There is a female MMA fighter named Gina Carano that I have been very impressed with.  She can fight and is, unlike most female fighters actually pretty attractive, which is of course a “knockout” combination   Below is a short introductory video about her followed by her last fight which aired on Showtime a couple of weeks ago.

Meet Gina Carano

EliteXC Uprising: Gina Carano vs Tonya Evinger

I think there are two kinds of success.  One is personal and the other economic.  The latter is more measurable.  I person that is successful in their choice of career will most likely have a high status position in that career such as being in upper management or owning their own company.  If it is a sport of some sort they will be well recognized for their accomplishments, etc.  However, success on a personal level can be broken down into several parts, such as success in romantic relationships, friendships, family, personal endeavors, etc.  These to some degree are measurable but to a large extent more subjective.

The answer is none.  Many people use television as a form of escapism, a way of being drawn into a world that is more interesting, glamorous, and/or adventurous than the one they feel they live in.  If you are one of those people then I think you need to be re-evaluating how you live your life rather than sitting there choosing a show you would like to live in to answer this silly question.

Disagree?  Tell me why

I remember that when I was in elementary and jr. high school there used to be cartoons on in the afternoons on the normal broadcast stations.  Now all that is on are soap operas, court shows, and talk shows, seriously wtf is that about?  I remember coming home from school and if I didn’t go hang out with friends I watched Batman, Dark Wing Duck, or Duck Tails, etc.  Do kids watch cartoons anymore?

From a Male Perspective: Confidence and Efficacy. 

If you have the confidence in yourself to pursue what you want in life and the knowledge to facilitate your desires then you should do fairly well with the fairer sex.  As for keeping relationships successful, each relationship is different and each person has different needs and wants and that is part of the excitement, part of the journey. 

All these cliché’s about trust and honesty are nonsense.  You can trust your partner and be completely honest with them, but if you aren’t displaying the character traits your partner fell for and desires, you are shit out of luck, plain and simple, all the trust and honesty in the world isn’t going to get you to the finish line.

The question is:  How do you handle stress?

I attempt to live a drama free life and I am largely successful at it.  I also try to avoid stress causing behaviors and taking on other peoples issues.  However there are stressful moments in life and to deal with those moments I try to remind myself of the impermanence of the stress causing factor.  It will not last forever and when something is limited in duration I have time on my side.  I also feel that a lot of stress is self induced and within our realm of control and when something is within our realm of control we can deal with it directly. When addressing a situation directly is not a viable course, I attempt to relieve stress through the gym, jujutsu, tae kwon do, and meditation. 

I finished the novel Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky.  The first 2/3 of the novel were bit slow, but the last 1/3 made it worth it. 

- Warning - I am about to give away most of the plot so if you ever plan on reading it, perhaps now is the time to stop reading this post.

The story takes place in Russia in the mid 1800’s.  The main character basically kills two people, one who may have had it coming, if anyone can, and the other was obviously an innocent who walked in on the first murder.  The main character gets away with the murder but is tormented by the event throughout the novel until which point he turns himself in at the end.

I was very ticked off that he turned himself in at the end, I mean yes, he killed two people, but get your crap together and move on, why turn yourself in when you are obviously free and clear and you know it?

If you are that distraught, pursue a different course in life from that moment on, but rotting away in Siberia for almost a decade is probably not going to make you feel better.

It is weird how a story can sort of make you root for the bad guy…just think of Tony Soprano from the Sopranos.  Once they are humanized and you can begin to relate to the character, you are invested and actually hope they come through in the end.

For some reason my poll question box to the right of this Xanga page stopped functioning some months ago.  I have just fixed it, so those of you that have been participating can once again continue to do so

I have also noticed that even though the amount of visitors to this blog is fairly high and increasing daily, the amount of responses has not, so feel free to comment, positive, negative, and anything in between