Shotgun

I like this kind of attitude. To me, honesty is such an important thing - whether it's an open relationship or a non-open relationship (or whatever).

Perhaps that is what you've seen, but that is definitely not what I am referring to when I talk about wanting an open relationship. Unfortunately, I think it is close to impossible to have the kind of relationship that I am thinking of in our society today. I am talking about a serious, committed relationship where either party is allowed to date (have sex with) other people, and where both parties are completely honest about it. One of the things that makes this kind of relationship so difficult is that most people do not accept it. So... what I have found is that even if you are lucky enough to find one like-minded person to have this kind of relationship with... chances are, that the other people who you want to date will not understand what kind of relationship you have and will either want nothing to do with you or they will end up getting hurt.

Yes, that is exactly what I was trying to say - that it seems people prefer the deception. I have never been able to understand that. I agree with that too. It is usually not a "lack of desire to sleep with other women" that keeps them from agreeing to an open relationship.

This is a very interesting subject, one that I have given a lot of thought to throughout my life... When I was around 13 or 14 (about 20 years ago), I came to the conclusion that people were not meant to be in monogamous relationships. I had never heard of an "open relationship" at that time... I just came up with the idea on my own because it was what made sense to me. (I was never one to blindly accept "tradition" as necessarily being "the correct thing to do"... not that I would go against tradition just for the sake of doing so either.) Now my boyfriend at that time was not the least bit amused, and quickly broke up with me after I insisted that we should be able to be boyfriend/girlfriend yet still free to go on dates with other people. Surprisingly, this has been the attitude of most men who I have met throughout my life. I say "surprisingly" because one would think with the typical man's "straying eye" (sorry for the stereotype) that they would be all over having a girlfriend that allowed them to also date other girls, but that doesn't seem to be the case. What is especially interesting to me is that many of my friends who think I am crazy for wanting to have an "open relationship", are people who have cheated in relationships before and seem to think that is somehow more normal. Sadly, I guess it IS more "normal" to cheat while in a so-called "monogamous" relationship than to just have an open relationship. What society finds as "acceptable" just boggles my mind sometimes... (It does seem to me that cheating has, in some way, become an acceptable part of our society - judging by how common it seems to be.) And on this subject, have you ever read "Time Enough For Love" by Robert Heinlein? It was recommended to me a few years ago by a special friend (are you reading this? ;-), and is now one of my favorite books... Probably the closest thing I've ever read on how I think relationships should be.

I'd be prepared to disabuse you of that totally misguided notion, using empirical evidence Oops, now I've insulted all of the old farts. Ok, maybe I was wrong in that theory... but, again, I was just basing it on my personal experience. The younger guys that I've been around in my life mostly seem to be way hornier (to use scientific terms ;-) than the older guys. (Not that being "way hornier" is necessarily a good thing.) This is just generalization, of course; I'm sure it varies with different people. Women, on the other hand, I'm not too sure about... I know some women whose sex drives have increased with age, and some whose drives have decreased... I don't really see a distinct pattern... (Ok, so maybe I'm wrong about the whole "monogamy/lower sex drive with age" thing! I don't know... I'll just stick to the "people are not monogamous by nature" theory - no matter what their age is. )

Ooh, Fluffy is a pretty canopy. I like the colors.

That is interesting. I had never thought about that, but it makes sense... Just from my own experience and observations in life, I have come to the conclusion that humans were not designed to be monogamous. I think "monogamy" and "marriage" are cultural things and they are a choice that many people make. But, judging by the struggle that so many people have with monogamy, it would appear that it is in no way "natural". (Perhaps it is not a struggle for everyone, but I think that is because of social conditioning rather than natural instinct. Also, it appears that monogamy becomes easier with age for most people, which I'm guessing has something to do with a lower sex drive???) Just my opinion...

Hispanically??? I guess I missed him saying that one. Poor guy... he's just not very good with the "public speaking" part of the job. (I wouldn't be very good at it either. If I was the President, I'd be making an ass of myself all the time! )

How funny! That bear must be a skydiver, of course!

The Catholic church seems to have some interesting ways... I remember when my Dad re-married to his Catholic wife, that he had to get my mom to sign something saying their marriage was never "real" (or something like that)... Oh, and I don't really think of "spiritual" marriages and "religious" marriages as being the same thing, but that's just me. I mean, I consider my marriage to be spiritual (as in the "not tangible" definition of the word), but we are not religious... Though I guess to someone who is religious, "spiritual" would have a different meaning than it does to me.

Ah, James Traficant... How could I forget HIM? Now he was one hot little papa... and he had that way cool Johnny Cash hair... Too bad HE is not running with Kerry... MMM, a Traficant/Kerry sandwich! Now we're talkin'!

That one's good... I did tech support for a couple of years so I can definitely relate. (Of course, I've probably been the idiot a few times myself. )

Yes, and the Democrat dudes are usually much better looking than the Republican dudes. I do all of my voting based on sex appeal... So of course this election is a no-brainer... John Kerry and John Edwards, with their dashing good looks... and the homoerotic overtones of their campaign... Sexy!

I agree with this too. There should be "legal" marriages (or civil unions) and then there should be "religious" marriages. Gay couples should have the same rights with a legal marriage that a straight couple would have, and I think it should be up to each religion to decide if they want to recognize a gay marriage or not.

"Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died." (from today's plantsdatabase.com newsletter)

Has someone been drinking???

And what do you think about heterosexual people who have committed adultery being allowed to stay married, or to ever marry again? According to your theory, wouldn't that say to the world that adultery is normal? If we're going to talk about gay marriages ruining the institution of marriage, then I think we should take a look at people like JFK and Bill Clinton (and SO many other heterosexual married people who have cheated on their spouses), who in my opinion have already made a complete mockery of marriage anyway.

Define homophobe. Betcha can't without realizing that this non-word is just another distortion of the english language designed to foster normalization of homosexuality. homophobe n : a person who hates or fears homosexual people www.dictionary.com I say that defines it pretty well, without doing anything to "foster normalization of homosexuality." Whether being gay is "normal" or not, a person who fears or hates homosexual people is still a homophobe.

Hmm... Is that why she is now an OLD girlfriend???

We call each other "Baby" most of the time. (Pretty boring, eh?) I sometimes call him "Daddy"... And NO, that is not some sick fantasy... It came about after we got kittens. He calls me "Assmonkey" sometimes when I have been drinking. And I sometimes call him "Penis Breath" just for something different.

Horny Gorilla

I vote for two cats (or kittens) as well. Probably best if you can find two littermates who have always been together... Since you are gone a lot, they'll be much happier having a mate to hang out with during the day. Sorry to hear about your Fatcat. Two frisky kittens are guaranteed to cheer you up though!

That is really cool that you and your son are learning to skydive together.

Sure you should go! I've always thought of Friday the 13th as a good luck day.

I've had my Ford Ranger for six years now and the only problem I've EVER had with it was one busted hose (knock on wood). It is by far the most reliable vehicle I've ever owned.