male weirdness (was m&dp71 - ouch!) (fwd)

[the Robot Vegetable]

   In St. Clair County, just across from St. Louis, I was
confused and aghast at a practice which arose and flourished
for a short time right around 9th grade, to wit, push a pin 
through the eraser of a pencil and thwack your forearm with it.  
   Yikes!  I still see no sense.  No competition, no way to compare
depth, severity, nothing!   I felt no sense of inferiority when
I rejected involving myself.

   veg


 ps: I ran across a Moorcock book I'd not seen before,
and have forgotten the title, but it is set in WWII London,
and seemed to be a mainstream novel.  Proclaimed as his
'100th novel.'  Any opinions?