O.k let give ya some background info. My gf and I have been together for 2 years now. We live together, I’m planning on marrying her and I love her more than any other woman I’ve ever been with. We had a huge argument last night because over the last 4 or 5 months now she’s been gaining a lot of weight (not pregnant). Now before you say I’m "being superficial", or the cliche "it shouldn’t matter if you really love her", its not a deal breaker, and I never have and never will cheat on her. But it’s been bothering me for quite some time and I’ve been wanting to talk to her about it forever, but didn’t want to hurt her feelings and start the inevitable argument that we wound up having. Of course physical attraction isn’t the MOST important part of a relationship, but it IS important. I’ve found myself not being as attracted to her, and that scares me because if I feel this way now, what happens 10 or 15 years from now when we’re married with children. She has tried some exercises in the past, and I’ve done them with her for motivation. I even bough her a Wii Fit video game console (her idea even before the weight), to make working out more fun. But she gets discouraged and feels like it doesn’t help. But she really doesn’t give it much time. She of course said I was being superficial, and that it shouldn’t be as big a deal as I’m making it out to be. But my question is, is it o.k for your guy to express his unhappiness about your weight in A RESPECTABLE manner, if he sees that you aren’t making any attempts to address it on your own, and it really has been bothering him?

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I have this sonnet for a project for English (we’re reading Shakespeare), and…I don’t know which ending to choose for the sonnet. Also, if you have any pointers or criticisms, they would be much appreciated! I won’t be offended if you tell me the sonnet is horrible, as long as you tell me why.

"Living"

Of clocks that tick and tock and tell of time
Of winds that pass, whisp’ring of happy days
Still lingering with ev’ry lone clock’s chime.
Is it not cruel, the art of Deaths’ dark ways?
It sweeps, a cold and unforgiving hand
Stealing away a soul so closely kept,
Slipping through one’s fingers like dry, coarse sand.
So countless lost and gone many have wept.

Ending 1:
However can a man bear to go on?
Is it not enough to bear grief and pain?
In this game of chess, people are life’s pawn.
Yet throughout all the storms, thunder, and rain,
Watch as the clouds part, and look for the sun.
If you never try, you’ll never have won.

Ending 2:
Heart’s hopes all fading and mind’s dreams all lost,
A light extinguished—a melting candle,
One instant, a life is forever paused.
Some relinquish, release their own handle.
Some hold on, not blinded by what they see.
Some lift their heads high, and others live free.

By the way, I originally had the first ending but scrapped it because someone told me it wasn’t relevant to the rest of the sonnet. What do you think?

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As I walked up the old, unstable stairs, I paused to look over my shoulder at the dark, twisted trees of the forest that bordered my grandmother’s house. A strange and sudden feeling came over me. It was as though some one was watching me. Quivering with fright I ran to the front door.

I found my grandmother fast asleep in her rocking chair. She awoke when my foot found that one creaky floor board. “Rosie, I’m glad you’re finally here,” she said to me. “I’ll show you your room.” I followed her down the hall way to my impeccably clean room with the view of her interesting vegetable garden. I placed my luggage on the bed and looked out at the purple lettuces. “What are they?” I asked my grandmother. “I’ve been experimenting,” she replied. Not only were there purple lettuces, there were also blue straw berries and bright pink tomatoes.

Later that evening my grandmother tucked me into bed and asked, “Are you too old for stories?” “Never,” I replied with a smile. Although I had heard this story so many times, I never grew bored of it. It was such a lively story and when ever my grandmother told me it, it always felt as if I were in the story.the story was about two sisters named Agnes and Marthlen who were fleuries. They had small, iridescent wings. Although they were immortal, they were always slowly ageing. The sisters were very different from each other. Agnes was kind and gentle, while Marthlen was such a trouble maker. Marthlen had an obsession with staying young forever and had discovered an enchantment that would steal the youth of others. Agnes also had discovered this enchantment and knew that her sister would have found it too. Agnes tried to reason with Marthlen, but failed. This disagreement led to the parting of their ways. My imagination was interrupted by my grandmother’s words.” Well that’s enough for tonight. Goodnight dear.” She turned off the lights and closed the door.

My eyes sprung open as I heard some one calling my name from outside of the window. Was I still dreaming? I slid out of bed and followed the mesmerizing voice. In a trance – like state, I walked towards the voice into the forest. I couldn’t see well in the dark but I could hear the trees whistling in the wind. Suddenly my feet stopped. I was standing in front of a very large tree with a little blue door built into its trunk. I continued to follow the voice through the door and into a room. In the room I saw a beautiful woman with glowing skin and golden hair sitting at a table. On the table was a glass container, in which there was a beautiful red rose. “I have been expecting you Rosie,” the voice chimed. The voice belonged to this beautiful woman.

I was strangely drawn to the rose. “Isn’t the rose just lovely? You can have it if you like, it would look nice against your complexion.” Entranced, I reached for the rose, “NO!” came a roar from behind me. I turned to see my grandmother in the door way, “Agnes, we could have shared this one’s youth,” the young women said.

My Grandmother rushed to the container and the rose and knocked it over. I watched as they both shattered into a million pieces. A shriek of terror filled the room. I turned to see the woman, who turned out to be Marthlen, begin to wrinkle and wither before our very eyes. In silence we gazed at the old woman before us. “Come Rosie,” my grandmother said, with a twinkle in her eye. “Let’s take my elderly sister home for a bowl of purple lettuce soup. It does wonders for the complexion.” We walked back through the forest to my grandmother’s house.

Do you have any ideas? Is there anything that I should change?

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If gravity pulls matter so hard that light can’t escape, it must be traveling at the speed of light somewhere else because of a difference in pressure, right?

Think of our universe as a balloon that’s got a slow leak (black hole). It’s known that our universe is expanding, so there must be something that’s keeping matter in our balloon and inflating it but at the same time still allowing slow leaks to escape, right?

I think a hot air balloon may explain this. When heat is introduced, the balloon fills up with hot air and it expands, and in order to keep the balloon afloat, constant heat must be added.

Well, Stars are a constant source of heat, and although their heat may struggle to reach out of our solar system, trillions of stars could produce enough heat to make our universe expand and compensate for the leak. So if what-ever is outside of our universe, must be either colder or have less matter(diffusion).
Can someone chime in on this?

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I’ve asked a similar question before, but I ask again because I just don’t get it.

Why is this category so full of people who want to argue, rather than intelligently discuss the issues?

For instance, if someone asks "is heaven part of our solar system", why do the non-believers have to chime in with negativity? Obviously the asker believes in heaven, so he doesn’t need you to tell him that it doesn’t exist. You don’t have to answer EVERY question, you know.

I’ve heard people are snarky in this forum because "it’s fun". Okay, but isn’t there someplace else you can hang out? Why can’t there be serious debate and conversation about religion and spirituality in this forum, without the negative, cutting snarkiness?

I don’t expect everyone to agree with me - in fact, I welcome differing opinions. That’s how we learn from one another. But why do people have to come in here talking so negative about something that is obviously important to someone else?
Christy, I understand there will be heated debate. In fact, I encourage debate! But it just seems like some people think they have to weigh in on EVERY question, even if the only thing they have to say is "god doesn’t exist". That’s not debate - that’s just getting your 2 points.

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I’m completely lost on what to get my mom for Mother’s Day. I’ve already been searching all over the internet, and I couldn’t find anything that said "I love you." I found amusing suggestions such as a creepy cat clock, a fog machine, and solar wind chimes. Nothing that you would give your mother for Mother’s Day. These things seemed more like gag-gifts.

I also have to find something for my friend. She’s thirty-seven, and she’s like a mother to me. Seriously, if you took away the ink on my birth certificate and the blood in my veins, there would be no difference between them. I love both my mother and my friend with all my heart, and I want to get them both something special.

Asking my dad wasn’t helpful, because his ideas are just as strange as the others I’ve listed. And I can’t tell him that I want to get a gift for my friend, because he doesn’t approve of the fact that I love her and her husband as if they were my second set of parents. He’d just scowl and ask my why I was getting her a gift, if I asked him. So talking with Dad is out of the question.

Any ideas, Moms? What are some things that you might like for Mother’s Day? Or, what would be some things that you’d hope to get from your fourteen year old daughter? Please help, I’ve reached the brick wall in my mind that marks the end of ideas.

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The absolute necessities include it being able to successfully synchronize with the Colorado transmitter (automatically and preferably manually) up to 2,000 miles away. Also, it’d be nice if it calibrated with the Greenwich mean time in the US. Another necessity would be it having a solar battery and preferably a backup battery, and a backlight. Also would be nice if it had a stopwatch, alarm, and perhaps a countdown timer.

I found one that somewhat resembles the one i want, but it calibrates time and receives signals from multiple worldwide places, and has an annoying hourly chime, all of which i do not need; all this also makes it above my price margin, and i suspect that it’s overpriced even with these features. Nevertheless, to give you an idea of what I’m looking for, here’s the link:
http://www.hammacher.com/publish/73754.asp

Thank you in advance for your suggestions.

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In a recent question about the correlation between sunspots and temperatures, a number of people chimed in with references quoting the influence of the Maunder Minimum on the Little Ice Age.

My main question is: why? Do skeptics seriously believe that AGW scientists are arguing that the sun can NEVER have ANY influence on climate? Or that, historically, solar activity has never played a roll? If they do believe this, can they provide a reference to a single scientist that has explicitly stated this?

Why is it so hard to understand that scientists are not saying it is impossible that solar activity can influence temperatures. They’re not even denying that there may have been a strong correlation during many periods historically. What proponents are saying, rather, is that the correlation does not exist *at present*. That is, at the moment, solar activity cannot explain the rise in temperatures.
http://solar-center.stanford.edu/sun-on-earth/600px-Temp-sunspot-co2.svg.png
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2008/solar_variability.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34478774@N02/3460786822/sizes/o/

Why is it that so many skeptics do not seem to understand this distinction?
Jim I’ve never denied that solar activity and temperatures have correlated historically and never seen anyone that has. When we say there is no correlation, we mean recently. There has not been a correlation in more than 50 years.

Why is 50 years not enough? Why is it necessary to continue to wait "a few more years".
If it were all about the 11 year cycle then temperatures in ~2000 should have been the same (even slightly lower) as ~1990, which should be the same as ~1980, which should have been the same as ~1970, etc. ~1960 should have been the warmest year on record.
http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/images/Zurich_Color_Small.jpg

But this is so far from the actual temperature observations that it doesn’t make sense to assume that the 11-year cycle is dominant. And since the cycle has peaked at the same level for decades, it also doesn’t make sense to conclude that the peak of cycle 23, which was not particularly strong by any stretch of the imagination, could be responsible for making 1998, 2005 and 2007 the warmest years on record.

But this has nothing to do with attributing a dip in temperatures 300 years ago to an anomalously inactive sun…
So Peter, then we agree then that the warming over the past 50 years cannot be attributed to solar activity, and that there must be another cause? Interesting, I wonder what it could be…

And I’m sorry, but I do not see a 10 year cooling trend.
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/img/climate/research/global-jan-dec-error-bar-pg.gif
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2008/earth_temp.html
If I do see a serious, statistically significant cooling then I will certainly re-think a greenhouse gas cause. As will everyone else, I’m sure.

But the only way to believe that there is one at present is to believe that respected atmospheric science organizations are involved in some massive conspiracy to bias their temperature data, and I just don’t subscribe to that kind of paranoid thought process.

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OK so what I’m looking for is how to make the charachter Aoro a bit more, mischievious yet still appealing. I really tried to work on how his dress effects the mood of his surrounds and his personality. Also body movements and how the make him more appealing and descritive. As so for the female role in this part, I’m struggling on how to give her more personality. Tell me what you think and critic. PS. send me your questions too and I’ll answer

part 1-Aoro squatted down on the balls of his feet on the branch of an oak tree atop a hill, peering down at the small town below him. His body wasn’t used to the cold breeze of the season known as “fall”, the wind blow right throw his airy cream color sirwal and made the golden bangles on his wrists chime together, to imamate the sounds of birds chirping.
“Ah, found her “his eye’s gleamed as body leaned forward, and his velvet eyes narrowed in on the tiny little beauty, laughing with two females as they came out of the department store. It was so easy, he thought, as stood up straight and prepared to jump down from the tree and into the town.
“Really, you’re just going to jump out of the sky, just like that? In front of all those people, that’s your big plan?”A voice came shrieking from higher branches in the oak tree.
Aoro rolled his eyes and sighed as he extended his toned arm and waited for the great Macaca primate to land.
“I knew you’d come following behind me, Aye-aye. And what’s the big deal, they’re only humans” Aoro smirked as the beast landed on his shoulder instead. His eyes never left the girl, as she waved goodbye to her friends and started off down the stair on her own.
“What’s the big deal? You didn’t answer my question, Aoro, is that you’re plan, to just land in front of her and take her? You’ll cause a scene and on top of that, you’ll scare her to death, I mean look at you, haven’t you noticed that you look completely different from any human male here.” The animal was only accounting to the different clothing style worn in the other world, for comfort and dryness. Actually, Aoro didn’t look much different than any of the men around here
“What does it matter, as long as I get to her?” Aoro rested his hands on his hips, pondering whether to go down there. But as he watched her more, the girl suddenly froze dead in her tracks. Aoro followed her sudden terrified gaze to boy coming out of the flower shop, holding a banquet.
The boy noticed her and waved, making his way through the crowd towards her. She started to play with her long dark hair neverously and kicked her foot against the other, like a toddler. Aoro scuffed and found himself leaning in.
“Master!” Aye- Aye slide of his shoulder and grabbed onto the end of the branch. Aoro didn’t notice. He leaned in and rested his chin on his fist and smirked “Stupid lady, look at her Aye- aye, trying to act all human in front of him. Why does she even bother with it” he muttered as she stumbled over herself purposely into the boy’s arms. Aoro chuckled to himself and ran a finger through his wavy, blonde hair “she hasn’t changed much has she?” his dark eyes widened with excitement to meet with her again.

Part 2-When Claire woke up her stomach didn’t hurt anymore, her breathing was easy and her eyes were immediately filled with a glow of golden light. She looked up at her own gold reflection above, her jeans and tee-shirt replaced by a white cover up, her short hair up in a bun.
Instantly alerted her eyes flickered around the room, looking for Aoro. The room was familiar, just like he said it would be. Colors of dark purples and gold drapes blocked out the blue moon that gave this world its daylight. There was no floor, only patches of earth that lined together leading to different parts of the room. Every now and then the earth started to shift, so that the walker would have to jump at moment’s notice. A lone cabinet rested on the right wall of the room, its bejeweled surfaced acted as a multi-colored mirror, so that Claire could see herself in all its shades. There were gadgets every place that could hold them. Lasers and trumpets, and tiny machines that couldn’t be describe let alone, guess their propose. Everything in the room had so many colors, no one object was the same, the colors alone triggered the feeling that she should know where she was, but she couldn’t recall. Maybe if I’m lucky you’ll remember who you are. And what you mean to this world, Aoro’s words filled her mind and she closed her eyes and tilted her head to the ceiling as if to bring on a clear thought process.
She wanted to remember, that place that was always blank in her head wasn’t just her lack of intelligent, and it was filled once. And something to do with Aoro lied inside. He might be a good person. She thought to herself as a smile rose on her lips. So many things she could be thinking about, but he was the only thought that came to mind. IT seemed like he had the best intentions for her

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