Boo

Well, Paras, if you can see this, it worked. Logging in did.

And now, off to swim! I expect general problems of awkwardness and hyper-wheel-ism (and, while you're at it, throw in world peace and the removal of Stockwell Day from public office) to have been solved by the time I get back home late tomorrow night. I believe in you all!

Anyone want to do some beta testing for me? I've rearranged some code, and it seems to work, but given my past history of troublesome code, I figured I ought not deploy it live too soon. If you're interested, just try out your posting and editting here.

Official cookie of people whose face we don't know?:

Yeah, well, Indian parents have their own version of that pressure (which my brother is well into right now), and it's measurably more direct than the "you should date your sister's friends" variety. Something to look forward to, I suppose...

Didn't the Game of Life have a spinner? I seem to recall the novelty of a spinner. Am I crazy?

Not to scare people and force them into a panic but maybe we should do something before Leo leaves. Kind of last minute notice, but you guys can figure something out. I have to rack my brain against a wellhead for a while.

okay, Albert, I understand what you're going through, but to hell with your parents. And I mean that in the nicest way, but I still mean it. They have no right to try and pressure you, or cow you into some sort of a relationship for the purpose of creating heirs. What business is it of theirs? Sure, in the end, most parents want to see their kids grow up, get jobs, get married and procreate, but it's not like you're a failure at 25, or 28 or 32 if you don't have a spouse and kids.

I really think people need to get a bit of perspective on things some times. What's more important, one's child being in a happy, productive and secure place, or them producing grandbabies? Not that you can't have both, but I think it's unfair to decide that, obviously, since you've graduated from university and found a steady job, you are ready to settle down, marry and bring forth multitudes of children. Who cares how old your parents are, they can wait until you're ready to have those grandchildren, if you choose to have them.

yes, i'm a bit of a crank, and i had a super long discussion on abortion yesterday evening (whoa, heavy subject for a drive...) and i'm tired of getting those sideways hints from my family and perhaps my uterus is speaking up here too...

I don't think it's fair to assume that every person out there is going to go down the same track as everyone else, in the same order, at the same pace, or the same time. Just because some of your friends are married, just because your parents had kids at your age, just because some people are financially secure at 23 doesn't mean you have to be any of those. ... not that i'm advocating living on your parent's dime and in their basement at the age of 40, but ... you know what I mean?

You, I, all of us have so much time left in our lives that it's hardly fair to expect and/or pressure us to start playing the Game of Life at the same pace as everyone else, and/or expect you to complete the game in the same way as everyone else. I mean, come on. Just because everyone else is rolling 5's and 7's doesn't mean your constant stream of 2's won't eventually get you to the finish line. (that was an example of the most recent round I played in which everyone else was married and buying houses and i was still in college... sound familiar? scarrily, i ended up with five children, i'm hoping that part doesn't come true!)

I don't know, I think the parental pressure to find someone kind of makes me feel that way. You know they aren't getting any younger, and I think they want to see some grandkids.

a real billboard in Houston



"Hi Steven,

Do I have your attention now?

I know all about her, you dirty, sneaky, immoral, unfaithful, poorly-endowed slimeball. Everything's caught on tape.

Your (soon-to-be-ex) Wife,
Emily

p.s. I paid for this billboard out of OUR joint bank account."