My boyfriend and I have been dating for the past six months. He is a sweet, intelligent, smart, funny guy, but he treats me like I’m God. He never disagrees and falls at my feet. Every other word out of his mouth is “I love you! You are beautiful!” and that’s it!!! I think without these words he would have nothing to say at all. I know most women would die to have a man like this but, personally, I feel like I’m encased in a tomb! How can I tell him that too much of a good thing IS bad, and that we need to stop things before they get any worse…?
I’ve been in a relationship for seven years. And we’ve been through a lot — his stint in the army and subsequent time in rehab (drugs and alcohol and the army, don’t get me started), his messed-up family, and some of my stuff, too. We’ve been living together for a little over a year now, and have even discussed marriage … and then he drops a bomb: “I think I might be gay.”
My boyfriend of three years has no clue what to do as far as romance, gifts, and manners. I love him a lot and we want to get married someday, but I’m not so sure. I can’t count on him, and every holiday when we get each other stuff, he puts no thought into the gifts and gets me the cheapest thing he can find (even leaves the price tag on stuff). I put a lot of thought into his gifts and I try to be as sweet and thoughtful as I can, I have even tried to give him tips ….? What to do?
I’ve been dating a woman for nine months. I have three kids that live with me and she has a daughter who is eight years old. We get along well and have a lot in common, except her daughter drives me crazy. She is the “typical only child,” constantly demanding everyone’s attention when she is in a room and ruling her mother’s life. I’m not sure how far I want this to go…but if I want it to go further, how do I handle the eight-year-old tyrant? Thanks.
— Gonzo Dadio
Dear Gonzo,
Other way around. Decide if you want it to go further; then worry about Curly Sue. Only if you think you’re able to make a commitment to this woman will you have some say in the daughter’s behavior — and some confirmation that you’re not using it as an let’s-keep-one-foot-out excuse. If you want to, you can work it out. I mean, I’m a typical only child, and my dad seems fine so far.
I met a lady online last June and we hit it off and met in August. In October she let me know while visiting her that she just wanted to be friends. We had gotten pretty tight up ’til then and it hurt like hell. My problem is that during the courtship I gave her some keepsakes and some gifts. I told her when she knew I wasn’t “the one” that all she has to do was return the keepsakes and everything would be cool. Well it is now March and no keepsakes (pics from my childhood and a plaster cast of my hand at 2 weeks old). We talk occasionally and I have been politely letting her know that returning them will help me get closure. She has given me no other indication that she wants anything else. What should I do?
— Want It Over With in KC
Dear KC,
Tell her you’re coming over for the keepsakes; then make yourelf a sign that says: FOR PETE’S SAKE, DON’T KEEP YOUR KEEPSAKES AT YOUR GIRLFRIEND’S HOUSE. Then cast it in plaster.
What are the implications for Breakup Girl readers? Well, no implications, really, just an excuse to run a blog post about chimps. And this goofball graphic.
Seattle: no longer sonic, but still pretty super. Humanity FTW!
Thursday was shaping up to be just another school day for 13-year-old Erik Martin, but then something extraordinary happened: Spider-Man called.
Spider-Man happens to be one of the few people who knows that Erik, too, has a secret identity — he’s Electron Boy, a superhero who fights the powers of evil with light.
And Spider-Man needed Erik’s help.
Erik, who is living with liver cancer, has always wanted to be a superhero. On Thursday, the regional chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation granted him that wish with an elaborate event that involved hundreds of volunteers in Bellevue and Seattle.
The local chapter, which serves four states, grants more than 300 wishes every year to children with life-threatening medical conditions, but only a few of them involve so many participants.
Pulling off a wish like this one required a big story, and a lot of heart. And so, with a note of panic in his voice, Spider-Man explained the dilemma: “Dr. Dark” and “Blackout Boy” had imprisoned the Seattle Sounders in a locker room at Qwest Field. Only Electron Boy could free them.
As if I even have to tell you to click here to read [& weep over] the rest.
(And now can Electron Boy save us from evil corporate stadium names? Just saying.)
Back in 2000, when Breakup Girl fought love crimes out of the halls of Oxygen Media and had her own Just Friends League that was actually paid, there was one pre-(re)launch late night that can only be described as Hanson-fueled. Still ensconced in the internet bubble, a carefree, impromptu post-midnight dance party erupted to the strains of Mmmbop echoing throughout the space-age, Bond-villain-like offices of O2. Since that memorable night — probably typical of internet startups — Hanson have been the musical patron saints of breakupgirl.net. If Hanson are our patron saints, then Siobhan Magnus is our wood nymph, and with her off of AI, the magic has disappeared from our Tuesday nights.
Siobhan’s own, very public, love for Hanson has created a bit of a resurgence of interest in the boys, which is definitely the case around here. (And they’ve been nice enough to return that love to her!) Free from the constraining theme nights and short cleared-song-lists of American Idol, the world finally got to hear Siobhan singing (and playing!) Hanson music, when she had dinner at the If I Can Dream house.
There are full videos of A Song To Sing, Use Me Up and I Will Come To You on YouTube but they have been taken from Friday night’s stream of the house’s closed circuit cameras and the audio is not nearly as good. The LA Times has a full recap of her visit here.
e-mail to a friend in need
Using kid gloves on 
If you think hot monkey love comes easily to primates, think again. Chimps–whose human-like use of an 
Seattle
