Oasis of the Seas

. . . which is the world's, "newest and largest cruise ship", looks like a disaster waiting to happen.

Oh the movies to be made!

Barb

. . . was sick during this time 8 years ago.

I got to go home to see her, twice, before she died. It wasn't enough.

Boost Mobile

I've been using Boost Mobile for a few months now.

I like:

$50 per month, and if you re-up online rather than at the dealer you really only pay $50 per month. All fees and taxes are included. NO other carrier currently has that.

Included web service. I check my email from work a lot.

No roaming charges. Cricket may seem cheaper at a glance, but they're local coverage (at least around Chicago) is spottier than Boost's and they nail you with roaming charges every time you cross into one of the many poorly or uncovered areas. For me that could mean crossing in and out of five roaming zones just going to and from work everyday.

No activation fees. Cricket has some nice options for different levels of service, but if you need or want to switch between levels, they're gonna nail you with an activation fee every time you upgrade or downgrade service.

I don't like:

Shoddy network. Expect lots of digital noise and lots of dropped calls. In fact, you can be sitting in the same place for an hour with perfect reception, then suddenly you barely have signal, you get lots and lots of noise and you call finally drops.

Slow web service. Expect it to take a couple minutes just to open up your first email, then several more to scroll through even a brief email.

Lousy browser. If you need to do more than check email, you're screwed. The browser just barely handles email chores and can't be upgraded.

Lack of phones with QWERTY key pads. They have one, but it's no better for web stuff than any of the others and it doesn't have an MP3 player.

No 3G service.

No smart phones. They do offer a $300 phone, but it's not a smart phone. It's just a really expensive phone that has all the limitations that I've listed above. I'm not sure if a smart phone would perform with this service, but if it did the improved browsing features alone would be worthwhile.

Overall:

It's still a pretty good deal. They're not at all open about the problems you're gonna have with the phones and the service. But they also don't nickle and dime you to death like other carriers.

Les Miserables

Watched it last night (Geofrey Rush). Really good movie. I'll probably finally read the book because of it.

But it doesn't really explain the change in Inspector Javert. He'd been shown mercy previously to no effect.

The movie also glosses over Valjean's transformation from bad to virtuous.

Crash

As in "Crash", the movie.

I have some questions.

Is Matt Dillon's character redeemed by the end? Has he changed? Or are we just seeing two sides of the same guy, who's gonna continue doing the same kinds of disgusting and noble things as situations arise?

The young cop who starts as Dillon's partner: How corrupted has he become? Can he still be considered virtuous? What happens with him?

Terrance Howard's character: No good options when his wife is being sexually assaulted by a cop. Do nothing and she feels betrayed, do what he had to wish he could and he ends up in jail or dead. How's that weigh on a guy's heart and mind?

As a from GF noticed, the only people who do nothing wrong are the Hispanics. Why?

The Persian store owner: How's he getting off free and clear? What a scumbag asshole. He deserves every bad thing that happened to him and more.

Don Cheadle's character: Desperate for his mother's affection and approval, but pushes away the women who is clearly longing to be his shelter. Why? If he can't have or isn't worthy of Mom's love, then he won't or shouldn't have anyone else's?

Danger from Food Network Products

Do you know those Godawful ugly orange knives with Rachael Ray's name on them? Well they don't have full tangs (the metal of the blade doesn't go all the way through the handle), just a short, skinny "rat tail" of metal which the handles are then glued to.

No big surprise, the handles come off. Kind of dangerous.

Paula Deen's cookware, according to that report, may "crack or shatter", leading to possible "burns and lacerations".

Actually, I've heard that it EXPLODES.

Why is Food Network, which makes money hand over fist, so totally unconcerned with product safety and quality?

People love their shows and personalities and buy these products TRUSTING that, because of the attached names, that these are high quality, safe items. They're repaid with cheapness and a total lack of concern for value, safety or quality.

It's sickening.

Treat Women Like Crap?

Here's my opinion (thank you for asking) on what's really meant when we're told not to be too nice to women and why women like "bad boys".

If you're overly fawning, too available, too in-your-face emotional, you'r also too much the woman. You become, in effect, an extension of her. Unfortunately, since she already has all of "her" that she can handle, she doesn't need you.

She needs someone with their own identity, their own way of being, their own opinions, their own thoughts and feelings, their own space, their own set of rules and boundaries and maybe even a place or two that she doesn't have easy access too within him.

She needs you being YOU.

THAT is what bad boys offer. They aren't her, they are all themselves, all in their own way.

She doesn't need you to be a jerk, she doesn't need you to be abusive, she doesn't need you to be mean. She needs you not to become her, because she's got all of that she'll ever need.

Appropriate Parent / Child Interaction

Since I've been accused of being the "Right and Wrong Cop" and told that I "don't get to decide what's right and wrong for everyone" regarding this, I'll open it for outside opinions.

Is it appropriate to allow your 15 year old opposite sex child in the bathroom while you shower?

Is it appropriate to call them into the bathroom while you're showering?

Is it appropriate to lay in bed with them?

Is it appropriate for them to ask you to lay in bed with them?

Is it appropriate to walk out of your bedroom, in plain view of them, while you're nude?

Is it appropriate to undress with your bedroom door open while they're in the house?

Is it appropriate for a mother to sit topless when she knows they're about to enter the room she's in?

Is it ok for them to be obsessed with having their mouth on anything that yours has been on, is on or will be on?

Is it appropriate for them to show you a hotdog, then push the meat out of the bun like a growing erection?

Is is appropriate for the child to have his or her hand up the back of your shirt and in your wasteband caressing you?

NOTE:

I found something on "covert incest" where the parent making the child too much the best friend, allowing the child to see them nude, speaking and behaving in a sexual manner around the child, can cause the child to develop a sexual attraction to the parent and feel like they're the parent's sexual partner rather than the child.

That sounds like the beginnings of the situation I saw, though I strongly doubt that it remains "covert".

I can't help thinking that if these (and other) things happened with me present, what happened whey I wasn't?

Easy

If you want an easy, conflict-free relationship all you have to do is . . . not give a shit.

Remain distant. Don't invest yourself emotionally. Stay ready to walk away.

The more emotionally entangled two people are, the more likely that there will be conflicts.

Your perfect relationship isn't likely to be conflict free. It's likely to depend on how well and respectfully you resolve the conflicts that come up.

If you do have a conflict free relationship, maybe should think about why.

Cooking Together

The point of cooking together is not to cook, it's to be together. I don't need a prep chef, I can and enjoy prepping the food myself. What I need is time with my partner. So if the food gets ruined, the pots get burned and the plates get broken, it's still been a good night.

Border Crossings

Relationship boundaries are not usually crossed in leaps.

They're crossed a wiggle at a time.

Huh

Fly like a stone

As I break every bone

"Lesbian" Defined

When a woman learns that another woman is a lesbian she thinks, "Oh, she's into women."

When a man learns that a woman is a lesbian he thinks, "Oh, she's into women . . . and me."

It's True

Liberals worship the Devil and eat live babies.

Yes, human babies.

Rachael Ray or Kelly Clarkson

Another of life's impossible choices.

Damn the universe!

Curling

Curling is NOT a sport. Curling is shuffleboard for people with OCD.

Co-Parenting

That is, cotinuing to live in the same house during and after a divorce "for the children's sake" is stupid and really just an excuse to not have to get out and start a big scarey life in your own place.

Same enviroment, only now mommy and daddy hate each other AND they have bf's / gf's.

If you're that freakin' worried about "the children", don't get a divorce.

Selfish, slack-jawed, lazyass freaks.

Barb and Hunter-Lynn

Barb would have been 57 this year, Hunter-Lynn would have been 5.

Barb died Jan 15. Hunter-Lynn was born Dec 27th, got sick Mar 17th, died Mar 31.

There are a lot of days and even some years where this doesn't bother me all that much. This year is different and I have no idea why.

I adored Barb, she was an amazing person and sister and even when she was alive I often measured people I'd meet against her. I wasn't an especially attentive brother.

I never got to meet my niece.

Dammit

I was a big Christan Bale fan. He's made some excellent movies, even when he was a relative unknown.

Too bad he's just another abusive, Hollywood prima donna.

It wouldn't be such a big deal if he'd just yelled and gone on about his business. But he just kept going and going and . . .

This'll probably end up being great of Shane Hurlbut. He'll have built up so much pity that people will be seeking out things he's been attached to and he'll reap more name recognition in a very short time than would be possible at his position normally.

But, Christian, next time you think about screaming "I'll kick your ass." at a crew member, remember how that worked out for Steven Seagal and that you're just an actor who plays badasses, not a real badass.

A couple days later the police came out to his mom's place. They were called because he was abusive with her, pushing her.

Best Sister . . .

. . . died 7 years ago, Jan 15th.

No, I didn't forget yesterday. I wasn't around to write.

Barb was the kindest, most selfless person I've ever known. Remembering her makes me thank God that we don't earn the people in our lives, that they aren't there according to how they fit the scheme of our personal worthiness and sometimes we get a lot more than what we deserve.