I can only speak for myself, but one day I just took my then girlfriend into the jewelry store, under the pretense of getting her a watch for her birthday. She knows I am terrible at picking that kind of stuff, so I'll just take her. We happened to pass by the engagement rights and she started looking and making comments about what settings she liked, what styles, and things like that. I just put that info in my back pocket, and went back 6 months later to buy the ring that met what she said she liked combined with what I could afford. She was still surprised by the proposal, but immediately recognized the ring as exactly what she wanted, and loved it.
I remember in college, there was a poster that said "Diamonds....Because she'll pretty much have to" and on the poster was the silhouette of a woman going down on a guy.
Shit son, I got down on one knee...the whole nine yards. It was Christmas and I gave her a big package which was filled with wadded up newspaper and a bottle of Adams peanut butter. She looked at me like I was insane and was all "What the fuck?" I just grinned and said "It's the best peanut butter in the world!" Then she went digging in the wadded up paper and found the ring.
I hid the ring in the box on a light fixture in the dinning room, then told the wife to find it, she wouldn't get off my ass about it so I made her work for the prize. Best part is she is 5'3 and never once looked up, the whole house was destroyed and she finally gave up and asked me to propose.
Told her about it. Instead of confronting him (like I thought/hoped), she freaked out and told my immediate family, who all took my father's side and said there's no way this would happen and that it's all my fault. Half of them want institutionalized (which they can't do). The other half believe I am on drugs (not true) and want a restraining order against me. And this was all just because I hadn't talked to him in over a decade (for the above reasons), his wife heard my wife and I were trying to have kids, and I made my best attempt at explaining to her why he wouldn't be allowed to ever see them. Well, this blew up in my face very quickly!! Blame the victim right?
On a similar note, anyone ever been to Rockport MA? I'll be there in a couple of days and I've never been there before, anything interesting to do?
Holy Shit! I just stumbled across a video on youtube of some buddies of mine from years ago. I knew these guys back in the late 80's and pretty much lost contact sometime in the early 90's. The singer was another buddy's neighbor and with my background in music I just kind of hitched a ride on to their (Supposed) rising star. They were always on the verge of being signed, they were the biggest bar band in Vegas in the late 80's, and they opened for Poison on a Japan tour. I sat in the studio while they recorded their one and only album. They never made it big. A few years ago I exchanged a few e-mails with Dave (The singer) and was a bit dismayed that even in his mid 40's he was still pumped about playing The Whiskey in L.A.. That was cool when we were in our 20's, now not so much. I still listen to their album quite a bit, because it's really fucking good. But anyways, apparently they got together and did a concert here in town in April...at least the two guitarist and the singer, I haven't a clue who the drummer and bass player are. It freaked me out seeing old guys doing the song. One last note: I asked Dave what the fuck "She's got the looks that take control" means and was treated to this explanation: "I was working at the car wash and there was this girl and I was like Whoa! Dude! She's got the looks that take control!" Uh. Ok. Whatever. It's still an awesome song. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyRVjcCnSEg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyRVjcCnSEg</a> EDIT: Someone posted a video of the album version of the song with pics from back in the 80's <a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-NOnAzzQuo" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-NOnAzzQuo</a> EDIT DUEX: Apparently I do know the bass player and drummer, I just didn't recognize them what with their being old and shit.
Whoa! Continuing down my little musical trip down memory lane, I looked up another guy I knew. Ian grew up with me, his father was a guitarist and gave lessons. I occasionally turned to his father to help me break out of a funk and show me something new. Ian was always way so much better then the rest of us and when he moved to L.A. to follow his dream, those of us he left behind in Idaho knew he was destined for bigger things. He was an amazing guitar player. He was in a band called Scratch and they recorded some awesome songs in their basement, and were headliners at The Whiskey. They never got signed. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eMJeUzoJBM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eMJeUzoJBM</a> Like the rest of us, he got old. But apparently, he got signed as a solo act. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEMdRGy5s7I" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEMdRGy5s7I</a> Jesus. I suddenly feel really fucking old.
Apparently you can take a golf cart off roading. Spent the weekend at a wedding at a national park near Georgia (Spirit of Swanee). One of the guests was "that guy." We all know That Guy. Everyone loves him, he's insane, yet capable. He is pure id. The kind of guy that pushes you to go further than your natural instinct tells you. When this group gets together people drop like flies (myself included). I spent a day and a half solidly drunk with about 2 hours sleep. This guy was still going Sunday morning. He is a fucking beast and I miss him dearly. This park has golf carts for rental. $100 down, $25 it's yours. Most people use it to get around to various places in the park. That Guy gets the idea to traverse the trails in the woods... at full speed. Then make new trails. Drunk out of our minds. Fuck roller coasters. Taking a bumpy, tree root and rock laden trail on two wheels as a 400 pound machine almost tips off a cliff into the Swanee River in pitch black without lights (because we were saving battery life, duh) is way better than fucking 6 Flags. "We can't get over this hill, EVERYONE LEAN FORWARD!" People in the back were flying out of the seat. We had the smallest girl on the cart's roof with us holding her legs. Her poor bastard, foreign boyfriend was terrified in the dark with a bunch of drunk dipshits purposely trying to get lost. Awesome. Word got around about our shenanigans where the second night there *everyone* was taking rides. That Guy started his own tour service and actually had a caravan of golf carts following him through the backwoods trails. We stopped using the roads and just cut through the dirt and trees to get anywhere. People were looking at us like "what the fuck?" as we sank empties into trash cans we passed. Last night That Guy got lost, almost beached himself in a dune and had coyotes circling the cart. I am so sorry I missed that. Sunday morning rolls around I swear the other park guests were giving us dirty looks. I noticed our garbage can in front of the cabin was filled with nothing but beer bottles. No food, just beer. Everyone else's cart was in working order, clean. Ours is covered in mud, dead bugs, leaves and branches sticking out of the tires and seats, beer bottles rolling around, a glass of wine we were using as fly paper to see how many bugs we could collect. That Guy still got his deposit back. This place apparently has no rules. My neck is all fucked up. Covered in scrapes and bruises head to toe. Shouldn't get any bacterial infections because I poured beer on the wounds. That's smart. Instinct really. You can't teach that. This group turned an hour long canoe trip into 2 hours because we kept stopping to jump off the 15 foot embankments. Thus my neck getting f'd up because I slipped off one into about a foot of water. Oh, yeah, apparently there was a wedding with a lovely ceremony too. On a serious note, let me paraphrase Philip Roth's The Dying Animal, "When a man makes love to a woman he gets revenge for all the things that defeated him in life." There is little more vindicating than seducing a woman that previously spurned your advances. You've disappeared from each other's lives. 12 years later you reunite. You're learned, charming, funnier; you are confident. One of the sweetest things in your life is falling asleep with her freshly shampooed hair in your face... before TG bursts into your cabin yelling, "WE ALMOST FUCKIN' DIED! FUCKIN' COYOTES, MAN! All these yellow eyes in the darkness following us!" Tl;dr = Drunk in the woods, almost died. Good times.
I'm way too drunk to talk about such a serious topic, but come on TiB, help our friend out. Fuck them and their denial. You know the truth and don't be afraid of dismissing people out of your life if they are poison. It's just DNA.
If this was the outcome, you have nothing left to do but wish bad things on them. You're not going to win or convince them, so I would give the message to your dad something along the lines of "if you come near me again I will kill you." It may give others something to think about. It a shitty deal, so sorry, but the minority never seems to win in these situations.
Y'ever feel that sense of impending pressure? That feeling like you're setting yourself up for badgering or nagging? The boyf... fiance and I were supposed to meet up with the couple that's getting married at the end of the month (the Tetris wedding) to discuss details. Now we learn that it's not just us four, it's also EVERY OTHER COUPLE THEY KNOW WHO HAS KIDS. I know where this is heading and I DO NOT LIKE IT. I'm getting a t-shirt made that says "my uterus is none of your business and its occupancy is not up for debate". Fuck sakes. This is not how I want to spend my holiday.
Tell the them you enjoy free time, spending money, and your amazing boobies exactly where they ate far to much to much to be having children at this point in time.
I'm sure the boyfriend will appreciate seeing his future, snotty noses, crying/badly behaved kids, exhausted parents looking at childless couples with an envious glare. I was at my brothers buddys place last weekend. They have a two year old. It reinforced a few things, kids are all work, and your life is totally devoted to taking care of them. That and they are cesspools and you will get sick all the time. As a nice gift their two year old gave me and my brother a nice cold. I don't really see the upside to it. I've also noticed how people with kids will tell you how great it is and how when you have your own you'll think differently. I call bullshit on this. If I have a kid, I'll take care of it etc etc, however, it will always be work I'm sure. When I come back from work I don't want to work more.
Aaaaaaaand my neighbour just busted out his impact driver to build some brand new monstrosity. Fuck almighty, this was supposed to be my day to chill out, masturbate, and learn to play music from Street Fighter. At least being bombarded with children and auditory rape from power tools is a hell of a lot better than whatever-the-fuck is happening in the other thread here. Jesus. Some of you people embarrass me.
I went on that thread to nuke the blog author's planet from orbit, not have it degenerate into another dead-end feminist debate. Is it so much to ask we just plain make fun of some schmuck for an entire thread and pray for his death like we're supposed to? These people are morons. It's our fucking jobs to point out their shortcomings and lies.