Feliz Ano Nuevo!

AnnMarie and I wish you all a fabulous 2011!

Seeking Hot Guys? Avoid These Cities!

(YourTango) - Wondering which cities you can safely skip over on your next all-girls road trip? TotalBeauty just made it easier for you, with a handy top list of the cities with the least attractive dudes. Their method: they looked at factors like education statistics, contraceptive and erotica sales,—"no sex generally equals less hot guys," they write—the number of gyms, exercise habits, obesity rates and smoking rates in every city in the U.S. Scientific? Perhaps not—but certainly worth a read. Male Take: Where To Meet Good Men
The top nine:

#9: HOUSTON, TX: Blame bad teeth, a higher-than-average obesity rate (25 percent of the population is sedentary) and... body odor? Say it isn't so! (TotalBeauty cryptically refers to their "research" when citing the body odor. We're not sure we want to know).

#8: PHILADELPHIA, PA: Between Travel + Leisure magazine's survey of tourists and locals for America's Favorite Cities (they ranked Philly last in the "Attractive People" category) and Men's Health #2 ranking of the City of Brotherly Love for worst teeth, plus a relatively high obesity rate, TotalBeauty doesn't think Philly dudes make the grade.

#7: DETROIT, MI: One of the highest obesity rates in the country, plus a low percentage of men with bachelor's degrees and a low high school graduation rate put these guys high on TotalBeauty's un-boinkable list.

#6 & #5: HUNTINGTON, WV & MOBILE, AL (tie): No one likes a tie, especially when it comes to having equally terrible teeth, a high rate of inactivity, and a low number of gyms.

#4: GREENSBORO, NC: According to QualityHealth.com's survey of sexually active cities, no one's getting laid in Greensboro... which comes as no surprise to TotalBeauty, who point the finger at bad teeth and a high rate of obesity. C'mon, ladies—big guys are sexy, too! (We're with you on the teeth, though).

#3: MIAMI, FL: This one came as a surprise, especially since the country's most impressive abs just finished filming Jersey Shore in Miami. But 21 percent of men 25 years old and up didn't make it past 9th grade—one of the highest dropout rates in the cities TotalBeauty studied. Let's face it, smart guys are hot. Plus, more than 27 percent of Miamians don't exercise regularly—but maybe that's skewed because of the older, retired population?

#2: HAGERSTOWN, MD: Nearly 30 percent of guys in Hagerstown don't exercise regularly and 30 percent are obese... plus, a higher-than-average number of them smoke, compared to the rest of the country.

#1: EL PASO, TX: We want it all: brains and brawn... and the dudes in El Paso don't have much of either, according to Total Beauty: nearly 15 percent of guys in this city have less than a 9th grade education. Plus, 32 percent are in below-average health and 30 percent do not exercise regularly. The end result? Apparently, it ain't pretty.

Read the YourTango article here.

         Great last-minute gift: Being Ms. Right instant download!                             

This is possibly the coolest thing EVER

Happy holidays from datingspecialist.net!



Obsession du Jour

I am obsessed with Double Dream Hands.

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'Tis the Season

The song, Skating, by Vince Guaraldi, makes me so happy it literally brings tears to my eyes.

Happy holidays!

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Poor Matt!

Kudos to Mr. Lauer for holding it together as well as he did.

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Nothing Says 'Happy Monday' Like a Warm Piglet

Happy Monday,

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Obsession du Jour

I am obsessed with Panda Cheese commercials.

If you ever have the opportunity to try this Egyptian cheese, do not, under any circumstances, refuse. Here's why...









Their slogan, "Never Say No to Panda", is perfectly apropos.

Just you know whyyyy...

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Pumpkin Pie = Seksi Times

(WPBF.com) - The secret to better sex could be in a classic Thanksgiving dessert

"Throw away the perfume and go get some pumpkin pie," said Dr. Alan Hirsch, Director of Chicago's Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Center.

In a study of men ages 18 to 64, 40 aromas were tested to determine which arouses men the most. The smell of pumpkin pie topped ladies' fragrances.

"The number one odor that enhanced penile blood flow was a combination of lavender and pumpkin pie," said Hirsch.

Hirsch said tha combination increased penile blood flow by an average of 40 percent in participants.

Pumpkin pie was the single strongest stimulant.

"Maybe the odors acted to reduce anxiety. By reducing anxiety, it acted to remove inhibitions," said Hirsch.

However, eating part of the pumpkin usually discarded when making pie could offer even greater sexual health benefits for men.

"The most important element of the pumpkin are the seeds themselves," said Palm Beach Gardens Alternative medicine expert Dr. Ralph Monserrat. He often recommends patients with erectile dysfunction eat pumpkin seeds.

"Pumpkin seeds are very rich in zinc. That, in itself, is very valuable in individuals who have prostate enlargement...because they are very rich in zinc, there will be an increase in testosterone and that increase will also increase the sexual desire," said Monserrat.

Pumpkin pie isn't the only Thanksgiving favorite that arouses a man. The same study showed that older men showed a strong response to vanilla.

If your partner enjoys sex on a regular basis, allow him to pull the strawberry-rhubarb pie out of the oven. Men with the most satisfying sex lives responded strongly to strawberry.

"Every odor we tested aroused the participants," said Hirsch.

However, not all of them created strong responses. Therefore, you may want to keep your man away from the cranberry sauce. The aroma of cranberry offered the smallest increase in blood flow, only two percent.

There is some good news, Hirsch said: "Nothing turns a man off."

This Thanksgiving, if you want a little something extra to be thankful for, you may be able to create a big change in the bedroom by making a little change in the kitchen.
 

Read the original story here.

 

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving from DatingSpecialist.net!

Female Bonding Can be Hazardous to Your Health

(Yahoo News) It's always nice to have a friend's shoulder to lean on when life gets tough. But a study has found that too much commiserating can be stressful.

Female friends who dwell on each other's problems show a spike in the stress hormone cortisol and an increase in activity of the sympathetic nervous system, the system responsible for the fight-or-flight response, the study found.

Talking over problems without dwelling on them resulted in no such spike, suggesting that compassionate conversation is helpful - when done right.

"Too much of a good thing is a bad thing," study researcher Jennifer Byrd-Craven, an Oklahoma State University psychologist, told LiveScience. "Really focusing on negative feelings is probably bad overall for your physical health as well as your psychological health."

Studies on chronic stress have linked worry to high blood pressure, lowered immune response, and increased abdominal fat, which in turn is associated with heart disease and stroke.

Byrd-Craven reported the results online Oct. 27 in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.

Stressful conversations

Earlier studies had shown that excessively rehashing problems with friends - a phenomenon called "co-ruminating" - seemed to make people more anxious even as it brought the friends closer together. To investigate this paradox, Byrd-Craven recruited 44 pairs of college-age female friends. (Women, accordant with stereotype, are more likely to co-ruminate than men, Byrd-Craven said.)

The women completed questionnaires designed to reveal their temperaments and problem-solving styles. Then the friend pairs were asked either to sit and discuss problems or to work together to plan a community recreation center. The center-planning task was a control so the researchers could compare problem-talking with a more neutral interaction.

Before and after the tasks, the women gave saliva samples to measure levels of cortisol and salivary alpha-amylase, a compound that signals the activation of the sympathetic nervous system.

The women who planned the community center showed no stress response, and neither did women whose natural problem-discussing style focused on solutions. But friend pairs who ruminated on their problems, discussing them without any resolution, showed an increase in both cortisol and salivary alpha-amylase.

Friends forever or toxic friendship?

The study looked only at the short term, so researchers don't know how co-ruminating affects health over the long term. But preliminary evidence suggests the answer won't be a positive one.

"Other studies have shown that dual stress system activity is related to the highest risk for internalizing symptoms," Byrd-Craven said. "So, depression and anxiety."

One odd upside to co-rumination is that women who do it report being closer to their friends, Byrd-Craven said. The next step is to look at how the women and their friendships fare in the long term, and to see whether people can learn to talk about problems in a more effective way, she said.

"These friends seem to get together specifically for this purpose and tend to do this every time they see each other," Byrd-Craven said. "It's sort of like a shared interest."
 
Read the original story here.
 

 

 

datingspecialist.net always practices safe bonding

Oh, happy day!

I love it when she shows off her sassy wedges.

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Feel-good Clip of the Day

Maybe you've already seen this amazing play by the Driscoll Middle School football team from Corpus Christi, Texas, but there's no reason not to watch it again... and again and again... that's how good it is.

Cheers to Driscoll quarterback Jason Garza!

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Man Kicks His Own Ass Over Infidelity

(Dayton Daily News) - Police were called to a disturbance in the 4400 block of Flowerdale Avenue and found a 19-year-old man in front of the building bleeding from the nose and acting strangely.

According to police, he said he was very upset at himself for cheating on his girlfriend and also stated he was intoxicated.

The man then began hitting himself in the face with closed fists while walking around screaming.

The man was arrested for disorderly conduct and taken to a hospital for evaluation. The charge was later changed to public intoxication.

You can also read the article here

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The Guys at my Dog Park Suck!

OK, so I'm officially done flirting with guys at the dog park... well, the park closest to my house, at least. Why, you ask? Because they all have huge, poorly-behaved dogs that virtually run over my dog, bat her around with their paws, and scare the holy heck out of her, that's why!

Here is an artist's representation of their dogs:

And here is my dog, Mary Poppins:

Here's the deal: I'm not interested in dating someone with a dog that can most closely be described as an a**hole. Don't get me wrong, I certainly don't want to date a guy who dresses his dog in dresses, too (gay boyfriends, however, have free rein here), but is it too much to ask for a guy with a dog that has basic obedience skills? No, my friends, it is NOT too much.

Down with bad dog owners! Your poor dogs are a**holes! Nobody really wants to be an a**hole (well, except my former neighbor, Mike S., but that's a whole different story), not even dogs. Do something about it, for cryin' out loud!

Thanks in advance,

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Jessica Simpson Blissfully Happy With New Soul-Mate... Again.

Does Jessica Simpson realize she's a motivational speaker to heartbroken women everywhere? I'm talking about the ones who are super-despondent and think they'll never find true love again. Been there? Yeah, me too.

Though she's dumped and been dumped many times, Ms. Simpson tactfully dusts herself off and gets back on the horse (among other things) like nobody's business. Kudos to good ol' Jess for her 'if at first you don't succeed' attitude.

Read about her latest ecstatic soul-mate splendor here.

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Falling In Love Only Takes About a Fifth of a Second

(Science Daily) - A new meta-analysis study conducted by Syracuse University Professor Stephanie Ortigue reveals falling in love can elicit not only the same euphoric feeling as using cocaine, but also affects intellectual areas of the brain. Researchers also found falling in love only takes about a fifth of a second.

Results from Ortigue's team revealed when a person falls in love, 12 areas of the brain work in tandem to release euphoria-inducing chemicals such as dopamine, oxytocin, adrenaline and vasopression. The love feeling also affects sophisticated cognitive functions, such as mental representation, metaphors and body image.

The findings raise the question: "Does the heart fall in love, or the brain?"

"That's a tricky question always," says Ortigue. "I would say the brain, but the heart is also related because the complex concept of love is formed by both bottom-up and top-down processes from the brain to the heart and vice versa. For instance, activation in some parts of the brain can generate stimulations to the heart, butterflies in the stomach. Some symptoms we sometimes feel as a manifestation of the heart may sometimes be coming from the brain."

Ortigue is an assistant professor of psychology and an adjunct assistant professor of neurology, both in The College of Arts and Sciences at Syracuse University.

Other researchers also found blood levels of nerve growth factor, or NGF, also increased. Those levels were significantly higher in couples who had just fallen in love. This molecule involved plays an important role in the social chemistry of humans, or the phenomenon 'love at first sight.' "These results confirm love has a scientific basis," says Ortigue.
 
Read the rest of the story here
 

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Love Stinks!

(Total Beauty) - What can change your light bulb, give you a hug, and leave you with the most addicting scent? A boyfriend, duh.

And though you can hire a mechanic to change your light fixtures, and hug a pillow at night with your eyes closed tight, when the boyfriend goes into the ex-files, his lingering scent just can't be replaced -- until now. Kate Walsh, star of "Private Practice," is launching her own beauty line called Boyfriend, inspired by her lack thereof.

Several years ago, after a crashing breakup, she was undergoing the all-too-familiar breakup recovery when she thought, "I really miss his scent."

"So I went to fragrance counter and bought a men's fragrance and went, 'Wait a minute, you don't need a boyfriend to have a Boyfriend," she remembers. "All these ideas just wouldn't leave me alone. So many women I know wear men's fragrances, and what really appealed to me was the idea of the boyfriend story. Everyone has one to share."

It's true, the best of us have had our hearts broken by some undeserving man and we cried about it over tubs of ice cream to girlfriends with "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" playing in the background. To help recovery, Walsh introduces a perfume that smells like your lost love. Now with boyfriend jeans, the boyfriend flannel and Walsh' Boyfriend perfume, who needs a man?

Boyfriend will debut on the Home Shopping Network on November 11.at 8 PM EST. It comes in a five-piece kit including a 15 ml. eau de parfum spray, pulse point oil, dry body oil, body cream and a votive candle all for $79.99. The second fragrance of the line is expected to launch in a year.

(by Sharon J. Yi -- read the original version here)   

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'Selfless' Genes Attract Mates

(Science Daily)  - Here is genetic evidence that selfless or altruistic behaviour may have evolved because it was one of the qualities our ancestors looked for in a mate.

This is the finding of Dr Tim Phillips and colleagues from the University of Nottingham and Institute of Psychiatry, King's College, London whose results were published in the British Journal of Psychology.

The study investigated whether altruistic behaviour evolved as a result of sexual selection. 70 identical and 87 non-identical female twin pairs completed questionnaires relating to their own levels of altruism (e.g. "I have given money to charity") and how desirable they found this in potential mates (e.g. "Once dived into a river to save someone from drowning").


Statistical analysis of their responses revealed that genes influenced variation in both the subjects' preference towards a mate and their own altruistic behaviour -- an indication that sexual selection might be at work.


Interestingly, there was also a genetic correlation between the two. This suggested that, in our evolutionary past, those with a stronger mate preference towards altruistic behaviour mated more frequently with more altruistic people, thus further supporting a link with sexual selection.


Tim explained: "These results are consistent with a link between human altruism towards non-relatives and sexual selection and throws an exciting new light on the puzzle of altruistic behaviour -- which appears, at first sight, to be at odds with evolutionary theory."


"The expansion of the human brain would have greatly increased the cost of raising children so it would have been important for our ancestors to choose mates both willing and able to be good, long-term parents. Displays of altruism could well have provided accurate clues to this and so led to a link between human altruism and sexual selection."
 
Read the full story here
 

 

 

 

 

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We Heart Allie Brosh!

Allie Brosh Presents: "6 Ways To Establish Workplace Dominance"

 

In the modern workplace, everyone wants to stand out as a leader.  Everyone wants to be respected and admired by their coworkers.  This is normally achieved through hard work, dedication and good interpersonal skills, but I’m going to give you a few shortcuts based on ancient, unquestionable principles of dominance.

1. Use your appearance to stand out as much as possible

Have you ever seen a peacock that is wildly successful but also brown and unimpressive-looking?  No. You haven’t.  Unfortunately, brightly colored clothing is pretty commonly available to humans, so you’re going to need to go one step further if you want to be noticed.

Demonstrate your superiority by wrapping your body in colorful, flashing lights and display your mastery of fire by carrying sparklers with you to important meetings.

2. Unwavering eye contact sends a clear signal

Eye contact can be used in a number of ways to assert your dominance.  For example, if you make eye contact with a coworker, you must not look away first as that is a sign of submission. Hold their gaze for as long as necessary to make them submit to you. 

 Read the last three ways here -- read the full article

I am ALL about wrapping myself in colorful, flashing lights and carrying sparklers with me pretty much everywhere. Oh, yeah... visit DatingSpecialist.net. 

Sesame Street Spoofs Old Spice!

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"It Can't Get Any Worse"

(Reuters) - Voters the world over complain about having clowns for politicians, but Brazilians embraced the idea on Sunday by sending a real one to Congress with more votes than any other candidate.

Francisco Everardo Oliveira Silva, better known by his clown name Tiririca, received more than 1.3 million votes in Sao Paulo state in Brazil's presidential and congressional elections. That was more than double the votes of the second-placed candidate in Brazil's most populous state.

Tiririca caught the attention of disillusioned voters by asking for their support with the humorous slogan: "It can't get any worse" and a promise to do nothing more in Congress than report back to them on how politicians spend their time.

"What does a congressman do? The truth is I don't know, but vote for me and I'll tell you," the 45-year-old said in his campaign advertisements.

The clown, whose stage name means "grumpy," usually appears in public wearing a blond wig, a red hat and a garish outfit. He survived a last-minute attempt by public prosecutors to bar him from running because of evidence that he is illiterate.

His candidacy may not have been as spontaneous or innocent as it might appear.

Tiririca's well-financed campaign will help elect other politicians because under Brazil's election rules he can pass his substantial excess votes on to other candidates in his coalition, which includes the ruling Workers' Party
Read the original story here.

Here are some of Tiririca's campaign clips:



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Real Partners Don't Match Our Ideal Mates

(Science Daily) - Our ideal image of the perfect partner differs greatly from our real-life partner, according to new research from the University of Sheffield and the University of Montpellier in France. The research found that our actual partners are of a different height, weight and body mass index than those we would ideally choose.


The study, which was published the week of 27 September 2010) in the Journal PLoS ONE, found that most men and women express different mating preferences for body morphology than the actual morphology of their partners and the discrepancies between real mates and fantasies were often larger for women than for men.
 

Read the rest of this report.

 

 

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Shirlena Fever!

Oh, happy day! Shirlena Johnson is back! You might remember her from The X Factor. Check out her audition here. Why she was eliminated is beyond me. In my humble opinion, this crazy bitch has "grand prize winner" written all over her.

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I swear, officer...

(Boston Herald) - A man accused of shooting at a Longmont police officer trying to arrest him says he did so because he thought he was being chased by a zombie.

Twenty-two-year-old Brandon Duke was in court Friday and pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the charge of attempted first-degree murder and other charges. Authorities say an officer ran after Duke and was trying to arrest him on an outstanding warrant in May.

The Longmont Times Call reports that Duke told investigators he thought the officer was a zombie and he shot at him because he was trying to protect himself. The officer shot Duke, striking him in the torso and arm.


Duke will undergo a mental health evaluation and is scheduled in court again Dec. 3.

Read the original story here.

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Heartbroken? Take Tylenol. Seriously.

(Psychology Today) - The kind of pain that you feel when you get rejected socially feels different from the hurt you feel when you break your leg or scald your hand, but neurologically speaking, they're closely related. As researcher Naomi Eisenberger has shown, circuitry underlying both sorts of pain are found in the anterior cingulate cortex.

But if that's the case, can a drug that dulls pain in the body have a similar effect on one's emotions? A surprising new study suggests that the answer is yes. Psychologist C. Nathan DeWall of the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences Department of Psychology led a team that asked 25 subjects to take either acetaminophen (aka Tylenol) or a placebo for three weeks, and then to lie in a brain scanner and play a video game that was rigged to make them feel uncomfortably ostracized. (Such games typically involve passing an electronic ball back and forth among three players, two of whom are actually a computer program and ignore the test subject after the beginning of the game.)

DeWall's team found that the subjects who had taken the Tylenol showed less activity in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. According to the paper, the "findings suggest that at least temporary mitigation of social pain-related distress may be achieved by means of an over-the-counter painkiller that is normally used for physical aches and pains."

The study was small, so the finding has to be regarded as preliminary, but if it's true then DeWall has found something remarkable. It's been well established that social and physical pain are linked, but before now no one had guessed the same analgesic could work for both.

Now that the possibility is out there, the idea seems eminently plausible. On the flip side of the equation, it's long been known that hugs and kisses from a loved one help reduce the sensation of physical pain. (It's amazing how quickly my one-year-old son stops crying after I kiss the spot where he's bumped his head). In fact, Eisenberger published another study last year which found that even looking at the photograph of a loved one can reduce the sensation of pain. So why shouldn't the analgesia work the other way, as well?

Now, for anyone planning to dose up on Tylenol in anticipation of social rejection, DeWall and his colleagues caution that "our findings do not constitute a call for widespread use of acetaminophen to cope with all types of personal problems. Future research is needed to verify the potential benefits of acetaminophen on reducing emotional and antisocial responses to social rejection." They also point out that long-term use of acetaminophen can lead to liver damage.

And that really would be a pain.

You can also read this story here.

 

Heartbroken? Take two Tylenol, visit DatingSpecialist.net,

and call me in the morning.

Pre-Wedding To-Do List: Pick Up Gown, Cake, Ring... and Divorce Insurance

(Y100.com) - That's right. Couples can now pick up insurance policies to protect them against financial loss if the union goes south.


"The whole notion of having divorce insurance just appalls me," said relationship expert Julie Nise. "It is completely contrary to everything a marriage should be."

Nise says it shows a complete lack of commitment and maturity.

"I would assume you have to get divorce insurance before you get married," said Nise. "I don't know ... it would be kind of like having a pre-existing condition."

But in a country where roughly half of all marriages end in divorce, attorney Todd Edwards with the firm Elston & Edwards says it's only prudent to hedge your bets.

"I think the same people that would be interested in getting a prenuptial agreement would probably be interested in this sort of insurance product for the same reasons," said Edwards.

He doesn't believe a divorce policy is an option for couples who are preparing for failure. "There's a waiting period of about four years before it even would take effect," he notes. "It's set up for someone who is going to be in longterm relationship," and not a couple planning on having it go the wrong way.

But Nise disagrees.

"Part of the issue is, when people get in trouble with their marriages or relationships, the whole point is you're supposed to figure it out, not just bail out and start over," she said. "Statistically it's true — if you just bail out and start over, the likelihood of your making the same darned mistakes over and over and over, is very, very high."

Click here to read the story online

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