(continued from part 1)

So now I'm at a party.  My room-mate Kate is there.  So is a guy I am dating, Dan.  It should be pointed out that I am dating Dan in secret, since I am actually engaged to Carl.  The only one at the party who knows about my thing with Dan is my room-mate.

I was standing outside with a group of people when my roomy rushes up and says:  "Sam just slapped me!'

Now, there's something you have to know about my roomy.  She was a spoiled princess with an important gov. appointee state attorney father and nevertheless she committed a felony in the company of a much older man when she was like 19.  She's like a cross between Paris Hilton and Patty Heart (wierd, huh?).  She took $500,000 worth of gold coins and spent 2 years on the lam with this man, then spent 2 years (out of 5) in the penn before getting out. 

Knowing her as I did, I said "What did you do???!!!"  "Nothing!"  She replied...."well, I dared him to."  This is where the princess part came in.  When she was on the lam and they pulled over Kate and her man on a routine traffic stop, she was wearing a silk dress, a fur coat and had her little poodle with her (get the Paris Hilton part??).  When the rookie cop freaked, realizing he had Federal fugitives, he ordered them on the ground and she complained that she would get her clothes dirty.... 

So she had been having this conversation with Sam and she said "You'd never hit a girl." and he said, "I would if she dared me.."   Can you see how this all went down?!

So later I wander into the kitchen just in time to see Sam spill popcorn all over the floor.  The home's owner gives him a broom to sweep it up, and he laughs and throws the broom on the floor.  This was my first glimpse that Sam might have a problem with alcohol, I remember being uncomfortable with his attitude.  But it didn't involve me, c'est la vie.

Meanwhile, Dan and I are trying to look like we're not together.  At least I am, and Dan's kinda pissy about it.  He's sitting on a sofa, and I'm in the chair right across from him.  That's when Sam (not knowing about this little drama) slinks up, plops himself down on the side of my chair, and begins to hit on me for the first time, in full view of Dan.

I, of course, have to call him to account.  "Did you slap Kate?", I ask.  "Yeah," he said, "She dared me to!"  "You wouldn't slap me!" I tested him.  "I would if you dared me to."  "OK, I dare you to slap me."  (Keep in mind that Dan is watching this whole little byplay from 2 feet away.)  So Sam slaps me - nothing too hard, but it wasn't a fake or play slap either.  And I haul off and wallop him hard across the face.  He likes to joke that this was the moment he fell in love with me.  To me, the initial slap was easily worth the carte blanche opportunity to get even for my roomy.  To him, it was a sign that this was a woman he could respect.

Now Sam asks me out.  I can't remember what he said (hmmm....think all that slapping around had something to do with it???)  But I remember my reply.  "But I'm engaged!!!"  I show him the ring.  "But if you weren't engaged, you'd go out with me, right??"  Now isn't THIS a pretty little soap opera, with Dan sitting right there!  But I wanted to make one thing very clear to BOTH of them.  "Absolutely not."  I say.  "You're really just not my type.  I would NEVER go out with you."  Now, believe it or not, this was not said in a mean way.  He took no offense.  But there was one thing that I did not realize at the time:

I had just given Sam a very big dare.

(to be continued)

If you haven't gotten enough, here's more:

POINT:

This http://www.arn.org/docs/meyer/sm_methodo logical.htm" title="http://www.arn.org/docs/meyer/sm_methodo logical.htm" target="_blank"http://www.arn.org/docs/meyer... and this http://www.arn.org/docs/dembski/wd_isidt estable.htm" title="http://www.arn.org/docs/dembski/wd_isidt estable.htm" target="_blank"http://www.arn.org/docs/dembs... are pretty good sites for scientific discussion of intelligent design.

COUNTER-POINT:

Thishttp://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/comdesc/sciproof .html" title="http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/comdesc/sciproof .html" target="_blank"http://www.talkorigins.org/fa... is an extremely extensive site espousing macro-evolution.

ALSO:

This http://ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu/212_fall2003.web.dir/Peter_Broady/Our" title="http://ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu/212_fall2003.web.dir/Peter_Broady/Our" target="_blank"http://ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu/2...%20unique%20earth/Pages/I ntelligentDesign.htm doesn't fit neatly into either category.

AND THIS  http://www.hypography.com/scienceforums/showthr ead.php" title="http://www.hypography.com/scienceforums/showthr ead.php" target="_blank"http://www.hypography.com/sci... is a forum with some interesting interactions on both sides.

"My theory of evolution is that Darwin was adopted."  Steven Wright

This is a story I set out to write a few months ago, but had to put aside until I finished the story of my first love.  http://www.tblog.com/templates/index.php?bid=altricial&" title="http://www.tblog.com/templates/index.php?bid=altricial&" target="_blank"http://www.tblog.com/template...;static=333009 , part 2  http://www.tblog.com/templates/index.php?bid=altricial&" title="http://www.tblog.com/templates/index.php?bid=altricial&" target="_blank"http://www.tblog.com/template...;static=333317, and part 3  http://www.tblog.com/templates/index.php?bid=altricial&" title="http://www.tblog.com/templates/index.php?bid=altricial&" target="_blank"http://www.tblog.com/template...;static=334369

Even after I finished that post (just before my first rehab for blog addiction), I couldn't write about my husband.  It just wasn't the right time.  Now it is.

When I first met my husband, he was an entry-level employee in our company.  I was a manager two levels ahead of him.  He stood out.  His hair hung to his shoulders and always looked messy.  It hung in his eyes (a growth-pattern trait my dear daughter #3 inherited).

He had amazing passion for his work.  When he identified a goal, he didn't stop until it was accomplished.  His determination was only matched by his intelligence.  He was extraordinarily analytical.  But everything about him spelled T-R-O-U-B-L-E!!

First off, he was a drinker.  Of course, I was young enough that this didn't seem unusual - wasn't everyone in their 20's drinking?

Of course, not having a heavy tolerance to alcohol myself, I tended to bring my own to parties.  Parties usually featured beer, which I can barely stand to this day.  This was before the days of the ubiquitous hard lemonades and flavored malts and ales, so schnapps and other light, flavored alcohols were my drink of choice.

And when the beer was gone, after 1:00 AM and no more could be bought, he knew who would always have a stash....  So at at least 2 parties, I ended up sharing my schnapps with this wild child, a thinner, (slightly) saner version of Jack Black.  But I was always involved in other (often multiple simultaneous) relationships, that's all there was to it.  We were only acquaintances.  He wasn't my type.  One day I would even be forced to tell him so.  (to be continued)

The answers to the riddle and "Jeopardy"  question posed in the "25 Posts":

Post 1:  Answer is "Titleist"  - a brand of golf balls and a person employing a strategy of naming posts.

Post 9:  Various answers are acceptable.  "What does Altricial mean?"  Or "How are altricial birds (such as pigeons) hatched?"  would be a coupla good ones.

Sorry to say, no one won, but BilllyRyan gets points (like "Who's Line Is It?") for being cute.

If you've never heard "This American Life"http://www.thislife.org/" title="http://www.thislife.org/" target="_blank"http://www.thislife.org/ you've missed an amazing audio magazine produced in Chicago by Ira Glass.  Every week I am BLOWN away with the stories!!!  Eac h week there is usually a group of stories with a unified theme.  This week the theme was getting a big break - and then finding out that it came with it's own set of problems.  They "featured" the Ed Sullivan story below (and it's WORTH the slow start), as Act 1, but what REALLY grabbed me this week were:  Act 2:  "What happens in Baghdad stays in Baghdad."  This will make you question everything you know about how to live your life...., and Act 3:  Oedipus Hex - you'll laugh out loud - I swear!!!

You can go to the website, or just click on the blue Real Audio icon below.  If you have DSL, this chould be a piece of cake and it will start playing ASAP.  With dial-up, I am not sure.

My Big Break. Sometimes, getting your big break isn't all it's cracked up to be. A comedy duo – Mitzi McCall and Charlie Brill (pictured) – lands the gig that can make them famous, the Ed Sullivan Show, at the height of Sullivan's popularity .... and they bomb. A third grader gets his big chance to please his mother and push his drunken father out of the picture. And other stories.

I've been wanting to learn to make glass beads for a couple of years, but always had a conflict with available classes.  Well, I was finally able to take a beginner's class!  Here are my first 6 beads:  (Sorry, I had to scan them)

They are dedicated to each of my girls in order of age, and in the order I made them.  The last one is for my husband.  I was going to make a "family" bracelet, but one daughter's broke (the amber one, as you can see) and my husband's chipped, too, although on the side you cannot see.

I think I do like doing this, so I'm going to go ahead a buy the supplies to start practicing, as well as making the replacements for my bracelet.

I know the colors aren't particularly "matching" for the bracelet, but that's because each bead was designed for the individual.

POINT:

Deviant1 recently wrote a post comparing belief in creationism to membership in the flat-earth society.http://www.tblog.com/templates/index.php?bid=deviant1&" title="http://www.tblog.com/templates/index.php?bid=deviant1&" target="_blank"http://www.tblog.com/template...;static=385723  Several people whom I have never assumed to be athiests left comments on this post, which kinda surprised me. 

COUNTER-POINT:

First off, I knew that 1)  The belief in "devine design" is one that many many well-known respected scientists espouse.  and 2)  That any comparison of design-theory to "flat-earth" is a sophistry.  While there's no denying that the flat-earth society is, well, whack...  the issue of design/creation versus specific limited evolution is wide open, depending on which side you choose.  There no denying that evolution (particualrly micro-evolution) exists.  All you have to do is take a trip to the Galapagos (really - much less will proove it - dog breeding, for instance).  But the world operates according to scientific laws.  There's no reason to believe that those laws weren't DESIGNED.

So, I pulled the following information from this link:://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-scientists .html

"Despite strong pressure to accept evolutionism, many intelligent and experienced scientists either openly or secretly dismiss Evolution as highly unlikely or impossible. In the 1980s, researcher and lecturer David Watson noted an increasing trend that continues today, disturbing those who want evolutionism to be perceived as the accepted scientific consensus:

Secular researcher Richard Milton summarized the current world situation: "Darwinism has never had much appeal for science outside of the English-speaking world, and has never appealed much to the American public (although popular with the U.S. scientific establishment in the past). However, its ascendancy in science, in both Britain and America, has been waning for several decades as its grip has weakened in successive areas: geology; paleontology; embryology; comparative anatomy. Now even geneticists are beginning to have doubts. It is only in mainstream molecular biology and zoology that Darwinism retains serious enthusiastic supporters. As growing numbers of scientists begin to drift away from neo-Darwinist ideas, the revision of Darwinism at the public level is long overdue, and is a process that I believe has already started."

(ME AGAIN)  There is a Partial list of Creationist scientists - past and present - at the link provided above.

You don't have to believe in Christ, in armageddon, Kashrut, Kaballah, Islam, Buddha, or anything specific to organized religion if you don't want to.   But before you give up on creation/design, give yourself an education.  You don't have to get a doctorate - but it may help! 

Recent posts have raised this question.  Some would argue vehemently, "YES", while others (more cynical) would say "No way, Jose!!"

And while an actual f2f encounter would be proof positive, I am sure that there are those who would say that no f2f is needed for true friendship to blossom.

Think about the advantages of tblog:  You get to see what someone is about, much deeper, even, than you sometimes get w/ your "real" friends.  And often much quicker, too.

AH, but what about fakes, frauds, and those with criminal intent???? Well, it's certainly something to be concerned about.  I guess you have to read between the lines, and take precautions as necessary.

I went to a small school and really struggled socially.  I always longed for a larger school, where the odds of meeting someone "like me" were much larger.  Well, here it is - the largest social opportunity in the world (no, not tblog, bless your little heart - I mean the web).  If you can't find your soulmates here, then matey, you have no soul.

Got the W-2's today, so I guess I'll be doing taxes soon. 

Lot's of tax-talk on TBLOG lately. 

Just remember this:  If you got a big refund, then you lent the gov't money at 0% interest.  If you have loans, then lending that money to the gov't actually COST you the amount of interest you are paying on the loan, since you didn't use the money to pay off the loan.  If you don't have loans, then you lost the interest money that you would have made by investing the money in a retirement account (and if you got a refund AND your company offers a 401k (reducing your taxes, thereby increasing the total amount you could use) or worse yet, MATCHES FUNDS (FREE MONEY!!!) Please Please Please run to your nearest HR department and FIX THIS RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!)

Having too much money taken out and sent to Uncle Sam hurts only one person - YOU!!!!

Even if you don't have a 401k option, then use an IRA up to the maximum amount, and a mutual fund on top of that.  Don't MAKE me come over there and straighten out your finances!!!

After having worked out, oh 5 - 7 hours a weeks for 3 weeks, I haven't really lost any weight.  I am not too worried, as this is common, and I am in it for the long haul.

But I can't help but wonder if it has anything to do with the steak and cheese I just had for lunch.

*sigh*

Maybe I should just go back on Atkins, at least then it would be approved!!!

I used to know a girl from Alabama, and one day (after having been "blessed") I realized that "Bless your heart" is actually an extremely versatile phrase.  In certain circumstances, it's actually a lethal weapon!

Good:  Child looks cute as a button, bless his heart.

Not so good:  Husband forgot my birthday, bless his little heart.

Not too good:  Old man in convenience store takes annoyingly long time to pay for goods, quibble about price, and ask for receipt, bless his heart.

Bad:  Extremely moronic husband assumes that neighbor cut down trees and calls police.  Police question neighbors, and then determine that beavers obviously cut down the trees.  Neighbors now hate foolish-looking husband, bless his heart.

I used to have a teacher, circa 1980, who would say things like..."women want equality, but they wouldn't want to be drafted.." Fucker!! Who the fuck is he to decide what women want.  Dumb fucker died like 15 years ago, bless his little heart.  Who wanted to be drafted?? Plenty of women sign up now, but they're excluded from combat. Why?  Well, one explanation I heard from a military official is that men would naturally try to protect women, and it would break down command.  Um....sounds like THEIR problem!!! 

I'll be the first to admit that there are differences between men and women.  And I DON'T necessarily think that women should have different standards from men.  He had to do 500 toe push-ups.  Well, she does too.  If a woman can't carry a firehose to the same standard that a male fire-fighter is held, then she better hit the gym.  If you're a little bitty woman, then don't try to do a job that a little-bitty man wouldn't be able to qualify for.

But if she can carry the weight and do the job better than the male candidate, then give her the job and stop worrying about "protecting" her you arrogant piece of shit.

Whew!!! This (25 Quick Posts) is like jogging....  You know there's going to be an end to it...  Someday....  But you just don't see it yet.

Like I should talk!  My trainer got me to jog for the first time yesterday.  See, I'm very competitive.  And he was testing me and my friend to see how far we could each go in 16 minutes.  I beat her by .01.  Of course, it WASN'T a contest!!  But everything can turn into a contest for me!

Anyway, the point is, now I have no excuse NOT to jog everyday.  Damn trainers, anyway!!!!

If you knew me, you would know that I don't have a lot of close friends.  I dunno.  I guess I'm not all that good with people.  Let's count my friends:

1)  high-school buddy.  We love each other, but only see each other once every year or two.  She put me up when my mom was dying.  We don't talk too much on the phone.  It would help if she used IM or email, but she doesn't.

2)  person I met online who lives about 30 miles away.  We've just been out 3 times, but we read each other's blogs and keep in touch by e-mail.  We're kindred souls on the opposite of the political spectrum, as well as economic and life-style.  (She's 42, single, no kids, liberal activist, cronically broke)  Opposites attracting.

3)  sister.  usual sister baggage.  she's 8 years younger than me and came to live with me when she was 15 and I was 23, so I don't have a really balanced relationship with her.

4)  former co-worker.  we really enjoy each other, but our lives are so different from each other's now.  We keep talking about getting together for lunch, but haven't in several months.

Well, yep...  That's about it.  But that's not what this post is really about.

When I had my first daughter, I went to visit an old friend, the aunt of my ex-fiance.  She had had 3 boys, and had always grieved a girl.  When she say my daughter she said..."Aw!  She'll be your BEST FRIEND!!!"  And now I have 5 daughters.  Don't worry, I won't be a needy mom - I'm much too adventurous for that!!! 

But it's nice to know I'll have 5 more friends.

OK.  A study I heard about like, um, 15? years ago (I'm OLD, and I'm also obsessed with "studies") anyway - said something about people who are apparently "fantasizers".  They spend huge portions of their free time in fantasy land.  And apparently, there are also a number of people who have little to no imagination.  You've probably worked with some of them.

Here's a scale:

No Imagination   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10  Huge Fantasizer!!

If I had to guess, I would say that most bloggers would be at least at a 6 or higher.  Just due to the nature of the format.  I would probably call myself a 7 or 8.  You???

Celebrity Obsession.  Strange, isn't it?  Some social commentators think it's transitory.  I dunno.  It seems quite Darwinian.

On another note:  Why are we obsessed with Brad and Jen?  I left a note on someone else's blog expounding on the Darwinian theory, but for me (OK, I'm not really obsessed.  Can't a girl just be "interested"?)...for me, it's this:  If it could happen to them, it could happen to me.  And I thought it would never happen to me.

I watched this Saturday Night Live skit once with Tom Hanks and Lorraine Newman.  They played a couple out to dinner, and they started off the romantic dinner by saying how they couldn't imagine not having each other.  But then, the husband (Tom) starts telling his wife about how he had a dream that she had died and how devastated he was and how everone felt sorry for him and how he had to get a nanny for the kids.  The nanny was from Sweden and he starts going into how beautiful she is and how she soothes his pain, and he starts to get description about the exact method of pain soothing.

Now Lorraine, who had been sympathetic to this "bad dream" at first, starts to get more and more upset as the dream unfolds, and by the time it gets to this part, she is quite upset and gets up to bolt from the table.

Unfortunately, she runs into the waiter who was carrying a steak knife.  She is, of course, stabbed, and dies in Tom's arms.  Tom is overcome with grief...put then people (including attractive ladies) come up to console him, and he sort of gets a gleam of recognition (opportunity) in his eyes.....

Well, I'm sure I told that about as well as I tell most jokes (poorly), but the point is, I have an active imagination and have often imagined that my husband died.  At first, as I am imagining it, I am often reduced to tears, but the tears give way to planning.  Do I have enough money to live on?  What should I do with the life insurance?  Will there be enough money to put away for the kids to go to college?  What will dating be like?  How long will I wait to date, etc.....  Sometimes one or more of my children are gone too.  For instance, if my husband might take one daughter to a concert or something, I might worry that something could happen to them on the roads in bad weather.  Bang - that's enough to kick it off.  I often have these thoughts while driving in a car, since there's lots of uninterrupted time to indulge in dramatic mind games.

I feel a little uncomfortable and guilty about these fantasies, but if the SNL skit is any indication, I think I'm not the only one???

OK, let's see if I can finish the 25 now...

On the title subject, isn't it wierd how the word "gay", meaning "happy", of course, is being replaced in traditional songs.  Sure, I suppose it does make 6th graders smirk a little....  But as long as tinky winky isn't present, I don't see what the problem is.

I am having a serious TMJ flair-up.  I've always had a "popping" jaw - but's it's never caused any real pain - till NOW!!!  I SWEAR it has to do with all this working out.  My trainer agreed and started talking in all sorts of technical "muscular faschia" mumbo jumbo.  But of course he has no solution!  I think its the crunches.  They contort your neck, pull on the faschia, etc.

The good news:  An all-liquid diet could do wonders for me!!!

(OK - there IS no good news...)

If you know who Andrea Yates is, then you know that she is the woman who drowned her 5 children in a bathtub, ostensibly while suffering from (an extreme case of) post-partum depression.

You may also know that she was only charged in the deaths of 3 of them (I'm not sure why) and that those 3 "guilty" verdicts were recently overthrown.  The reason:  A psycologist testified that Andrea may have gotten the idea to kill her children and plead insanity from a TV show he had once consulted on.

Turns out the episode in question either never existed or was never made.  There seems to be no real question that Andrea was insane at the time of the killings.  The real question:  Should she spend the rest of her life in prison, with limited mental health care, or in a mental hospital.  In either case, it is quite unlikely that she would EVER get out.

Now that the verdict was overthrown, a new jury will be able to consider a "guilty by reason of insanity" plea.

But that's not why I'm posting this today.

One of Andrea's attorneys was quoted as saying that (paraphrase) "Andrea's on constant medication, and she has her good days and her bad days.  When her medication works, then she remembers.  That's when she becomes despondent."

I have 5 children. 

I can imagine NO greater version of Hell.

Yep, that's me.  Another 1000 tbucks (or a post dedication) to the first person who knows the question to the "Jeopardy" style answer in my title.

I'm obviously not a left-wing, commie "liberal", but you might think so if you were a right-wing fanatical "conservative".

It's impossible to be centrist these days.  And if you are, you're pretty much at odds with EVERYONE and NO ONE wants to hear from you!

My husband and I have become full-fledged sushi-junkies.  Not an easy (or cheap) feat for people who live a gabillion (note the exactness) miles from any ocean.

In order to indulge as often as we like without breaking the bank, we have resorted to making our own.  Mostly "California Rolls"  (avacado, cucumber, crab or "krab" meat).  But some raw salmon and tuna, and cooked shrimp thrown in (rainbow roll).  Don't suggest eel, though!

I've found a supplier of frozen sushi-grade albacore off the coast of Washington (straight from the boat to you!!!).  That's our next upgrade...

You know who you are....  Or do you?  Let me give you a hint...  If you're reading this, you have a silver spoon in your mouth.  If you were born in the USA*, and there now:  silver spoon.  Weren't born there, but live there:  silver spoon.  Live in any country with understood, acceptable standards of civil liberties and viable economic opportunities:  silver spoon.

You get the picture.  So you can't REALLY get rid of it, can you?

Well, at least accept the fact that you have it.

*Including many other countries such as Canada, Great Britain and Australia.  Unfortunately I can neither name nor exclude several other countries that tbloggers may reside in, without personal experience.

"You're what happens when two substances collide.
By all accounts, you really should have died."

Lyrics to a fascinating song I heard last night.  Unfortunately, I didn't catch the artist's name, and a google of the lyrics yielded nothing...

EDIT:  Andrew Bird - link is on the left.  Thanks!!!

What kind of golf balls do you use??  (What were you thinking???!!!)

Seriously though, I thought that with these 25 posts, I should try to be creative with the titles.  Since I am not very clever, however, I think I just may end up with a lot of double entrendres.

The first person to correctly guess the answer to the riddle implicit in this post will win either 1000 tbucks, or a post dedicated in your honor, your choice.

PS - With time limitations today, and my posts disappearing (grrr) I am not going to be doing all 25 in one sitting...  :o(

I've never been a big one for SOCs, maybe because my whole life is one big SOC, but I was thinking recently that I would like to do 25 quick posts, all on completely different or at least no more than tangential subjects.  All must be done in one sitting, and all will be short.  I think I will number them for organizational purposes.  Next up:

Picture of Hubby 16 years ago, 2 years b4 we were married.  He was cute in a used-to-be-bad-boy, but now-kinda-nerdy way, huh??  He was 22, and had just cut his hair off shortly before that.

Notice the stratospheric height of his cousin's hair!!  Let's see, that was 1988 - we probably kept the big hair thing around a little longer in the midwest...

Oh - and something relevant to the last post:  When I first met hubby, I was his boss's boss!  :oD

This was my last post:

On the flip side, a recent survey indicated that most men would not want to marry a woman who is more successful than they are. The study researchers concluded (not sure what based on) that successful women are a sexual risk for men. Not needing a man to help support them, they are (potentially?) more likely to screw around, causing a reproductive (genetic loss) risk for the men.

Now, I heard about this survey, probably on NPR, and I wasn't making it up, but I was unable to find evidence of the survey or it's exact results during a recent internet search.

I think the primary implication is probably true. I've heard SO MANY stories of women who wouldn't leave their men even though they wanted to because of "what would happen to me???!!!" They are afraid of poverty, homelessness, etc. A successful woman could leave a man any time she damn pleases - whether another one was waiting or not. That's a little different, I know, from just "screwing around" but still in the same family: reproductive risk. This is an, um, Darwinian reality that women never have to worry about! "But honey! You said the baby was mine!!!" :oD

As I recall, the survey occurred on a college campus, with undergraduates.  Perhaps when these young men graduate, they get more sense, because....  If you check out this link to "Psychology Today", you'll find that it argues exactly the opposite:  That modern men are now more attracted to Peer + brides, rather than mere arm candy and viable servants.

Psychology Todayhttp://cms.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20040107 -000008.html" title="http://cms.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20040107 -000008.html" target="_blank"http://cms.psychologytoday.co...

Perhaps it has to do with the relative intelligence, education and maturity of the men questioned.  It would certainly make sense that a well-educated, intelligent man would ultimately be more successful (as a team) when partnered with a successful woman.  Your net worth, with reasonable investment strategies, would be significantly greater.

So - is this another form of evolution?  Men actually prioritizing peer-based relationships for emotional and economic success??  You be the judge.

On the flip side, a recent survey indicated that most men would not want to marry a woman who is more successful than they are. The study researchers concluded (not sure what based on) that successful women are a sexual risk for men. Not needing a man to help support them, they are (potentially?) more likely to screw around, causing a reproductive (genetic loss) risk for the men.

Your comments, please...

The most interesting thing (to me) about my last post is nobody said anything like:

 "You haughty, high-handed, imperious, insolent, know-it-all, lordly, overbearing, peremptory, pompous, presumptuous, pretentious, proud, puffed up, scornful, self-important, smug , sniffy, snippy, snooty, snotty, stuck up, supercilious, superior, swaggering jerk!  Isn't that whole post supposed to make you look good by maligning some poor kid who had a bad day?  Hope you feel better about yourself, now!!"

hmmm....

Blogging is a very interesting social activity.  Somewhere between (among?) conversing, journaling, letter-writing and IMing, it allows us to see things about ourselves that we might not see in verbal conversations.  It records.  And many studies have shown that written words have a different effect on the brain than spoken.

Alas, today I have fallen back into blog-junkydom.  I have a bag, bent, craving, dependence, enslavement, fixation, hang-up, hook, inclination, kick, monkey, obsession, shot, sweet tooth, thing.

Best to tread carefully.

Oops, look!  There it was.  I just saw it.  A typo.  I said "complement" instead of "compliment".  While it is clear that I don't seem to complement Amy, I truely did mean to compliment her, when I mentioned her profile pic, and I truely meant to encourage her when I said that she would learn to shine.

I recently kidded Marijane24, because (I think???) she used "moew" instead of "meow".  http://www.tblog.com/templates/index.php?bid=Marijane24&" title="http://www.tblog.com/templates/index.php?bid=Marijane24&" target="_blank"http://www.tblog.com/template...;static=382237  Sweet Marijane simple replied back with a simple "LOL".

So what's the scoop here?  Is Amy just acting out?  Am I trying to star in my own weblog version of "Frazier"?

Do I just need to shut up, leave people alone, avoid blog addiction relapse, and go back to evaluating my mid-life resolutions???

You be the judge...

This just in....

Mother of neighborhood boy calls to tell me that my daughter (13) and her boyfriend were at her son's house when he wasn't supposed to have people over.  Younger siblings of boy stated that daughter and boyfriend were making out.  Mother in question thought I might want to know.

Questioned daughter, who said "I'm not allowed to kiss my boyfriend?"

Someone please explain to me why I have 5 daughters...

Yes.  I made them.  I admit it.  But I prefer to think of them as mid-life resolutions that happen to be made in January, following my 40th birthday.  My resolutions break out into 4 categories:

1)  Fitness

2)  Finance

3)  Family, and

D)  Fecal Connectivity

Today, just over 2 weeks into it, it's time to start the review and progress report process, so I'm beginning with Fitness.

On a scale of 1 (bad) to 10 (super-human), I am rating my current progress in the FITNESS category a "7".  My initial goal was to make it into the gym 5 days a week.  I have met this goal 100%. But this is easier than it sounds.  SInce I have to drive my husband to work every day, and the gym is a couple of blocks from his work, I simply go straight to the gym after dropping him off.  I mean really - I'd have to have a pretty hefty excuse NOT to go. 

But beyond that first basic goal, I'm making just a little progress.  I am doing cardio for at least 30 minutes at least 3 days a week, but my new goal is now to hit 30 minutes of cardio all 5 days.  This means I have to spend more time on the days that I'm also lifting weights.  A simple 10-minute warm-up or cool down won't be good enough.

I am doing the weight circuit 3 days a week as planned, but I am often cutting the 2nd set.  My updated goal is to complete that 2nd set even when I'm feeling unmotivated.  In addition, I want to add at least one, maybe two classes each week.  Since a step or other cardio class can count for my cardio for the day, I wouldn't be adding a lot of time to my routine.  It would work well to add the class(es) on the days that I'm not lifting weights, for both capacity and time.

Anyway, the verdict on category 1 is:  So far, so good.  ....I just gotta keep it up... 

Next review:  Finance!

I went to the Bruce Springsteen concert at Red Rocks Ampitheater when I was 15.  The year, I believe, was 1979.  The concert was on a Sunday evening, but we got there at about 6 pm on Saturday, and camped on the walk-way.  There were about a dozen people "in line" when we got there.  Hundreds came after.  The night was surreal.  It didn't help that I had a very bad summer cold.  In the middle of the night, I left my sleeping bag to go back to the car to get kleenexes.  It was a difficult journey, since it was hard to make my way along the often-narrow walkway without stepping on someone sleeping.  The trail often winds between large rocks, so sleeping space is limited to the trail.  When I returned from the car, I found some guy in my sleeping bag.  I woke him up.

On Sunday, the day was bright and beautiful, but just after the concert started, it began to rain.  At first it was just a little - but then a steady drizzle set in.  After the first set, Bruce came out to the stage and offered an option:  He had another concert on Monday, but on Tuesday Red Rocks was not booked, and we could re-stage the concert then...  or continue in the rain.  We took a vote.  We voted to stay.

At the start of the second set, Bruce sang Credence Clearwater's "Who'll stop the rain?".  As if supernaturally, the rain cleared.  The clouds parted and the stars shone out.  It was clear, warm and dry for the rest of that night.  The guy in front of me passed back a fat joint which I shared with my boyfriend before returning it.  Bruce sang 3 full sets and an amazing encore.  I was with a boy that I still love to this day.  My concert experience:  peaked at the age of 15.

I don't listen to Bruce anymore.  His music makes me sad.  I few years ago I tried to figure this out.  At first I came to the conclusion that my "glory days" were over, and the music only reminded me that I used to be young and "free".  But then, I still like to hear Tom Petty, and that didn't make me sad...  Finally, my husband helped me figure it out.  It wasn't ME!  It was the damn music.  The MUSIC is sad:  pathetic melancholy stories of the lives of has-beens, wanna-bes, and didn't-have-a-chances.  Bruce said I wasn't a beauty, but, aww, I'm all right....  But Tom...  Tom said that I didn't have to live like a refugee.  He said I was an American Girl.  While Bruce dragged me down, Tom lifted me up.  Mystery solved. 

I've been to two Tom Petty concerts.  One when I was about 24.  I was with the SAME guy, but he was not my boyfriend any more.  We had broken up when I went to college 6 years before, but remained friends.  My real boyfriend (now husband) didn't want to go to the concert, and didn't have a problem with me going with my ex, my sister, and his (bf's) cousin.  I know he trusted me, but the cousin was good insurance that I would behave.  ;o)  It was a wise choice on his part, since I don't take well to jealousy, but might have been tempted to stray a little if the extra incentive to be good were not along for the ride.

The 2nd Tom Petty concert was just a couple of years ago.  I took my 2nd daughter, then 10.  I was surprised by how many 20-somethings were there.  There were virtually no kids.  I was expecting more people my age and even older, and was a little surprised.  The concert was great.  I got up and danced and didn't care that I was chubby-and-going-on-40 and no one else around me was dancing.  My daughter loved it.

But for me, there's never been another concert like Bruce at Red Rock's. 

It's a bitch to peak at 15.

"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", by Gordon Lightfoot has always had a big impact on me.  A true story told in song with such passion and style that you can't help but be blown away, it was written in 1976 only one year after the disaster.  But hearing it growing up, I always thought the ship had sunk a very long time ago.  It seemed so epic...  After hearing the song the other day, I couldn't stop thinking about the line "Does anyone know where the love of God goes, when the waves turn the minutes to hours?" and the association I gave it to the tsunami tragedy.  (see previous post)

But it also reminded me of another tragic true-story song.  The song "Sullivan" by Caroline's Spine (hard rock) tells of the doomed Sullivan brothers, all 5 of whom died on the American Navy cruiser the USS Juneau, torpedoed and sank on November 13th, 1942.  They were survived by their parents, a single sister, and one 22 month old son.  Everytime I hear that song my stomach knots and I share their mother's heartache.  Yet I listen to it again and again.

So - do you have any favorite songs of true and dreadful tales?  If so, please comment and share.

Does anyone know where the love of God goes

When the waves turn the minutes to hours?

    -From 'The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald'