This Is Not News......

They caught our President on camera saying the word "shit" to Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Yeah I know, I was shocked too. I was shocked they thought the President letting one fly was news worthy. Yes it might have been in poor taste or bad manners on his part. But the man is the leader of the free world.....And I would imagine he's got a lot of pressures that go along with the job. So to me its not really surprising that during what I would like to point out was a "private" discussion between himself and the Prime Minister Blair he let one fly out.

If the truth be told I've let one fly on occasion for a lot less....Although if you talk to my Mom. I will have to deny that I have any knowledge of such behavior.

The actual quote he said to Mr Blair was: “What they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit and it’s over,”

But speaking as a girl living in the south, who has a Mom who is big on manners...I bet Miss Barbara wasnt a happy camper. I'm sure the part where he said the "S" word wouldnt shock her nearly as much as the video of her son chewing food with his mouth open while talking to the Prime Minister.

If I'm not mistaken, I believe that's pretty standard stuff that all Moms drill into you when you are a kid..Its in the Moms rules and regulations handbook...Section two..paragraph three...."Elbows off table"...Say "Please and Thank you"....."Yes mam and No mam" and last but not certainly least "Don't talk with your mouth full" or "Chew with your mouth closed"

The way I see it getting caught saying the "S" word is the least of his worries.

Man + Woman = Sex...But not necessarily love.

I was talking to a friend about his feelings for a girl he's just recently met a month or so ago. Ill call her Sam. He seems to think a lot of Sam, at least he's told her he does. They have a lot of things in common..Share views on a lot of different topics and seem to really enjoy each others company. They both seem attracted to each other and share that sort of electricity or chemistry with each other. So naturally the topic of taking things to that next step has come up.

Neither Sam nor my friend are the promiscuous types. When talking to my friend about this aspect of the relationship and his desire to take that next step he said something's that not only made me admire him...But also made me think. He said that while speaking as a guy...His desire to sleep with Sam wasn't an issue. He knew he definitely wanted to and could...NO problem. But speaking as the guy who thought a lot of this girl....He knew he shouldn't unless he was in a place that he could offer her more of himself or a more serious relationship. And right now....As things stood in his life..He couldn't.

I respect that about my friend. I admire that he wants more from sex than just the physical enjoyment of the act. He wants it to actually mean something.

This talk also made me think. Men and women have widely different views on a variety of topics...Sex being just one. Men seem to view sex more in the physical. Where women generally approach it on more of an emotional level.

That's not to say that a man cant be emotionally attached to the woman he's being physical with. I think my friend proves that there are times when in fact they do. But the emotional connection isn't necessary for most men to engage in the physical act. They do not confuse the physical act of sex with the emotion of love. Women on the other hand quite often equate sex with love.

I'm not saying that a woman cant enjoy the physical aspect of sex..They can and definitely do. Or that a woman cant desire sex just for the sake of sex. They can. But more often women internally equate it with love.

Is this where we as women make a mistake? Most people today rush head long into relationships with out giving the relationship time to progress to the point that the emotional side of it can sustain the physical side. Lets face it..The chemistry part comes easy. In the beginning meeting someone new, its all fireworks..sparks and butterflies with combat boots. Its exciting.

But that's not the real love. That's the chemistry. Its biology taking hold. The lasting part, the real part takes time to develop. It takes time to really get to know someone on a level that you really genuinely know who they are. Most of us hold back in the beginning. We don't let everyone see that deeper part of ourselves right away.. It takes time because getting to know another person that deeply is like peeling away layers of an onion...Each layer reveals another aspect to this persons life..Their past..And their personalities.

If we waited..Gave ourselves that time to know the person....Would we still want to be physical after it was all said and done? Maybe...Maybe not.

Maybe thats why they say anything worth having is worth waiting for.

Who Needs All That Nasty Money?

All this time I had thought that working and earning money to buy the comforts I desire was the way to go. I mean isn't that what we are told? You work, you earn, you get part of the American Dream. The car, the family with 2.5 children, the dog named Peety and last but not least a house of your very own.

Ahhhh my friends....This is not so. Today I learned about a man who decided he wanted to live in a house but alas he had no job and no money. Whatever is a poor slacker to do? Well this guy didn't sit around with his nose pressed to the glass dreaming..NOPE!

Last summer this 26 year old man from Montreal looked at his desk and decided to trade a red paper clip on the internet to get his house. As far fetched as it seems that this would work, it did. It took him 14 trades but he did it. And that truly amazes to me. I suppose that's what happens when you think outside the box.

Some of us plod along doing the normal stuff..Day in day out..We follow all the right steps toward building a future...We start on A and then move to B and so on. But how many people would think up something this far out there, let alone actually do it? Ill tell you who..The same people who create all the things we use today. Like for example those guys who decided to create home computers in their garage...I think one of them was named Gates. I think maybe he's still around some where. Hmmmmmm.

Just in case you might be curious...The trades went as follows :

Traded the red paper clip to a woman in Vancouver for a pen that looked like a fish.

Traded the fish pen for a hand made door knob made by a potter in Seattle.

Traded the door knob to someone in Massachusetts for a camp stove.

Traded the camp stove to a US Marine in California for a 100 watt generator.

Traded the generator to someone in Queens for an instant party kit. Contents :An empty keg and an illuminated Budweiser beer sign.

Traded the Instant Party Kit contents to a Montreal radio host for Bombardier Snowmobile.

Now from here I'm not sure where the trading went to......The news report I saw and read only said that at this point he barters his way all the way up to a chance to spend the afternoon with rocker Alice Cooper and a Kiss Snow Globe. He then takes these and trades them for a paid role in a movie actor Corbin Bernsen is making.

If the next question your asking is why would actor Corbin Bernsen trade for a Kiss Snow Globe? Well paper clip guy asked the same question. Apparently Mr Bernsen is a huge collector of Snow Globes. Go figure!

Finally.......The Town of Kipling Sack. contacted him and traded the role in the movie for a farm house. The fact that the paper clip mans last name is MacDonald I'm sure is just purely coincidental.

So there you have it. Mr MacDonald aka the paper clip guy...And his girl friend are flying to see their new house next week sometime...I think they are even giving him the keys to the city. Not to bad right?

The town of Kipling is going to hold a competition in the town to see who gets the movie role they traded the farm house for.

All in all though, you have to admire this guy. I mean how many of us have sort of sat around day dreaming up all kinds of what seemed like crazy things we could do to make money. The only thing that holds us back is that we see them as so far out there we never give it a try. Maybe its time to change that.

If your like me, this story at least makes you say Hmmmmmm.

To Forgive And Forget: And the fear that follows...

You know how I hate getting up on the soap box and being preachy....

OK OK..Stop laughing....

Anyone who knows me or reads this blog for all of 5 seconds knows that Im up and down off of my soap box so often its become an aerobic work out. And as far as being preachy goes..Listen closely and you can probably hear the choir singing.

So I suppose its safe to say that I do have an opinion. About pretty much everything. And If I don't when first asked..You can rest assured.. That given enough time to think about it and puzzle the subject out, I will probably form one.

I know that I have made my share of mistakes. Im still making them. I would like to think I can learn from those mistakes and not repeat them. But if Im honest about it, there are certain choices I have made that seem to just keep coming back to me.

The people in my life that I have chosen to fall for are a good example. I think probably everyone has gone through a break up at least once in their lives. I suppose how you view that break up depends on whether you were the one dumped or the one doing the dumping. There are also the reasons behind the breakup, what caused it to happen.

I think there are a lot of minor offenses that can end a relationship. But probably the biggest worst one in my eyes is infidelity. I think that one not only hurts the person because they have been cheated on ..But it destroys something deep inside you. It causes you to doubt yourself. To think that maybe there is something wrong with you or inside you that made this person do this to you. Even if you know rationally you did nothing to cause it. It still leaves lasting scars in your heart and your head full of doubts.

I think holding on to bitterness and anger is unhealthy. But its hard sometimes after something like that not to start to think Ill never let someone make me feel or look foolish again. You become a little jaded and start to wonder if all men or women are evil at the core. If there is anyone that can be trusted again. At some point we have to decide to let it go. But how?

Its not that a person cant forgive the act. I think they can. But its more difficult to forget. Someplace always in the back of your mind you know that this person who you trusted with the deepest part of yourself betrayed that trust. And even if you could forget it..Should you? Isn't that how we learn..The mistakes we make. Is trusting someone who didn't deserve that trust a mistake? Or do we rationalize why they did it when we forgive them?

I have never been the one doing the breaking up..I have always been the one getting dumped. Which is sad to have to admit..Because I have personally been cheated on numerous times. It would be nice to say I was too smart to let something like that happen to me. But Im human and I guess sometimes its hard to walk away from someone you really care deeply for even if you know on some level they are wrong for you.

One of the things I always preach to my friends about is that everything in life is a choice. The only things we can control for sure is ourselves. If we decide to stay with someone knowing they are wrong for us. Then that's our choice. If they are the type to cheat. Then they are. There is nothing you can do to make them remain faithful or into the person you want them to be. And something that I have learned the hard way is that you cant or shouldn't fool yourself into thinking that you will be the one to make them want to change. That with you it will be different. Because the odds are you wont.

If you decide to stay with them regardless of the facts. Then accept them the way they are. Accept that they will never be true to you. Accept that part of having this person in your life is the clear certainty that you will always be uncertain about everything they say and do. It doesn't mean because you choose them that you deserve to be treated badly. But if you make that choice and they do treat you badly. Don't complain about it. It was your choice. If you don't like it, and don't want to be treated that way then make another choice and don't be. Cut your loses and move on.

It wont be easy to walk. It never is. I think it becomes a question of love for yourself. Of knowing the kind of person and life you want for yourself and feel you deserve to have. If youre a caretaker type personality and not used to putting yourself first. Think of it this way. This person who is doing this to you isn't putting you first in their life...Don't you at least deserve that from the one person who should love you..YOURSELF.

After thinking about this a long long time. I suppose speaking for myself, its never been a question of forgiving. Because in my situation..Forgiveness wasn't called for. Its not a question of forgetting. Because I never can. Its just the type of person I am. But I think the worst part is the small fear. Not that this could happen to me again. I have already accepted that as a possibility. After the first 4 or 5 times it happens..That just becomes a given.

The part that scares me the most. The part that keeps me treading water instead of swimming forward, are the doubts I have about my own choices. What is wrong with my own internal radar that keeps steering me in the wrong direction? Because its not that I don't logically understand and know. Yet still.....

I have come to realize its not a lack of faith in others that stops me in my tracks, its a lack of faith in myself.