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.
My husband and I have been married for about a year and a half (together for a total of seven years). Other than a few flings/torrid one night affairs, I was never serious with anyone else. Alright, I’ll cut to the chase. Things are not as I thought they would be. It is not like I grew up with parents that had a fairy tale marriage, the Cleavers we were not. I can’t help but be concerned for my own marriage, things just don’t “seem” right. In my opinion people recently married and in their 20’s should be “hitting the sheets.” I know there isn’t another woman… Yeah yeah I know what they say but I KNOW. Needless to say the bed is far from hot and my thoughts are beginning to wander. My concern is what to do — pretty soon my thoughts won’t be all that are wandering… Any pearls of wisdom?
— Restless Lola
Dear Lola,
As far as hot sex is concerned, I don’t see how any couple can keep up with those crazy Cleavers. That was TV, not reality. Let go of the impossible standards.
Okay, now that I’ve gotten the wisecrack out of my system, let me suggest something the Cleavers didn’t have: counseling. Don’t worry about “should be”s; worry about — and trust — how you feel. If something’s wrong, do try to fix it. But if something’s missing in your bed, don’t look for it in someone else’s. That’s something Eddie Haskell would do, not you.
Do women reach their sexual peak in their thirties? That’s what folks say, often employing a saucy reference to (SPEAKING OF OLD) Sex and the City.
But an upbeat post at Your Tango begs to differ. Outing the original source of that old young wives tale (Kinsey, we’re looking at you!), it explains that actually each stage/decade of a woman’s sexual life offers a different set of advantages.
Although columnist/sex expert Dr. Trina Read oversimplifies the post-menopausal stage a bit, recent studies in both endocrinology and psychology (especially the work of Dr. Rossella Nappi) suggest that post-menopausal women do have problems with lowered desire and higher dysfunction, but can take measuresto overcome these problems and enjoy good sex for the rest of their lives.
Filed under: Celebrities,TV — posted by Breakup Girl @ 8:42 am
A tribute to the dear departed quirktastic Idol with a voice even bigger than her glasses.
1. Siobhan pre-Idol (say what?), in a reality web-series (come again?) about the making of her high-school’s Oz show (really??) in which she hints at family tragedy (no!!!!) and how she has to care for her little sisters (awwww!!). (This will explain her emotion on the April 6 show.)
2. Siobhan did go to college at Salem State (not making it into Berklee) (Yet Ashley Rodriguez did?), but dropped out after a semester. Her mom was laid off from the bookstore and Siobhan became the primary breadwinner. This pre-top-24 interview makes it sound like dinner is not always a certainty in the Magnus household.
Breakup Girl
is the superhero whose domain is LOVE or the lack thereof!
Her blog combines new comics, observations and dating news with
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