your alternative views in the comments to this blog.

Happy Nude Year in 2018 - We Really Mean It!

If you follow nudist blogs or Twitter accounts you know it's fairly common for us to use the pun "Happy Nude Year!"  We say, or type, it enough each January 1st that it tends to lose some of the meaning over time.  But we really mean it... We hope you will make a New Year Resolution to spend more time naked over the next 365 days.

Start by climbing in between the sheets with nothing on to sleep.  If it's cold where you live (where is it NOT cold right now????) just add an extra blanket or two.  Keep a bath robe handy if you need to get up during the night.

Weatherproof one room in your home with extra insulation and turn the heat up so you can enjoy it au naturale.  Plan to take a vacation week in a warm climate and visit a nudist park for at least one day while on winter holiday. 

When it gets warmer be among the first of families to visit a nudist club Memorial Day weekend.  Be sure to celebrate World Naked Gardening Day naked.

You get the idea.

Have a happy NUDE year!