• Relationships

An Israeli, An Iranian And A Palestinian Are Sitting In A Boat…

The title is actually not the beginning of a joke. As unlikely as it may sound, this was gist of my most of my weekend. A little bit of background is necessary. Three years ago an Israeli is sitting in his room in Jerusalem getting ready to attend college in the US. He receives an email notifying him of the name and address of his freshman year roommate. To his surprise, the name and address are Iranian. What does he do: nothing. Despite the tensions in the region and possible conflicts, he decides not to complain to the college (whether this was out of cultural curiosity, tolerance, or extreme laziness remains a mystery). Simultaneously in another part of the world an Iranian receives his notification and pretty quickly surmises that his roommate is a Jew from Israel. He also decides to do nothing. Whether the college intentionally put two students from opposing countries together to foster international relations or some admissions director thought it would be a grand joke also remains a mystery. More likely than not it was just a screw up as both students later received an email inquiring as to their level of “comfortableness.” Both were comfortable and were now roommates. The unlikely combination of an Israeli and Iranian choosing to live together became more unlikely when the Iranian started dating a Palestinian. The unlikely group became an inseparable one. Keep reading »

How Loving A Boy Band Shaped My Life

I just celebrated my first birthday as a married woman. But instead of enjoying a romantic dinner with my husband, I was at sea with a long-lost crush who re-entered my life last year. My husband knows about him, and gave me his blessing to go with him on the three-day cruise to the Bahamas. He actually met the guy once, at a club on Canal Street six years ago. He’s been supportive of this reunion, even when I came home giddy from a night out with him, or when I flew to Portland, Maine, in March for a spring rendezvous.
Keep reading »

How Do You Define Cheating?

A columnist for the Examiner examined this week the meaning of infidelity. “The definition of infidelity in the dictionary,” she writes “is: ‘marital unfaithfulness or an instant of it.’” While I think most of us would agree that a couple needn’t be married to be unfaithful, how exactly do we define unfaithfulness? Is it, as the columnist suggests, “a broken promise”? “If you promise to someone that you will not sleep with someone else and then do so anyway,” she writes, “I believe that constitutes as infidelity.” But what if the promise is never articulated? What if it’s just assumed? And is it only sleeping with someone else that constitutes infidelity? What about kissing? Or cyber-flirting? Or having an “emotional affair” that’s never physically consummated? How do you define cheating? And, most importantly, does your significant other share your definition? [via Examiner] Keep reading »

Why Be A Rebound?

This weekend, Jon Gosselin took his new girlfriend, 22-year-old Hailey Glassman, on a romantic trip to Europe. (FYI, Glassman is a different twentysomething woman than the one Gosselin cheated on his wife with.) Given the high-profile nature of Gosselin’s marriage, impending divorce, and, um, life, it’s hard to understand why anyone would be happy to be this guy’s, well, rebound. Is it just sex? Is Glassman hoping to get wined and dined with some of Gosselin’s “Jon & Kate Plus 8″ dollars? Or, gasp, does she think it could be love?

Keep reading »

20 Things Every Woman Should Do Before She Gets Married

With 11 days left until my wedding, the final countdown is in effect. Among the dozens of little things left on my to-do list, I’ve been thinking a lot about the things crossed off my to-do list long before I met my husband to-be — things that have made me a well-rounded, experienced woman ready for a lifetime commitment to another person. After the jump, 20 things every woman should cross off her list before getting married. Keep reading »

For The Week Of July 13-19, 2009

Virgo (August 23 – September 22)

Don’t reward wimpy behavior. No matter what you think may be going on with your crush’s life, the fact is you shouldn’t make excuses for him. if he can’t take responsibility for himself and communicate or at least be decently responsive, then why sit around and wait for understanding? If you really know your worth, you’d know to move on.

Libra (September 23 – October 22)

To every story there is always a few more sides than your own and this week, you’ll be getting that change of scenery that you weren’t expecting. The good news is that it will probably better than you imagined and will be more fulfilling in the long run. However, at first glance you might not be so impressed, but know there is more than meets the eye with epiphanies now.

Scorpio (October 23 – November 21)

Shift gears and go the opposite way. If you’ve been reserved as of late, go out and have yourself a parade. If you’ve been a wild nympho, time to put on the chastity belt. Whichever you can, switching up and doing a 180 in your routines will be the miraculous way to draw in what you want. Who knows how this will work, but according to the stars that is what will work.

Sagittarius (November 22 – December 21)

Just as your love life has been sailing along, in totally balance with your life, in comes a big ole pothole to shake you up and have you seeing a few new sides to your sweetie. If you’re lucky, this will mean a more darling side — but if you’re the majority, expect to be seeing a bratty mess that will have you wondering where the hotness is. (Don’t worry, verbally, you’ll set it straight.)

Capricorn (December 22 – January 19)

Keep your communication to the basic facts. Whoever you are talking to, someone new or someone you’ve been seeing, this is the time when practicality and putting your brain to work in a more logical way will bode well for you. Although the temptation to go into the closet of skeletons is there, keep conversations light. As it goes, delicate sensibilities are on the line.

Aquarius (January 20 – February 18)

Life is about to get ten times more fun, as your party house lights up with passion and thrills. Seems all the universe is turning its power to you, giving you all sorts of sexy little influences that’ll make your world just that more special — like new flirtations, interesting agreements, spontaneous opportunities and all round exciting happenings. Dig it.

Pisces (February 19 – March 20)

The good news first: you should have a fabulous hair week. The bad news, despite how hot you feel and look, you won’t feel as if anyone in your vicinity is worth sharing that with, as it’ll feel as if no one is on par with you mentally. While you dominate conversations, at least be glad you’ve come to realize it takes more than a pretty face to turn you out.

Aries (March 21 – April 19)

Keep moving forward, talking to everyone in sight and keeping your options open. This isn’t time to get too serious about anything, or it’ll be the first and last mistake you make in ruining a good time. The less you intense you are and lighter the attitude you have, the more you will be able to give space to whomever it is that will start to gain relevance as the weeks go on.

Taurus (April 20 – May 20)

If you’ve been saving for a rainy day, feel free to let this week be your time to indulge yourself in mindless spending and luxuriously pampering. Make it a little adventure if you can, perhaps taking a spontaneous weekend trip or even longer if possible. Now is the time to get yourself back in the spotlight of your own life.

Gemini (May 21 – June 20)

You’re going to have to get more selfish and competitive about what you want. The wishy washy la-la routine is cute, but you know that you can’t hide behind good manners too long, because when it comes down to it, your passion and ambition is going to eat you alive and without heeding it’s call, you will never be satisfied.

Cancer (June 21 – July 22)

Your kinky little beast will be driving nails into your brain until you do as it says. This isn’t time to be held back because of your fears, as confronting the worst and best sides of who you are on the agenda and about to turn up the heat in your life in a way you never thought. Confidence, passion and most importantly, imagination are yours in spades. Use it or lose it.

Leo (July 23 – August 22)

Barking out orders as if you were Queen of the World is a habit that often put you on people’s s**t list, but this week lo and behold, it’ll work beautifully. Somehow, the way you wield that magic will have a sorcery to make men fall at your feet and do and say as you command. However, use this power for good and not ego, or your dominance will ultimately fail you.

Is It True Men Just Want Sex?

A lot of women are conditioned to believe that all men want women for is Sex. Men are the enemy, as they only have one thing on their mind. They want to abuse you and use you, and when they get what they came for, they’ll leave. This is not true, well not completely.

It is true that men have an instinct and inborn desire for sex, as women have an instinct to have children, just like the primates who came before us.

It is true that women can manipulate men to want to be in a relationship with them by using sex as a tool. Continue reading
Keep reading »

What It’s Like To Be Single Around The World

After thinking a lot about that crazy singles map of the US and how all the ladies on the East Coast are screwed, I got back to my navel gazing about what it means to be single. (I have plenty time alone to think about these things.) I moved on from my bubble of self-absorption (played out) and started wondering what it must be like to be single in other countries—not that I’m thinking of fleeing or anything. Is it better in France where fidelity is not a cultural moray? Is it worse in India with the caste system and arranged marriages? And what are those cold singles in Iceland doing to stay warm? Well wonder no more, because Liz Tuccillo (Mrs. “She’s Not That Into You” and former “Sex and the City” writer) is travlling the globe to demystify singlehood in an awesome web series called, “How to be Single.” Um…amazing! After the jump, a few of my fave revelations from single sisters around the world. [Your Tango] Keep reading »

Is There Value In Playing Hard To Get?

At last month’s Dating Boot Camp event, NYC-based matchmaker Matt Titus talked about the rules of attraction. When a woman makes herself too available to a guy, he warned, it’s “game over.” His declaration raised the obvious question — does the age-old rule of playing hard to get still apply today? Continue reading Keep reading »

Is Chivalry Sexist?

chivalry photo

A male blogger named Anthony Michael Rojas posted a little list entitled “How To Treat A Woman On A Date: The Basics” on his Tumbler blog this week and it got quite a few angry reblogs from women who felt like his suggestions were sexist. Rojas clearly believe his suggestions to be basic “chivalry,” while his detractors seemed to suggest that there is a difference between chivalry and manners, because chivalry is rooted in sexism. I found many of the responses to not only be silly, but also bordering on unintentionally satirical of “feminist” anger. It was clear to me that the original poster wasn’t being a jerk, so why did the responses treat him like one? Still, the back-and-forth did bring up the issue of whether these eight seemingly harmless gestures are actually offensive because they supposedly treat women as the weaker sex. Let’s go through them one by one, shall we? Keep reading »