Spend some time talking to teachers. Do you have any idea what the burnout rate for new teachers is? Low salary, high stress, high responsibility, low authority... it's a perfect storm. There is a very good reason why there are always jobs available for teachers. Very few people have the emotional makeup to deal with the job, and many wind up just going through the motions. Be very careful about romanticizing a career in education. It is not at all romantic. (BTW, that's why we always have those movies about the inspirational teacher. We need to have that ideal reinforced at the cultural level. Have you ever noticed that just about any other profession can be presented in a dark light in a movie, but an anti-hero teacher would never be tolerated? Bad cop? Great movie. Bad teacher? Not likely. Consider carefully what that means.)

My point is that I have to agree with the idea of keeping your work life separate from your passion. Work a job to build those bottom levels of Maslow's hierarchy strong enough to let you pursue those upper levels most freely. Now, you may not have to stay in your current job to do that, but my guess is that the current economy probably means you're better off sucking it up for a while, banking some money and investing your free time in a creative passionate way. Not as an artist. Do it as if the very act of creation was just a natural part of human existence, something no more remarkable than the other base biological needs of our bodies. I eat, I sleep, I shit, I create. I am human.

My mom's quilting and gardening fill our family life with creative energy and love; isn't that fulfilling enough to balance a career in accounting? Me? I like to cook and dispense useless advice. Your problem is a near universal one. Talk to others around you to learn how they deal with it, but don't have kids just because that could be a solution, please. Have them because you can't not have them.

Real friendship can only be based on sincerity and trust. This relationship has neither, and you don't indicate that you have any real history with this nut. Why do you think this person is your friend? Rather than worrying about what you should do about this other guy, you should be focusing on yourself: Why do want to attach yourself to someone who obviously will be a negative influence on your life?

If you can't just drop him immediately, how about an ultimatum, not a challenge? Tell him the next time he does his little act around you is the last time you'll have anything to do with him. Don't challenge him to prove it. Don't listen to any explanations. Interrupt him when he starts and tell him that he is about to end the friendship. If he keeps going, exit. Just tell him what you require and let him deal with your shit for a change.

Everything you say makes perfect sense.

In fact, the fact that people think that this is interesting is, in a way, depressing. American culture has gone so far off the rails that that people require professionals to coax them into a healthy diet and proper exercise! Next, you'll have to teach them that good sex is healthy, too.

Time to eat an apple and take a walk.

My take is that the whole thing is tied to LW's unwillingness to accept the practical and material world in terms of relationships. She sounds like a Harlequin junkie, but one too sophisticated to get her thrills through pulp. Making financial plans, discussing parenting styles, choosing neighborhoods? Toxic to fantasy and romance. Does it have to be though? Not if you grow up enough to realize that fantasies are not real, can't be real, and, in the long run, are best enjoyed as playtime with another responsible adult.

LW, you need to find a healthy adult male who is not into "shady things on the black market" and let him know that you require a rich fantasy life. Make him buy a motorcycle. Tell him that on Saturday nights, he must be the anti-hero if he expects to hold your interest. I bet you'll be able to find a relatively stable, successful guy who is willing to learn how to enjoy your yoga and let you pretend to be out-of-control. All you have to do is be honest with yourself, accept adult reality, and trust some vanilla guy enough to tell him exactly what you need.

Like clockwork, you show up about once a month and post something utterly stupid. Yawn.

Betzee, on the other hand, makes me want to read the reader comments every day.

It's a lot easier to train a responsible man to occasionally act passionately and impulsively than it is to train a passionate and impulsive man to usually act responsibly. We don't get everything we want in life. We get to live with the consequences of the choices we make. LW, make a better choice now. Maybe a motorcycle is the wrong choice for your new man. Maybe the two of you will discover a shared passion for multi-day canoe expeditions. Just don't get into a relationship with a yoga buddy. Tai-chi? No problem. But I think you'll be happier with a hockey player, and that's not some throw-away comment, either. (Obviously, any man who golfs will never make it with you, and that is as it should be.)

I hope this doesn't make me part of the whiny-males contingent.