It's TOE the line, everyone! Not "tow." Meaning, to put your toes exactly on the line in the sand, so everyone knows where you stand. NOT meaning to drag a rope behind you.

I just saw this in an actual news article and it pushed me over my limit. No offense to anybody here. But also, please don't tell me how petty I am for being annoyed by misuse of words. I get to complain once a year. (New rule I just made up.)

People seem to have this idea that Social Security is their private savings account. That is not what it is. It certainly doesn't qualify as "earned income," either, according to the way the IRS defines that. It is, in fact, a benefit provided by the federal government from taxes that have been collected.

Oh, and income tax is as constitutional as the 16th amendment.

Rawrr, you have an estate??

"Friends," right.

I don't believe people have a choice about their sexual preferences, be it male, female, both, neither, or anything else you care to imagine. Whoever said women "choose" their sexuality while men do not must have been a man.

Why can't people just leave other people's sex lives alone? As long as nobody is getting hurt, what's it to anybody else?

You AND YOUR KIDS deserve to be with a better man than this. A man who actually loves you and respects you in both word AND deed. If you aren't married to him, which it doesn't sound to me like you are, then I think you should start looking for someone who is more mature. This guy is not a good role model of a father for your children.

Well, I don't have agoraphobia but I have phone anxiety. I dread making phone calls to anyone, including my daughter who I know loves me. As you said with agoraphobia, it has a lot to do with loss of control. The best way I've found to deal with it is to just accept it as a fact and then tell myself that I have to make this call, whether I'm anxious about it or not. I focus on the task to be done instead of how I feel about it. Also I think about how I'll feel afterward if I do make the call (relieved and a tiny bit proud of myself) versus if I don't (depressed and even more anxious about next time).

That's the only thing I know how to do, maybe it would work for you. Good for you for being determined to not let it rule your life.

Maybe if you stopped bragging about the way you look, you wouldn't have this problem.

Nobody ever went wrong underestimating the education or intelligence of Americans.

You're welcome.

-P.T. Barnum

That was a hoax. All done by CGI.

I think what you're doing is right. It can take a long time to meet someone on line, though. The longer someone has been on line, the more cautious they tend to be (if they're smart). So I would say just keep looking, keep trying, but be patient.

That's an interesting article, but it's still too early to know anything definite. But the article is talking about physical pain, and I'm not sure how that would be connected with emotions. He obviously had other emotional problems, though. Very, very sad.

My parents were very undemonstrative. I always assumed that my mother decided pretty soon that she had made a mistake, but had too much pride to admit it. Plus, people didn't get divorced in those days.

I remember going to a friend's house one time and being stunned to discover that her parents didn't have separate rooms. What could that mean!!!! (I had no idea, I was just a kid, but it seemed slightly scandalous.)

If you think there are idiots posting, then maybe you should jump in and lessen the percentage.

Plus, I second what Metalwing said about your profile.

Er, it should be fairly easy to find out if this accident did occur.

Let's think about this a moment. You e-mail some woman and tell her she's gorgeous. What is she supposed to say in return? "Oh, I know, everyone says that"? "What's wrong with you, I'm not gorgeous"? Neither of those has much of a future as conversation, do they?

I suppose you'd like to hear, "Oh my, how sweet of you to say so, no one has ever told me that before. You're so gorgeous, too." Well, on the minuscule chance that would ever happen, you STILL don't have a conversation going.

Say something that has a future in it, and remember any woman who has been on here for any length of time has probably gotten a good number of insincere emails and nudges and whatnot from guys who only want sex.

Telling her something about yourself, and asking something about her, are the best ways to go.

For some reason I just discovered this forum today. Guess I'm blinder than I thought.

This question is actually more interesting than I first thought. Saying "physical proof" is one thing, but what the heck kind of proof would it be? Raising people from the dead, walking on water, I mean, most of these things you'd automatically think of as some kind of magic trick. But the real point is, are they what's really "the point" about God? God is a pretty large concept, especially the "all knowing" part. I can't even think how you could test that. This is the problem I've always had with God. By definition, it's beyond our power to grasp.

I think you should make one "final decision" and say HELL NO.

Dear Santa,

I don't really want anything from you, but if you'd like to come get drunk at my New Year's party with a bunch of loud poets, you're invited. You may bring ONE reindeer.