Synthetic Diamonds
 

As the whole diamond-as-engagement-ring thing started in the 1930s by DeBeers, I can't imagine there is a true edict against colored diamonds for engagement rings. Before then, colored stones were far more prevalent in the rings, anyway.

My mom's ring was actually her mom's engagement ring, and is a gorgeous 2 carat canary diamond (real, not manufactured) in platinum. I saw a similar ring in Tiffanys not too long ago, and was salivating over it.

C(but at $35k, it wasn't really a feasible impulse bauble)deuced

Synthetic Diamonds
 

It sounds like you are disgusted by pretty much all consumer goods.

I hear what you are saying - women have been mass brainwashed regarding diamonds in a way that is startling to me, and I cannot help feel a little less respect for even close friends who get hung up on the size of their diamond rings. But I have been known to buy expensive non-functional things because I think they are cool. So who am I to criticize? To answer my own question, I am Pretty Little Flower, a man of exquisite and superior taste and style. The frivolous things I buy are inherently valuable because they have received my imprimatur of cool merely through the fact that I purchased them. And if I choose to look upon you with disdain because you follow sheep-like into the DeBeers marketing trap, then I will do so, you stupid shallow little fuck of a woman. You know what that two carat diamond means to a guy? It means that, with the extra carat, he just purchased a license to get a blow job from your maid of honor at your wedding. By spending the extra $3000 on your gaudy diamond engagement ring, he just obtained implicit permission to fuck some skanky hooker at his bachelor party. But what do you care? You have a rock so big that that even the bitchy trophy wife secretary down the hall is jealous.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

Originally posted by mmm3587
This all goes to my research on how otherwise intelligent, independent, successful women make a lot of life and consumer choices today based on feelings and beliefs which have been programmed into them by society.

We are, aren't we?

Which is why I have all the best electronics!

Synthetic Diamonds
 

I'm sure you can get a fine lawyer for $19.95.

http://czfantasy.com/cgi-bin/czfstor...alogno=jloring

(spree: shows pink)

Synthetic Diamonds
 

Sorry, I don't catch your meaning. No time to think about it, as I'm leaving to go play golf with the partner I feel pressured to play golf with to show that I am a team player and worthy of consideration for partnership. The fact that I rent an apartment in the city instead of own a house in the suburbs makes him wonder about my long-term intentions. I'll drive there in my 540i, which I got because all my colleagues made fun of my minivan. One of the topics of discussion will be the tits on that summer associate with the fat ass and the way that only pussies take paternity leave.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

http://czfantasy.com/i/kit/kit.jpg

Just get the whole kit. It's cheap and you can sell it and EARN A FABULOUS PROFIT!

Synthetic Diamonds
 

I think I would buy an A quality for W (which is <Z>Y=Q) dollars, probably with an SM stone.

But then, my X quality and Y dollars weren't much to begin with.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

I am not a jewelry fan. Of diamonds I own a pair of earrings, a pendant and my wedding rings which my husband insisted had to have diamonds in them because he didn't want to look like an ass in front of other people -- I gave in but was able to finally convince him that big stones look gaudy on me and got something tasteful. To me, jewelry is a waste of money. On the other hand, my 61inch TV is way fucking cool and worth every penny.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

Unfortunately, that may be a positive career move for me right now.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

Born July 24, 1970.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

Right, like buying a Porsche v. Minivan isn't really about driving 55 mph on the freeway.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

I thought about that as i typed. She is in her 30s. I still think that there is something wrong with an otherwise normal (but perhaps not if she dated Robert for 1.5 years) woman over 21 who wants to BE her, to the point of wearing around a jaunty pink cap. Erika took a special pride in pointing out her JLo boots and hat and other attire. I can see picking out elements of someone's style and making them your own. But that just seems weird.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

Vulgarity, even in conjunction with multisyllabic words, is not pretty. Clean it up.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

The statement still works, then.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

b or d. I'm anti-DeBeers after reading a book about the history of the diamond industry years ago.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

She seems otherwise balanced, so I am thinking the I want to BE her came from as a response to a producer's questions.

Queer Guy With a Straight Eye
 

By LOUIS BAYARD


Bravo's "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" may be the hottest show on television right now -- no less an authority than Entertainment Weekly has declared it "summer's breakout hit." But frankly, it's becoming a major problem for some of us out here in the gay community. So, in hopes of turning the lavender tide before anyone else gets swept away, I offer this open letter to the show's producers. Additional signatories welcome.

Hey Guys:

Don't get me wrong. I love the show. Really. The whole "Fab 5" thing, with the glamour homos swooping in on the hapless straight guy and rendering him fit for society, love, career ... It's all a great big 10-gallon hoot and a half. Love the bitchy quips. Love the grooming tips. Love it when the style queens gather in the closing minutes like beer swillers at a sports bar to cheer their boy into the end zone.

But your show is placing enormous pressure on me and on the great silent majority of gay men who (I'm extrapolating here) really aren't that fab. Think -- please think! -- about the message you are conveying to straight America. They come away believing that every homosexual is a hairstylist, runway model, interior designer, oenophile, chef and cultural commissar wrapped up in a form-fitting ribbed tee. It just ain't so.

If I could describe to you the office in which this dispatch is being typed, you would be shocked -- shocked! -- at the level of squalor that a gay man, if he puts his mind to it, can attain. To the wall above me cling the shreds of a wallpaper border that was chosen by a 7-year-old boy -- the son of my house's previous owners. Did I take down this mincing little frieze of choo-choos and sailboats and big baby-blue airplanes and replace it with something more Tuscan or Grecian? I did not. Have I made any sorties against the spider web that has been gathering insect carcasses behind my bookcase since the middle Cambrian Period? I have not. Have I, at any time in the last decade, changed the cat litter that is even now stinging my nostrils with its effluvium? No indeed.

Ah, but that doesn't matter. Gay men are great cooks, right? I mean, it's hard-wired right into our little Calphalon hypothalami, isn't it? Well, yesterday morning, I burned half a rasher of bacon. This was not one of those I-was-distracted-by-a-gunshot-and-a-loud-ungodly-cry kind of situations. No, I was there the whole time, watching the bacon resolve into soot and fume ... strangely helpless to stop it ... waiting, waiting for something -- a smoke alarm, as it turned out -- to jar me into action.

And after I pulled my carbonized fat off the fire? I ate it.

Oh, and you know that tip "Grooming Guru" Kyan gave on a recent episode, about applying hair product from back to front? Tried it. I looked like Speed Racer after he takes off his helmet.

As for this clothes sense that we gay men are alleged to have ... well, I guess you just haven't smelled my sandals lately. You weren't there the other night when I was rifling through my dresser drawer for a single pair of hole-free socks -- I'm still looking. You didn't see the Gap shirt I threw on yesterday, the one so tessellated by wrinkles it seemed to be made of foil. You didn't see me trying to match a red tee to a pair of blue-and-white glen-plaid shorts. Or the look on my partner's face when he stopped me just in time. "The horror," said that look. "The horror."

I haven't shaved in four days. I haven't had my shoes polished in three years. I wouldn't know an exfoliant from an exterminant. Don't you see? I lose this game on all points. And yet, thanks to you and your show, no one will believe me. Loved ones and strangers alike persist in thinking that my brain must be a golden hoard of exotic knowledge. They expect me to know the names of every kind of lily. They expect me to distinguish Tiffany from Baccarat from Sears. They scour my medicine cabinets for moisturizers that have never lived there. My brother called the other day and asked me where I thought interest rates were heading. Interest rates?

If you guys keep driving home this vision of homosexual supercompetence, you will leave me but one alternative: I will have to demand that the Fab 5 come over and remake my life, too. Then you will see that slovenliness knows no sexuality. It droppeth as does the sludgy rain from heaven, afflicting him that loves women and him that loves men.

So come on, Fab 5. Help me be the gay man I should be. And hurry. This cat litter is really starting to reek.

Yours very sincerely,

Queer Guy with a Straight Eye

Synthetic Diamonds
 

Lick my pussy.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

Bitch please.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

Just to list a few of the things we know about you:

big tits, good body, vegetarian, drives an f-body, likes to drink, not materialistic, willing to give blow jobs and have sex a lot, like sports and electronics, seems reasonably smart, makes good money

I'm convinced that you're my secretary's fantasy (of mine) sock. I knew I shouldn't have e-mailed her stuff to post while out of the office. Sandy, when you get a chance, can you come in here and get my time sheets and take these blacklines to Bob in Employee Benefits?

Synthetic Diamonds
 

You forgot my six pussies. :D

But I'm Feeling Much Better Now
 

At my age, you're still curious about anything sexual. But you tend to check to see what's on cable before making any effort to do the research.

Thank you, thank you. I'm here all week.

Tax(call me Henny)wonk

Synthetic Diamonds
 

Comma, please.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

You must be joking. If social programming doesn't affet men's behaviors, then why the fuck did I go to law school instead of cooking school, why did I get married and become a parent, and why are we exchanging anonymous messages over the internet instead of fucking our brains out in a bathtub full of gin and olives?

Synthetic Diamonds
 

Only because I hate both gin and olives.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

Ah, if only I were single...

Synthetic Diamonds
 

:shrug:

Diamonds first became popular engagement ring adornments largely because of 15th C burgundian/hapsburg mimicry. They only became really ubiquitous in the last century or so, though, under deBeer's marketing deviousness. Anything is suitable as an engagement ring, including no ring, or the very traditional plain gold band (rings were often exchanged at betrothal, not the actual marriage). I know rather a lot of people of Irish descent who get emeralds, people who get some other stone they have some affinity for, etc. It's all good. All you need to be properly engaged is a consenting prospective spouse.

I understand pearls are the engagement ring of choice in Japan, because of their perfection and unity. I rather like that.

However, as a general statement of social observation, one gets weird speciality jewelry (like colored diamonds) for older established women rather than younger ones. This is a practical matter, since younger women may not have the basics yet, while older ones already do and therefore only need things that are unusual.

For me, IF the manufactured diamonds are entirely the same (i.e.: undetectable), I'd go for a synthetic, sure. (I was under the impression that they in fact have a slightly different molecular configuration than naturally occuring diamond, in that the hexagonal carbon structure was the same two-dimensionally, but not 3-dimensionally, but maybe they fixed that problem.) Even if they were detectable I might, just to fuck deBeers. I'd also probably get a slightly larger one that I would otherwise, but not much bigger. I'd never get something that, were it real, I couldn't afford, even if I might not in fact be willing to spend that much on it. The thing to remember about wearing fakes of any kind is that many people will assume it's not fake if it isn't clear that it's fake. So, I might get 2 1/2 carat earrings instead of 2, but not 5.

I have no compunction whatsoever about lying in response to rude questions, so I'd gleefully respond "absolutely" if asked. Besides, they never seem to specify real what.

Dunno if I'd feel differently if it were an engagement ring, what with all the sentimentality attached. Then again, a simple argument "the stone in your ring should be absolutely perfect, and this was the way I could ensure it was" would win me over 100% on the point. (Not sure I'd marry a man dumb enough to actually admit it to me, though. How much the thing cost or where he got it is really none of my business.)

BR(whole thing makes me wish people just had the jewelry they inherited, or didn't, and that was that, because, love them thought I might, I just can't reconcile myself to the idea that blowing large amounts of money on vanities isn't somehow evil)C

Synthetic Diamonds
 

Because we are all too worried about your heart to try the alternative...

You can call me Ms. Obvious.

Say it ain't SO: Exes
 

I want this woman to be my psycho ex:

I recently broke up with my girlfriend, who is amazing in many ways. She is loving, fun, and intelligent. Sex with her is amazing, too. But I lost trust in her over a couple of events, and I just bailed. The events are hard for me to talk about with my friends, so I'm asking your advice about what to do.

Event #1: While we were making love, she sucked my tongue into her mouth and wouldn't let go. I said "Ow!" as clearly as I could, repeatedly, but I couldn't say anything else because she had a death grip on my tongue. When she finally let go, my tongue was bleeding and sore. She sheepishly apologized, but wouldn't say much when I asked her what that was all about.

Event #2: Shopping for dinner one night, she indicated that the cucumber I had picked out would be useful for more than just salad. That night, we used the cucumber as a sex toy. A couple days later, after a dinner with my mother and my daughter, she informed me that the cucumber in the salad was the very same one that we had used for sex. I was upset, but she thought it was no big deal. I would have gladly eaten it myself, but I was angry that my mother and daughter were fed the sexy cucumber without their consent.

Question: Am I being too hard on my ex-girlfriend, who in all other ways is amazing? I miss her, but I'm afraid she'll just keep doing things that go beyond my boundaries.
Missing Her Smile

In your situation, if I hadn't dumped the psycho after she tried to rip out my tongue, MHS, I certainly would have dumped her after she fed a sex toy/cucumber to my mother and my child! So I definitely think you did the right thing when you dumped her, and I hope she stays good and dumped. A prediction: If you take her back, this girl will continue to do freaky, stupid, and/or disgusting things until you're forced to dump her all over again. Anyone who pulls the kind of stunts you describe is a mindfucker on a power trip: "How awful can I be and keep him coming back for more?" Stay the hell away from this woman if you don't want to see your mother and daughter choking on your sex toys ever again.

(spree: Savage Love)

She seems prone to overlooking my alcoholism, my cocaine addiction, and my stalking and to love me for who I am.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

Human DNA closer to rats than cats

WASHINGTON, Aug. 13 — A comparison of human DNA to 12 other animals shows we share more than our genes and helps show that people are more closely related to rats than to cats, scientists reported on Wednesday. The survey also adds to the argument that so-called “junk” DNA is nothing of the sort, but must do something important because it stays virtually identical across many species.
“It provides some pretty definitive evidence that we are indeed closer to rodents than we are to carnivores,” Dr. Eric Green, scientific director of the NHGRI and leader of the study, said in a telephone interview. “Our data really puts the nail in the case. In the sequence you can find changes in the genome that clearly occurred in both humans and rodents but did not occur in others.”

Synthetic Diamonds
 

I'm flexible. What do you think of butterscotch pudding?

Synthetic Diamonds
 

Look--I brought the phrase to the board. You can use a comma if you want. I, as the bringerbacker of the phrase, am free to either use or not use a comma. I choose not to.

Please note that I did not instruct you re comma placement in "Greedy, Greedy, Greedy" even though it quite clearly should be "Greedy Greedy Greedy."

Please also note that my response, while perhaps catty, is not at all vulgar. Isn't that pretty?

Synthetic Diamonds
 

Not only do you leave out commas, but you split infinitives. Not pretty.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

Yes. I also think "bringerbacker" is a word.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

Made-up words are fine. As are double contractions ("wouldn't've"). Get with the program.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

Split infinitives are in.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

Link to interesting article on diamond history and DeBeers.

I wish there was some jewelry for me to inherit. A diamond in the jewelry store is pretty but I'd rather have the diamond from my grandmother's engagement ring. Now that would be special.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

They were in, but are now out. What corner of flyover land do you live in? You are probably not even drinking Pisco Sours. Based on your knowledge of grammar fads, you are probably still on the Cosmopolitans.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

did you just wish that your grandmother would die? that's cold.

I somehow wound up with my late great-aunt's engagement ring. I never met her, but her second husband had good taste in jewelry.

Since I have my diamond now, my future fiance(e?) can feel free to buy me a big ole ruby instead.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

Bitch, PUH-LEAZE!

G3 (any way you slice it)