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I remember when a friend of mine met his future wife. His words were simple and telling: She lets me be myself. 

Who could ask for anything more? Granted, the guy in question happens to be of exceptional character and work ethic, but that doesn’t mean that every woman that he would have ended up with would have granted him with the same amount of respect. 

Be yourself. 

As I strive to be single, I find myself liking some parts of myself more than I ever thought that I would. That doesn’t mean that I don’t miss the helping hand and the generosity of my ex-husband. It just means that I am happy being myself. 

He was a daredevil who got me to try things I never would have--like riding on the back of a motorcycle cross-country. And I don’t regret the time I spent with him for a single second of a single day because for a long, long time, we really loved each other. 

But I’m not like he is. He’s a daredevil. I’m a bookworm. I don’t like to risk my life. I like living. I like taking trips. But I’m not about to climb Mount Kilamanjaro. I can’t even climb Mount Hood for Gosh’s sakes.

The end of my marriage was not my choice. I wasn’t daring enough. I didn’t ride enough bicycles. I didn’t do enough. I didn’t like Ron Paul. He did. We couldn’t figure out how to make things work in the US of A after ten years in Asia. 

And I’m not even dating any more, but the real feeling that I have is that I love, love, love being myself. In my marriage, I was loved for myself for a long time and for whatever reason, that just changed. 

And I’m trying not to take it to heart. I’m trying to do things better so that if I meet the RIGHT PERSON--if there is such a person--he will notice the little changes that I’m trying to make and will appreciate me for who I am. 

But in the meantime, I’m hanging out Facebooking alone. Remembering the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. And understanding that divorce happens to lots of people. Good people. Bad people. Mediocre people. 

I’m also looking to the couples who are shining examples of what works and what does not and trying not to dwell on my relatively new status as a divorcee too much. 

Over the last few years, I’ve become a big fan of The Walking Dead television show.  At first I avoided going back to read the comics that the show is based on, but finally I decided to give in.  There are enough changes from the books to the shows that I feel confident that I won’t be spoiling it too much.  As it turns out, I am not disappointed that I made this decision, for the comics are just as interesting as the show is and even better at times.

The beginning of the books runs pretty much the same as the show.  Rick wakes up in a hospital, fresh out of a coma.  When he looks around, he finds zombies everywhere, though he doesn’t understand in the least what the hell is going on.  After wandering around, he deduces that his wife, Lori, and his son probably went to Atlanta when everything hit the fan.  So he heads out to find them.

Once he gets there, he’s in hot water.  Zombies almost kill him but, just like in the show, Glenn comes to his rescue.  He makes his way back to Glenn’s camp and discovers his wife, his kid and his best friend Shane waiting for him, along with the rest of the show’s cast (well, most of them).  They fight some zombies, decide to get away from Atlanta, and eventually find their way to Hershel’s farm.

The events on Hershel’s farm are much different than in the show.  Hershel still has a barn full of zombies (which are, by the way, not referred to as “walkers” in the comics) that he thinks are just sick humans.  He still kicks the group off of his land, though this time it sticks.  The group leaves, but Hershel and his family stay, along with Glenn, who has hooked up with Maggie.

The next block of books covers the first part of the prison saga, which plays out much different than the television show’s portrayal of events.  The prisoners have a bigger role in the story and there’s more conflict.  Eventually Hershel, Glenn and the rest join Rick and his crew at the prison, but they do it because the farm is becoming more and more dangerous as winter passes and the frozen armies of zombies begin to thaw out and come knocking.  At this point, three of the four prisoners go nuts and lots of people die.  By the time the end of issue 18 rolls around, they’ve just gotten to the point where Michonne shows up, although she finds the prison on her own.

There are many differences between the comics and the shows.  Some of them are good, like the introduction of Tyrese earlier in the story.  He plays a major role in the comics that hopefully will be reproduced in the show now that he’s finally showed up.  Also, there are about twice as many characters in the books and a lot more of them get killed in horrible ways.  One of my favorite differences was in the character of Dale.  I hated his nice guy attitude in the television show.  In the comics, he’s a hard-nosed, practical old man and much less unrealistic and annoying.  The same goes for Lori, though for different reasons.

One of the big differences that I didn’t like is the fact that all of the characters are very accepting of each other whenever they meet someone new.  They share food freely, invite new people into their homes and work together as if they’ve known each other for years.  Only as the first part of the prison story comes to an end do people start to hate on each other and adopt the “us first” attitude that permeates the show.  In my opinion, the show is more realistic in this regard.  People are unlikely to be so trusting when the end of the world is upon them and things like food are scarce.

Oh, and one more thing - the characters of Daryl and T-Dog aren’t in the comics.  They were made for the television show only.  Sorry folks, but you’ll have to live without them.

All-in-all, I’m not sure which I prefer, the show or the books.  I’ll certainly be finishing up the rest of The Walking Dead comics in the next week or so, which is much better than having to wait another three months for the second half of season 3 of the show.  It will also be nice to be able to make the comparisons between what the comics do and how they changed it for TV.  If you’re a fan of The Walking Dead and don’t mind things being a little bit spoiled for you, read these comics.

It's easy for debt to overtake a person, especially during this time of economic recession. Maybe you lost your job, got a salary decrease or your interest rates shot up. When you get behind on your debt, odds are you're not aware of your rights and what your creditors can and cannot do.

Did you think that creditors can just keep calling you, morning noon and night? Nope, if you get a call early in the morning or late at night, then you can file a complaint. Are they threatening you with jail time? It's illegal to go to jail in the United States for owing money.

A creditor just wants his money and oftentimes don't care how they get it. They hire collection agencies that are more than willing and able to break the rules if it means you'll forsake feeding your family and instead give them a couple hundred dollars.

They'll try and set up payment plans that are way out of your reach, take money out of your bank account without your permission and if your payment is returned, they'll send it over and over again. Each time you'll receive a fee making your balance even lower.

You can get out of debt. It may take time and it won't be easy, but if you're willing to make a few sacrifices and try to work with the creditors, then you'll make it out. Don't try and avoid the creditors. If you talk to them, then they know you're trying to make an effort. They may not be the nicest people, but as I said before they want their money. If you're willing to give something to them, then odds are they'll work with you.

There was a time when the United States was far more than just one of the major superpowers of the world. We were the envy of the world. We not only had the cowboy attitude and never say die approach that helped to tame the wilds of the west, but were also self sufficient.

We were an isolationist country and proud of it. It wasn't until after World War II that we really opened up our borders for import and export. Roosevelt helped get us out of the Great Depression partly by increasing the exportation of American goods such as bullets to a Allied countries. When we entered the fray of World War II and eventually toppled the Nazis and other Axis powers, we stopped being isolationist.

Fast forward half a century and we are in debt to anyone and everyone in the world. Trillions of dollars in debt to people and its not going to stop anytime soon. As parts of Europe near financial collapse (Yes, I'm talking to you Greece and Spain), the United States stands on the precipice of another Great Depression. We've all thought about calling this Great Recession by that name, but we're not quite there yet.

I have no doubt that the federal government is trying their best, but with political infighting between Republicans and Democrats have superseded any efforts to improve the situation. This past election cost $2 billion dollars and we have thousands of people unable to afford heat this winter. Something tells me this isn't how Teddy Roosevelt would have done things. He wasn't afraid to make people made. The sad truth is that the budget isn't going to be balanced anytime soon and America will continue to degrade.