Okay, girls out there know, sometimes in a serious relationship, we try their last name.  Sometimes, we get really scary and write it everywhere.  But not always.  Yes, I've played that game.  And in my superstitious way, soothed my fears that I would be with that particular guy for the rest of my life.*

See, I had this idea that if the name didn't fit, didn't sound right with my name, that it meant I wouldn't wind up with that guy.  So far, none of their names has ever worked with mine.  Not that Alicia goes with much around here.  White boys, rich boys, pampered never-worked-a-day boys.  And the good Mexican families are few and far between.  Mostly, we get the wanna-be gangbangers.

Recently though, Bobby broached the topic of marriage.  He actually went so far as to propose to me.  Now, I don't for a minute believe that it's real; that's really not plausible.  Still, like almost any girl would, I tried the name.**

It fit.  At least, I think it fit.  (And, he's white. Irony...)  He doesn't call me that as much as he used to--he used to use it like a pet name, half to tease and half to be sweet.  Still it's in my head and due to my superstitions I can't help, but get the idea that maybe far off into the future, I will get to stay with him.  It's enough to make a person crazy.  I've never wanted anything this bad before (and if you knew me, you would understand the enormity of that statement).

Perhaps, if my idea was right, we really do have a chance.  I try not to get my hopes up too high though.

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* I have only had two non-abusive relationships in my dating life. One of which I didn't even want to be in, but couldn't figure out how to tell him I didn't want to.

** Actually, if you want to get technical about it, he tried the name.  He just out of the blue started calling me Alicia Foster...

Found this on myspace and loved it.

If you’re under the age of 12 you shouldn’t even read this.

Just because you were born in ’97 doesn’t mean you’re a 90’s kid.


It’s not like you could remember the original Simpsons

I am sorry but three conscious years of the 90’s just won’t cut it.


You’re a 90’s kid if,
You remember watching:
-Kenan and Kel
-Doug
-Ren & Stimpy
-Pinky and the Brain
-AAAAAAAH Real Monsters!
-Rockos modern Life
-Animaniacs
-Gargoyles
-Tom and Jerry [when they didnt talk]
-Hey Arnold
-Out of the Box
-Bear in the Big Blue House

You’ve ever ended a sentence with the word “PSYCHE!”

You just cant resist finishing this . . . “In west Philadelphia born and raised...”

You remember:
-Step by Step
-Family Matters
-Dinosaurs
-Boy Meets World

You remember when it was actually worth getting up early
on a Saturday to watch cartoons.


When everything was settled by:
-rock paper scissors or
-bubble gum bubble gum in a dish or
-miss mary mack

When kick ball was something you did everyday!!

you used to listen to the radio all day long just to record your FAVORITE song of ALL time on a tape.



You remember when Super Nintendos and Sega Genisis became popular.



You always wanted to send in a tape to America’s Funniest Home Videos . . . but never taped anything funny.


You remember watching:
-The Magic School Bus
-Wishbone
-Reading Rainbow
-Ghostwriter on PBS
-Rainbow Bright

You remember when Yo-Yos were cool.


And you played with Silly Puddy and Sticky Tac that you stole from the teacher’s walls.



You remember those Where’s Waldo books.


Those awsome buzz lightyear shoes that light up.


You remember eating Warheads and Splashers Gum


You remember watching:
-The 1st Batman
-Aladdin
-Ninja Turtles
-Ghost Busters

You remember Ring Pops!!!

If you remember when every thing was “da BOMB!”

You remember boom boxes . vs.
cd players

You played and/or collected “Pogs”

You had at least one Tamagotchi, GigaPet, or Nano and brought it everywhere u went

You watched the original cartoons of
-Rugrats
-Wild Thornberry’s
-Power Rangers
-Rocket Power.


All your school supplies were “Lisa Frank” brand

If you collected those:
-Beanie Babies
-Yu Gi Oh and Pokemon cards
-Coins with the states on them
-Carebears
-Silver dollars, which were cool to have
-Everyone watched the WB

If you even know what an original walkman is..

You know the Macarena by heart

“Talk to the hand” . . .enough said.

You went to McDonald’s to play in the playplace

..Before the MySpace frenzy.....

Before the Internet & text messaging ......

Before Sidekicks & iPods .

Before PlayStation3 or X-BOX 360

Before Spongebob .....

When light up sneakers were cool and you had spiral spring shoelaces

When you rented VHS tapes, not DVDs

When gas was $1.95 a gallon

When we recorded stuff on VCR

You had slap bracelets!

You Actually played outside until it was dark!

Way back-Before we realized all this would eventually disappear...

And they forgot to mention, country music was good back then.

And the Backstreet  Boys vs. Nsync...got to love the boy band craze. And Brittany Spears was cool then too.

What is this thing with guys and video games? Bobby's absolutely hooked on it. And if he cant play his PS3 hes on the PSP playing Monster Hunter. I mean for pity's sake, he's 18-years-old! Arent they supposed to grow out of it?

It's not that I mind him wanting to play video games sometimes. Just because I dont find them fun doesnt mean he cant enjoy them. But should he be so utterly obsessed with them? He went so far as to plan to pack his PS3 for our trip to Corpus Christi!

Of course, it's entirely possible that Im being hypocritical. After all, I put him through a ton of crazy. Is it too much for him to ask for a little relaxation time? Perhaps thats the way he does it. Video games are to him what books (and movies) are to me. I read all the time and watch tons of movies because I absolutely hate reality. Bobby's been through some shit on his own. Maybe this is his way of escaping reality for a bit. And it isnt as if he ignores me. He puts the game right down if he thinks I want attention (sometimes hes right, sometimes I just get some extra attention and love it).

Either way, I still dont understand why guys love video games so much. So I did some research and found a study from the Stanford University which reports that men's brains are more responsive to video games than women's. According to MRI scans, the zones of the brain associated with reward and addiction are much more active in men's brains when they played a simple video game.

Apparently this can actually cause a man to become addicted to video games. Luckily it doesnt go that far here. I guess when you look at it that way, Bobby's gaming seems like a fairly well managed thing.