Some gripes I have:

how very often "bike messengers" and "deodorant" are not words you see together very often. And while we're on the subject, WTF is with the excessive speed? Are they paid by the minute? Is there a bike messenger deadline "Get this Mike Brady tube of architect drawings across town in 8.5 seconds or the world will implode!" Jesus Christ if their rank underarm odor doesn't knock you to the ground and out cold, then they are intent on making their bike a part of your anatomy. Permanently.

How can I eat so much less than my tiny friends yet not be losing weight? I must be one of the only people I know who can eat 1/2 portions compared to all others diners at a table and not be a stick figure. Not that I want to be a stick figure. I don't see it as healthy to have ribs and backbone sticking out. But God knows I've tried. Yet it seems God, with his wonderful sense of humor, has other plans for me in terms of my size.

How a couple in Ohio can have 11 adopted and foster children and keep them in cages... and I am not able to have a child in my life. Michael Gravelle, 56, and Sharen Gravelle, 57, have denied abusing or neglecting the children, who are ages 1 to 14. No charges had been filed (ARE YOU KIDDING ME?)....Officials, who said they discovered the situation Friday, are investigating how the adoptive parents managed to take in the children, and why no one kept closer tabs on the youngsters. The children have since been placed with foster families. The couple adopted the children through an assortment of private and public agencies in different counties and states. At night, authorities said, eight of the children were confined in wooden cages stacked in bedrooms on the second floor. The cages were painted in bright colors, and some were rigged with alarms that would send a signal to the downstairs when the door was opened. One cage had a dresser in front of it. The cages, made of plywood and wiring, had mats but no pillows or blankets. The house smelled of urine, according to the search warrant. The parents have said a psychiatrist recommended they make the children sleep in the cages, The parents also said the children, including some who had mental disorders, needed to be protected from each other, according to court documents. " (I think the word "parent" needs to be used quite lightly here. F-ing monsters. Ya the cure for mental illness is clearly a cage! Eureka! Why didn't we ever think of that brainstorm before?) ) http://www.adoption.com/includes/frame.php?url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2005/09/15/national/a083137D85.DTL (for some light reading, if it doesn't make you SICK as it did to me. )