I’ve made a few decisions lately and wanted to share some of them with you.

First, the posting schedule here is going to change. I’m just not able to post every night anymore, especially now that I’m writing somewhat regularly for other sites. So from here on out the posting schedule will be:

Sunday  – Ask Moxie Question

Tuesday – Article Roundup

Friday – Open Thread

I also might add a couple of new features. One would be called Whine of The Week that focuses on a comment or post on another blog. The other would be Twitter Chatter which highlights a relevant tweet that I saw that week.

In other news, I think I’m going to book a trip to London in August/September. I’m not comfortable leaving the country while my Dad’s probate case is still going on. Our lawyer said he felt things could be resolved by July or August.

The trip would be pretty pricey. Flights are around $1,000 each way and hotels are about $200 per night. If I’m going to do it, I want to go for it. I even set up an OKC profile that I listed with UK settings and have begun chatting with people I might like to meet. I’m upfront about where I live, of course, and the time frame involved with my trip. This is something I’ve always wanted to do. The trust my Dad set up for me was a generous one and I’ve yet to really dip into it for anything personal.To be honest, I need a break and a change of scenery.

I’ve come to realize how lucky I am to be able to support myself and write freelance without worrying about paying bills. Business has been really, really good since last summer. Strangely, it took about a 30% jump right after my Dad died. I can’t imagine what it must be like to exist solely on monies earned from writing freelance. Many of the writers I’ve become friends with since writing for other sites all lament the low pay and how much they have to hustle. It’s too bad that writers aren’t paid much or sometimes at all for creating solid content for other websites. It’s not right. I hope that changes soon.

Okay. That’s all for now. This thread is for you guys to share what’s going on with your lives. Vent, rant, discuss, etc.

Hello kiddies. I got a request to put up an open thread so that people can share their current dating escapades, rants, questions, etc. Feel free to crowd source to your heart’s content.

I’ll start:

Life had just begun to settle down after my Dad died when we learned my step-mother is very ill with lung cancer. My Dad had commented many, many times over the last year or so that my step-mom had been losing a lot of weight. She had monthly doctor visits where they were checking both her lungs, breasts and heart. Between her Stage 1 diagnosis of breast cancer 2 years ago and the scleroderma, there were constant scans and tests being run. It’s crazy to think that all this time she has been sick. At this point, it’s just about keeping her comfortable.

As I said to a friend today, I’ve been questioning my grieving process after my father’s death and worried that I wasn’t grieving properly.Was I truly processing all of this or was I just detaching or in denial? That’s been on my mind for some months now. And with the recent developments concerning my step-mother, I’m wondering about this even more. I just want this year to be over with. I want to flash forward two or three months and start fresh.

It’s a strange thing to bring up to someone that you’re dating, too. Dating someone over the holidays, somebody new, is complicated enough. Now I have this issue to contend with. I don’t want the sympathy invites, nor do I want him to feel guilty about not spending a holiday with me. Though I wouldn’t mind a weekend away. Just some place quiet. Hell, I’d take a Four Seasons in Midtown for a couple nights. On me, even. Just a change of scenery so I can pretend like life is normal  for a couple days.

Like I said, I just want to skip to January.

Let’s see. What else? I began to lose weight right after my Dad died, but that was due to cutting back to 1200 calories and 4x a week work outs. I dropped about 10 pounds. In the last month, I think I’ve dropped another 7 or 8, but I haven’t even been trying. Last night my friend told me he thought I looked “thin.” Thin for me, at least. Not thin as in skinny. Thin as in..thinner. Like, almost over night. In times like this, I tend to lose weight very quickly. My sister is the same way. I’d probably be happier about it if the circumstances were different. Though I did get a kick out of looking at myself in the mirror after my friend gave me this “compliment.” I paraded back and forth in my underwear and a cardigan, stopping to look at my legs and stomach.

Oh! American Horror Story is back. And I’m loving Elementary, the new show based on the Sherlock series. There was a line the other night that literally had me in tears. Watson was explaining to Sherlock that the guy she had been dating turned out to be married. She knew because of the way he answered her when she asked if he had ever been married. Apparently, he got spooked by her ability to sniff out his lies. Turns out he had married a woman to give her green card status and didn’t live with her. Sherlock suggested that maybe the guy was intimidated by her analytical skills. He warned Watson that once you start to see the puzzles, you see them everywhere, and it’s hard to turn that ability off.

“People – and all the deceptions and delusions that inform their every decision – are the most intriguing puzzles of all. Sadly, most people don’t like to be seen as such. Like I said.  It can be very lonely.”

That line made me cry. Because it’s true. When you see puzzles every where, it can keep you from getting too close to people. If you’ve been burned because you didn’t solve the puzzle in time, you compensate by making sure that never happens again. The upside is that this skill allows you to see people for exactly who they are. The downside?

You see people for exactly who they are.

So, what’s going on with you guys? Had any good or bad dates? Feel free to share, vent, ask dating questions, etc.

Open Thread!

Have at it, kids. Share, vent, brag…you do you.

Ooh, I wanted to tell you guys about a TV show that is premiering next week, July 9th, on TNT. It’s called Perception.

In Perception, Eric McCormack plays Dr. Daniel Pierce, an eccentric neuroscience professor with paranoid schizophrenia who is recruited by the FBI to help solve complex cases. Pierce has an intimate knowledge of human behavior and a masterful understanding of the way the mind works. He also has an uncanny ability to see patterns and look past people’s conscious emotions to see what lies beneath.

Watch this show.

Here’s this week Coffee Talk Thread…

The thread is to discuss whatever might be going on with you in regards to dating. If you want to share, get feedback or even vent, this is the thread to do it. I’ll post a new one each week and be sure to keep it in a spot on the website where people can easily find it.

Now, there are some guidelines:

1. Please no comments that just say, “LOL!” OR “Great post!” Threads like this tend to get a bit disorganized because there might be several discussions going on at once. So let’s utilize the comment space productively.

2. Please be mindful of both your privacy and others. I don’t mind if you vent, but please don’t post emails, text messages, profile quotes etc. When your describing your dates, please be aware of what details you use in order to protect people’s identities. You don’t know who is reading and could recognize the person about which you are talking. I reserve the right to edit or delete the comments for any reason.  If I see something that might be too specific or damaging, I will delete it but I am not undertaking to monitor these comments for that purpose.  To be clear, the statements of the commenters are their own and I do not adopt or endorse anyone’s views or take any responsibility here for protecting people’s privacy or reputation.

3. No sniping - Comments should be productive. There’s been way too much sniping in the comments lately, and it’s got to stop.  Don’t antagonize people just to provoke a response and keep the conversation going. Comments like that will be deleted.

All that said…here’s your place to tell people what’s going on in your life. Had a bad date and want to vent? Go for it. Want to know where you stand with someone? Here’s your chance to get feedback. Recently reached a major milestone and want to share? Please do. Now’s the chance. It’s all about you guys.