Can Men & Women Be Friends?

Okay, I’ll call this the shoot yourself in the foot segment … “Can men & women be friends?” The age-old question, right? Well, “The Five” recently brought this question to the streets of New York for some ‘unbiased’ answers. Watch for yourself and see what ‘America’ thinks …

Watch the video for yourself here ... Fox News, "The Five": Can Men & Women Be Friends?"



I must say, I have to respect the guy who admitted that he has ‘hot’ women friends in order to meet other attractive women. That is not only honesty that I can respect, but smart, if you ask me ; )

I think that Eric hit the nail on the head when he said “This is a no-win … this is just a bad segment. “

When Bob asks Greg if he knows of a man with a very attractive female friend who had not thought beyond the friendship, Greg answers … “No. It’ impossible … that’s not how men are wired.”

Well, I’m sorry but I think that’s a load of crap! Men and women have a lot to offer one another beyond mere physical attraction and satisfaction and even IF the physical attraction may occasionally lead to thoughts of physical satisfaction, it doesn’t mean that you have to act on them?! Right? Men are not all animals … but they are human, so let’s cut them a little slack and not back them into a corner or try to shove them into a box to satisfy our society’s compelling need to always draw lines.

Eric also said that he’s noticed what seems to be a new trend, kids in their young teens … 13 & 14 (age of his son)... of the opposite sex being friends.   I see the same thing with my daughter of the same age, but I don’t think that’s a new trend? From a very young age, I’ve always had male friends … male and female friends. In college almost all my friends were guys because I was an engineering major.

Men as friends are great, in my humble opinion, because they will take you just as you are --from my experience. With men you don’t have to be perfect or to share all your deep secrets, hopes fears and silly dreams unless on occasion you happen to want to. Men are masters of enjoying life in the moment and that’s such a great, low-stress/refreshing, way to live. Don’t get me wrong, men can plan and work toward future goals, but it doesn’t consume every aspect of their waking moments and define who they are when they’re ‘off the clock’ so to speak.

And my last (perhaps best?) argument for men being great to have as friends: men don’t play games … the backstabbing or the ‘what have you done for me lately’ crap (not that all women do this).

We women can learn a lot from men, I think and vice versa. As for married men having friends –hot or otherwise—I say why not? Maybe you have to trust your spouse/sig. other on some level and if you can’t maybe you have some relationship or personal issues that need to be worked through. If a spouse is going to cheat, they’re going to cheat … friends or not. When and if they do cheat, you work through it … we’re only human after all. Life’s too short to only always color between the lines and worry about "what if?"  What a suffocating, stressful way to choose to live?

Well that’s my two cents worth on men and women being friends. What’s yours?




P.S.  I've almost hit 60,000 page views [since Blogger started keeping track of this statistic for users: 1-2 years ago?].  Think hitting 60,000 page views might just call for a celebration.  Share a bottle of champagne with me? ; )

A Beautiful Christmas Card ...

A dear friend of mine, a woman that I look up to and admire, just sent me the most beautiful Christmas card via email.  She's always checking in on me and sending me inspiring messages ... or sometimes just something hilarious to make me laugh and smile.  Margaret is her name; I call her Margo.  Margo is a fellow photographer, a grandmother ... a mother and a kindred soul.  She's truly one of those people that make the world a better place.  God Bless you, Margo!

Her card was so beautiful that I just had to share it here with you ...

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Holidays!

God, our Creator's Blessings to one and all : )

Peace & Love,

M

Walking down the path ...

There but for a moment to stay ...

(@Copyright 2010 All Rights Reserved, Michelle C. of whatplanetareyoulivingon.blogspot.com)

There is a gathering of people I once knew, and still love, in a far, far away city of old. My warmest thoughts and brightest wishes go out to ALL of you this special weekend. May God continue to Bless and guide you throughout this journey we call life.

Peace, Love, Light and abundant Joy to you all this weekend and always.

~MAE

When life gives you lemons ...

When life "gives you lemons" and "you make lemonade" ... then life gives more lemons and you've still got a full gallon of lemonade left:  what do you do next?

This was my FaceBook post the other day ... and my wonderful FaceBook friends ... my friends ... rallied with a plethera of fanstastic answers that made me smile on a day, when I thought that a smile would be hard to come by.  One of the best answers was posted by my friend Angela ... she said "Add Tequela and invite my friends over."  What a great answer!  : )  It reminds me of the importance of having good friends to help give you a hand up when you are down ... to share not just the good times, but also the bad.  Sometimes ... (sometimes?! ...  actually almost all the time) ... it is hard for me to reach out to others and trust them with my pain ... I am a master at putting up a good front because I don't want to burden others with my pain ... my suffering, but I'm starting to realize that to not trust them is perhaps the greater insult.

Thanks to my friends, and one dear friend in particular, I am laughing and smiling during a very difficult time.  This time, the pain is surprisingly bearable and I don't feel as if I am slowly drowning.  Guess you can teach an old dog new tricks.  ; )  Thank you, my dear friends ... you have blessed me in more ways than you'll ever fully know.



P.S. Speaking of friends in good times and bad, I feel compelled to pray extra hard for your dad lately Paul and you ... hope all is going well and that my feeling is wrong.

A good friend of mine gave me this recipe for Margaritas ... I haven't been up to making these yet (my Grandmother's funeral is on Monday 6/21), but I feel the time is coming ... maybe just around the corner.  Anyway, here is the recipe for you to share ...

Margarita Recipe

Ingredients:


1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1 cup white Tequila

1/3 cup Triple Sec

Coarse salt for coating the rims of the glasses



Dip the rims of 4 glasses in the lemon juice and put the glasses in the freezer. In a sealable bottle or shaker combine the Tequila, the Triple Sec, the remaining lemon juice, and about 2 cups crushed ice, seal the bottle, and shake the Margarita vigorously until it is very cold and the ice is almost melted. Remove the glasses from the freezer, dip the rims in the salt, shaking off the excess, and fill the glasses with ice cubes. Divide the Margaritas among the glasses.
 
 
Thank you ... I will be sure to toast to you as well when I finally get around to making these.

Dream Interpretation of "The Hunter's Moon"

Luna - By, Evelyn Pickering DeMorgan (courtesy of ArtMagik.com)

I have been up all night – no sleep this night – but, I think that I finally figured out what my dream under the Hunter’s Moon meant:  I was visited by a spirit being -- one of my soul guides, perhaps a guardian angel, perhaps even the Creator himself (still working on this part). This being set me up into the heavens amongst the sea of brilliantly glistening stars in order to help me to realize that I was, in fact, a part of something much bigger than myself no matter how alone or insignificant I felt at the time.

While I was visited by only one of the three possibilities in the "Hunter's Moon", the spirit being gave me hope for a connection with the other two possibilities from the poem. This spirit being conveyed to me directly, by a warm and gentle touch upon my trembling hand, that I was deeply loved by the Creator. His touch was also meant to convey that I should keep hope and an open heart, for a love fully returned in the one to whom I had pledged.  In that fullness of a love returned, I would at last find the fulfillment of a soul mate. Lastly, the touch was also meant to convey that I should not to close myself off from new connections and friendships in the future: they would be worth risk, even if that risk sometimes involved pain and rejection ….

In sum, the dream meant:  to keep Hope alive and Peace will follow.

On that note, here’s a tribute to friends past, present and potentially future.  Strive to Live each day to the fullest, as if it might be your last, and don’t be afraid to DANCE! Do this and you just might sing a little along the way. I  still haven’t sung yet, but I remain ever hopeful.

Song: If Today Was Your Last Day, By Nickelback



God Bless!

M

P.S. Had a dejavu moment just before I crashed for two hours ... http://www.artmagick.com/albums/album.aspx?id=20076
I guess that we do what we know... Maybe this time we'll get it right.
[I did write a sequel to "The Hunter's Moon" ... Not sure what I'll do with it?]



Found this on-line interpretation with regards to "dreaming of the moon": 

Moon Dream Meaning

Psychological Meaning: From time immemorial the moon has been regarded as the source of fertility as it governs the tides, rainfall, birth and menstruation. Within dreams, it can therefore symbolize the possibility of personal growth. The moon usually represents the feminine aspect of the self and anything hidden or mysterious. Its associated with water also identifies it with the imagination. A full moon may indicate completion whereas a new moon symbolizes new beginnings. An eclipse of the moon may show that your feminine side is being overshadowed by something. A Freudian interpretation of this would say that an eclipse represents getting rid of the attachment to your mother that is detrimental to your personal growth. If the moon eclipses the sun, this may show that unconscious forces may be overpowering the conscious ego.
Mystical Meaning: Palmistry tells us that the lunar region of the hand (opposite the thumb) is the area where you will find the lines of travel. To dream of the moon may therefore indicate a journey ahead. This is likely to be across water.

Sidebar: Imaginary Friends

Remember when you were a kid and you had an imaginary friend? Well many of us did. Wouldn't it be nice if we could have real friends, as adults, that were just like our imaginary friends? Imaginary friends don't have any expectations of us. Not a single one. They love us on good days and bad days alike. They don't care if our hair is messy. They don't care if we have fancy clothes. They don't care if we drive fancy cars. They don't care whether, or not, we are extremely exciting people, who travel to exotic places and lead adventurous lives. And best of all they don't ask, or expect, a single thing of us in return for their friendship.

I think that most of us would do well to ask ourselves, "am I a true friend to the people in my life?" Then to answer the latter question: use the "imaginary" friend as a template. Would we not all be better friends, and better people in general, who made a difference in the world --one person at a time -- if we lowered our expectations of others and stopped looking at friendship as a "what have you done for me lately?" situation? Or as some twisted, name dropping (i.e., "I know so and so"), social climbing, living vicariously through someone else, scenario? And, I think gossip should be one of the 'deadly sins'.

Maybe my astrological sign, Taurus -- which I typically regard as total crap -- has a grain of truth in it after all? Taurus don't have many friends, but the friends they have: they have for life.

3/29/09 I've had much time to reflect upon this entry, and I think that I found an answer:

"Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by stupidity." Hanlon's Razor (akin to Ockham's Razor)

6/28/09

My girls just finished a year of public school, in the new state where we are now residing. They have always gone to private schools. I have to say, that this year of public school has been so refreshing. We're finally dealing with real down-to-earth people, who aren't putting on airs and keeping up appearances. I would never do the keeping up appearances thing. I'm a die-hard rebel in that respect. So I guess we never fit in with the 'boutique' family crowd. We're much happier here. Wish we'd done this sooner -- give public schools a try. Of course, I do have to supplement some, but not much. This summer we'll do science projects (e.g., blow things up, etc. : ), I'm teaching the girls French and doing a music/art appreciation thing. Public school can rock with good parent involvement and support!