NaperVic

Jeez Joe, the resolution on those pictures is huge! It's almost like you jumped out of my laptop screen. Looking adorable as always

Although I don't practice any religion, I'll take any 'blessings' or good thoughts thrown my way. I figure one of the religions must be right and it would good to have allies who might vouch for me when the time comes to get past the bouncer to the afterlife. 'Vic? He's a good guy and he's with me.' So god bless you's, jesus loves you, white light, good karma...I'll take it all Glad you had a eventful birthday Steve! Take Care, Vic

Happy Birthday Michelle!!!! Welcome to your 20s!

Happy Birthday Steve!!!! Hope this year brings you all kinds of joy!

It's been really hot here in central california, so jumping into the pool is a daily (if not several times a day) occurance. Getting into and drying my regular board short type swim trunks is getting to be quite a chore. My friends say I should just go swim naked as it's my own pool in the privacy of my back yard, but I'm too much of a prude for that. Also, you can kinda see through the slats of the fence around my yard and I don't want to pull a Corvus and put myself on display for noisy neighbors . So I finally got the nerve to buy a pair of those squarecut swim trunks (or as I call them, daisy dukes). Not quite as short as traditional speedos, they're still pretty skimpy. It's taken me a lot of nerve to wear them. I've been keeping up my exercise regiment where about 5 days a week I do three a days (10km of jogging, 16miles of cycling, and 1 hr in the gym) and the other two days just two a days. So I think my body can support wearing them. It's just that I'm still not totally comfortable wearing them as I'm very aware of how they seem to grab everything . And they really, really don't hide anything. I didn't realize how flat my ass was until I put these on. You'd think with all the cycling and running, I'd have a great ass. But nope, it seems all the exercise has burned the calories right off my backside. Oh well, I do feel naughty when I wear the new trunks. Vic P.S. - has everyone heard the song 'Crazy Possessive' by Kaci Battaglia? If not, here's a link to a youtube video. The lyrics are awesome! I've so felt like her before and would probably feel that way about my next BF. 'Call my man again, I'll muck you up' .

My dog poops at her Nemesis' front yard (this dog always barks angrily at my dog whenever she passes). As a good owner, I of course clean up after my dog, but I'm sure there's always some evidence left of the message my dog sent to her Nemesis.

Harry and Pepper, the two male penguins who had shared a six-year relationship have split up. Harry left Pepper for Linda. It's an old story. Video link from CNN Poor Pepper , I hope he doesn't become too bitter and end up trolling on Craigslist.

Tough love... My friends and I have gotten pretty good about 'helping' each other with our weaknesses or bad behaviours. If this is someone you like in general and they just have this one annoying habit, then you can take it upon yourself to 'correct' them. Teasing or some other technique seems works for some. For example, we have this friend who ocassionally drops names to try to impress. Whenever we catch her doing this, one of us will drop down and making a motion as if we are sweeping dirt into a dust pan with a hand brush. When someone asks what we're doing, we say that we're sweeping up some of the names our friend dropped. Another person's weakness is when she starts getting all down, depressed and all 'Woe is me'. That's when someone starts playing the invisible violin. Or for others, we'll make a motion with our hand as if it's a claw with long nails and make a hissing noise. This is useful to let people know when they're getting too bitchy. My goodness, I just realized that people are like dogs and just need that constant correction whenever they exhibit an unwanted behaviour. It sounds like your friend just needs a proverbial thwap on the nose with a rolled up newspaper whenever he's being bad. You just need to come up with a symbol or something for his negativity. Or you could just say 'Stop being such a b*tch' when he gets that way.

No need to stalk when there's video available.

Yes, yes...I didn't mean to suggest getting a dog on a whim, something you can return if it doesn't work out . The point I was trying to make was that since a dog needs much more care than a cat, it might be a good test drive before having a kid. I take good care of my dog and try not to let her be alone for more than 4 hours at a stretch. What was a real eye opener for me was the amount of care that a dog needed. I suppose I always knew that a dog needed care everyday...but it doesn't hit home until those days when you're sick and you still take have to take the dog out for a walk. Or the days it's raining and crappy outside but still you trek outdoors. Take Care, Vic

Unfortunately, the almightly gel-haired one has more power than I have and I shant risk his wrath. *runs to Joeys blog to give it 5 stars in case I haven't already*

I too was intrigued by the 'Reputation' tag. If you look on every thread post, there's a little + or - sign. If you + a post, the posters reputation goes up one. If you - the post, the rep goes down. The 'someone might think I'm dom' sounds like a Joey.

Encourage your siblings to have kids. Being an uncle let's you have the benefit of being able to play with the kids and be 'Uncle Kevin, he's cool!' without having all that other pesky responsibility of 24x7 care. I have occasional periods of wanting kids, but a good baby sitting session brings me back down to reality. If you are considering some of this, I'd suggest starting out with a dog. Dogs need much more care than a cat and might be a good test drive towards a kid.

Thanks for your advice! I think I'll try your technique of calling her on my terms, where I can control the distance and such, and be mentally prepared for her. Heck, I could call her while I'm on my next bike ride. Biking drains me physically, but I have mental energy to spare. Sad Sallys, Suffocating Sams, Needy Nellies....lol, we need to put together a list of all these . I realized another reason Nellie is being so needy....our good friend Kool Karen is out of the country for several months. I hadn't realized how much of the load Kool Karen had been taking on. Now that Kool Karen is gone, Nellie needs more from me.

Ohh, don't get me wrong, I like touchy/cuddly, I just don't like all the other baggage that she's smothering me with. And while you have lot's of love to spread around, you also have lot's of people to spread it around too. And in your case, Rich is responsible for all the high maintenance stuff . I wish my friend Nellie had a BF or husband so that she wouldn't need so much from me. Thanks for your words of wisdom, Viv!

I'm going with this strategy for now. In a couple of days, I'll give her a call when I know she's busy and I'll get her voicemail. Then I'll ask her to go to dinner when I know she'll have a conflict and she'll have have to decline. This way I'm not 'ignoring her', I'll get credit for an invite without having to actually go.

Sounds good on paper, but implementing that strategy is much harder to do Hope the new job is going well Kurt .

Welcome Back!!! Enjoy sleeping in your own bed again!

I have this female friend who's being particularly needy lately (and she's a real life friend, so this isn't some vailed b*tch slap against any of you ). Let's call her Nellie. This neediness is really starting to suffocate me and I'm debating what to do about it. Needy Nellie was over the top last week when I went to a Canada Day party at a local bar. I arrived kind of late, so most everyone was already there seated at the two rows of tables (about 50 people overall). I saw some friends that I haven't seen in ages, so I waved to lots of people as I walked by the tables and headed towards an open seat near some friends. I waved and passed by Nellie, who glared at me as she realized I wasn't planning on sitting next to her (mind you, there were no open seats around her and like I said, I wanted to say hi to some folks I haven't seen in weeks). I didn't think much of the glare at the time. This was a pretty casual event, so I was constantly waving or chatting with people all over the room. A few times I looked over in Nellie's direction and each time she glared at me . Later in the evening, I found myself seated one person away from Nellie as I was chatting with a couple coworkers who I again haven't seen in a few weeks. At one point, Nellie tried saying something to me, and the friend in the middle said "Do you want to switch seats?" I replied "Nah, that's okay, I haven't seen you in ages and I saw her last Saturday and thursday night". The look from Nellie could have killed. I shrugged the look off and eventually later in the evening, I was chatting with Nellie where she started complaining about me not sitting next to her. I explained that the seats around here were occupied and just shrugged off the rest of her complaints. She new most of the people there, so it wasn't like I left her alone in a strange place. Then she says "I'm going to need lots of catering from you because I'm not feeling real happy lately. You're one of my best friends and it's your responsibility." Best friend? Me? I didn't respond to that (I'm from the if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything school of thought) and eventually went onto other topics or included other people in the conversation. Lately, she keeps declaring what good friends we are and telling me how strong our relationship is. Whoa . Lot's of hugs, her putting her arm around me, her head on my shoulder. I don't get where she's getting all this. I don't see our friendship as that strong and it's not like I'm leading her on. It's like she's creating more than what's really there. Maybe she thinks if she says it enough it will be true? It's weird, I like doing some things with her (the occasional dinner and such), but really, when did I become this responsible for her emotional needs. She seriously needs a real boyfriend because I can't give her all that she wants from me. I haven't spoken to her since last week. I kinda fibbed when I told her I was heading out of town this past 4th of July weekend, but I needed the break from her. I'd going to pull back some more from her. Hopefully she'll get the hint. Platonic friendships aren't supposed to be this much work. The attention she wants should be given from someone she's sleeping with. There's gotta be some reward for all that work. Vic

I can't believe it's been 4 years and now you're FINALLY 18!!! Happy Birthday Robbee!!!! May you have many happy years of adulthood

It does if you normally get up at 5:30ish, or if you stay in your PJs Enjoy your vacation and consider throwing your cell phone in the Ocean.

isn't anyone planning on funding GA so that there won't be a need for ads or supporters?

Bust some ass Kurt!

Happy Birthday Viv!!!! Hope you have a good one and that your family treats you like a princess for the day