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I can't say I've ever done anything to crazy to get a guy's attention. I have done (or gone) crazy to keep a guy's attention, such as ignoring every possible sign that the relationship was heading toward dating armageddon. But that's another topic for another post.

What's the wildest thing you've ever done to get a guy or gal to notice you? I've heard of people breaking up a couple in order to get with one of them. And on another blog a few months ago I read about one woman who said she has purposefully caused a minor car accident in order to meet the cute other driver. That's not only extreme and dangerous, but I fail to see how getting the guy into an accident will engender attraction. If someone hits me...and then hits on me, well, I think I might fake whiplash and call my lawyer at that point.

Have you ever done anything like that, or something similarly insane? Was the person's beauty just that blinding?

Oh please.

I was with her until the last couple of paragraphs. I was almost cheering at my desk: "Finally, someone speaking up for those of us who don't swoon!" I like being a woman and women's company. I like skirts and nail polish. But I don't look at home decor as a biological directive.

And I certainly don't have a crush on Barack Obama.

I do recall talking with a classmate in fourth grade about which presidential candidate was cuter. I think it was one of our state senators who dropped out early. And I had a poster of John McCain up in my dorm room in college, but it was the one where he was a cute young fighter pilot. And the man himself gave it to me when my political science class interviewed him.

Has anybody ever voted for the hotter candidate based only on that person's hotness? I think it's a ridiculous proposition, but Mariah Carey sold more albums than the Beatles, so what do I know?

It's easy to get jealous when your guy's hanging out with his old friend, who happens to be a girl. And guys, how comfortable are you when your girlfriend wants to have a night out with her guy friend? You know, the one she's known forever but it's just platonic?

Well, at least you know you can trust her when she's out with her girlfriends, right? Well, not alway. I heard of just such a situation third-hand. Basically this guy's lady is bisexual. So when whenever his friends start getting along with her, there's the potential for jealousy, no matter the gender. I, personally, feel for the girl. Who can she hang out with without even the slightest question of impropriety? I guess, she could always keep looking for that man who never gets jealous ...

If I couldn't even trust a man I'm dating when he's out with his guys, well I think I'd go crazy. Also, I'm pretty sure that, besides dark hair and dark eyes, my type includes picking a side and sticking with it.

So I guess the question is two-fold. How does one avoid the pitfalls of dating in the murky world of gay, straight and somewhere in-between? Or is this a fundamental question of trust and not sexual preference?

Getting a haircut.

My hair is now twice as long as it ever was in college, and relentlessly getting longer. I have pictures all over my desk of my flippy little bob and I get all nostalgic about hair that dried itself just right if I drove to work with my car windows down.

But unlike most of college, now I have a man. A man who, like all men, likes long hair.

It doesn't seem like much of a sacrifice, does it? Longer hair saves me money -- now I only get a haircut every couple of months instead of at least every six weeks. It's easy enough to throw in a ponytail and seem fairly well groomed most of the time.

But it does take a long time to wash. It takes a long time to dry. It takes a long time to style. It gets tangled. It gets on my ice cream cone on a windy day. And it's not really what I prefer.

I concede that my sacrifice is pretty small, but it's Monday; let's ease into this whole thing.

Have you changed things about yourself for a relationship? My resentment over this whole hair length thing is at, like, a 2 out of 10. But how much do you come to resent the changes you make to please a partner? Or does your partner drive you to make positive changes?

I know we women, at least the ones I know (and me), like to project an image of being easy-going, down-to-earth and low-maintenance. We can drink beer and eat pizza. We can be ready to go do something spontaneous at a moment's notice. We don't bring make-up on a camping trip.

The problem? Being that cool isn't always possible. At least, it's not always possible to be that cool and still be the attractive girl you guys are looking for. Beer and pizza have carbs. Hair needs to be conditioned and blow-dried before that spontaneous adventure. And, well, don't expect me to wake up in the forest looking the way I looked when you met me.

My question is this: Guys, if you can't have both (the girl who is low maintenance AND the girl who looks good and smells like lilacs all the time) which are you gonna choose? It's my opinion that guys want certain things to come naturally that simply don't. When faced with two choices, they'll choose the girl with the highlights and the perfect make-up, but would never admit to wanting the girl who needs the highlights and the perfect make-up. What's a girl to do?

I've been away from this blogging thing for a while, but I come back with some good news - I met someone that has some real relationship potential. The only problem is, he lives about seven hours away! It is so me to meet a man in the nearby Queen City only to later find out he lives in the Chocolate City (a common nickname for Wahsington, D.C.).

In the past, a long distance relationship always seemed to be the perfect scenario for a budding love affair. I could see my mate occasionally, talk on the phone until the wee hours of the night and still have my space. But, what happens when you don't want space anymore? I'm getting older now and I'm starting to yearn for the little things that make a relationship tick. I don't want to give up on the possibilty of having all that with this guy just yet, so how do you keep the love from going stale before it's fully developed? Is it even possible to maintain a long distance relationship for more than a few months?

Social lives have long revolved around food and drink. So it's no wonder to me that food and drink, and one's preferences, can play an important role in forming meaningful relationships. A recent NY Times article probed relationships between vegetarians and meat-eaters. How does that work? Well, I've seen it work and usually the non-vegetarian cuts back on his/her meat intake -- not always such a bad idea. But what about the social drinker who is paired with the teetotaler?

As for those all-important first impressions, should a girl order salad at dinner to appear dainty? What if she's really just not that hungry? Is it really a turn on to date a girl with a hearty appetite? What if that hearty appetite comes with a hearty pant size?

If any of those questions actually matter, then eating, like everything else in those first few meetings, is all about appearances. Order the lobster to flaunt your money or request the steak extra rare to demonstrate your manliness. Don't mention your strange food allergies or restrictive diet plan.

And the perennial problem for many: When a guy or gal is drinking on a date, when does the impression go from "he/she likes to have a good time" to "he/she's a lush?"

I think everyone can remember the first time a girl or boy made your knees weak, your heart flutter and your intelligence, er, disappear. When I was a teenager, the first time I held a boy's hand or met by my locker to sneak a peck was a big deal. That's the time when puppy love was cute. Ten years later, it seems puppy love has been phased out and replaced with puppy lust. I'm experiencing that headache now with a teenage relative whose fixation with boys is leading her on a path to self destruction. She skips school, sneaks out of the house and her grades have gone from stellar to failure.

I'm no fool, I know many of my peers were doing more than hugging and kissing when I was in middle school and high school, and while the guys were probably getting high fives for losing their virginity, the girls were being called promiscuous (among other things).

Now, intimate excapades seem to be as cool as hanging out with your buds. Teenagers talk about sex like it's small talk and they're having it just as casually.

I was watching a daytime talk show recently where teens were talking about how they play sex games where they wear different colored bracelets and if someone from the opposite sex snaps the bracelet, you have to perform whatever intimate act the color represents. I was shocked.

But who's to blame for the evolution of relating?

I've heard people blame the entertainment industry, which makes intimacy appear glamorous. But some argue that there are just as many television programs, web sites and celebrity influences that talk about the dangers of promiscuity and unprotected sex.

For some reason, though, it's not enough. But what else can be done to put an end to teenagers' reckless behaviors? I don't have any kids, so I can't really advise on the subject, but I'd love to get some tips from someone who has experience - whether you're a parent who's been there or know someone who has.

I don't like dating strangers. I've given it plenty of tries and will probably continue to, but, to be quite honest, I don't enjoy it. I've always wanted a relationship that was based in friendship and grew into something more.

Sure, there are plenty of reasons why those relationships are bad. (The friendship might get ruined; you might put mutual friends in the middle in the event of a breakup.) But I'm starting to think the benefits might outweigh those risks. No more awkward first dates being No. 1 because you'd get to know each other before romance is a factor. And the fact that he would likely know, and probably love, my friends is a major plus.

Tell me about your experiences dating friends. Good, bad, ugly?