Mystery dates ain't what they used to be.

Hormones, body changes on top of all the above mentioned. I think that's just about the age that I caved in.

I lost my taste for this event after Shrub yucked it up in 2004 about WMDs.

Of course. I just have found that some people absolutely refuse to onsider the possibility of guilt on the part of a loved one, even to the point of lying or covering for them when there's dodgy stuff there. I've been on a binge of true-crime reading, and it astounds me that people will clam up when they know for a…

I've just seen enough Jeckyl/Hyde cases in my life where seemingly fine people turned out to have done horrible things that shocked everyone who knew him/her.

But even people who are loved by you are capable of awful things. You can love an support someone, but there's no justice in not at least considering someone's story just because they're accusing someone close to you.

Good god, calm down. Talk about quibbling over nothing.

I discovered hard cider in London in 86, on my first trip out of the US. Loved it, and was then thrilled to discover that my local liquor store in Sunnyside (NYC) stocked a very respectable version. Now I live in Spain and a totally different but just as enjoyable type of cider is drunk here, and it's great with…

I leave my stepladder set up in my bedroom about a halfway between my bed and the closet, which has shelves at the top. Cat jumps up to the shelves to chill out and sleep, jumps down to the bed, about 20 times a day. Much cheaper than a cat tree.

Right? Even if it were my own.

Most of the Spanish I've met here have never been to Portugal. Go figure.

I live in Madrid and have met plenty of people who haven't been to Barcelona or Valencia or Seville (each city only a few hours away.) Country and city people. It's not just the US. Some people just don't leave home.

And as an aside: a lot of people in other countries complain that Americans don't travel as much as they could, don't get to know the rest of the world, etc. I live in Europe and I always point out that we don't get much vacation time, and just keeping up with our immediate family, who may live in a number of states…

That is what intelligent, responsible, mature people do in tough times. Now what three adjectives don't apply to this couple?

I've had crap comments about my weight at gyms and on the street, and it never would have ocurred to me to assume that she was ignorant of or insensitive to such bullying. Try to direct your active fantasy life in a more positive direction. (Oh, and the puppies. She wears boots, so she must kick puppies.)

No, I'm not blaming anyone and "othering" is one of the more charmingly meaningless expressions I've come across lately. I'm not her, I'm me, and I base my judgements on what I see and experience. And you don't know me, or what I've lived through, so don't presume to interpret my intentions. But thank you. You…

I'm not at all blaming the victim here. I'm just explaining my own hypersensitivity. Nothing in what I said indicated that I thought she should do the same. However, I think you for the gratuitous attack.

And this is why I don't meet with a new client/student without having Googled them, looked at Facebook/LinkedIn, whatever, insisted on a home address, land line if possible, put the meeting on my Google calendar, let someone know where I am and double-confirm the appointment. God knows I don't date strangers.

Though I must add, yeah, I'm more inclined to go right down, a lot, when I'm in a stable and committed relationship.