The Meaning of Monkey's Instep

It's Sunday! So with my infinite ability to avoid doing things that need to be done, I decided I needed a blog this morning. Why should everyone else in the world with nothing important to say have one except me? So here it is "Monkey's Instep".

You may ask yourself "What does monkey's instep mean?" Well, I lifted the term from an old second-hand English slang dictionary that I found in a dusty bookshop on Ding Chou road in Taipei, Taiwan. (The book was a birthday present for a friend, but I had to rogue read it before gifting.) "The monkey's instep" is one of many phrases used in the 1920's to mean "the height of excellence". I don't know why flappers and racoon coated co-eds were so into animal anatomy, but there were other terms popular at the time meaning the same thing: the eel's ankles, the snake's hips, and the more well-known bee's knees and cat's pajamas (which, I realize, has nothing to do with anatomy but what the hey.)

Now, don't get me wrong, I didn't coose the name because I expect my blog to be the height of excellence (though for the 1920's it would be rockin'!) I chose it because, well, I like monkeys.

When I was a kid, I really, really wanted a monkey. For Christmas, for Birthdays, I always asked for a monkey. It seemed natural. I grew up on a farm; there were all kinds of animals there: Pigs, cows, dogs, cats, there were rescued animals, a baby rabbit, possoms, birds with broken wings. Why not throw a monkey in the mix?

My parents in their infinite wisdom did not get me a monkey. If they had I believe I would no longer like monkeys. (they bite; they stink; they throw poop!) I would still be crying on some therapists couch traumatized from having been bitten by my dearest childhood fantasy. (That's analogous to being bitch-slapped by Santa Claus) I'd also be living with the guilt from years of living with being a monkey abuser, not to mention the likelyhood of suffering from a Lady MacBeth like neurosis at having spilled the blood of an innocent (read: Barbaric) monkey. "Out, Out damn monkey-blood spot!"

Anyway, I'm going to post my musings about everything from Buddhist philosophy to reality television (Do reality TV stars have Buddha-nature?) I may not achieve "the height of excellence" but I'll just take it one monkey step at a time.