This I Believe
June 11, 2007
A while back, my friend Karl wrote This I Believe,? and I swore I would do the same exercise, but I kept forgetting. I’m sure there are a million things I could touch on here, but I have to get something out of the way first.
I have been calling Karl, Hot Karl for some time. I heard his nickname last year before BlogHer and when I met him, it was only natural to call him this nickname bestowed upon him by God Knows Who (actually I DO know who, but I’m sure this person would rather crawl into a hole than admit this). Thing is, I didn’t know when I made the “Send Hot Karl to BlogHer” button just WHAT a Hot Karl was. This next sentence is not for the squeamish, the sane, or even something I would normally write. In fact, I’m not sure I can write it. I mean, a Hot Karl, by definition of the urbandictionary.com, is pretty disgusting.
Okay forget it. I can’t write it. You’re really going to have to look it up yourself guys, it’s so gross and I really don’t want that shit on my blog.
Karl. I’m SO sorry. I clearly had no idea. Here’s your new button. We’re over $100 so far in sending your butt to BlogHer, and I’m sure we can raise the rest. RIGHT GUYS? Look at that face:
He just HAS to be there. It wouldn’t be the same without him! Click the button above or send your donation via Paypal to karen @ swankwebstyle dot com. Even $5 bucks is great!
As far as what I believe…you know me, I never shut up. So, the list is long and I’m not writing it all today. Without further ado, here are some of the things I truly believe:
I believe that children, of any class, deserve to be provided with education, solid medical care, healthy food and exercise. If you missed the last week here, check out the carnage. I believe children should be raised in loving environments, full of hugs and kisses, free from worry and abuse, and given every possible opportunity to succeed in whatever they decide to do. I believe parents need to be accountable for making these things happen for their kids, and whether that means assistance from government, family, or charitable organizations is irrelevant. Utilizing resources to take care of your kids should be part of a parent’s arsenal, and not seen as weak. It takes courage to ask for help.
I believe that circumcision is wrong. It’s a long, drawn out argument for some, but for me it is black and white. I truly believe it is brutal and should be outlawed. Period.
I believe that men and women are doing a better job of communicating than we once did, and I’m happy that women are empowered by feminism. I’m happy that more women are being paid fairly and equally (not all) and that we as a gender have many freedoms we did not have 100 years ago. In the process though, there came a trend of men-bashing that I’m not okay with. It’s not just the whole ‘men are idiots‘ thing on t.v., I see it in relationships too, whereby the wife or girlfriend treats the husband or boyfriend as a meal ticket, a slave, and talks to him like he is garbage. What the hell is that? We fought so hard for equality and now we stomp on our loved ones?
I think depression is as over diagnosed as ADD once was. No one can be happy all the time. It’s called being human. I think what is wrong with a lot of people that are diagnosed as depressed, is the fact that they need more sleep, and a better diet. I’m not trying to sound all Tom Cruise here, but I really believe that some doctors are handing out pills unnecessarily. Obviously there really are people who need the help of therapy and/or ant-depressants, and hell, I’ve been there, so I KNOW. I’m just saying there are too many people popping pills that really don’t need to be, and what are the effects of those pills on a normal brain?
I believe I am confused about friendship. I think I’m better at being a friend than leaning on one. I spare my true friends of the nitty gritty, of the hurt, of the raw honesty, and I don’t know why. It’s isn’t that I’m worried about what they will think. Whenever I do dump on someone, I always apologize after. Maybe I think my feelings aren’t worthy of their time, or that they have enough on their plate. If I have ever dumped on you and you’re reading this, tell me: have I been a good enough friend to you to warrant such a dumping?
Love. So complicated, yet sometimes Daren and I look at each other and say “Is it really that hard?” All I can tell you about love is that I have no fucking idea how it works. But I love being loved, I love loving him, and I love the safety of our marriage. We’ve grown a lot in the last decade, and gone through a ton of shitstorms. We have loved each other despite our faults, and while the road ahead is unknown, it likely has enough bumps and years to make my tits sag and I know we’ll love each other through it all. I know I will love him forever, and he will love me. This, I believe.
Those are only a few things I believe. Should you decide to do this exercise, please let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear what you have to say.
June 11th, 2007 at 10:17 am
I was going to look it up the definition..but decided that if you couldn’t even write it on your blog..I sure as hell didn’t really want to know. LOL.
What I love most about you is that you have no problem saying what you know and other people be damned.
June 11th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
Does this mean that you’re going to Blogher? I wish I could but I need more time to feel comfortable enough with wearing the label of blogger enough to sign up for a conference all about blogging.
I’m not ready yet.
June 11th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
Fantastic! I believe that I’ll have what you and Daren have again one day. That kind of thinking keeps me going some days.
June 11th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Every time I saw you write HotKarl I was under the impression that you knew. LMAO! I didn’t want to ask so I just assumed the worst.
June 11th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
Argh, I just spent a good 10 minutes on urbandictionary looking up hot karl and related terms. Thanks for the education. :/
June 11th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
I believe that Karl won’t mind you calling him Hot Karl no matter what it means - assuming you raise the funds to send him to BlogHer.
June 11th, 2007 at 3:22 pm
I know that this means everything to him so thank you for this! I am giggling at the person wanting to crawl under a rock because I have one of those too…who thinks they wanna do Karl but OMG, if I outted them - fahgettaboutit!
June 11th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
i will do the ‘i believe’ thing, but i’m going to have to think about it for a minute first.
June 11th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
Hmm interesting. I tink I’ll try and do it in a few days.
Oh and I somehow screwed up the button you made for me. Only one word comes up….although I’ll fully admit the fault being most likely mine.
June 11th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
thanks for stopping by my blog today. I appreciate your efforts to generate discussion and offer hot-button topics that get people involved. I’m glad that you will always speak your mind and not let anyone stop you from doing so. I think that is what blogging is all about. I don’t know much about Canada and I can say I definitely learned something new by reading your blog.
June 11th, 2007 at 7:34 pm
I can’t believe you didn’t know what a HOT KARL was…..bwaaaahaa.
GOOD TIMES.
On SNL at one of the Republican National Conventions Tina Fey went as a correspondent, and went around asking Conventioneers if they had had a “HOT KARL” yet……and encouraging them to ask a cabbie how to get one.
Until now, that was the funniest HOT KARL thing I had heard…….
June 11th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
I have the same feelings about everything. Except I am not going to be able to go to BlogHer, nor do I have a clue about Hot Karl (and I’m going to keep it that way, thankyouverymuch).
I’m having problems myself with friendship - as someone having a rotten time lately, it is really, really hard to be the one who is needy, and so much easier to be the one who offers help.
June 12th, 2007 at 8:10 am
I just looked up Hot Karl, and have now learned my something new for the day. Yuck!
I love your “I Believe”. I feel very similar to most of yours. I love that you shared this!
June 12th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
i can’t freakin’ believe i didn’t know what a hot karl was!!
June 12th, 2007 at 6:34 pm
I’ll be needing that button. Karl must go. End of story.
June 12th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
Why did I feel compelled to look up “hot Karl”? WHY????
June 12th, 2007 at 8:25 pm
I’m so glad I did not need to look that up since you were “gracious” enough to tell me on the phone what Hot Karl means. I’m going to think of you every time we get out the Saran Wrap - thanks much!
I LOVE this post. I’m going to read it over and over, like the good little stalker that I am.
June 21st, 2007 at 12:29 pm
What is blogher 2007?