Once upon a time, in a land far, far away there was a princess, who lived in a beautiful castle. She loved to sing and dance and every morning she looked out the window and dreamed of the day that Prince Charming would come riding a white horse and sweep her off her feet, marry her in a big white wedding and live happily ever after.

Why are some women stupid  (ie lack or ignore common sense or signs of danger)?  Why are women attracted to “bad boys”, the ones we know will hurt us physically and emotionally? What drives a woman to place herself in harm’s way and become another statistic in the climbing numbers of rape, incest and abuse?

It’s an honest question that I wish I had the answer to, and before I get slammed by comments accusing me of misogyny and that I’m saying that women who are victims of these crimes asked for it, I’m not. No woman who is raped, hit, verbally abused asked for it, yet they did not arrive at that situation by sheer chance.

*Note: This article was originally published on 2/4/10 on La Acera 1.0

When relationships end, we often find ourselves grieving intensely and wondering what could have been done to save the relationship. We start going down a laundry list of complaints or criticisms made by the former lover to try to figure out if the relationship’s fate was in any way our own fault. In some cases, attempts are made to try to get back together and make things work. Some relationships successfully achieve this goal, however, others fail to do so and push those lovers further away emotionally due to the pain caused by this failure.

      Some people often remember certain movies and TV shows when they talk about women cheating, like Sex and the City, The Scarlet Letter, Indecent Proposal, Bridges of Madison County and more.  All too often, the debates on infidelity focus on men cheating. Whereas this may be the more openly known and prevalent situation, it is not the only one. In reality, women are just as prone as men to commit infidelity, although the purpose of the infidelity may be different from the fellow cheaters in Part One.

In all fairness, I have decided to explore the phenomenon just like I did with “Why Do Men Cheat?”  There have been several reasons explained to me for why women choose to engage in an affair/infidelity, presented here, in no particular order:

      Cheating has always been a point of contention between lovers*. Either the actual act or suspicion of such action can have harmful effects in a relationship and hurt any trust that existed

 It’s about 10 pm in a crowded club and I walk towards a group of 3 American girls 2 blonde 1 brunette, with 2 guys; both look local.

“Hey um quick question.” I say over my shoulder as I almost walk by. One of the blondes asks “Yeah?” I ignore her for a fraction of a second looking the other way “Are you talking to us?” she asks again.

“Yeah, oh yeah; sure I’ll talk to you.”   
“Would you bang Christopher Walken?”
 Odd question, vaguely sexual, weird-looking but masculine and talented celebrity, good open.

I was proud that day. I decided to finish it. It had been 10 years and now I am able to admire the beauty of a complete work. It came with sadness, tears, joy, and a lot of remuneration. I just know it was worth it. How could it not be? It’s my baby. Ten YEARS! Oh, lordie. I really thought I would never make it happen, but I did. One decade of emotions, all of it written down. I figured I could never write such a thing, actually finish it.

My initial perception of Valentine’s Day is that of a chance for couples to make up any shortcomings in affection that have plagued them through the rest of the year. But, after thinking about my own relationship history, and that of my parents and friends, I realized the truth: Valentine’s Day is a cop out!

While enthusiastically watching the SAINTS win the Super Bowl, I got to see Google’s appallingly romantic ["Parisian Love"] commercial. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxyVpSUw6Kg)
To be honest, it made me want to shriek out loud with excitement, like a Teenager watching Twilight, and get up and go hug someone! It was very simple, yet it tracked the kind of love story even I have sometimes dreamt of.

A lot has happened this week here at La Acera. In case you missed it, here are a few highlights of the week:

Edgardo mira los sondeos de ENDI

Marco hits at common sense for having no sense

Wreck speaks linguistics!

Dear Cupid,

Listen to what happened to me. A few days ago I got it for the second time in two weeks. It is one of those questions people ask you that are so particular that you can’t avoid but stop and think to yourself: Was that rhetorical?” Someone asked me plain and simple something that I don’t often think about. “Hey, why aren’t you dating anyone?” Now I know we go way back so you can be honest with me here. Is it a bad thing to be 25 and single?

Probably, every single human being has a theory on how love works. Each one of them has a unique perception, shaped out of personal experiences, his or her view on other people’s relationships and an overall cultural background. In fact, there are more theories than there are human beings, because we often change our “concept of love” as we mature and see the different shades of life.

Since Cupid joined the Witness Protection Program after my last post, I’ve focused on a very fascinating dynamic people seem to engage in when a potential relationship starts to take a bit of shape. You know, that “Window Dressing” phase, as my friend Cele calls it. Here’s a scenario: Boy meets girl. Boy likes girl and contacts her. Boy slowly starts to date girl. Then the “Window Dressing Phase” begins. This is a very familiar stage for many of us.

My most recent visit to a drug store aggressively reminded me that Valentine’s Day is around the corner. It seemed like Cupid had vomited all over the drug store’s front aisle. This got me thinking about romantic relationships and the many variations of them along with how important they really are in our lives. As you may have noticed, humans are social creatures. We naturally seek for that generally comforting connection with others. Some folks are lucky and successful, while others fail and continue to try to establish that connection with others, until they hit the “jackpot”.