It's ok, Crackberries

Now here is a story that would have totally freaked me out once upon a time: Blackberry service is down in North America! Good thing I (a) just don't care that much anymore and (b) have avoided getting one of the deadly-addictive things at my new job. :) Yeah, that picture is my fellow blackberry addict and me striving to stay connected while at a wine festival in Stuttgart, Germany. Why oh why did we need to be connected to the States then?

Seriously?

This lady has got to be out of her mind. She has obviously never been stuck in a bad marriage... or tried to get out of one. People just don't realize how much different it is when you are legally bound to one another, or how quickly people change when you try to break that off. And sure, it might be nice to have your own personal handyman, but what if you are forever-yoked to someone who makes you crazy, disgusts you, or always lets you down?

There is something to be said for giving up the romantic notion that there is someone perfect for you, because nobody is perfect. But settling for someone you don't love or someone who you know won't make you happy is the worst idea I've ever heard!

Many folks seem to agree.

Do Relationships Make Women Depressed?

I ask this as one of those semi-prone-to-slight-depression types who often wonders what is the cause of it all. I've got lots of wonderful friends, a relatively drama-free family, a great guy, a life-in-general on the mend, a great-paying job... so what gets me down?

Psychologist Valerie Whiffen asks the same question in her new book, A Secret Sadness. The book makes this hypothesis:

"Women experience depression at a higher rate than men, and researchers have recently uncovered evidence that suggests this may be due to the higher importance they place on their interpersonal relationships."

...which seems pretty obvious to me. I'm sure that she focuses on and particularly speaks to women who have been subject to long-term degrading, abusive, or emotionally distant relationships, but I couldn't help thinking of a more comical explanation.

On Wednesday, my dear friend Qui and I went to see a long-time favorite comedian, Dave Barry. Besides being so hilarious that I could, at times, barely breathe, he imparted a bit of wisdom concerning male-female relationships. He told a story excerpted from one of his books that highlighted just how differently two people can look at the same conversation... much less the same relationship.

So, no, it doesn't surprise me that our relationships make us sad - but is it the actual relationships or just our perception of them?

Abolish Smoking!

Could it actually happen?

Somehow I doubt that any of us will see this effort come to fruition, given the thousands of years that people have been smoking, the importance of smoking to certain cultural groups and ceremonies, the "coolness" factor of all sorts of tobacco products, and even the propensity for little kids to sit outside and "smoke" leaves of grass in a teeny tiny rebellion.

Michael Bloomberg and the World Health Organization, however, have lofty goals. They claim that none of these uses of tobacco are what could kill more than 20 billion people this century - it is big tobacco that is the larger enemy. The commercialization and product promotion of deadly cigarettes is what puts the vast majority of us at risk.

I am so grateful for all of the anti-smoking laws that have been enacted in the last few years, and it amazes me both that we are able to get anything passed through the people who are so hyped on anti-government-influence sentiments and that states are still battling over whether to pass these life-saving laws. People in this country are so funny... they tend to want their cake and eat it too, with respect to everything from security to health to taxes and infrastructure.

In any case, this is right up there with Global Warming if you ask me... a worldwide epidemic that may never be conquered, but that we also cannot choose to ignore.

Lunchtime on Google News

Something about the graphic above isn't quite right. Do you see it?

Last time I checked, Mercury wasn't running for office in 2008... but I guess it is more common for political than geospatial characters to have "tumultuous pasts." It is interesting that this would appear on a Google site though... I guess the algorithms that categorize news stories don't operate on the same principle as their search methology?