A friend of mine began dating a girl. And by “began” I mean, slept with her the day they met.

Since then, he has been seeing this girl on a daily basis. He likes hanging out with her and he loves the sex. He insists that she is not his girlfriend, yet the amount of time they spend together tells a different story. A story that:

1) I am sure his lady friend is reading

2) makes it seem like this little relationship is turning into something more serious.

Yet, as he tells me, he doesn’t want a girlfriend. And “it is too early to have the relationship conversation, anyway. We are just having fun.”

I started thinking about his situation – how I would feel if I were him, if I were her, and just about the whole dating thing in general.

Dating for our generation is clearly a lot different than when our parents did it. Way back when, in the days when they were young, dating was a fairly structured process: boy eyed girl, boy asked girl on date, boy met parents, boy and girl went on a few more dates, boy formally asked girl to be his girlfriend, boy gave girl pin/sweater, boy and girl were officially a couple and held hands (and sometimes necked). Read More »

Last night’s episode of my favorite guilty pleasure, Gossip Girl, got me thinking…Maybe our lives are not so different than the wealthy-born Upper East Siders.

I could relate my humble Midwestern high school drama to a number of situations that took place in the glamorous locale. Manhattan’s Upper East Side or the cornfields of Illinois? Does it really make a difference?

I think not.

A few examples to prove my point:

Hooking up with the ex’s best friend to make him jealous. Although Nate doesn’t know yet about Blair and Chuck’s rendezvous, the intentions of B were clear. If Nate doesn’t want her, she’ll have the second best thing: his best friend. How’s that for a slap in the face, Nate? The sad thing is that I actually don’t think he would care at all…Funny how that works out.

“Platonic” boy-girl friendships that never are just that. In my opinion, Serena is being very understanding towards Dan and Vanessa’s “friendship.” It’s obvious that Vanessa still wants him, and in my experience, those kinds of friendships can only go on so long before the girlfriend gives an ultimatum.

Parents acting like children and embarrassing their own kids. Whether it’s Nate’s situation with his father and family, or the Humphrey’s mama drama, sometimes parents are just as immature, if not more, than their own children. Read More »

• Authorities in Park Slope say that a little girl who draws on the sidewalk is to be fined for graffiti. Well, good! I needed just one more reason to think that Brooklyn is totally, totally lame. (Brooklyn Press)

• Pirates vs Zombies! Apparently, they couldn’t wait two more weeks. (Pioneer Press)

• Best/worst quote of the week: “[She was] Just holding the baby out of the window and I was like ‘Oh no … no … no.’” (Baynews9.com)

• Kinda like the story above, except reverse! I can’t help but think the little guy is adorable (and a better driver than me!). (Yahoo!)

• Parents who sign their kids up for pole dancing lessons are f*cking idiots…but, like, if you’re 9 years old and dancing on a pole while your other friends are playing T-Ball…wouldn’t you kinda know something isn’t quite right? (COED Magazine)

• Telling your parents your new boyfriend is an Eagle Scout isn’t as appealing now, is it? (clickondetroit.com)

• UMass student gets C, sues school, is total crybaby. Is also as old as our father. Gross. (boston.com)

• Atlantic City Mayor goes AWOL. Atlantic City resident appoints himself new mayor. (kyw.com)

• Stop being rude at work…everyone’s talking about you. (jhu.edu)

• This is the best dog I’ve ever seen! (UK Dailymail)

• Three hilarious scenes from one of the best comedies ever. Plus, I love Paul Rudd. (COED Magazine)

• Sunday is National Porn Sunday. This (and some other) churches are totally celebrating. Awkward. (nwfdailynews.com)

So you fancy your downloaded music? Well, guess what, you pirating son of a bitch: the Man’s gonna getcha. Believe me; I know firsthand. One moment, I was floating through the web, using Kazaa and Limewire to download my favorite Ace of Base songs, then BOOM! I’m doin’ time. Well, not really, but you’ll see.

Let’s backtrack a bit. I had just persuaded my mother to bring my desktop to the fraternity house. Let the guiltless hiding-of-the-porn-in-a-separate-folder, illegal downloading free-for-all commence! An album here, a movie there, it was cooler than penguin shit. My roommate wanted in. “Do you mind if I download this new song I love?”“Sure,” I said confidently, feeling like Jesus Himself, feeding the masses with fish and bread, well, username and login, in this case.

Then all the brothers in my ‘fraternity’ file started sharing off the same machine. Before I knew it, the popped-collar posse and I had gathered more than 200,000 downloaded pieces of media.

One day, the phone rang. Read More »