I don’t want to be tagged as a dating doctor, however I find too many of my friends falling victim and calling me for advice to this problem.  For their sake, and the sake of my cell bill, I point the following out…   

The Script

1. Girl meets guy, likes what she’s met. (Personality, looks, fun-factor etc.)

2. The two hook-up. 
3. Girl naturally starts trying to change/mold the guy based on what she THINKS she wants, eventhough its causing what she was FIRST ATTRACTED to, to change completely. 
4. Guy cares for, and wants to make girl happy, so willingly makes changes to accomodate girl’s change-requests - changing into something the girl wasn’t attracted to in the first place.  (Redundant theme anyone?) 
5. Eventually guy changes into something the girl wasn’t attracted to,  downhill spiral starts. 

The Downard Spiral
The Downward Spiral always results in two different scenarios:

1. Nasty breakup.  After changing her man into something she didn’t like in the first place, relationship gets sour and the nasty breakup occurs.  The guy is left as wuss of his former self after making changes, finds it hard to get back to ‘normal.’ 

2. Unhappy Marriage.  Guy is forever dominated by wife and the marriage pretty much happens as both sides ‘give-up.’

I’m not saying don’t change, however realize she liked you as you were when you first met.  No girl meets a guy and says, ‘Well he’s ugly and a total loser now, but if I just get naked and sleep with him for a couple months, maybe he’ll change into…’ 

Chances are you’ve noticed the tacked up pictures of Pre-K-Fed Britney don’t do wonders for your wall, nor your dating life.  You might also haven noticed the crooked NCAA bracket from 2003 isn’t as attractive as you once thought it was.  Or, you might notice that you’re place feels kind of boring as all your wall decorations are in direct relation to whatever is on top of that sofa you have against the wall.     

The Solution
There’s pretty much two ways to get Artwork for your pad. Number 1, hit up a local art/decor store, and spend out the ass to buy the ‘fancy’ stuff, or two go to Wal-Mart, frame shit yourself, and pick and choose your art.  I’ve always chosen option two.  (For now…) 

Frame & Framing
Frame EVERYTHING.  In college, I bough $1 8×10.5 frames, and used them all.  Print off pictures from internet, photo collages, I even framed a copy of my scholarship award.  I’m here to tell you, nobody really cares whats in that frame, only how the overall frame looks on the wall.  Other options, buy the 24×36 poster frames from Wal-Mart for $15 a piece.  Better yet, if your picture/art is too small for the 24×36, pick up a piece of fabric from the sewing area and use that as a backdrop to center your art on top of. 

Art
Unless you’re Steve Wynn, you can’t afford really nice artwork - and if you can you probably don’t waste your time reading my blog.  Regardless, you need to figure out what YOU like first. 

A great first start is to think of all the movies/TV-shows you like, and search those.  Chances are somebody with a lot more time and creativity than you made something you can frame and hang. Do searches on DeviantArt.com, AllPosters.com, Images.Google.com, LAPopArt.com, eBay.com or whatever, and see what you can find. 

Be Tasteful
The key, is to find stuff you like that would be generally UNDERSTANDABLE by anyone from your Mom, to Mother Theresa.  It doesn’t have to be acceptable to them, just understandable.  I.e. If you can explain why you like the piece, without using ‘Great Tits / Hot Ass,’ or starting your argument with the word ‘Dude…,’ you’ve probably found something that works for you. 

Spacing & Wallspace
Do note, that just because you’re on this art kick, doesn’t mean you need to cover every square inch of wall with pictures.   Space out your art according to wallsize and how much stuff you have to frame.  4″ is generally a good sized space, however don’t be afraid to get a bit crazy and use bigger/smaller gaps. Even moreso, don’t feel the need to absolutely hang everything.  Have some art gently leaned up against the wall, as if you were about to hang it.  That works too.  (Especially if you have green nearby…  see future article on plants & greenery.)

How the safety commission had to re-engineer crash test dummies purely to validate against American passengers….

Crash Test Dummies” />

Funny link I found off Digg.com. Great way to start Friday…

1. The badness of a movie is directly proportional to the number of helicopters in it.

2. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight-saving time.
   
3. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests you think she’s pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that
   moment.

4. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above-average drivers.

5. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is: age 11.
   
6. There is a very fine line between “hobby” and “mental illness.”

7. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.

8. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be “meetings.”

9. The main accomplishment of almost all organized protests is to annoy people who are not in them.

10. If there really is a God who created the entire universe with all of its glories, and he decides to deliver a message to humanity, he will NOT use as his messenger a person on cable TV with a bad hairstyle or in some cases, really bad make-up too.

11. You should not confuse your career with your life.

12. A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter/janitor, is not a nice person.

13. No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously.

14. When trouble arises and things look bad, there is always one individual who perceives a solution and is willing to take command. Very often, that individual is crazy.

15. Your true friends love you, anyway.

16. Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/3716/ebookebook-16-things-it-takes-most-of-us-50-years-to-learn

This is going to be a tough sell to you peoples…

A few months back, I spent more on a pen than I was currently spending on rent, and at the time, my car.  I went out and bought a genuine Mont Blanc to add to my collection of deadly business utensils.    

Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc makes very sexy products - period.  In my humble opinion, they are one of the best ‘Guy Brands’ around, and produce gorgeous products - products that are way overpriced, but you absolutely lust after.    The little white snowcap adds a sense of class and dignity to their broad product line.  Leather, pens, watches - whatever.  Plus, rich people like that shit and damnit I’m going to be rich someday.  (While I was buying my pen, I was standing next to an unamed ball-player from Detroit, and his extremely gorgeous lady-friend.)

What the Hell Was I Thinking
Why would you buy such an expensive version of an item that is literally more abundant than pennies?  I don’t know, why not?  It’s a very sexy pen and it makes me feel good to have, so there.  (I’m totally drunk with adoration of a writing object.)  Plus, I look at it as many would do a puppy.  It’s a responsibility thing.  If I can take care of a $400 pen at this age, score some points for me.  I suppose I could also try to spin the stats as well, saying a couple hundo is nothing for a pen I’ll carry with me year-round for the next 10+ years.  (Literally, the Mont Blanc salesman was using a Mont Blanc his dad gave him 40 years ago.) 

Design & Form
The pen itself has some good weight to it, feels great in your hand, and is wonderfully designed.  (I haven’t seen it in knock-off form yet, nor have I seen similar versions from any Bic, Pilot or the like.  Not even on eBay China!)  It’s very durable, came with several cases and the ink cartridges last forever.  The snowcap on top brings the whole form factor together, and the clip is very, very strong and virtually will not bend or mis-shape.      

Image & Respect
There’s only been a handful of people who have vocally recognize/praised the pen, but mostly they’ve been the right kind of people.  (It’s like the watch thing, most people won’t care or notice, however the ones that do will usually be those that can make something happen for you.)  Clients, Bosses, Execs. etc.  Additionally, much like the watch thing, it creates that connection between you - and gives you a chance to fire off your Jedi schmoozing skills on the topic of fine pens. 

The Downside
My one setback/downside is - it doesn’t really improve my handwriting at all.  My jabbings and scratchings at paper still look like they came from a three year old.  However, the Mont Blanc has motivated me to undertake handwriting lessons to improve my skills.  (A’La the internet.) 

Final Word & Reco
Lastly, make sure you purchase from an actual Mont Blanc dealer.  Stop by the Forums if you’re in Vegas and see Dave.  He took great care of me, and was a hell of a guy.  Included some Mont Blanc schwag as well!