Yo! Don't blame me!

I think it really is the cost of college degrees, and the perceived PRESTIGE of going to certain colleges, plus the idea that we should "do what we love" and "follow our dreams" and "you can be anything you want to be". That's a lot of bull that we should quit telling our children.

I went to a public university with a merit scholarship that paid a little under half of my tuition. My parents paid the rest, and while I worked part-time, my parents also helped with my living expenses. But I remember going to the Bursar's office to pay my quarterly tuition. Subtracting the scholarship, I was writing a check for about $350 every quarter--which means that if I was carrying a full load of credits 3/4 quarters, my tuition and costs were around $1800/year, not counting books and living expenses. Wow--how things have changed! and I've been out of undergrad for around 18 years.

When I went to graduate school, I chose specifically by how much money the school offered me. I went to another public university where I received a full tuition grant plus a stipend for teaching--so my Master's degree was paid for. I don't even know how much it cost. While there, I changed my major to something a little more practical than literature (which was my original concentration) and now, about 16 years out of graduate school I am still working in that field (and have never been without a job).

Do I love my job? No. Do I like my job? Most of the time. But in any case it subsidizes the things I DO love, and gives me a modicum of security (and good benefits, and a 401K, etc.) And it keeps me from having to watch daytime television.

I think we should be telling our children to pick something they can do that will make them independent. Not necessarily rich. Some people are lucky enough to be able to make enough money doing what they love. MOST people won't be that lucky, or that skilled. Most people will have to make some compromises. The key is to make the compromises that you will regret the least, and find an avocation that your vocation subsidizes.

to TV commercials!

What happened to getting up and doing something while the commercial is on?

The last Volkswagen commercial I even noticed was the one where the two guys are driving in the desert and stop at this roadside-diner type place, and buy sushi. Which they then put in the glove compartment. Yes, it was advertising the cooled glove compartment. And my thought was "they really think people will buy a car because of THIS feature?"

Although I suppose some will.

When I was watching Slutskaya's post-skate interview, I THOUGHT I noticed a tongue piercing, but since I didn't see it again, I thought I was imagining things. Thanks for mentioning it!

And yes, I really liked her costume as well. It really suited her body type, and made her look really athletic instead of silly-frilly girly.

Dude! If you don't want a videotape of you getting a blowjob from a stripper getting around, umm, DON'T VIDEOTAPE YOURSELF GETTING A BLOWJOB FROM A STRIPPER!

'Nuf said.

Forgive my ignorance, but the point of that would be...?

Clooney has more gravitas and is more openly political than Witherspoon (AFAIK, she's not political at all). AND he's older.

And Witherspoon's dress was one of the nicer ones.

At awfulplasticsurgery.com, they think she's had a boob job. Check out the before and after pictures there.

Or maybe it's been addressed later on (I haven't read all the letters). But the vitriol that's been spewed about this man not wanting to take financial responsibility for this unplanned child surprises me.

I DO know women who, consciously or unconsciously, have gotten pregnant "accidentally" in order to keep men in their lives. The guy's ex-girlfriend said a very telling thing--(I quote from the article:

Dubay's ex-girlfriend, Lauren, echoed many critics when she told "Good Morning America," "Everybody knows where babies come from. And it was [Dubay's] choice before the child was even conceived. That was where his choice was."

Excuse me? He thought there was no chance of their getting pregnant because SHE TOLD HIM SHE COULDN'T!!! He was in a relationship with this women. Theoretically, he ought to have been able to trust her when she said "I can't get pregnant". So did she lie to him? If she did, then she did a despicable thing. Did she make an honest mistake and then was overjoyed to find that she COULD get pregnant? In that case, having the baby was her decision, and her decision alone, and he should not be liable for that decision.

The gentlemanly thing for him to do is to pay the child support. Of course it is. He comes across as kind of a weasel for not wanting to do it. But IMO, since it WAS her decision, she should not be ASKING for child support.

(oh, and I am not some embittered man screwed by women at every turn. I'm a single woman with no children. But I've always thought that if I got pregnant accidentally, and the man I was with did not want the child, just as my body is my responsibility, the choice would ALSO be my responsibility, and I would make it on my own--with no need for support from the man.)