Procyon

I was telling someone at lunch about how a guy named Alex (from Eritrea) and I kissed in a broom cupboard when I was about 20 and (suitably) worked at the museum of natural history. Kissing in a broom cupboard is such a classic -- and it's also such a clich

One tends to be more cheerful when one's situation is really desperate than when it's just possibly-will-be desperate. Maybe that's because you can't afford to be complaining when things are really bad... In WWII the suicide rates went down because people were too busy trying to stay alive, that kind of thing. Also, they didn't get depressed because they had to figure out a way of surviving and couldn't afford the luxury of brooding. Anyway, good luck with mediating... I hope things get better soon.

Drunk yet? Happy Birthday! Hope you have a great time.

I love cooking unless it has to be quick and I've no exciting ingredients. Then it just makes me feel stressed out. But most of the time cooking is really enjoyable. I hate cleaning the bathroom... And I should do that -- haha, right now. My wash basin looks horrible because my son made chocolate biscuits and then washed his hands there. Yeah. You can imagine...

Poor you. I hope things are better today. He doesn't deserve you, not even remotely.

Hardly anyone has found their soulmate. They only come along very rarely -- some think they've found him or her, but in ten years, or one, or a few months' or weeks' time, when they split up, they'll have realised that they weren't soulmates. Haha. Schadenfreude is the only true joy. And don't go out and pretend you're having fun, just stay home and delve in your bitterness -- or watch a movie. Not on TV, it'll only be romantic stuff; watch something brutal and violent or something really sad (gives you an excuse to cry!) or something otherwise unromantic.

I also read about someone who didn't have insurance -- a woman with two kids whose husband had died 8 years earlier. They lost everything in the fire, including the photos of her dead husband (the kids' dad). I really hope people like her get some kind of recompensation. And frankly, I thought insurance companies would claim that this was force majeure and not pay anything to anyone...

I knock it on the counter or plate or some such thing, and I really like peeling hard-boiled eggs for some reason -- they're fascinating, they look a bit lie eye-balls, and then they stink a bit. I probably like peeling them because I never do it since I really, really don't like the taste and consistency of boiled eggs. Eww... And I love British cuisine -- not everything and not always, but there are many really good British dishes that I miss when I'm not there. And I love how they have a habit of serving everything with chips, including lasagne... And a full English breakfast, not to mention an Ulster fry, is just, sigh, wonderful. When cooked correctly, of course. And a Sunday lunch with roast chicken, ham, and stuffing, boiled and roast potatoes, cabbage, carrots, and mushy peas -- mmmmm. I admit I didn't fully understand the deliciousness of it until I'd lived there for about a year, so I guess it's an acquired taste. I could go on -- there's shepherd's pie, Cornish pasties, Yorkshire pudding, etc. etc. And all the desserts. I think they have the best apple pies in the world, for one thing, and their scones... Hmm, I think I'll go bake some scones now... P.S. Screw the salad. Vegetables should be eaten cooked, not raw, that's a health hazard.

Yeah, it's unbelievable what otherwise sensible people sometimes do online... It's as though they think that a screen name will protect them from everything (it's easy to forget how quickly your real name can get out once you mention it to someone) and it's easy to think, also, that you'll never change or want to do something where nude or embarrassing pictures might be an obstacle or at least very uncomfortable to deal with.

I want snow, too!! We haven't had a decent winter for years, and it's unbearable. I want - 25 (C, obviously) and at least two feet of snow, preferably three. Actually, make that four. And I'd like it to last for a month and then melt in two days. For your other complaints: 1. Revolutionary Road is great, and not really about failed marriage like everyone seems to think. See it. 2. Singles Awareness Day (SAD): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejnn167h0o8

Eh, of course you should write long and honest blog entries... Especially when there's something you've been thinking about a lot, or that's been bothering you. Anyway your entries are always enjoyable to read.

Happy Birthday Yap!! Must be great to be 45, hehe.

I'm sure it'll make a difference even if you don't notice it right now. And I hope it's making you feel marginally better, at least.

Maybe it'll go away if you get it a birthday cake from Walmart. With 'Hitler' written on it.

I'm going to be doing this all day... x___x Harhar. I like your astronomy books btw. And Ender's Game is a good one, didn't add that yet, I've only done 15 books so far.

OMG, what a wonderful site that is!! But how long did it take you to build that database -- didn't it take ages? It's beautiful. I notice that 'Creating Unforgettable Characters' and 'The Criminal Mind' are next to each other, harhar. I'm having a fit right now because I know I'll never have time to catalogue even 10% of mine, but I'd so like to...

Hilarious, and wow, great news!!

Yeah, you're stuck in a catch-22 there, I know what it's like -- every fibre of your body wants to shout that it's all wrong and he shouldn't be doing this, but his mindset is such that you can't discuss this kind of thing with him. The big problem is -- how do you stay around him, not mess things up, *and* stay sane yourself at the same time? You can't tell him he's being self-destructive or he'll stop listening to you, and at the same time he needs to be able to talk to you, and if you want to keep the friendship you have to be there for him -- but in the meantime you're suffering yourself because your friend is doing this, and you have to watch it without letting on that you're suffering. Sadly I don't have much advice besides what other people have already said, but I do think it's great that you want to be there for him, so... don't give up. I'm sure you're helping him just by being there, whatever you decide to do.

The attitude that one should have no secrets is admirable, of course, and that is something I would want in a relationship, but there is a good way and a bad way of finding out things about one's S/O, and a right and wrong time of telling some things. Finding out what your S/O is like and what his life has been like up until he met you is not best done by browsing his computer when he isn't around. Preferably he'll be wanting to tell you about his life himself. But you can't possibly tell your bf or gf everything about yourself during the first night, or the first week, or even the first couple of months, so some things stay unrevealed longer than others. I would never want to find out something (possibly upsetting without an explanation from him) about my S/O by reading it by accident on his computer, and I would never dream of browsing through his message archive without his permission. What if he'd discussed me or something to do with our relationship with a friend at some stage when we'd, say, been arguing or having trouble with each other? I would never want to stumble on anything like that, and that's not because I wouldn't trust the person, but because you've a right to keep something like that to yourself even if you're in a close relationship. Having said that, I wouldn't mind if my S/O accidentally read things I considered personal -- if it was really by accident, or because he was looking at my files with my permission. I don't think I'd ever have anything so personal that I wouldn't show it to my S/O, but with some things I might prefer that he didn't look at them, at least not without me there.

Happy New Year!!

Like Graeme, I wouldn't mind if my S/O looked at anything I had on the computer, or even my call history, but the same way I wouldn't look at something without reason and without asking first (there may be other reasons to not want to show things than having something to hide -- with a story , for example, one may not be ready to show it to anyone, not even one's S/O, until one has reached a certain stage in it) I would expect my S/O to do the same. I would feel violated if anyone looked at those of my stories that aren't public without asking first, and I would therefore never dream of doing that to anyone. And... why would anyone ever want to look at someone's call history?? Unless it were to check someone's phone number, maybe, which one can do openly. If you do it because you don't trust the person I'd say you have a problem in your relationship.

Spending the night with family or good friends is a must -- other than that, my New Year's Eve (almost) always involves champagne, fireworks, and freezing weather. It's also nice to spend New Year's Eve in other places -- Prague was cool, and so was Amsterdam. And it's always great to spend New Year's Eve in Salzburg, where my cousins live. This year I'll probably stay home, but going somewhere interesting for New Year is always nice.

Go for it! I'm sure you're very pretty. And make a snow angel for me, there isn't enough snow here for that right now...

Sorry to hear about your son's attitude... I do think it's good that you're at least being nice to him, even though he's unresponsive. I really hope he'll come round and be nicer to you, too. Was there nothing good about your Christmas with him -- apart from the weather? Did he do anything that cheered you up? I hope there is something you can think of... if there is, try to focus on that instead of the negative things, it might at least make you feel better.

Merry Christmas!