Meh, I'm just a cat living in a world of dogs. Although, I'm not even really a cat, more of a raccoon, cat-like, but not quite a cat either.

I don't need someone to be there for me nearly as much as most people seem to need others. I'm not neglectful, but not smothering by any means either.

I am affectionate and supportive and all, but I do expect others to be independent, may be a bit more so than they are at times.

Aw thanks Kitten. Yeah, it's been a while. Glad to see you back. You're looking pretty rawrtastic as usual, yourself. ;)

Never hurts to have a special friend in your life, and if you do end up dating and it doesn't work out, hopefully you two get a good adventure out of it. Either way, live your life like you stole it (well, maybe not STOLE it, but you know what I mean). :)

Is it possible to be too independent?

Is it possible not to realize abuse until after a relationship has ended? What exactly counts as abuse?

Does hard working turn you on? When someone of the gender you're attracted to is a hard worker does that turn you on?

General rule of thumb for me, is if I have to ask if it's appropriate, it's not. Not saying it's right or wrong for you, that's for you to decide, just saying for me in general, if I question it, then it's probably not good, and I error on the side of caution. Although, a little risk every now and then doesn't hurt. :)

I found screen printing to be an effective method to impress. You can impress her on pretty much anything if you get the right press.

To be fair, it's hard to leave when you're chained to a basement.

I don't think either gender mourns harder than the other. There's differences in how each gender handles and displays emotions. Of course, each person and relationship is different as well, which adds more complexity to how we handle our emotions.

People
Places
Things

That's what Febreze is for. Oh, that reminds me of a story I'm sure you'll appreciate.

A few days ago I made a critical error in judgement by making a big tupperware bowl of crab salad and eating all in one sitting, right before going in to work. I couldn't trust a fart all night. Well, the lady working next me turned on the fan, it was blowing right in my face and blowing stuff around, so I turned it off and told her she has to move it away from me if she wants it on, but I was busy working so I didn't have time to play with the fan. So, she turns the fan on again, but doesn't move it. Well, at this point I didn't care if I soiled myself or not, I let a mean one rip right into the fan. She got a face full of it. The look on her face was priceless when she got btch slapped by that fart.

Well, I rented a hotel room for the next few days and still have half a big bottle of rum from last night. I was going to sleep all day until I have to go to work, but housekeeping woke me up. So, now I'm just going to sit here and stare at the half bottle until it's time to get ready for work. Oh yeah, I have more cigarettes left than I thought.

TMI;TLDR

I gave my ex ex a "friendship" ring at a nice little restaurant we used to visit. It was between the two of us and I didn't make a big scene about it. I hid it in my shoe and as we waited for our food in the booth, I bent down as if I were tieing my shoe pulled it out and gave it to her. She didn't like that I did it in public because she got a bit emotional, but she appreciated it and the moment was special and went well for us.

My more recent ex, I didn't give her any gifts in public that I recall. I've given her gifts in private and she appreciated them in the moment, but then would have fits and destroy and throw them out, so it got to a point where I didn't bother to give her gifts.

Of course, it depends on the kind of person, the gift, the way it's presented, why the gift is being given, etc. I think in general most would rather have special gifts given in private, some may not mind a small gift in public, but generally I think private is preferred.

I don't have any interest in that. All I want is to raise my kids and hopefully everything turns out OK. After that, I'll already be set in my ways and too old to change for anyone, so from this point forward, it's just me and my kids, possibly grand kids in the future, but that's it.

I've learned that love is forgiveness. Forgive your ex for their wrong doings. Forgive yourself for your wrongs as well. Once you let go of hate, anger, and blame you can love again. Perhaps you're finding difficulty because you haven't forgiven for wrongs done in the past, perhaps you have forgiven your ex and yourself. I don't know. All I know is that for me, finding love is about forgiving others. I don't know...

My response is in the What Women Really Want Thread. Same thing. It all comes down to love.

I appreciate your suggestion, and it can be therapeutic for some to journal, but it doesn't work for me. I've tried.

I do document things for court purposes, but that's a bit different.

Exactly,

It's easy to blame others, but what's more productive is to to honest with ourselves and admit and acknowledge our own short comings and do what we can to improve ourselves.

Not to attack or blame the OP, but at the same time OP needs to see their own faults and work on those rather than focusing on the faults of others that they can't control.

It goes both ways. You can't put all of the blame and responsibility on one person. Both parties are to blame and responsible. It doesn't matter how hard one side works if the other is not willing to and not doing anything.