Looking inward and examining certain correlations regarding both my feelings and opinions of people I've known, I've discovered something rather curious: it seems that the amout of mistrust I harbor for a person increases in proportion to the intensity of my affection for that person. This rarely holds for my long-distance/online relationships with people -- as much as I like some of my online acquaintances, the kind of passion of which I speak here is, I think, usually reserved for relationships in which a certain physical proximity (or at least the potential for it) exists (or existed) -- but this relationship between affection and mistrust has held true on several occasions in my past. (more...)

There's a lump in the center of my chest. It throbs slightly and slides up and down; it creeps into the base of my throat and then eases itself out again, as if whatever controls its motion is trying to decide whether it wants to see me vomit my heart out or not. Yes, it could be funny, but does the joke justify the mess? And the audience may not see the humor of it.

My gut feels icky; cold and hollow, but not entirely, as if the walls of it are coated with that slime that fills the gel-packs one freezes and stuffs in lunch boxes to keep orange juice cool. Outside, a squirrel darts across the driveway. No, a rabbit. I've never seen a squirrel that moved so fast or with such purpose with such a linear course. No pauses, no deviations -- a straight jet, almost as if the thing had been skewered and yanked across the concrete on a metal rod. (more...)

A few weeks ago, at the local Main Street Festival, I signed up to be on the mailing list for the Northern Prince George's County Republican Club (NPGCRC). Now you all know where I stand politically -- independent; I evaluate the issues as they come and side with no party, though I tend to be left-leaning -- but I thought it might be interesting to read the group's e-mails and perhaps, time permitting, drop in on meetings from time to time. Also, I had to make nice with the reps so they'd let me have my photo taken with the life-sized cardboard Bush, which they'd kind of hidden away because people were attacking it and threatening it with death!

Anyway, I only mention this because the latest e-mail from the group urges recipients to e-mail Mark Whitaker, Newsweek's editor, and request that he demand that the persons responsible for running the Guantanamo Bay Quran flushing story resign from their posts. "No other industry can cause so much damage and not have to pay legal consequences," it reads. "This is the least that American's [sic] can expect for an article that caused the death of 17 people and caused irreparable harm to the reputation of the U.S. around the globe." (more...)

And now, a rare WESOTERIC post about relationships! YAY!

Having observed a number of dates via television shows and having read a number of failed date blog entries, I've noticed that one of the most prevalent reasons that an otherwise good date doesn't lead to a romantic relationship is that there just isn't that *spark* -- that sexual attraction, that aching desire to molest the other person and use his/her delectable body for one's pleasure and gratification -- for at least one of the parties. Even when the two parties really get along and hit it off personality-wise, the decision may be made during the second or even first date that the two should simply be friends rather than try to force something that just isn't there. That is, even in the face of a highly compelling reason to continue to pursue a romantic relationship, the initial absence of something so insignificant as conscious sexual attraction (note the italicized word; we'll come back to that later) is enough to halt any further attempts to make progress on that front. Because there's no spark.

I think this is a mistake. (more...)

A couple of weeks ago, TAB completed an exercise (from "Dating for Dummies", no less) that requires one to list ten things one likes about oneself. He then suggested that all of his readers give it a try as well -- and shortly thereafter, Becky (and probably more people; I don't know and/or remember) followed suit. I didn't, however, and furthermore noted that I'd have a hard time coming up with even one item for such a list. It's not that I don't think that there is anything to like about myself, nor is it that there aren't things that I don't like about myself. There probably are. It's just that, unless I'm drunk and rocking out to Billy Idol, I don't think about them a whole lot -- or at least not in a positive context. (more...)