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What sanctimonious crap, just because I have no offspring does not me I have no legacy. As to the point of lonely older people, my plan is (and This was a considered thing) when I'm older if I feel the need to play granpop, I'll join adopt a Granny, or some other such program. Moreover I have nieces and nephews who some of which will no doubt produce something resembling small humans Why am I not surprised to see that you have missed the point? Just a couple notes... you can indeed leave a "legacy" if you are childless. Unfortunately, it will likely be difused and probably not of much note. But again, you have sort of missed the point. YOUR specific legacy, squeak, may be different since, as I've mentioned earlier, I find your profession highly praiseworthy (in spite of you thinking I'm full of "sanctimonious crap" ) As for what I bolded in your post, what the hell do you think they'll have if not human beings, tadpoles? I miss Lee. And JP. And Chris. And...

can you elaborate? i'm not familiar w/ your reference. I miss Lee. And JP. And Chris. And...

Well, someone could make the (valid) point that in this context alone, having kids would be an extremely selfish thing, just so that you are not alone... as if it is only about you... but I get what you're saying I think, that this is not THE only reason for having kids but rather it is a secondary (albeit an important) reason. as I said in an earlier post, children embue married life. I don't think there is any more sublime way to say I love you to your spouse than to actually want to create another "them," some sort of almagamation of the two of you, yet a third person, unique and unrepeatable in their own real way. I miss Lee. And JP. And Chris. And...

See, my stategy all along has been to have the wife-unit squeeze as many puppies out as possible. The way I see it, I'm bound to screw up w/ some of the kids. By having many of them, I'm just hedging my bets that I'll have at least ONE of them to take care of me when I'm old and back in diapers instead of locking me away in a nursing home. I miss Lee. And JP. And Chris. And...

sorry to hear about another migraine sufferer. The photosensitivity, naussea all sound like classic migraines. I've had them since age 14, I'm 36 now. I've had the whole compliment of meds... I've tried all the triptans (imitrex, maxalt, zomig, amerg, etc...) none work for me. For years, what worked for me was periactin, taken 5 times per day. when that stopped working, what worked for a number of years more was a combination of depakote (yes, the bipolar drug!) and nortriptyline (yes, the old antidepressant!). The only prob was dry mouth and weight gain. After a few years, that stopped working too. Now, I'm having good success w/ topomax. the only real draw back to it is that it sometimes makes me forget names and words... neurologists often call it "dope-amax" for that very reason... it makes those who take it feel a little dopey and stupid at times. But, I'll take it over having debilitating migraines. Best of luck to Chris in finding something that works - fast! I miss Lee. And JP. And Chris. And...

On the tube this past week, while travelling, I saw a show that highlighted the case of a woman who got some jimson weed mixed in w/ her lettuce that she had planted in her gargen. The folks in the ER had NO idea what was wrong w/ her or how to treat her and they thought she was just going to die. It was quite a story. Do you really want some? I miss Lee. And JP. And Chris. And...

you raise a very good point... of course there will be those who argue that there are plenty of parents whose kids are unhappy and one shouldn't have kids in hopes that you're surrounded by loved ones when you are dying... still, these detractors won't negate the value of your post. and that brings another related point... one of Legacy... what legacy will you be leaving if you are a childless couple? It's an important question I think. I miss Lee. And JP. And Chris. And...

well dolph, as I said in my posts here, this is all my opinion. if you don't agree with it, then you don't agree with it. I stand by my remarks and again state it's my view that marriage is DESIGNED for the creation of a family. The question shouldn't be, IMO, "why should we have kids" but rather, "why shouldn't we have kids?" If the answer is just that you want to spend your life playing, I hope you'll forgive me if I have a hard time seeing that as anything but shallow. Remember, I'm looking at this from the other side of the fence. I've had the recreational life and compared to having a family, it is sorely lacking. I miss Lee. And JP. And Chris. And...

The world doesn't care if Catholics get offended dude....haven't you heard. Unless you're Muslim, Jewish, or a Scientologist, the world won't demand apologies for relgious insensitivies. Well said, my friend. I hope your recovery continues w/o too much pain and frustration. I miss Lee. And JP. And Chris. And...

Are you seriously trying to call cochese's prophane, disrespectful comments "deliberate opinion?" If so, that would be laughable if it first didn't leave me speechless. As for respecting your personal believes against the perpetual virginity of Mary, what ISN'T there to respect? They're YOUR beliefs, they belong to YOU. Therefore they ARE worthy of respect. All we ask is that in presenting them you don't denegrate OUR beliefs and offend us in the process. You obviously haven't done that, but cochese has. Can you see that? Gawain's post on this is apropop, for certain... I miss Lee. And JP. And Chris. And...

OMG, that was too funny! Thanks for helping me cover my screen w/ milk this morning, John. I miss Lee. And JP. And Chris. And...

you're a funny girl. post them pics girl. I miss Lee. And JP. And Chris. And...

Had to resurrect this... Not true, my friend, not true. I agree w/ skydivexxl on this. I saw it in Ft. Wayne this week while on business, mostly b/c there was nothing else worthy of my 10 bucks. I was skeptically optimistic that Stone WASN'T going to pull the same political shit he's done in so many of his other movies. But the original poster is write... He DID indeed pull it off in this flick. It's not over the top. The music is not overly dramatic, most of the time it's simple piano or cello or the like. No political agenda that I could see. No revisionism going on. Just the story of tragedy and heroes. It was beautifully done. I was a little worried of it just rehashing the events of the actual day... it wasn't that. It was really like a family diary of two Port Authority Police officers who were trapped, played very well by N Cage and M Pena (from Crash). The theatre was not very full, and those who were in it, like myself, were openly crying. It was very, very moving. At the end, it was all I could do to sit there and watch the credits and cry. I didn't want to see it initially, but I'm glad I did. In my mind, old Oli has redeemed himself. I miss Lee. And JP. And Chris. And...

Yeah, some of you know what I'm talkin about... Jimson Weed, aka Datura stramonium. Turns out I have a fair bit of it on my farm. From what I'm told, the cows we'll soon be buying are smart enough to avoid it, but humans, well... humans often aren't as smart as cows, believe it or not. Evidentally a fair number of homo sapiens of the adolescent type like to experiment w/ this stuff for it's hallucinogenic properties. However, the weed is pretty low on the dependence-causing quotient, since it's deliterious side-effects FAR outway any "high" that the wayward youth may be seeking. From Wikipedia... "There is a mnemonic for the physiological effects of datura/atropine intoxication: "blind as a bat, mad as a hatter, red as a beet, hot as a hare, dry as a bone, the bowel and bladder lose their tone, and the heart runs alone." The actual effects are reported to be: cycloplegia and mydriasis (extreme dilation of the pupil), flushed, warm and dry skin, dry mouth, urinary retention and ileus (slowing or stopping of intestinal movement), rapid heart beat, hypertension or hypotension, and choreoathetosis/jerky movements. In case of overdose the effects are hyperthermia, coma, respiratory arrest, and seizures. The vast majority of atropine-poisoning cases are accompanied by delirium with hallucinations." The effects of Datura have been described as a living dream: consciousness falls in and out, people who don't exist or are miles away are conversed with etc. The effects can last for days. Tropane alkaloids are some of the few substances which cause true hallucinations which cannot be distinguished from reality. This is unlike psylocybin or LSD, which only cause sensory distortions. The doses that cause noticeable effects, and the doses that can kill are very close with datura. This makes overdosing on Datura stramonium very easy. This can be fatal; it can cause fevers in the 105-110 range which is a range that can kill brain cells, and lead to brain damage. There are many instances of teenagers looking for a cheap high poisoning themselves to death on datura. If someone overdoses on datura it is advised to cause vomiting, to wash out his or her stomach, and to get the person hospitalized immediately. If taken recreationally, the Datura experience seems almost identical from person to person. After ingestion, the user does not notice any conscious effects, no matter how bizarre, for quite a while, which is why overdoses are so common; most people redose, thinking it's not working, when in fact they're passing an imaginary cigarette to an imaginary friend. According to some reports, Datura causes very similar experiences from person to person; often effects are not noticed at all until an unsuspecting user realizes that he or she was hallucinating. Some users have reported seeing an array of people from their lives. A few anecdotal reports also mention the user's perception of "phantom cigarettes"; the person believes that he or she is smoking a cigarette only to find that it has disappeared later, thus realizing that it never existed. At the peak of such experiences users often enter a true psychotomimetic state, in which they "lose touch with reality" altogether; at this point, many find it difficult or impossible to communicate with others. in one instance a person reported seeing demons and hearing demonic speach A majority of users who have written reports on experiences with this drug have described those experiences as unpleasant and often terrifying. This is possibly due to their having taken excessive doses. The powerful effects of Datura continue until the body metabolizes the tropane alkaloids." Nasty stuff, this Jimson Weed. I'm on a mission to eradicate it from my land. It would be truly tragic for one of my kids to get a hold of it. They are currently being educated about it. I miss Lee. And JP. And Chris. And...

while i respect this comment as your opinion, i whole-heartedly disagree. why should someone give up their recreational lifestyle for children if they don't want to? who are they being selfish to? in order to be selfish there has to be someone that you have put yourself in front of. IMO, I would say they are being selfish to themselves and their spouse. But again, it has to do with how we define marriage and what we believe its purpose is. If you have kids, then hopefully you know how they fulfill a marriage, how they bring a marriage to a sort of fruition. They embellish it and embue it with so much more life and vitality that the relationship otherwise wouldn't have. To deny oneself and the spouse of that great gift JUST for the sake of the pursuit of fleeting recreational pleasure, to me, is the height of selfishness. I miss Lee. And JP. And Chris. And...

Don't worry cochese, I will. It takes a lot more than you to ruin it. I miss Lee. And JP. And Chris. And...

I have no problem with your offense at religion, particularly mine. My beliefs, quite frankly, have little to do with this. What we're talking about is YOUR extreme lack of decorum in a public forum. Just b/c something offends your delicate sensibilities (the faith of Catholics) should not give you license to slew venomous garbage about a highly revered person in the faith of over a billion people. That is an extremely lame and immature reason. And you know it. I miss Lee. And JP. And Chris. And...

as with most topics, there are good motives for having kids and bad motives for having kids. there are, on the other side of the coin, good motives for not wanting kids and bad motives for not wanting kids. doesn't it really go back to this question? "What is marriage for?" I'm frazing (alternative spelling alert!) it this way since it's traditionally in the context of marriage that people actually choose to have kids. i don't think there's any doubt (well, there probably is on here though) that most would agree that one of the fundamental ends of marriage is the begetting of children. however, as has been said, there are many valid reasons why a couple would choose NOT to have kids and they shouldn't be judged for that. Maybe their background WAS frought with tragedy and violence and abuse and the prospect of bringing that up through the raising kids is too much for them. Or, they may fear that the world is just too evil to bring kids into it. I think that's a bit skewed, but it's their decision to make, not mine. That having been said, if a couple doesn't want kids just because it would f*ck up their recreational lifestyle, sorry folks, but that's selfish in my opinion. Probably better they DIDN"T have kids, at least at this time, lest the kids suffer at the hands of "more important" material possessions. On the side of people wanting kids, same story... far too often it is seen that a couple - or perhaps just one side of the couple - wants kids for the wrong reasons... either to help "fix" a failing marriage or b/c they want that "perfect family" of one boy, one girl, a dog and a house in the burbs. Kids aren't possessions, they're human beings. They should be desired for that reason and that reason only, b/c of the good they have in and of themselves, intrinsically! All this to say... many of you know my wife and I have 4 kids. We would very much like to have more. Many here think that's crazy and would likely be the same ones who don't want aspersions cast upon them for NOT wanting children. So if YOU want to have YOUR choice, we want ours too. It's not an uncommon occurance at all for people to make underhanded, insulting comments to us about our "choices" regarding the size of our family. For example, I was in my company's North American headquarters a couple of weeks ago and one of my superiors and I were talking about kids and she asked how many I have. When she heard me say that I had 4 kids, she said, "you and your wife are slow learners, aren't you." The insult is quite obvious, isn't it. As if no "smart" person, no person w/ average intelligence would actually CHOOSE to subject themselves to the tortures of having (gasp!) FOUR CHILDREN! My reply was, "oh quite the contrary, we learn very quickly! We found out early on that we enjoy both the cause and the effect and we intend to keep going!" I guess it goes both ways, doesn't it. People judging others characters for the choices they make in life. While it is certainly true that some choices are wrong, we don't often know why people do what they do and we certainly shouldn't be looking down their noses for why they may do what they do. For me, my wife and I will continue to try and have a large family. That is our love, that is our joy. Having children has been the best part of my life thus far. My life has never been so enriched as it is now. I've travelled the world, jumped from planes, climbed mountains, and met popes - two of them. Nothing is like being a parent. But that's just me. I miss Lee. And JP. And Chris. And...

Congratulations. But, doesn't your husband deserve more praise than God in this? What did God have to do with you getting pregnant? Because Christians (most anyway) believe that the act of procreation b/t humans is not merely a biological one, one reduced to simply a joining of the gamates resulting in offspring. OTOH, Christians believe (again, most of them) that in the sacred act of the marital embrace, God is also truly present at the act of conception and imbues or endows the child with a soul - this is what makes the act a truly sacred one and, BTW, is the first basis for Christians to protest the great indignity of abortion, both to the mother and to the baby. So, while biologically her husband "got" her pregnant, her God was also actively present in the moment and blessed them with a unique, unrepeatable human being. And that, my friend is reason indeed to praise God from the rooftops! I miss Lee. And JP. And Chris. And...

People praying to a chunk of chocolate is something I find tremendously funny and worthy of recognition. Much to the chagrin of intelligent Christians everywhere. Just remember how intelligence is distributed. Recall the bell curve? Contrary to what the modern day cultural elitists lead you to believe, IQ has a normative distribution even among (GASP!) Christians and does not discriminate based on religious belief. There will be dumb ones in the lower tail, the majority will be in the middle, and there will be brilliant ones in the other tail. And yes, I see those of you who have a disdain for Christians rolling your eyes and having a little chuckle over this, thinking that intelligence in the Christian community is, on the other hand a skewed distribution w/ everyone lumped around a very low mean. May Our Lady of the Chocolate Bunny (or whatever it was) smite you! I miss Lee. And JP. And Chris. And...

you're welcome. there's more i wanted to say, but i didn't want to give the poster - or the subject matter - any further attention than they deserve, as you so rightly commented in your post. i think we all could use this as a reminder, ME INCLUDED, that ya know, there are some topics that just shouldn't be the source of an attempt at "humor." This is obvoiusly one of them. (That's assuming, of course, that the poster was, in fact, attempting to be funny.) I miss Lee. And JP. And Chris. And...

i'm taking your comments as somewhat tongue-in-cheeck, and i sincerely hope that was your intent. still, for catholics, such comments as yours can easily be very offensive to others. sangiro once really took me to task for making a joke about "dumb christians in the south," by posting a photograph of a church marque that had the slogan of that cable-guy comedian on it, "git-r-done," somewhat even making fun of myself, since my beliefs have been quite public on this website. I wonder if you'll get any fustigation for your (far more inflammatory) comments, even thinly veiled in humor, as you may think they are. I miss Lee. And JP. And Chris. And...

I'm weeping. Is nothing sacred anymore? The terrorists have really won. I miss Lee. And JP. And Chris. And...

is she sleeping in my bed? i hope you washed the sheets! I miss Lee. And JP. And Chris. And...

You must've hit her on the back when she was making that face, now the poor bird is stuck like that forever! I miss Lee. And JP. And Chris. And...