(ABC.com)

“The Bachelor” is one of those shows that’s so bad it’s good.  No guy with any self-respect will watch it, unless they’re paying a penance of sorts to their wives or girlfriends for all the sports programming they’ve watched in the past year.  For those who’ve never seen it, “The Bachelor” is a reality show about a random, good looking, and sometimes shallow guy who is chased by a gaggle of attention-craving, gold-digging tramps. ABC usually does a good job making them all look good on TV.  So this time around, “The Bachelor” is a single dad. Jason Mesnick is his name.  This divorced father (who was rejected on ”The Bachelorette”), has decided that it would be a good idea to put this kid through a season of meeting women who, 1 - aren’t all that pretty (in my humble opinion), and, 2 - are never going to be his mother.  Which … sort of … brings me to my point.  Women have told me that a guy with a kid is like a guy with a puppy. He somehow almost always comes off as cute. But, truly, wouldn’t you ladies be scared to date a single dad?  Because where there’s a single dad, there’s a woman who is a mother to his child somewhere out there (unless he’s a widower). And that woman will not like YOU being a stepmom to her child. And dealing with her … well, you tell me. 

Again, just asking … have you ever, or, are you dating a single dad?  Get the feeling he’s just looking for a step-mom for the kid?  What’s it like dealing with the mother of his child?  Is she a freak or is she okay with you? C’mon, dish!

   When it comes to dealing with road rudeness, people usually react one of two ways — they kill the rude person with kindness, or are even more rude back. But being more rude back is what they want — so they have an excuse to, say, punch you in the face. Want it to escalate there? Not me. Not worth it!. You gotta pick your battles, and the person flipping me off in the next car isn’t one of them. When readers were asked [by Westways magazine] how they deal with rude or inconsiderate behavior, nearly everyone who wrote was upset about the amount of discourteous behavior he or she encountered on the road, and most thought the situation was getting worse…

• 42% said they acknowledge the behavior with a smile, wave or some other form of friendly behavior.
• 24% said they give some kind of angry or offensive response (yelling, honking, gesturing).
• 24% said they ignore the rude behavior.
• 9% said they call 911 to report the behavior.

 You?

Everyone always talks about how a woman “glows” when she’s pregnant, or how “radiant” a mother-to-be can look.  But what about the way a pregnant women feels?  I’ve heard it for years … morning sickness that really lasts all day, swollen ankles, hemorroids.  All this said, enter Joanne Kimes, author of Pregnancy Sucks - What To Do When Your Miracle Makes You Miserable, in which a woman can finally be honest enough to fill other women in on the real deal.  For starters, there’s intestinal gas.  Kimes advocates blaming them (”the toots”) on someone else and always leaving a window open for fresh air flow.  Bloody noses are apparently common since pregnant women produce lots of blood and hormones that, in Kimes words, “are turning you mucous membranes into mush.”  Other unpleasant side effects include excess saliva, bloody gums, and dark hairy patches sprouting on the face.  According to this book, some pregnant women have reported the development of a third nipple (really) that mysteriously appears under their breasts. 

Two questions, ladies.  Are all these things true, and what was the most unpleasant thing about YOUR pregnancy?  Just asking.

My daughter got me to watch this show.  Starting with season 4 as it was happening, then seasons 1 through 3 on video-disc in between the new episodes.  Will I get back into it again after almost a year’s absence from the air?  Probably.  I’ll admit I have an addictive personality, and, remembering how easily I was drawn into “Dark Shadows” as a kid, I avoided the 80’s stuff (”Dallas” “Dynasty”, etc.) like the plague … although I somehow got sucked into “Falcon Crest”.  “Lost” may be a soap, but it’s a fairly good one.  It’s also well-produced television … and, seeing as there is so precious little of it these days, I’ll probably follow it through to the finish. 

 (season 5 promotional poster)

From Wikipedia, “the seventeen-episode fifth season will continue the stories of the survivors of the fictional crash of Oceanic Flight 815, after some of them are rescued and those still stranded seemingly disappear to an unknown location and time with the island that they inhabit. According to co-creator/executive producer/writer Damon Lindelof, the season ‘is about why the [people who have left the island] need to get back’. While the island stories of episodes of prior seasons were intercut with flashbacks or flashforwards of a featured character, the fifth season will be presented differently with part of each episode taking place off the island and the other part following characters on the island in a different time. Lost is scheduled to return on January 21st with a three-hour premiere consisting of a clip-show and two back-to-back new episodes. The remainder of the season will air on Wednesdays at 9:00 P.M.  Returning are leader Dr. Jack, fugitive Kate, mentally unstable millionaire Hugo, future assassin Sayid, grieving wife Sun, former leader of the island’s inhabitants Ben, and three-year islander Desmond, who have all left the island. Also returning are crash survivor Sawyer, former Other Dr. Juliet, and Miles, a member of the science team from a freighter offshore. John Locke leaves his fellow crash survivors to become the new leader of the Others and is last seen dead in a coffin (under the name Jeremy Bentham) in flashforwards to three years into the future. The writers have announced that Jin will return (it has been reported that Jin survives and remains a main character in the fifth season), and the producers have stated that Vincent, a dog who survived the crash and lives on the island will be alive and well through to the series’ conclusion.”

  While doing some internet research for a future blog, I somehow strayed and came across this hilarious article by Rob Pegoran, who writes for The Washington Post about people who talk on their cell phones while in the bathroom.  So, instead of my intended blog, I decided instead to write about one of the REALLY important things in everyone’s life.  Have you ever walked into a public restroom and heard someone chatting away on their cell phones?  Here’s part of Rob’s article.

“I don’t mean to be crude, but this is a serious problem, far worse than BlackBerrying at the dinner table. Too many guys have no problem flipping open their phones to chat when they’re standing at a urinal or sitting in a stall–at a bar, an airport, or a convention center. Even, I’m dismayed to admit; in the Post’s newsroom. And it’s not like any of these calls are remotely urgent. Nobody’s blurting out things like ‘SELL! You’ve gotta get me out of this stock,’ ‘Thank God you finally found a kidney donor!’ or ‘They just found all those e-mails I deleted?’ No, these are boring old calls that can and should wait until you’re out of the can.  (I don’t know if the same thing happens in women’s restrooms. Can somebody enlighten me on that?)  Anyway, this has to stop. Besides the obvious risk of dropping the phone–are you really going to want to hold that thing up to your mouth afterwards?–what do you think this sounds like to the people on the other end of the line? I don’t know about you, but if I hear flushing (much less any other… background noises), I’m hanging up.  Somebody, please, tell me I’m not the only one appalled by this.”