unicorn

Yes, except for the part about the guilt and shame adding up. Since he's a sociopath, I doubt he feels any guilt or shame. 😉It took a long time, but I think the swing voters are finally realizing that they elected a lifelong con-man: a smooth-talker who lies with every breath.

I can think of few things more unkind that ghosting someone who's shown nothing but kindness himself. All we can do in such circumstances is remind oneself that we were the ones being kind, and especially that we did nothing wrong. Clearly, the men @KeepItReal and @PeterRS were helping wanted to move onto a new chapter their lives. It wouldn't have taken but a modicum of decency for them to simply explain that. But that's simply on them. All one can do is cherish the good memories. Just remember that you did nothing but good, and had some happy times while doing it.

Obviously, not the norm for me either, hence the question.

You must be a brilliant conversationalist at parties... 😉

According to recent reports, openly gay 38 year-old Rob Jetten has won the Dutch election for Prime Minister. He's engaged to marry Nicolás Santiago Keenan, a 28 year-old field hockey player and Olympic athlete from Argentina. Yow! https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20251103-dutch-centrist-jetten-set-to-be-youngest-ever-pm-after-narrow-election-win "Dutch centrist leader Rob Jetten on Monday clinched a razor-thin election win over far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders, taking a historically slim lead of 28,455 votes with all the ballots finally counted. Jetten had already declared victory on Friday after local news agency ANP, which tallies and publishes the results, had said Wilders could not overtake his lead....". https://www.outsports.com/2024/11/26/24104515/nico-keenan-rob-keenan-engaged-paris-olympics-hockey-gay-lgbtq-bisexual/ "One of the 20 out male athletes who formed part of Team LGBTQ at the Paris Olympics is celebrating his engagement to his boyfriend. Nico Keenan competed at the second Games of his career for Argentina in field hockey. The 27-year-old started the Olympic tournament as a reserve but was elevated into the squad with whom he reached the quarterfinals. Watching on from the stands at the Stade Yves-du-Manoir was Keenan’s boyfriend, Rob Jetten who is the leader of Dutch political party D66. (In the October 2025 elections, Jetten’s party did well enough that he might be the next prime minister.)...". Talk about a power couple! Hubba, hubba:

First of all, while I wouldn't throw him out of bed, he's not what I would describe as "my type" (he is cute, though). Secondly, My hubby and have an understanding that we can only have sex out of wedlock with strangers (not someone either of us knows--typically while traveling), and that once the deed is done, we'll never see that person again (no keeping contact information, for example). With those guidelines, there's no need for jealousy.

That reminds me of one of the episodes on Drag Race México, when one of the queens confided in the other that he was pansexual. The other queen responded with "¿De verdad te gusta tanto el pan?" (Do you really enjoy bread that much?). 😄

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Thank you for your kind comments. He may have been rude, but at least he wasn't a liar. Here he is performing at the Magic Castle. Unlike what was suggested by another poster, the club doesn't perform for fellow magicians, but rather for the public. Any guest at the hotel, for example, can book a show at the castle. However, since the venue is small, non-hotel guests must be invited by a member. It's certainly expected that members will invite guests, as this is how the place makes money. Asking magicians, even casually for an invitation, is one of the primary ways they do business. If you ask Reddit how to get an invitation, some have even suggested bumping into someone at a magic store, for example. Casually asking a magician one has just met is apparently a common and accepted way to obtain an invitation. After all, they can't count on only the hotel guests. Go to the Magic Apple store in Studio City and ask. 8 u/botolo avatar botolo • 1y ago This! While they don’t have invites, I always found a magician there buying their stuff and they invited me. 9 u/mus3man42 avatar mus3man42 • 1y ago This is what I always say. Just go meet a magician! They’re not hard to find and they are often very friendly and charismatic people! Another response: Wise-Bee5966 • 1y ago Black Rabbit Rose Magic is the magic/jazz bar that the magicians perform and hang at as well, so if you go in the evening, usually on Thursdays, the magician will come to you and ask if you want to see a trick…or get an invite to the Magic Castle. So asking a magician, even one which one has merely bumped into at a store, is not considered gauche. I wouldn't be surprised if the magicians even get a cut on what the guests spend, though I don't suppose Day would have snapped at me if that were the case.

My husband, houseguest, and myself were chatting up with a young man at a Halloween party (as previously discussed in another string). He mentioned that he was a professional magician, and I asked him if he could offer us an invitation to the Magic Castle. The Magic Castle is a dinner club where one has dinner while being entertained by various magicians. One can only obtain reservations if invited by a member. There is no cost for a member to invite a guest, and we'd be paying our own way, of course. He kind of snapped at me and said "Well, hello to you, too!" and disengaged, shunning me for the rest of evening. When I tell people I'm a physician, it's not uncommon for new acquaintances to ask me my medical advice. I've never been bothered by that, although sometimes I must tell the new acquaintance that I'd need more information (sometimes I can offer a good opinion, however). I felt embarrassed at being rebuked like that. I probably would have gone to one of his shows had he simply declined. I might have even hired him for one of my summertime pool parties, as I usually hire an entertainer such as a drag queen or exotic dancer. Of course, both my houseguest and husband felt he was the one being rude, with my husband commenting "He's just young and full of himself" (the man is 23). I do realize that my husband and houseguest aren't exactly neutral observers, so I'm wondering what your thoughts are, as neutral parties.

It's a one-bedroom, one-bathroom place with a kitchenette, largish living room, and decent-sized balcony with two couches. Apparently 120 people RSVP'd to the party (there was actually security giving out wristbands to those on the list), though I suspect only 90 people at its peak. There were plenty of people there I wanted to meet, including the host, whom I've invited to several of my parties, and some good friends. Our current house guest also wanted to go. I'm not a huge party goer who needs to go to a party every week-end, but it's fun to mingle with a bunch of young men, often in skimpy "slutty" costumes. Our WeHo friends are mostly in their early 30s, and it's particularly difficult to afford a decent-sized place in western West Hollywood, even if one is fairly successful.

Yesterday we went to the Halloween party of a friend who lives in a pricey but small condo in the heart of Boystown (west West Hollywood). It has only one bathroom, and he specified on the invitation "Don't poop at my place." Of course, we'd never intentionally save it up for a party, but felt compelled to take some Imodium just in case. The party, indeed, had almost 100 attendees, and the line for the bathroom could be extremely long--but mainly due to people using the bathroom for non-toilet related purposes. Prior to that party, we went to another party, which was held in a small house, and he had a place in his backyard which he designated for peeing, since he also had only one bathroom. I've never seen no-poop instructions on an invitation before. Have you ever given or received such instructions?

Before the arrival of highly-active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), HIV infection most often meant the infected had at best a 10-year prognosis. Since then (around 1996), most of those infected have been able to live essentially normal lifespans (if they take their meds). It made sense to check HIV status before offering a 30-year mortgage in the 80s to 90s (especially if the down payment was under 20%). Even in the late 90s, it wasn't known how effective HAART would be (though there were clues). I would suspect that by the mid 2000's most mortgage companies realized they could offer long-term mortgages without knowing HIV status. Certainly by 2010, there had been many people who'd taken the meds for well over a decade, and who were doing fine.

I don't mind flying Premium Economy, even long-distance, for daytime flights. However, I can't sleep in those seats. If I fly PE over night, I simply need an extra day to recover.

I wonder if York will be left without a duke, and Inverness without an earl... or will William's children inherit the titles?😄

Not a serious risk.

Typically, although not always, we need fairly specific dates due to cruises or land tours. I think AA made a major policy shift late last summer regarding frequent flier mileage availability and, apparently, fares. Business awards seem to have been made essentially unavailable, and even main cabin availability highly limited. If airfares are any indication, it looks as though Delta may have followed suit, but not United. As I said, I've been a loyal customer with AA for decades, and AA no longer seems to reward customers' loyalty.

Not only are there no award seats for business class, but none for main cabin, either. Even if I change the dates for extra time in Jakarta. All these award miles have been fake promises. 😢

Well, we'll be going to Indonesia in July, and so far R/T Business from LAX to Jakarta seems to be holding steady at $6000 (code-share JAL). We'll stick with American for now, but that's contingent on that airfare to VIE being a fluke. I dumped United over 20 years ago due to some bad experiences, but they may have changed during that period of time.

I've been tracking the airfares for an upcoming trip we're going to take to Vienna/Danube cruise in May, and was shocked to see the business class fare increase from $7000 per person to $16,300 per person! I called American Airlines and found out that, in addition to those changes, one can no longer upgrade with miles or systemwide upgrade certificates, but rather, one has to buy the ticket first, then get presented with $$ or miles offers to upgrade. I checked those offers on upcoming LAX to MIA flight, and they were sky-high in price for either miles or $$ (160,000 miles per couple just for the way over, and over 200,000 miles for the way back!!). As far as I can tell, it looks as though Delta Airlines has taken the same strategy, since they're asking over $14,000 per person for to LAX-VIE roundtrip business class fare. Fortunately, the price for a United business class seat on a code-share on Austrian Airlines is less than half that, so we're going along with that before United joins the band-wagon. I hate to dump American (especially due to bad experiences I've had on United), but these policy changes seem too expensive to swallow. This is a copy of a complain letter I wrote to AA: "I'm a Million Miler and long-time Executive Platinum member, but am shocked by the stratospheric increase in prices of business class seats and the difficult in getting upgrades. We are taking a trip from LAX to VIE (Vienna) in May, and were shocked to see the price of the business class ticket go from $7000 to over $16,000 per person. What's worse is that one can no longer use Systemwide Upgrades or miles until after one has purchased one's tickets, and then get surprised by an "offer" to upgrade. We looked at our offer for our upcoming trip to Miami, and it was off the charts! United is offering a nonstop LAX to VIE for $6861 per person. I'm afraid we had to take them up on that offer. After all of these years of loyalty to AA, I hate to break the relationship, but I'm not going to spend an extra $20,000 for the sake of loyalty, when that loyalty isn't rewarded. I have a suspicion that AA will lose its most loyal customers if these changes continue."

That's rather talented of you. I sometimes try to guess where someone is from based on their accent, but I can't imagine trying to do so based on looks. One can learn something and break the ice with the right guesses. Once, while we were traveling, I heard a coule speaking Dutch in what I thought was a Flemish accent, and I asked if they were Belgian. I found out that while they were Dutch, they lived in the Dutch Province of Limburg, which is a finger of Dutch territory which pokes into the Belgian Province of Limburg. We had a laugh about it, and I called them "honorary Belgians." So now I know that if someone speaks with a Flemish accent, he may be either Belgian or from the Dutch Limburg Province. As for identifying Spanish-speakers by their accents, I would frequently pick out from my patients' accents that they were from a Caribbean country, and not from Mexico or Latin America (or Spanish, which is even more obvious). However, I could only say that the darker the skin, the more likely to be from the DR, then Cuba, then Puerto Rico being the least likely. The only thing I can say from regarding physical appearance is that for some reason I tend to find Colombians as the most attractive people from Spanish-speaking countries. However, I would never guess that just because I find a man hot, that he's probably from Colombia. I was very taken by a Paraguayan dude, and would have married him had he been an honest man.

If someone can be compliant, I'd go for orals. If there are side-effects, one can always stop. There are those, such as the OP, however, for which taking medication daily seems to be difficult. It's for those that injectables are a better choice. When taken as directed, most PrEP medications show efficacy closer to 97% than to 90%.

No, it does not. What it does say is that one must seriously question any statements of fact made without references. When I make statements of fact, I usually provide links to my references--or at least a statement to the effect of "I heard on the CBS news today"... Only when one leaves references can another person check those references for credibility. Of course, just having a reference doesn't mean the statement is true. There is one regular poster on this forum who habitually posts references, claiming the reference states one thing, when in fact the reference states the opposite. But at least in that case the person with the fake references can be identified as a liar. We all know who that poster is, and we all know to view any statements he makes with extreme caution. It's foolish to believe something simply on the basis of "somebody told me" or "I read it somewhere." This doesn't mean that an undocumented statement can't possibly be true. What it does mean is "undocumented" = "unreliable". Believing in something merely because someone said so (and one wants to believe in it) is foolish. A lot of people do just that, however. Look at how Trump got elected. He's a professional con-man who makes completely baseless allegations and claims. His supporters will believe whatever he says, regardless of the facts.