Wow, it’s hard to believe that 3 years ago, this site was just a brainchild in our heads.2 years ago it began it’s life. Now it’s growing, and hopefully will become something far greater than any of us.

Birthdays, in my opinion are the perfect time for resolutions. Autumn has already posted ours.

I will only say this. Life is funny, there always seems to be something new to laugh about and enjoy. It grows with you, changes, paths cross and people grow further apart. We say goodbye to some, and hello to others. This site is functioning in the same way. We’re preparing to make improvements which will hopefully bring our readers into the process and allow it to grow even more. To my fellow BeShameless teammates, you’re awesome. I wasn’t as committed to this as I should have been, and now that’s about to change. “A Shameless Guide to Relationships” will be a constant on here. Autumn will continue to baby this site with the love and affection it needs, and Ethan is still the blood that flows through its veins. I have a few new features in store for all of you, including our first ever video cast, which I hope to have up within the next few months.

For those of you who have stuck with us thanks, for those who are new, welcome. We’re all looking forward to entertaining you this year, and gaining your friendship and fanship.

Okay, so as time progresses and we all, dare I say it, get older. We tend to realize that of the many ways we can continue to fuck up our lives, relationships seem to be a kicker. So for the next few weeks (or months or years depending on my own work ethic) I’m going to be writing my own little guidebook on how to deal with common everyday relationship issues the shameless way. (Please note that I actually completely suck at relationships, and I do not guarantee that any of my advice is valid, in fact it will probably make things worse and antagonize already fragile situations, but at least it was an entertaining read)

For the first chapter I decided that communication would be my focus. So I devised a list of situations and tell you how I would handle them. Here goes:

1 . You haven’t heard from your partner in a week and have gotten no response to your attempts to contact him or her. The Right thing to do: Patiently await a response, if none is received, send a message of concern and let the person know you are worried, but will take a hint and move on. The Shameless thing to do: “FUCK that jerk I’m getting laid tonight!!!”

2. You and your partner get into an argument and it has come to a standstill with no compromise in sight. The Right thing to do: Wait until you both have calmed down and discuss the issue like adults, even if it means you agree to disagree. The Shameless thing to do: “Dammit, why won’t you just admit you’re wrong and get over it so we can have make-up sex already!!!”

3. You’re having a bad day, you come home and your partner has just made it worse by saying something completely demeaning and belittling. The Right thing to do: Calmly communicate that you’ve had a hard day and inform them of how their behavior has made you feel . The Shameless thing to do: Find something of their’s of value that is kind of heavy and probably breakable and throw it at their head, then curse yourself for missing. (Unless you actually hit them, in which case you will need some trash bags, bleach, and a car with a large trunk)

4. Your partner is upset with you because you have not allowed them to meet your family. The Right thing to do: Tell your partner to be patient with you, and re-enforce that you are not embarrassed by them, but you need time to prepare yourself for that step in your relationship. The Shameless thing to do: “If you’d take a damn bath and get a job, I might consider it!!”

5. Your partner comes to you and tells you something that is bothering them about you, with hopes that you both can talk about it and work it out. The right thing to do: Listen to their complaint, use this discussion to get your complaints on the table and work together to improve. The Shameless thing to do: Tell them that you will never change, and if they don’t like it they can go fuck themselves. Don’t forget to add in everything that is wrong with them that is expected to change or you’ll kick them out on their ass.

That’s all for now, I hope you have enjoyed chapter 1. Fell free to comment with your own Shameless Relationship Advice in the future

So, I’m beginning to get into reading several blogs written by servers about their bad experiences with customers. Having been a server and bartender before myself, I sympathize with them more than most. I think people do tend to forget just how difficult of a job it really is.
I’ve had my share of bad tippers myself. I also have plenty of stories of my own I could tell. However I’ll leave that to them. I just wanna give a big shout out to people in the service industry everywhere. Whether you wait tables at a local diner or five star bistro, or even hand someone their daily coffee at Starbucks, you deserve a lot more than you’re getting.

I guess many people use the excuse, “they could get a real job, or companies could pay them more money”. Let’s face it, someone has to do it. If companies paid them more, prices would go up and everyone would lose money. Remember that whether you leave a tip or not, the server has already paid the cost of some of your meal by accepting as low as 2.13/hr. So give’m a break. They deserve it.

theshamelessone

Hello all, since this is my first post, I thought I would say hello before going off on one of my rants. Actually, I really don’t rant. I’m just really bitchy, and it seems that society, the government, and this motley crew of people I surround myself with, give me lots to bitch about.

So I went to see V for Vendetta this evening. I was thoroughly captivated. The movie is beautifully shot and Natalie Portman was amazing. I don’t want to explain too much about the movie so I don’t ruin it for anyone that hasn’t seen it, however I do need to say something of the plot. The film is a haunting prophecy of a future government (set in Britain though America could very well face the same thing) that has assumed total control in the name of God and religion. The movie is a frightening look at what could happen to any country if the wrong people came into power.

The similarities of the film to today’s issues is worth talking about. The government’s use of fear in the film is much more extreme, our own government today uses the same tactics to convince people that they are right. Has anyone noticed that the terror alert always stays at Elevated. Yellow is my favorite color, yet I feel that the blue Guarded or green low would be much more fashionable. I also don’t think I would have that panicked feeling everytime I watch more than 10 minutes of CNN. By keeping Americans in constant fear, I mean to me the news is much scarier than some bloody horror movie, it seems that we are more inept to believe what they are saying and not complain. I think all Americans are getting tired of this lifestyle gradually (as good ol’ W’s approval rating keeps plunging).

We live in the fear lifestyle. Soon we’ll have designer kevlar vests (so you can be safe but still look fabulous when you’re out on the town) or maybe everyone will just start buying tanks (I mean c’mon the housewives in their Hummer’s would’t have shit on my candy apple red M1 Abrams Battle Tank). I hope good financing is available.

In summary, it seems frivolous to live in fear. I mean, I do believe our government is doing a good job protecting us, I do however enjoy the ignorance of not knowing that the CIA thwarted a shoe bombing at my local Florsheim. I don’t want to live in fear, I want to be able to leave my home and not worry about being blown up, or shot. I think that living in fear is what is costing American’s their freedom and giving control to people who feed off of it for power. Just a little something to think about.

theshamelessone