Hey K-J, you are the 2nd Aries that I've met - that I know. The other person is an old friend from the "hood". We are still friends and he has always told be that to experience an Aries is to experience life. He basically told me to "hold-on and be ready for some fun and excitement. He's just as you described yourself - nutty, but not too much over the edge. I guess I'm that way a little myself - a true Capricorn!! I posted before on this thread, but had to chime in again. I was someehat involved with someone that I've known for some time. I guess we mutually, without saying, decided to try to make a go at it, and it really hasn't worked. Rather than disolve a friendship, we decided to skip the relationship part. It was a bummer because being with him was easy - no real expectations; just spending time together, doing some things every once in a while. It was good while it lasted, but as it began to grow into something else, he got cold feet and I became uncomfortable with trying not to move forward. Plus, I'm not so sure I want to move in that direction just yet. So, we are now just friends again. That's working and I'm glad. I say this only to say that part of the problem is that I've always been "one of the guys", and bad boys are my specialty, I guess. This person wanted someone a little more refined. You can dress me up and take me out and I can play the part (I actually like that), but sometimes I'm a little bit nuttier than most guys want. Most of the time bad boys seem to accept that part. I just had a conversation with someone about bad buys too. They are often so intense that they can see right through to a woman's soul. I think that's why a lot of women are attracted to them. They seem to know what it takes. Sorry nice guys. You are great too, but for me, I like to jazz it up a bit - do some fun things a little bit different than the normal dinner and movie.

Hi Jo - Great topic! I was just thinking about this the other day, and was going to post. Thanks for doing the honors, and bringing some folks out of the woodwork. My thoughts on this - don't do it, unless you intend to maintain a together but separate relationship. I've see this work many times, especially with mid-to-older couples. They love each other and have the trust and enjoyment in that love, but can't handle the trapped feeling of living under one roof. BUT, that said, most of us break up because we haven't had a good relationship, and have exhausted all energies trying to make it work. It's difficult enough, even when things have turned very sour, to start over, without muddying the waters with the flop-flopping back and forth with sex. You really can't move on, with or without someone else. Staying on the fence only confuses life. When I moved out, I didn't plan on a divorce. He went on with his life, after a few long months of adjustment, and I went on with mine. But we didn't discuss divorce. When his new SO moaned and groaned (putting it mildly!) about his still being married, he filed. We went through a number of years without speaking, although are families remained close, which was awkward for some - especially at weddings, funerals, etc. Because of that we began speaking. Now we speak almost every day. NOW, I'm on the fence, again. I believe that there is one person for one person - don't ask/long story. And I often wonder whether that is the reason we haven't stopped speaking. There is no sex - he's away a lot, so that's a stress that only comes once in a while. But, my mind is always filled with thoughts of when he will beging to pressure me more for that. If we had maintained arms-length, I don't think we would be in this situation. It's not a bad situation, but not good because it's still an indecision. My story isn't the only reason for my thoughts, but it does give me pause. If we, and our families didn't get along so well, especially the nieces and nephews, it wouldn't be as complicated. But, based on this experience, I think it would definitely be a mistake to "stay in the bedroom" with your ex. You remain stuck in a moment that you decided to move from when you separated.

One of my close friends/coworkers is a female to male transexual. He identified as a woman when we first met and became friends and then approached me about a year ago asking what I thought of her becoming a man. I said, "whatever makes you happy!". He has been on hormones for some time now, and is starting to look pretty manly, facial hair, etc...and has been saving money for a mastectomy. He had to go through extensive therapy before even beginning the hormones. He has said all along that he has always felt like a man, and had finally started a relationship with someone who was open to the idea and supportive, so he decided to go for it. He still has some difficulty dealing with the transition (mostly due to other people's reactions), but our employer has been extremely supportive. When he changed his name, our executive director sent out an email to the entire agency letting everyone know and encouraged everyone to please be supportive because it takes real bravery to make this sort of decision. I agree, I couldn't even imagine! Anyways, it took a little while to get used to the name change, and even longer to get used to the pronouns, but I can barely even remember thinking of him as a female now.

Yes, they can change sex. And I'm not sure there is much you can do about it if they decide to do so. I find mulberries a rather schizophrenic species anyway :-) In addition to producing an assortment of leaf shapes, often on the same tree at the same time, they can assume either an upright or a drooping habit, can be both deciduous and evergreen (depending on location) and can produce both male and female flowers on the same tree, or only one or the other, or they can change their mind and switch from one sex to the other. Crazy! I can't think of any other plant quite so variable in personality.