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<channel>
 <title>DearSugar --  Just ask.</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/</link>
 <description>Just ask.</description>
 <language>en</language>
<item>
 <title>You Asked: Was Moving In a Bad Idea?</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/2489601</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;Dear Sugar, &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I&#039;m 25 years old and currently living with my boyfriend of four months. He recently moved to Ohio from California, which is why we co-habitated so quickly. Things are great, we are very happy and I believe he is the one. This is my first time living with a boyfriend, so I have a lot of questions. First off, is it normal for us to not have sex as often as we did before I moved in? I also seem to be getting uptight about the smallest things. I often find myself doubting our relationship if he forgets to kiss me before he leaves the house or if he doesn&#039;t seem excited to see me when he gets home.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/46_2008/6a87b404e78b8a6e_no-sex.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;image center xlarger&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; height=&quot;265&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;My friends have been telling me it&#039;s because we now live together and that drastically changes a relationship but I just need some help and advice on how to ease into this change. How do I stay sane and in love all while living together and adjusting? — Acclimating Annie&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To see DearSugar&#039;s answer &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/2489601&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/2489601#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/moving in together">moving in together</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Sex">Sex</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/You Asked">You Asked</category>
 <pubDate>Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:30:00 -0800</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/2489601</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>Relationship Protocol: Are You Always in Touch?   </title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/2464096</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;Even if they&#039;re living under the same roof or have plans to meet up after work, I know many couples that still touch base multiple times throughout the day. I think it&#039;s really sweet, but communication overload can be irritating for friends and co-workers when the incessant phone calls become disruptive. When I&#039;m in a relationship, I like to share all the excitement of my day with him in person, but what about you? Are you and your significant other in touch throughout the day? And if so, how often do you typically talk?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/45_2008/4594d9439e445005_talk.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;outline center image xlarger&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; height=&quot;266&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gettyimages.com&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/2464096#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Friends">Friends</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/phone call">phone call</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Relationship Protocol">Relationship Protocol</category>
 <pubDate>Tue, 04 Nov 2008 21:13:40 -0800</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/2464096</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>You Asked: He Constantly Tells Me I Can Do Better</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/2369847</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;Dear Sugar, &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I have been with my boyfriend for almost two years. It&#039;s a long distance relationship and it&#039;s not always easy, but he makes me happy. There have been times, though, when he tells me that I could &quot;do better&quot; than him. I&#039;ll admit, he&#039;s not the greatest boyfriend sometimes, but who&#039;s perfect? The distance (2,200 miles) and the time difference (three hours) doesn&#039;t help either, and with such factors, it&#039;s sometimes hard to make time for each other. Even if he thinks I deserve better, shouldn&#039;t I get to choose to be with him for as long as he wants to be with me? I hate it when he tells me that and I hate it even more when he does things to push me away. I&#039;m really happy, but I don&#039;t know if this relationship can work if he keeps thinking like this. How do I get him to stop? &lt;i&gt;Can&lt;/i&gt; I get him to stop? What should I do? — Settling Sally&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/42_2008/long-distance-relationship.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;outline center  image xlarger&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; height=&quot;266&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To see DearSugar&#039;s answer, &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/2369847&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/2369847#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Advice">Advice</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/long distance relationship">long distance relationship</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Relationships">Relationships</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/You Asked">You Asked</category>
 <pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2008 06:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/2369847</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>Do Tell: What&#039;s the Best Piece of Advice a Parent&#039;s Given You?</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/2380709</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/42_2008/3a76563edde09fb3_Mother-Daughter.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;left image xxlarge&quot; height=&quot;451&quot; width=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Getting unsolicited advice, especially from our parents, can be more frustrating and intrusive than helpful. With more years and life experience under their belts, some of what they say must be true, which is why it’s always good to at least hear them out even if you find their know-it-all sentiment irritating. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;My mom always told me to beware of charming men, and to this day I&#039;m not convinced by a charmer until I see his genuine side — I think it&#039;s saved me a few heartaches! I’ve shared mine, now what’s yours? Do tell: What’s the best piece of advice you got from your parents?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gettyimages.com&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/2380709#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Advice">Advice</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Do Tell">Do Tell</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Life">Life</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Parents">Parents</category>
 <pubDate>Sat, 18 Oct 2008 10:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/2380709</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>Relationship Protocol: Do You Effectively Communicate Together?</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/2353831</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/42_2008/Couple-Talking.xlarge.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;left image xlarge&quot; height=&quot;245&quot; width=&quot;320&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;One of the hardest, but most important parts of a relationship is learning how to communicate effectively when the going gets tough. It’s easy to talk when it’s all sunshine and rainbows, but communicating your feelings to someone else when you’re not even sure what you’re feeling can seem impossible. Ideally, once you&#039;re settled into a relationship, you’ve figured out the best way to talk to one another, but the truth is, even people who’ve been happily married for decades can be terrible at effective communication. So how does your own relationship fair the rough and volatile communication seas? What are you working on as an individual and as a couple to make your communication stronger? &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gettyimages.com&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/2353831#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/learning">learning</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Relationship Issues">Relationship Issues</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Relationship Protocol">Relationship Protocol</category>
 <pubDate>Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/2353831</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>You Asked: We Have Different Dreams</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/2334960</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/41_2008/passport.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;left outline image xlarge&quot; width=&quot;313&quot; height=&quot;313&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Dear Sugar,&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;My girlfriend and I have been dating for six months and things are starting to get serious. We&#039;ve moved in together and are happy that we did. She&#039;s finishing her degree in a month and is thinking of joining the armed forces so she can travel around the world — she wants me to go with her. It&#039;s always been her dream to go abroad and try out new places but I, on the other hand, am content with my life here and moving to a new place is the furthest thing from my mind at the moment. I don&#039;t want her to give up her dream for me, but she doesn&#039;t want to leave without me. What should I do? — Rock and a Hard Place Richard&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To see DearSugar&#039;s answer, &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/2334960&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/2334960#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Advice">Advice</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Dreams">Dreams</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Relationships">Relationships</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Travel">Travel</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/You Asked">You Asked</category>
 <pubDate>Fri, 10 Oct 2008 06:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/2334960</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>Where Do You Stand? Traveling Together </title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/2078688</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/39_2008/travel.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;right outline image preview&quot; width=&quot;275&quot; height=&quot;351&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;We all know that living with someone brings a completely new level of understanding to the relationship. You learn how the other person lived when you weren&#039;t around, and it becomes as clear as day whether or not you&#039;re a compatible couple. There are other circumstances that conquer the same goal though, and one that I find very telling is vacationing together, from conception to completion. Being able to communicate and plan, cope with small spaces, handle jet lag, and deal with any blunders along the way can be incredibly significant in a relationship — I&#039;m sure you&#039;ve all heard a horror story or two about a couple going on a dream vacay, only to return broken up! Perhaps I put too much emphasis on travel compatibility, so tell me where you stand on this matter. Is it as telling for you as it is for me?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gettyimages.com&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/2078688#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Relationships">Relationships</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Travel">Travel</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/vacation">vacation</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Where Do You Stand">Where Do You Stand</category>
 <pubDate>Fri, 26 Sep 2008 10:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/2078688</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>Relationship Protocol: Do You Discuss Your Sex Life?</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/2070286</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/39_2008/dv692018.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;right image preview&quot; height=&quot;443&quot; width=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;If you’re in a relationship, you’re probably having sex, but are you talking about it?  Serious relationships require communication in response to the small things, like what the plans are for the weekend, and the bigger things, like what you&#039;ve been arguing about lately. But while sex is certainly an important issue in a relationship, we correlate it more with action than talk. So do you and your significant other seriously discuss your sex life? Or when it comes to sex, is talking the last thing on your mind?  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gettyimages.com&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br clear=all&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/2070286#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Relationship Protocol">Relationship Protocol</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Sex">Sex</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Sexual Health">Sexual Health</category>
 <pubDate>Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/2070286</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>A Do or a Don&#039;t: Going Into Detail</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/2062203</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;When I’m being told one of my friend’s dating escapades, I like all the details. Maybe I’m just &lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/1542466&quot; &gt;nosy&lt;/a&gt;, but I&#039;d want to make an informed opinion if I’m asked for it. Likewise, I’m apt to walk my friends step-by-step through a situation I&#039;ve been through. That’s me — I’m all about the details. But not all my friends share my enthusiasm for sharing the specifics.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/39_2008/200305866-001.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;image preview&quot; height=&quot;332&quot; width=&quot;500&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Recently when I asked a friend to tell me all the juicy details about her date, she reproached me and said, “I want to keep some things to myself.” Immediately, I apologized, because I knew exactly what she meant — butt out. Are there things you’d rather just gloss over when dishing to your friends? Or when it comes to reliving your personal drama, are you a detail-oriented woman like myself? &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gettyimages.com&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/2062203#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/A Do or a Don&#039;t">A Do or a Don&#039;t</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Gossip">Gossip</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Privacy">Privacy</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Talking">Talking</category>
 <pubDate>Tue, 23 Sep 2008 14:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/2062203</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>Where Do You Stand? Confrontation </title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1909838</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/36_2008/fight1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;right outline image preview&quot; width=&quot;313&quot; height=&quot;313&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;In the world of friendships, it&#039;s impossible to get along all the time. When conflict inevitably arises, it can sometimes be easier to run the other direction than deal with it head on. Of course, we all know that communicating is the better option, but when you&#039;re afraid of confrontation that can be easier said than done. I hate fighting with someone I care about just like anyone else, but I&#039;m of the mindset that it&#039;s better to talk it out — no matter what the circumstances are — than to let an argument fester, possibly to the point of no return. Are you the same way? If not, tell me, where you stand when it comes to confrontation.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gettyimages.com&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1909838#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Conflict">Conflict</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Friendship">Friendship</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Where Do You Stand">Where Do You Stand</category>
 <pubDate>Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1909838</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>Where Do You Stand? Dating by Text</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1897222</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/35_2008/200405043-001.preview.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;left image preview&quot; height=&quot;403&quot; width=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;If computers are the &lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/1853522&quot; &gt;new way to meet people&lt;/a&gt;, then texting is the new flirting. Now, instead of sending flowers, guys can just send a text. And instead of calling you between dates to check in, all they have to do is send a teaser via mobile.  Obviously, I’m being sarcastic!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In fact, lately all I hear about is how texting is ruining dating. I have more than one girlfriend who’ve deemed this the most annoying trend of all time. But it’s not just the guys’ fault.  My same friends who complain are the ones who text right back, instead of demanding a phone call.  But maybe I’m not taking this seriously enough.  What do you ladies think? Are you all about using text for your predate interactions? Where do you stand when it comes to dating by text? &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gettyimages.com&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1897222#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Dating">Dating</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/men">men</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/texting">texting</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Where Do You Stand">Where Do You Stand</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Women">Women</category>
 <pubDate>Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1897222</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>You Asked: How Can I Get Past His Cheating?</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1892722</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/35_2008/thought_0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;right outline image preview&quot; width=&quot;337&quot; height=&quot;507&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Dear Sugar, &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;My husband and I have been married for six years and have been together for 10.  About three months ago I found out that he had an affair about two years ago. I forgave him, and we have been working together to move past it. Lately some friends of his friends that know the other woman have been coming over to our house to spend time with my husband. Whenever they mention her name in passing, my blood boils. I have been thinking about it a lot lately and I can&#039;t seem to get the affair out of my mind.  I don&#039;t know what to do. We are completely open and honest with each other, but my thoughts are consumed with him cheating on me. Do you have any advice? — Consumed Cassie&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To see DearSugar&#039;s answer, &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/1892722&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1892722#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Advice">Advice</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Friendship">Friendship</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Infidelity">Infidelity</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Rebound relationships">Rebound relationships</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Therapy">Therapy</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Trust">Trust</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/You Asked">You Asked</category>
 <pubDate>Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1892722</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>Relationship Protocol: Touchy Subjects</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1870113</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/33_2008/dv1483064.preview.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;right image preview&quot; height=&quot;375&quot; width=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;As we make it through the personal successes, failures, and traumas of life, it’s inevitable that we pick up some sore spots along the way that when poked or nudged, can release a torrent of feelings.  And just as we develop them on our own, it’s common for touchy subjects to arise as we encounter &lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/1864876&quot; &gt;normal relationship issues&lt;/a&gt;. It could be something that consistently creates an argument or something that makes one person extremely uncomfortable, whatever it is, it always involves a lot of emotion. Do you and your significant other have any of these sensitive spots? Are there things you avoid talking about or have to tread lightly if you do? &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gettyimages.com&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1870113#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Conversation">Conversation</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/nervous">nervous</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Relationship Protocol">Relationship Protocol</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/sensitive">sensitive</category>
 <pubDate>Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1870113</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>The How-To Lounge: Saying What You Mean</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1867736</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/33_2008/medfr13312.preview.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;left image preview&quot; height=&quot;230&quot; width=&quot;350&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Even though I’m constantly going on and on about the importance of communication, I’ll be the first to admit that communicating well is a very difficult thing to master — there’s a reason why we often refer to miscommunication. Sometimes it’s all too easy for lines to get crossed, and before you know it what you said was not at all what you meant.  Since I’m sure this is a common problem, I’ve come up with a few tips so you can finally start saying what you mean. To see them just &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/1867736&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1867736#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Advice">Advice</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Talking">Talking</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/The How-To Lounge">The How-To Lounge</category>
 <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2008 14:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1867736</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>Relationship Protocol: Have You Talked About Marriage?</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1864876</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/33_2008/dv366018c.preview.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;left image preview&quot; height=&quot;370&quot; width=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;If a relationship lasts long enough, it&#039;s natural for thoughts about the long-term future to arise.  And figuring out if you and your significant other are on the same wavelength can help you determine whether or not your relationship should continue. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;But while considering the future is common, and often important, there&#039;s still something inherently scary and exciting when having a talk about marriage for the first time. That&#039;s probably why many people jump right into it and others tend to hold off. So tell me, have you talked about marriage or the possibility of it with your boyfriend yet? And, if so, how long did you wait before bringing it up? &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gettyimages.com&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1864876#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/future">future</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Long Term Relationship">Long Term Relationship</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Marriage">Marriage</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Relationship Protocol">Relationship Protocol</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Relationships">Relationships</category>
 <pubDate>Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1864876</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>You Asked: He&#039;s Into S&amp;M</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1860219</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/33_2008/rbrb_0401.preview.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;left image preview&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; width=&quot;320&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Dear Sugar, &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I&#039;m usually OK with porn. I watch it myself and have watched it with former boyfriends however, my current boyfriend has always refused to let me watch his porn with him, and recently I learned why.  The porn he watches is full of incredibly disturbing sado-masochistic porn, which I had no idea he was even slightly into. We&#039;ve been together for almost two years! I&#039;m definitely not into this kind of thing, and it makes me uncomfortable that he is.  Can I approach him about this? And if so, what should I say? I don&#039;t want to ban him from porn that would be hypocritical, I&#039;m just so shocked, and I feel like I need to know what about this turns him on.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;— Doesn&#039;t Do Dominance Dee&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To see DearSugar&#039;s answer, &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/1860219&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1860219#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Advice">Advice</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/fantasy">fantasy</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Porn">Porn</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Relationships">Relationships</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Sex">Sex</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/You Asked">You Asked</category>
 <pubDate>Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1860219</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>You Asked: How Do I Confront My Friend? </title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1859200</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/33_2008/200226957-001.preview.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;right image preview&quot; height=&quot;230&quot; width=&quot;350&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Dear Sugar,&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Recently I read the post about &lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/1850467&quot; &gt;communicating with friends if a problem arises&lt;/a&gt;, and it got me thinking about my own situation. Right now I am torn as to whether or not I should confront my best friend from childhood. We&#039;ve always been very close and open with one another, but as we are getting older, I have noticed some changes. Sometimes it seems like we&#039;re just growing into different people and I feel like we have very little in common these days. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Not too long ago we went to a BBQ together and she brought up something I had told her in confidence that was very personal and embarrassing in front of people I didn&#039;t know. I had had a few drinks and was so shocked by what she was saying that I took a passive approach to the situation and never said anything. The more I think about it, the more hurt I feel. I can&#039;t help but wonder why she would want to do something like that to me — it almost felt intentional. How should I confront her about this?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;— Hurt Hailey&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To see DearSugar&#039;s answer, &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/1859200&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1859200#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Advice">Advice</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Conflict">Conflict</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Feelings">Feelings</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Friends">Friends</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/sadness">sadness</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/You Asked">You Asked</category>
 <pubDate>Tue, 12 Aug 2008 17:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1859200</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>Dear Poll: Do You Follow the Three-Day Rule?</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1850602</link>
 <description>&lt;!-- no strip poll --&gt;&lt;div id=&quot;epoll-view-1850602&quot;&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;script type=&quot;text/javascript&quot;&gt;new Ajax.Request(&#039;/epoll/view/1850602&#039;,{method:&#039;get&#039;,onSuccess:function(transport){var epoll=$(&#039;epoll-view-1850602&#039;);epoll.update(transport.responseText);}});&lt;/script&gt;&lt;noscript&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/32_2008/phone.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;left outline image preview&quot; width=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;When it comes to dating, I think it&#039;s fair to say we all follow our own quirky &lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/1787938&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;rules&lt;/a&gt;, but the three-day rule seems to be universal. I hear scenarios like this all the time: girl meets guy, guys wait a few days to call, but when he does, she sends him to voicemail and &lt;i&gt;purposely&lt;/i&gt; waits another few days to call him back. Since many women complain that the guy took too long to call in the first place, why do we do the same thing right back? While I understand eagerness can be unattractive, waiting for the sake of playing the game seems equally silly. I&#039;ll admit that I&#039;ve been guilty of this offense myself, but tell me, do &lt;i&gt;you&lt;/i&gt; follow the three-day rule even though you hate it when he does?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gettyimages.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!-- no strip poll --&gt;&lt;form action=&quot;/1850602&quot;  method=&quot;post&quot; id=&quot;epoll_view_voting&quot;&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;poll&quot;&gt;  &lt;div class=&quot;vote-form&quot;&gt;    &lt;div class=&quot;choices&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;form-item&quot;&gt;
 &lt;label&gt;Dear Poll: Do You Follow the Three-Day Rule?&lt;/label&gt;
 &lt;div class=&quot;form-item&quot;&gt;
 &lt;label class=&quot;option&quot;&gt;&lt;input type=&quot;radio&quot; name=&quot;edit[choice]&quot; value=&quot;0&quot;   class=&quot;form-radio&quot; /&gt; It&#039;s a double standard because I get upset when guys do it, but yes, I follow the three-day rule.&lt;/label&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;form-item&quot;&gt;
 &lt;label class=&quot;option&quot;&gt;&lt;input type=&quot;radio&quot; name=&quot;edit[choice]&quot; value=&quot;1&quot;   class=&quot;form-radio&quot; /&gt; No, why beat around the bush? I like to be forward from the get-go.&lt;/label&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;form-item&quot;&gt;
 &lt;label class=&quot;option&quot;&gt;&lt;input type=&quot;radio&quot; name=&quot;edit[choice]&quot; value=&quot;2&quot;   class=&quot;form-radio&quot; /&gt; Other — Please explain.  &lt;/label&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;&lt;input type=&quot;hidden&quot; name=&quot;edit[nid]&quot; id=&quot;edit-nid&quot; value=&quot;1850602&quot;  /&gt;
&lt;input type=&quot;submit&quot; name=&quot;op&quot; value=&quot;Vote&quot;  class=&quot;form-submit&quot; /&gt;
  &lt;/div&gt;&lt;input type=&quot;hidden&quot; name=&quot;edit[form_id]&quot; id=&quot;edit-form_id&quot; value=&quot;epoll_view_voting&quot;  /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/form&gt;
&lt;!-- no strip poll --&gt;&lt;/noscript&gt;&lt;!-- no strip poll --&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1850602#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Dating">Dating</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Dear Poll">Dear Poll</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Relationships">Relationships</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/rules of dating">rules of dating</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/three day rule">three day rule</category>
 <pubDate>Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1850602</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>A Do or a Don&#039;t: Talking It Out With Your Friends</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1850467</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;Whenever a problem should arise in a relationship, communication is nearly always the best method to finding the solution, but is that true for friendships as well? Friendships aren’t meant to be a challenge, so it seems almost counterintuitive to assume that there will be issues you have to work through, but as we all know, stuff does come up even between the best of friends. So when it does, do you just take the hands-off approach and let things work out (or not) naturally? Or do you think it’s best to apply those communication skills to your friendships, too?  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/32_2008/FD005230.preview.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;image preview&quot; height=&quot;330&quot; width=&quot;500&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gettyimages.com&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1850467#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/A Do or a Don&#039;t">A Do or a Don&#039;t</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Best Friend">Best Friend</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Conflict">Conflict</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Friends">Friends</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Friendship">Friendship</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Relationships">Relationships</category>
 <pubDate>Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1850467</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>You Asked: Is He Emotionally-Damaged Goods? </title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1805114</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;Dear Sugar, &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;My boyfriend and I have been dating exclusively for five months.  We both used to be morbidly obese and therefore haven&#039;t had very many romantic relationships in the past.  In fact, my boyfriend only recently lost his virginity three years ago, when he was 28.  Our unhealthy appearances made us both easy targets for ridicule during our school years.&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/30_2008/56678757.preview.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;right image preview&quot; height=&quot;235&quot; width=&quot;350&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I explain all this because recently, I went out on a limb and told him that I loved him.  I didn&#039;t expect him to respond, I just wanted to let him know how I felt.  Later, he brought it up and said that he was happy being with me and that I filled the void he previously felt, but he doesn&#039;t know if he loves me yet.  When I asked if he thought he ever would, he claimed he wasn&#039;t sure.  Apparently he felt the same emotional limbo in his previous relationship, but at the time, said &quot;I love you,&quot; simply because she had. After saying it so many times without feeling it, it didn&#039;t mean anything to him anymore.  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I know he doesn&#039;t want to hurt me, and that&#039;s why he opened up. He is kind, generous, thoughtful, and considerate.  We have fun and we both get a kick out of how we are in sync about so many things but I have to know: Could it just be I&#039;m not the right girl? Or is it some deeper emotional issue from his past — he&#039;s mentioned that as a possibility? I love him, and I do feel as if he loves me. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;— Torn By His Words Taylor&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To see DearSugar&#039;s answer, &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/1805114&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1805114#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Advice">Advice</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Emotions">Emotions</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/I Love You">I Love You</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Love">Love</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/You Asked">You Asked</category>
 <pubDate>Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1805114</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>Relationship Protocol: What&#039;s the Biggest Obstacle You&#039;ve Had to Overcome? </title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1801817</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/30_2008/dv1641005.preview.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;right image preview&quot; height=&quot;390&quot; width=&quot;285&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Though ultimately satisfying and fulfilling, a relationship is a lot of work.  Even the most successful relationship takes compromise and patience, and is always a work-in-progress. But sometimes an issue comes up that’s more significant than everything else, and requires the daunting task of overcoming what can feel like an insurmountable obstacle.  It might be a financial crisis or an incident involving trust, but whatever it is, it always puts a couple to the test. So let me ask, what’s the biggest obstacle you and your significant other have had to overcome? &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gettyimages.com&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1801817#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/problems">problems</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Relationship Issues">Relationship Issues</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Relationship Protocol">Relationship Protocol</category>
 <pubDate>Fri, 25 Jul 2008 07:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1801817</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>You Asked: How Do I Repair My Relationship With My Father?</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1802710</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/30_2008/200305483-001.preview.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;left image preview&quot; height=&quot;450&quot; width=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Dear Sugar, &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;My relationship with my father has always been rocky, since before my parents divorced 18 years ago. It has been over a year since the last time we interacted — our last correspondence was filled with nasty, hateful words through email.  He&#039;s never been much of a role model or a parent to me. I think he should make the first move and put out the proverbial olive branch, but he hasn&#039;t made a move. Now there&#039;s a void in my life and it&#039;s making it very hard for me to feel emotionally well. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To be honest, I&#039;m not even sure I want to open the lines of communication, but losing touch with my dad has pulled me apart from my much-younger sisters; they&#039;re both under 10. I miss them dearly. Is this worth repairing? What should I do to regain somewhat of a relationship with my family? &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;— On the Outs Olinda&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To see DearSugar&#039;s answer, &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/1802710&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1802710#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Advice">Advice</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Conflict">Conflict</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Family">Family</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/father">father</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Parents">Parents</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/You Asked">You Asked</category>
 <pubDate>Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1802710</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>You Asked: How Do I Get My Husband to Express His Emotions? </title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1790990</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;Dear Sugar, &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I have been married for about a year and a half. When we first started dating, my now husband got a kidney transplant as a result of an accident he had some five years before. He has told me the overall story — he fell from a tree and not only suffered kidney complications but also had trauma to his back for which he&#039;s had numerous surgeries, but yesterday after I asked more details about it, he got defensive and said he doesn&#039;t like talking about it. &lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/29_2008/stk94535cor.preview.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;right image preview&quot; height=&quot;330&quot; width=&quot;330&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I just don&#039;t know how to react to that. In general, he has a really hard time talking about things that I consider important, and I guess this is only the tip of the iceberg. I have opened up to him about my own issues and feel that if he is avoiding that subject, it will just keep hurting his confidence and self-esteem (he had to drop out of college temporarily afterwards). I want to support him and love him for who he is. Am I overreacting? How do I approach this again?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;— Communicator Caila&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To see DearSugar&#039;s answer, &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/1790990&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1790990#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Advice">Advice</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Emotions">Emotions</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Memories">Memories</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/pain">pain</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/relationship problems">relationship problems</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/You Asked">You Asked</category>
 <pubDate>Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1790990</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>The How-To Lounge: Being Supportive Even When You Don’t Feel It</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1785565</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/29_2008/stk104518cor.preview.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;right image preview&quot; height=&quot;300&quot; width=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Often we’re faced with situations in life when those who we care about make &lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/1722637&quot; &gt;choices we don’t approve of&lt;/a&gt;.  Obviously if those decisions put them in harms way then we have to come forward and say something, but otherwise, our differing opinions on their lives can be taken as attacks or judgments. Whether we like it or not, sometimes it’s best to remain &lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/tags/support&quot; &gt;supportive&lt;/a&gt; even when we don’t feel like it. To see my tips on walking this tricky line, &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/1785565&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1785565#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Advice">Advice</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Friendship">Friendship</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/respect">respect</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/support">support</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/The How-To Lounge">The How-To Lounge</category>
 <pubDate>Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1785565</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>You Asked: He Likes His Computer More Than Me</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1780010</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/28_2008/stk23943hof.preview.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;right image preview&quot; height=&quot;230&quot; width=&quot;350&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Dear Sugar, &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;My boyfriend spends all day on the &lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.co/tags/Internet&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Internet&lt;/a&gt;. If I ask him a question while he&#039;s checking blogs, he dramatically takes off his headphones, presses pause on whatever music he&#039;s listening to, sighs and says &quot;yes?&quot; in a hostile tone. He checks all his favorite sites first thing in the morning, is on them when I get home from work, and is looking at them throughout the day. I think he feels that since we live together we&#039;re automatically spending &quot;quality time together&quot; by being in the same house even when we aren&#039;t interacting.  Clearly, I feel differently, and his habits are driving me crazy. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Occasionally he makes jokes about being a bad boyfriend and ignoring me, but other than that we don&#039;t really discuss it. It&#039;s really starting to affect my self-confidence and our relationship.  I just don&#039;t feel like a priority, and I&#039;m coming in second to a computer screen! What can I do?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;— Computer Woes Cassie&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To see DearSugar&#039;s answer, &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/1780010&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1780010#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Addiction">Addiction</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Advice">Advice</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Boyfriend Problems">Boyfriend Problems</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Internet">Internet</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/You Asked">You Asked</category>
 <pubDate>Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1780010</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>You Asked: Should I Try to Fall in Love With Him Again?</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1751643</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;Dear Sugar, &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I have been with my current boyfriend for about four years. We have lived together for three, and until recently things have been great. He works full time and goes to school full time. He has always had about a month-long period before Summer break where he is completely stressed out. In the past, he would tell me he needs his space during that time because he is grouchy and irritable. Over the last few months, he has been this way again, but he won&#039;t discuss it with me — he has basically shut me out.  I have made multiple attempts to tell him I don&#039;t feel loved or &quot;in love&quot; anymore but nothing changes. &lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/27_2008/200237952-001.preview.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;right image preview&quot; height=&quot;230&quot; width=&quot;350&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I have basically moved on and started to do my own thing. I am going out with friends and having a great time.  Now that he is out of school for the Summer, he wants things to be back to normal. He realizes that he may be losing me, and he&#039;s scared. He has done a complete turnaround and it bothers me. I&#039;m not holding a grudge, but I can&#039;t let his behavior go.  I feel like something is missing from our relationship, and I have been meeting new people and seeing a lot of other possibilities out there.  Should I stick it out and try to &quot;fall in love&quot; with him again or just move on? I want to remain his best friend as he&#039;s mine but I&#039;m not happy.  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;— Sparkless Skylar&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To see DearSugar&#039;s answer, &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/1751643&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1751643#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Advice">Advice</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Boyfriend Problems">Boyfriend Problems</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Breakup">Breakup</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/moving on">moving on</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Relationship Issues">Relationship Issues</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/You Asked">You Asked</category>
 <pubDate>Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1751643</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>Dear Poll: Do You Share Your Relationship Disputes With Your Friends? </title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1734634</link>
 <description>&lt;!-- no strip poll --&gt;&lt;div id=&quot;epoll-view-1734634&quot;&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;script type=&quot;text/javascript&quot;&gt;new Ajax.Request(&#039;/epoll/view/1734634&#039;,{method:&#039;get&#039;,onSuccess:function(transport){var epoll=$(&#039;epoll-view-1734634&#039;);epoll.update(transport.responseText);}});&lt;/script&gt;&lt;noscript&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/26_2008/56677450.preview.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;left image preview&quot; height=&quot;350&quot; width=&quot;350&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Whether you’re disagreeing over a little &lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/tags/annoyance&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;annoyance&lt;/a&gt; or in full-on fight mode with your boyfriend, eventually you may feel the need to process things a bit.  Though it’d be nice to do that with your partner, sometimes getting it all out to someone else is helpful.  While I wouldn’t share the nitty-gritty details of an argument to a friend, I’d probably let her know what’s going on and talk it out with her — girls can be great at providing comfort!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Then again, some women prefer to keep their personal life private or fear judgment on the part of their friend. Ladies, what about you? Do you open up to your friends if you’re in a disagreement with your significant other?  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gettyimages.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!-- no strip poll --&gt;&lt;form action=&quot;/1734634&quot;  method=&quot;post&quot; id=&quot;epoll_view_voting&quot;&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;poll&quot;&gt;  &lt;div class=&quot;vote-form&quot;&gt;    &lt;div class=&quot;choices&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;form-item&quot;&gt;
 &lt;label&gt;Dear Poll: Do You Share Your Relationship Disputes With Your Friends? &lt;/label&gt;
 &lt;div class=&quot;form-item&quot;&gt;
 &lt;label class=&quot;option&quot;&gt;&lt;input type=&quot;radio&quot; name=&quot;edit[choice]&quot; value=&quot;0&quot;   class=&quot;form-radio&quot; /&gt; I like being able to talk about this stuff with my friends; it helps me clear my head.&lt;/label&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;form-item&quot;&gt;
 &lt;label class=&quot;option&quot;&gt;&lt;input type=&quot;radio&quot; name=&quot;edit[choice]&quot; value=&quot;1&quot;   class=&quot;form-radio&quot; /&gt; Only if it’s something that I really need to get off my chest.&lt;/label&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;form-item&quot;&gt;
 &lt;label class=&quot;option&quot;&gt;&lt;input type=&quot;radio&quot; name=&quot;edit[choice]&quot; value=&quot;2&quot;   class=&quot;form-radio&quot; /&gt; I never share this information with my friends; it’s just not any of their business.&lt;/label&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;form-item&quot;&gt;
 &lt;label class=&quot;option&quot;&gt;&lt;input type=&quot;radio&quot; name=&quot;edit[choice]&quot; value=&quot;3&quot;   class=&quot;form-radio&quot; /&gt; Other — I&#039;ll explain.&lt;/label&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;&lt;input type=&quot;hidden&quot; name=&quot;edit[nid]&quot; id=&quot;edit-nid&quot; value=&quot;1734634&quot;  /&gt;
&lt;input type=&quot;submit&quot; name=&quot;op&quot; value=&quot;Vote&quot;  class=&quot;form-submit&quot; /&gt;
  &lt;/div&gt;&lt;input type=&quot;hidden&quot; name=&quot;edit[form_id]&quot; id=&quot;edit-form_id&quot; value=&quot;epoll_view_voting&quot;  /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/form&gt;
&lt;!-- no strip poll --&gt;&lt;/noscript&gt;&lt;!-- no strip poll --&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1734634#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Boyfriend Problems">Boyfriend Problems</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Dear Poll">Dear Poll</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/fighting">fighting</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Friends">Friends</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Secret">Secret</category>
 <pubDate>Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1734634</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>Dear Poll: How Do You Communicate With Your BF When You&#039;re Apart? </title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1707685</link>
 <description>&lt;!-- no strip poll --&gt;&lt;div id=&quot;epoll-view-1707685&quot;&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;script type=&quot;text/javascript&quot;&gt;new Ajax.Request(&#039;/epoll/view/1707685&#039;,{method:&#039;get&#039;,onSuccess:function(transport){var epoll=$(&#039;epoll-view-1707685&#039;);epoll.update(transport.responseText);}});&lt;/script&gt;&lt;noscript&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/24_2008/medfr04894.preview.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;right image preview&quot; height=&quot;450&quot; width=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;No matter how much time we might enjoy spending with our significant others, having a job, school, friends, and a family inevitably keeps us away at least some of the time.  And though a little time to yourself can be a good thing, it’s always nice to be able to keep in touch as you go about your daily business. Fortunately, this age of &lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/tags/technology&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;technology&lt;/a&gt; makes it all too convenient to do so, so ladies, tell me, how do you communicate when you’re not together? &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gettyimages.com&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!-- no strip poll --&gt;&lt;form action=&quot;/1707685&quot;  method=&quot;post&quot; id=&quot;epoll_view_voting&quot;&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;poll&quot;&gt;  &lt;div class=&quot;vote-form&quot;&gt;    &lt;div class=&quot;choices&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;form-item&quot;&gt;
 &lt;label&gt;Dear Poll: How Do You Communicate With Your BF When You&amp;#039;re Apart? &lt;/label&gt;
 &lt;div class=&quot;form-item&quot;&gt;
 &lt;label class=&quot;option&quot;&gt;&lt;input type=&quot;radio&quot; name=&quot;edit[choice]&quot; value=&quot;0&quot;   class=&quot;form-radio&quot; /&gt; We usually make check-in phone calls to one another. They’re brief, but they keep us updated.&lt;/label&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;form-item&quot;&gt;
 &lt;label class=&quot;option&quot;&gt;&lt;input type=&quot;radio&quot; name=&quot;edit[choice]&quot; value=&quot;1&quot;   class=&quot;form-radio&quot; /&gt; We text throughout the day. We can stay in touch without getting distracted.&lt;/label&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;form-item&quot;&gt;
 &lt;label class=&quot;option&quot;&gt;&lt;input type=&quot;radio&quot; name=&quot;edit[choice]&quot; value=&quot;2&quot;   class=&quot;form-radio&quot; /&gt; We instant message on the computer. It’s great because we can have an entire conversation while still getting our work done.  &lt;/label&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;form-item&quot;&gt;
 &lt;label class=&quot;option&quot;&gt;&lt;input type=&quot;radio&quot; name=&quot;edit[choice]&quot; value=&quot;3&quot;   class=&quot;form-radio&quot; /&gt; We save our catching up until we see each other. It’s great to talk about our individual experiences throughout the day.&lt;/label&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;form-item&quot;&gt;
 &lt;label class=&quot;option&quot;&gt;&lt;input type=&quot;radio&quot; name=&quot;edit[choice]&quot; value=&quot;4&quot;   class=&quot;form-radio&quot; /&gt; All of the above! &lt;/label&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;form-item&quot;&gt;
 &lt;label class=&quot;option&quot;&gt;&lt;input type=&quot;radio&quot; name=&quot;edit[choice]&quot; value=&quot;5&quot;   class=&quot;form-radio&quot; /&gt; Other — I&#039;ll explain&lt;/label&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;&lt;input type=&quot;hidden&quot; name=&quot;edit[nid]&quot; id=&quot;edit-nid&quot; value=&quot;1707685&quot;  /&gt;
&lt;input type=&quot;submit&quot; name=&quot;op&quot; value=&quot;Vote&quot;  class=&quot;form-submit&quot; /&gt;
  &lt;/div&gt;&lt;input type=&quot;hidden&quot; name=&quot;edit[form_id]&quot; id=&quot;edit-form_id&quot; value=&quot;epoll_view_voting&quot;  /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/form&gt;
&lt;!-- no strip poll --&gt;&lt;/noscript&gt;&lt;!-- no strip poll --&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1707685#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Boyfriend">Boyfriend</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Dear Poll">Dear Poll</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/technology">technology</category>
 <pubDate>Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1707685</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>Relationship Protocol: Couples Counseling</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1707060</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/24_2008/dv1991004.preview.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;left image preview&quot; height=&quot;371&quot; width=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;I’m always quick to mention therapy as an option for people in relationships who are working through what can seem like insurmountable issues. The effects of communication in a safe environment with a third party professional vary from person to person but have the potential to be quite powerful.  That said, I’m not convinced that therapy is the answer for &lt;i&gt;every&lt;/i&gt; relationship, especially those that have yet to commit to a lifetime partnership, marriage or otherwise. If you’re two years in and having problems, maybe that means you’re just not meant to be. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I’m being tough, I know, but do you agree that couples counseling is best left to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/1700938&quot; &gt;long-term&lt;/a&gt; and lifelong committed relationships? Or do you think therapy is viable for any couple that wants to make it work? &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gettyimages.com&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1707060#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/relationship problems">relationship problems</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Relationship Protocol">Relationship Protocol</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Therapy">Therapy</category>
 <pubDate>Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1707060</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>You Asked: I&#039;m Being Taken For Granted</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1676185</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;Dear Sugar, &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I&#039;m 23 years old and my boyfriend is 28 years old. We&#039;ve been together for nearly two years, and we love each other very much. I just need some advice on how to approach things in our relationship now that the honeymoon phase is over. Recently I feel like I&#039;ve been taken for granted. He used to be very affectionate and always on top of everything but now I feel like I&#039;m the one doing the chasing. I&#039;ve become very jealous because he doesn&#039;t give me the same attention that he used to.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/22_2008/medfr17428.preview.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;right image preview&quot; height=&quot;230&quot; width=&quot;350&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;We see each other every day, and I can&#039;t help but wonder if he&#039;s just sick of me. I&#039;ve been nagging him about what&#039;s changed, and he has become very distant. I don&#039;t know what to do to make things the way they used to be. I don&#039;t know what I&#039;m doing wrong? Now I can&#039;t stop being jealous and asking for reassurance; it&#039;s only making things worse. I don&#039;t want to lose him.  What can I do? &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;— Honeymoon Is Over Olivia&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To see DearSugar&#039;s answer, &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/1676185&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1676185#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Advice">Advice</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Boyfriend Problems">Boyfriend Problems</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Emotions">Emotions</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Jealousy">Jealousy</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/You Asked">You Asked</category>
 <pubDate>Tue, 03 Jun 2008 17:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1676185</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>You Asked: I&#039;m Ready to Open Up About My HPV Diagnosis</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1672493</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/22_2008/200211861-001.preview.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;right image preview&quot; height=&quot;230&quot; width=&quot;350&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Dear Sugar, &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;About three years ago I was diagnosed with HPV. I just got out of a serious relationship and have been dating this new guy who is absolutely great! Before we become sexually active, I believe that he must know that I have HPV. I am unsure on how to approach him with this and what to say. I can&#039;t help but feel afraid for how he&#039;ll react. We haven&#039;t talked about sex yet, but I just want to be prepared when the time comes. Do you have any advice on how to tell a new partner about HPV?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;— Up Front Fiona&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To see DearSugar&#039;s answer, &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/1672493&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1672493#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Advice">Advice</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/HPV">HPV</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Sex">Sex</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/STIs">STIs</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/You Asked">You Asked</category>
 <pubDate>Fri, 30 May 2008 17:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1672493</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>Relationship Protocol: Sharing Passwords</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1628932</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/20_2008/200396956-001.preview.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;left image preview&quot; height=&quot;257&quot; width=&quot;350&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;I’m a huge supporter of &lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/tags/honesty&quot; &gt;honesty&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/tags/communication&quot; &gt;communication&lt;/a&gt; when in a relationship, but I’m still not sure about sharing passwords. Since most email accounts, voicemail boxes, and computers &lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/tags/porn&quot; &gt;shouldn’t contain anything&lt;/a&gt; you wouldn’t want your significant other to have access to, it shouldn’t matter whether or not he has your information or you have his, but I still think that there’s something to be said for having a little privacy — even in a relationship. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It seems like having access might create too much temptation for curious minds, and even with the most innocent of intentions, &lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/tags/snooping&quot; &gt;snooping&lt;/a&gt; is always problematic. What do you think? Do you or would you share your passwords with your significant other? Do you expect him to share his with you? &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://legacycreative.gettyimages.com/source/home/home.aspx&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1628932#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Privacy">Privacy</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Relationship Protocol">Relationship Protocol</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Snooping">Snooping</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Trust">Trust</category>
 <pubDate>Thu, 15 May 2008 11:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1628932</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>You Asked: Is There Potential Here?</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1614691</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/19_2008/woman_0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;right outline image preview&quot; width=&quot;337&quot; height=&quot;506&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Dear Sugar, &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;About two months ago, I met a guy at a bar who is in the same graduate program as me, but he&#039;s a few years older. He found my email address, and we&#039;ve been in constant contact for the past eight weeks. Sounds great right? Well here&#039;s my problem: We hang out about once a week, and we&#039;re usually drunk and end up sleeping together. I would say that we&#039;re just sleeping together and end it at that, but we talk every single day and he calls me &quot;hun&quot; and &quot;babe&quot; as if I were his girlfriend. Whenever we hang out, I&#039;m always the one making the effort to go to his apartment, or meet him at a bar near his place, or go meet him and his friends. I feel like I&#039;m chasing around this guy who isn&#039;t really making any effort other than calling me &quot;babe&quot; every night via text-message.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I&#039;m nervous to bring up how I feel because I don&#039;t want to make a big deal out of it if he just considers this a casual sex thing. But at the same time, I don&#039;t want to waste my time with someone who won&#039;t potentially become a boyfriend. What should I do? — Wanting More Maura &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To see DearSugar&#039;s answer, &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/1614691&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1614691#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Advice">Advice</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/friends with benefits">friends with benefits</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Relationships">Relationships</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/You Asked">You Asked</category>
 <pubDate>Fri, 09 May 2008 06:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1614691</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>Relationship Protocol: When Is the Right Time to Bring Up Sexual History?</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1586989</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/18_2008/dv461017a.preview.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;left image preview&quot; height=&quot;419&quot; width=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;There are many amazing moments in the beginning of a new relationship, but there is an equal number of awkward and mildly terrifying moments, too. Learning about his sexual history and giving him yours, including your &lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/558578&quot; &gt;number of sexual partners&lt;/a&gt; and any &lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/tag/STIs&quot; &gt;STI&lt;/a&gt; exposure risks, can be very revealing.  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Though often there is shame if you feel inexperienced or guilt if you feel &lt;i&gt;too&lt;/i&gt; experienced, sharing this information is important for the emotional growth in your relationship and for your &lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/tags/sex+facts&quot; &gt;sexual health&lt;/a&gt;.  But it&#039;s difficult to decide when this conversation should take place — certainly not on the first date, but hopefully before the first sexual encounter. So ladies, when &lt;i&gt;is&lt;/i&gt; the right time to bring up your sexual history? &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://legacycreative.gettyimages.com/source/home/home.aspx&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1586989#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Honesty">Honesty</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Relationship Protocol">Relationship Protocol</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Relationships">Relationships</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Sexual Partners">Sexual Partners</category>
 <pubDate>Mon, 05 May 2008 16:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1586989</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>You Asked: How Do I Bring Up His Porn Habit?</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1553554</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/16_2008/dv267072c.preview.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;right image preview&quot; height=&quot;369&quot; width=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Dear Sugar,&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Recently my own computer broke, so I started using my husband&#039;s. Since then, I&#039;ve noticed that he constantly deletes his site history before I use it again. I know that he&#039;s looked at pornography before, and I can only assume that he&#039;s just trying to hide it.  Although I know watching porn online is common, it&#039;s not something I feel too great about.  But truthfully, I think what&#039;s bothering me more than anything else is how secretive he&#039;s being about it. I wish we could honestly and openly discuss this, but I wouldn&#039;t even know how to bring it up. Should I just deal with it or try talk to him? How should I start that conversation?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;— Let&#039;s Talk About Porn Pam&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To see DearSugar&#039;s answer &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/1553554&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1553554#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Husband">Husband</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Porn">Porn</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Secrets">Secrets</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/You Asked">You Asked</category>
 <pubDate>Mon, 21 Apr 2008 17:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1553554</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>You Asked: His Sex Drive Has Disappeared</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1558983</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/16_2008/dv787004.preview.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;left image preview&quot; height=&quot;280&quot; width=&quot;350&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Dear Sugar, &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I&#039;ve been with my boyfriend for almost two years. In the beginning, he was crazy about me and more into me, sexually speaking, than I was into him. At that time, we&#039;d have sex pretty much every time we saw each other. A year into our relationship, he was having career and financial difficulties and moved into my apartment with me and my roommate; he pays for his part of the bills. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Now that we sleep together every night, we don&#039;t have sex as often as I&#039;d like to. The longest we&#039;ve gone is two weeks without it, and lately it will only happen if I initiate things. Sometimes I even have to coax him into it, and I end up feeling pathetic and desperate. We&#039;ve talked about it a bit, and he said his sex drive has been down as a result of career and financial difficulties, which I know &lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/tags/reasons+men+don%27t+want+sex&quot; &gt;can greatly affect men&lt;/a&gt;. He&#039;s also not completely comfortable with the living situation and feels too dependent on me. I believe him and understand all of this but don&#039;t know how to deal with my frustration.  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I know nagging won&#039;t help anything, but I find myself very confused, because when I do finally get him to have sex, it&#039;s always amazing and he loves it. So what should I do? Do I refrain from initiating and see what happens, or just accept it as it is right now and initiate and enjoy what I can get?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;— Sexually Frustrated Sam&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To see DearSugar&#039;s answer, &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/1558983&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1558983#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Boyfriend Problems">Boyfriend Problems</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/low sex drive">low sex drive</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Sex">Sex</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Sex Drive">Sex Drive</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/You Asked">You Asked</category>
 <pubDate>Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:48:46 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1558983</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>Do You Talk About Sex With Your Parents Now?</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1084130</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;When you were little, I&#039;m sure you probably had that oh-so-embarrassing and uncomfortable &lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/1094005&quot; &gt;sex talk&lt;/a&gt; with one or both of your parents. I remember feeling so squirmy and disgusted, and I actually didn&#039;t believe what my mom was telling me until I heard it again at school. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/1/12981/16_2008/talk.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;right image preview&quot; height=&quot;443&quot; width=&quot;300&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Now that I&#039;m older, and obviously sexually active, every once in a while my mother tries to bring up something about sex, but I just can&#039;t bring myself to talk about it with her! Our opinions about sex and relationships are just so generationally different that talking about such intimate things is just too weird. Plus, it&#039;s really not fair to the guy I&#039;m with to share those kinds of details, or gripe about my sexual frustrations when she views him as a possible future son-in-law. So what about you? Maybe your relationships are different. How do you feel about sex talk with your parents now that you&#039;re an adult? &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://legacycreative.gettyimages.com&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1084130#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Parents">Parents</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Relationships">Relationships</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Sex">Sex</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/sex talk">sex talk</category>
 <pubDate>Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1084130</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>Dear Poll: Do You Tend to Over Talk?</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1550335</link>
 <description>&lt;!-- no strip poll --&gt;&lt;div id=&quot;epoll-view-1550335&quot;&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;script type=&quot;text/javascript&quot;&gt;new Ajax.Request(&#039;/epoll/view/1550335&#039;,{method:&#039;get&#039;,onSuccess:function(transport){var epoll=$(&#039;epoll-view-1550335&#039;);epoll.update(transport.responseText);}});&lt;/script&gt;&lt;noscript&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/16_2008/over talk.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;left outline image preview&quot; width=&quot;313&quot; height=&quot;313&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Have you ever heard of the saying &quot;talking something to death&quot;? If you&#039;re the type that doesn&#039;t like to &lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/1517745&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;go to bed mad&lt;/a&gt;, I&#039;m sure you know just what I&#039;m talking about, but sometimes over talking can actually cause more harm than good. Often times fights that drag on end up becoming a whole different beast and the initial cause for arguing gets lost in the shuffle. Sometimes I think it&#039;s a female trait to want to over talk relationship issues, I&#039;ve definitely fallen victim to this a few times, but what about you? What I want to know is, do you tend to over talk issues of the heart?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://legacycreative.gettyimages.com/source/home/home.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!-- no strip poll --&gt;&lt;form action=&quot;/1550335&quot;  method=&quot;post&quot; id=&quot;epoll_view_voting&quot;&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;poll&quot;&gt;  &lt;div class=&quot;vote-form&quot;&gt;    &lt;div class=&quot;choices&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;form-item&quot;&gt;
 &lt;label&gt;Dear Poll: Do You Tend to Over Talk?&lt;/label&gt;
 &lt;div class=&quot;form-item&quot;&gt;
 &lt;label class=&quot;option&quot;&gt;&lt;input type=&quot;radio&quot; name=&quot;edit[choice]&quot; value=&quot;0&quot;   class=&quot;form-radio&quot; /&gt; Yes, I do this all the time and I end up getting myself in trouble.&lt;/label&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;form-item&quot;&gt;
 &lt;label class=&quot;option&quot;&gt;&lt;input type=&quot;radio&quot; name=&quot;edit[choice]&quot; value=&quot;1&quot;   class=&quot;form-radio&quot; /&gt; No, I know when to draw the line and let things rest.&lt;/label&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;form-item&quot;&gt;
 &lt;label class=&quot;option&quot;&gt;&lt;input type=&quot;radio&quot; name=&quot;edit[choice]&quot; value=&quot;2&quot;   class=&quot;form-radio&quot; /&gt; I&#039;ve done this before, but it&#039;s not my tendency to do so.&lt;/label&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;form-item&quot;&gt;
 &lt;label class=&quot;option&quot;&gt;&lt;input type=&quot;radio&quot; name=&quot;edit[choice]&quot; value=&quot;3&quot;   class=&quot;form-radio&quot; /&gt; Other — I&#039;ll explain below.&lt;/label&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;&lt;input type=&quot;hidden&quot; name=&quot;edit[nid]&quot; id=&quot;edit-nid&quot; value=&quot;1550335&quot;  /&gt;
&lt;input type=&quot;submit&quot; name=&quot;op&quot; value=&quot;Vote&quot;  class=&quot;form-submit&quot; /&gt;
  &lt;/div&gt;&lt;input type=&quot;hidden&quot; name=&quot;edit[form_id]&quot; id=&quot;edit-form_id&quot; value=&quot;epoll_view_voting&quot;  /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/form&gt;
&lt;!-- no strip poll --&gt;&lt;/noscript&gt;&lt;!-- no strip poll --&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1550335#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Dear Poll">Dear Poll</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Relationships">Relationships</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Talking">Talking</category>
 <pubDate>Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1550335</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>You Asked: Is He My Dream Guy After All? </title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1535675</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;Dear Sugar,&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I have been in a relationship for almost a year. On paper, he&#039;s my dream man, and until recently, things have been great. At times, I&#039;m even jealous of myself. However, things haven&#039;t been so wonderful lately. We fight a lot, he&#039;s become quite jealous and demanding, and I feel completely dependent on him. He&#039;s threatened to break up with me a few times while we were fighting, and I cry uncontrollably because I can&#039;t imagine myself without him. I love him, a lot. I&#039;ve had some insecurity issues, so I frequently fear that he&#039;s going to leave me. I&#039;ve convinced myself that he&#039;s just losing interest and I feel needy and somewhat helpless lately, like I need to walk on eggshells to not upset him. He would never hurt me physically, but emotionally, he already has.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I know I shouldn&#039;t feel so dependent on someone else, especially the way things have been, but I can&#039;t help how much I love him. He&#039;s told me before that he was unhappy — and it had nothing to do with me, it was just life in general. But I&#039;ve always thought that if you love someone and they love you, you could make each other happy no matter what. I brought up counseling, but he doesn&#039;t want it. I know this has probably become somewhat of an unhealthy relationship, but I can&#039;t bring myself to leave him. I know we are both needy, but are we too needy to help each other? How can I make this work?  — Will to Do Anything Angela&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl1/0/3362/15_2008/you asked.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;outline center image preview&quot; width=&quot;505&quot; height=&quot;339&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To see DearSugar&#039;s answer &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/1535675&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1535675#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/distance">distance</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Love">Love</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Relationships">Relationships</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/You Asked">You Asked</category>
 <pubDate>Thu, 10 Apr 2008 06:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1535675</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>Are Women Actually Better Communicators?</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/1096604</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl0/0/3362/10_2008/dv1696014.preview.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=center &quot;image preview&quot; height=&quot;404&quot; width=&quot;500&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
It&#039;s long been assumed that women are more inclined towards language and communication,  and now they finally have the research to prove it.  &lt;b&gt;Scientific American&lt;/b&gt; has published new findings that show that females have higher levels of activity in the language center of their brains than males. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=are-women-really-better-with-language&amp;amp;sc=rss&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;The article states&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;In a classroom setting, it implies that boys need to be taught language both visually (with a textbook) and orally (through a lecture) to get a full grasp of the subject, whereas a girl may be able to pick up the concepts by either method.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;While this study shows that women do have a greater understanding of language, it doesn&#039;t actually prove that they&#039;re better communicators. Unfortunately, when it comes to relationships, talking and communicating are two different things, so perhaps we&#039;re wrong in assuming that having stronger language skills makes women better at communicating.  Weigh in and tell me what you think — science aside, are women really better at communication than men? &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://legacycreative.gettyimages.com/source/home/home.aspx&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/1096604#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/men">men</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/News to Me">News to Me</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/speech">speech</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Women">Women</category>
 <pubDate>Thu, 06 Mar 2008 11:00:00 -0800</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/1096604</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>Do Tell: How Do You Flirt? </title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/996621</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;Do you consider yourself a flirt? According to &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.time.com/time/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Time&lt;/a&gt; magazine, we are all programed to flirt either biologically or culturally. Flirting can be anything from a quick glance to a suggestive conversation, and everything in between. Since flirting is just a part of life, regardless of your relationship status, ladies do tell, what&#039;s your flirting technique? Have you perfected your sultry gaze or do you know just the right thing to say when a cute guy catches your eye?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl0/0/3362/05_2008/stk28291not.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;outline image preview&quot; height=&quot;338&quot; width=&quot;505&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://legacycreative.gettyimages.com/source/home/home.aspx&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/996621#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/flirt">flirt</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Relationships">Relationships</category>
 <pubDate>Wed, 30 Jan 2008 07:00:00 -0800</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/996621</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>Do Tell: Would You Rather Get Dumped or Ignored? </title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/958525</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl0/0/3362/03_2008/200305981-001.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;left outline image preview&quot; height=&quot;507&quot; width=&quot;337&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;The dating game can be extremely cut throat. On a first date, it&#039;s easy to tell if there&#039;s an attraction or not, but what happens when one person feels it and the other doesn&#039;t? Well, someone&#039;s bound to get hurt, of course! A common complaint I hear from women is &quot;why didn&#039;t he call?&quot; To play devil&#039;s advocate, I must ask, do &lt;i&gt;you&lt;/i&gt; always&lt;i&gt; call him&lt;/i&gt;? Of course, it&#039;s hard to accept that the main reason he doesn&#039;t call is because he&#039;s just not that into you, but let me ask you this: Would you rather have him call and straight up tell you that or have him just disappear, never to be heard from again? I&#039;d take the latter, but ladies, do tell, what about you? &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://legacycreative.gettyimages.com/source/home/home.aspx&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/958525#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/call">call</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Dating">Dating</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Do Tell">Do Tell</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Relationships">Relationships</category>
 <pubDate>Wed, 16 Jan 2008 07:00:00 -0800</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/958525</guid>
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 <title>You Asked: How Can I Trust My Husband?</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/864065</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/users/0/3362/50_2007/rbee_29.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;left outline image preview&quot; height=&quot;508&quot; width=&quot;335&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Dear Sugar,&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I married a wonderful man two years ago. He never gives me a reason to not trust him but I grew up in a society where husbands cheating on their wives is a given. My husband and I have always had a great relationship, but nowadays I see our marriage falling apart because even though I know he would never cheat on me, I keep thinking he will. Today we once again had the same fight we always do, about my trust issues, and lately we&#039;ve been fighting about twice a week. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Today was the first time he told me that I&#039;m starting to scare him away and that he could see himself being single again in a few years. That broke my heart because I know it&#039;s my fault. I need help — I don&#039;t know how to stop this paranoia, and above all, I don&#039;t want to lose my husband. He&#039;s a good man and loves me dearly. All I want in life is to make him happy but in my attempt, all I&#039;m doing is pushing him away. Do you think we still have a chance to save our marriage?  — Paranoid Paula&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To see Dear Sugar&#039;s answer &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/864065&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/864065#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Advice">Advice</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Marriage">Marriage</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Trust">Trust</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/You Asked">You Asked</category>
 <pubDate>Wed, 12 Dec 2007 06:00:00 -0800</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/864065</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>You Asked: Should We Wait to Have Sex?</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/845737</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/users/1/12981/49_2007/woman.preview.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;outline left image preview&quot; height=&quot;550&quot; width=&quot;252&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Dear Sugar,&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;My boyfriend and I have been together for two years. We&#039;ve discussed having sex but we agreed that we would wait until we were married. I feel strongly about waiting, not for religious reasons, but because I just have a gut feeling about it. Out of the blue one day, he said that he&#039;s ready and wants us to have sex while we are young and still having fun. He also said that he thought that as a guy, he doesn&#039;t feel he can wait until we&#039;re married. I am torn between what I feel is right and making him happy. What should I do?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;—Wanting to Wait Wendy&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To see Dear Sugar&#039;s answer &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/845737&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/845737#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Advice">Advice</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/relationshsips">relationshsips</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Sex">Sex</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/sex before marriage">sex before marriage</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/You Asked">You Asked</category>
 <pubDate>Fri, 07 Dec 2007 17:00:00 -0800</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/845737</guid>
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<item>
 <title>What Do You Do if a First Date Is Going Bad?</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/846344</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;Who hasn&#039;t been on a horrible first date? Whether you were set up by a co-worker or met through an &lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/tags/online+dating+service&quot; &gt;online dating service&lt;/a&gt;, we&#039;ve all been there. The awkward silences, the distracting looks at everything &lt;i&gt;but&lt;/i&gt; your date, and the continuous thoughts of  wishing the date would just end already!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline center&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/users/1/12981/46_2007/date_0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;outline image preview&quot; height=&quot;334&quot; width=&quot;500&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;There are many ways to deal with a bad date, but I want to know what you typically do?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://legacycreative.gettyimages.com&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/846344#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Award">Award</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Bad Date">Bad Date</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Dating">Dating</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/First Date">First Date</category>
 <pubDate>Fri, 30 Nov 2007 11:00:00 -0800</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/846344</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>The How-To Lounge: Turning Around a Blow-Out Fight</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/744086</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/users/0/3362/44_2007/75904318.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;left outline image preview&quot; height=&quot;295&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Sometimes a blow-out fight with your boyfriend can be a blessing in disguise. For some helpful tips on how to turn a fight into a learning experience, click here to &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/744086&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/744086#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/fighting">fighting</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Relationships">Relationships</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/The How-To Lounge">The How-To Lounge</category>
 <pubDate>Tue, 06 Nov 2007 10:00:00 -0800</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/744086</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>At Work, What Type of Communicator Are You?</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/750936</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;It was the headline of this &lt;a href=&quot;http://www2.oprah.com/omagazine/omag_landing.jhtml&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;O Magazine&lt;/a&gt; article that first caught my eye: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www2.oprah.com/omagazine/200711/omag_200711_communication.jhtml&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;How to Get What You Want From Anyone&lt;/a&gt;. I found the topic even more fascinating; it&#039;s about how to get the best results from the different types of people you encounter in the office. Business communication expert John Artise divides office communicators into four main categories — feelers, sensors, thinkers, and intuitors — and offers suggestions on how to best talk to each sort of person. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/users/0/3362/19_2007/200382533-001.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;outline image preview&quot; height=&quot;368&quot; width=&quot;464&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I definitely recognize all of these types from the offices I&#039;ve worked in! Which type are you? Here are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www2.oprah.com/omagazine/200711/omag_200711_communication.jhtml&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;some tips&lt;/a&gt; for recognizing the different types of people we have to deal with at work:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;The Sensor&lt;/b&gt;: A Sensor labors under the constant pressure of deadlines and does everything—including communicating with you—in bursts of very intense energy. She has a short attention span and can make you feel as if you&#039;re taking up too much of her time just by saying hello.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;For the other three types, &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/750936&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/750936#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Office">Office</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Types of communicators">Types of communicators</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Work">Work</category>
 <pubDate>Thu, 01 Nov 2007 16:00:03 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/750936</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>You Asked: What Went Wrong?</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/644344</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;Dear Sugar--&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;When I started dating my boyfriend we both verbalized that we wanted to someday get married.  After 1 year of dating, I asked how he felt and he said it was too soon to tell if he wanted to get married.  That concerned me so I asked him to not string me along if he knew for sure that marriage was never a possibility.  I brought it up several times and he assured me that he wasn&#039;t using me.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/users/0/3362/38_2007/200482939-001.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;right outline image preview&quot; height=&quot;230&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
A few weeks ago, after we had had a few drinks, I asked him again and he said that he didn&#039;t think he ever wanted to get married! I was obviously very upset by his sudden change of heart and stormed home. He tried contacting me but I ignored his attempts until 2 weeks ago.  I called him back but he has never returned my phone call. Why would a man do such a thing? -- Let Down Lana&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To see Dear Sugar&#039;s answer &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/644344&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/644344#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Advice">Advice</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Marriage">Marriage</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Relationships">Relationships</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/You Asked">You Asked</category>
 <pubDate>Mon, 24 Sep 2007 06:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/644344</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>Do Tell: How do you Typically Get Asked Out?</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/536817</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/users/0/3362/33_2007/74865637.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;left outline image preview&quot; height=&quot;505&quot; width=&quot;338&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I like to call this time the BlackBerry era! It seems like there is always a way to stay connected which is great for some things like work and catching up with family and friends, but on the flip side, it&#039;s made some men out there incredibly lazy when it comes to asking women out on dates!  Instead of asking for phone numbers, e-mail tends to be the preferred method of communication; and it makes sense. It&#039;s much less intimidating to pursue when you&#039;re safe behind the keyboard or text pad, so ladies, do tell, how do you typically get asked out on a date? Are the phone ringing days a thing of the past?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://creative.gettyimages.com/source/home/home.aspx&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/536817#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Dating">Dating</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Do Tell">Do Tell</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/men">men</category>
 <pubDate>Mon, 20 Aug 2007 07:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/536817</guid>
</item>
<item>
 <title>You Asked: He Loves me, he Loves me Not</title>
 <link>http://dearsugar.com/411583</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;inline left&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://images.teamsugar.com/files/users/0/3362/29_2007/AA053126.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; title=&quot;&quot; class=&quot;left outline image preview&quot; height=&quot;510&quot; width=&quot;335&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;I have been with my boyfriend for almost a year. We hit a bit of a rocky patch in the middle but have had an amazing comeback in the last 6 months. We have a really good relationship and are very good friends too.  A couple of months ago, after a night of drinking, I told him I I loved him --  he said he didn&#039;t know if he &quot;loved me,&quot; but that me telling him so made him really happy.  The next day, we carried on as we normally do, he didn&#039;t act the least bit distant or uncomfortable, but I just feel so incredibly stupid that he can&#039;t say he loves me back. Should I worry considering we have been together for so long that he is just going through the motions with me or could he just not be ready to say it yet? When we are  together, he makes me feel like he loves me so what&#039;s up with my guy? He shows me he cares but he won&#039;t tell me he loves me back!  -- Foot in Mouth Melissa&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To see DEARSUGAR&#039;s answer &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://dearsugar.com/411583&quot;&gt;read more&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://dearsugar.com/411583#comment</comments>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Advice">Advice</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/alcohol">alcohol</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Communication">Communication</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Love">Love</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/Relationships">Relationships</category>
 <category domain="http://dearsugar.com/tags/You Asked">You Asked</category>
 <pubDate>Mon, 23 Jul 2007 06:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>DearSugar</dc:creator>
 <guid>http://dearsugar.com/411583</guid>
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