ANSWERS

Cheers
Sarina Rowell

Hey Sarina,

Yes, I do live in California. I have spotted a few stars that are pretty big in the movie scene. I have seen Julia Roberts. She was in my town filming the movie called "Erin Brokovich". It was based on a story that happened in a surrounding town therefore they filmed it out here. I never got the chance to meet her though cuz she was extremely busy. I have also spotted Antonio Banderas and Woody Harolson (sp?) as they filmed a portion of their movie "Play it to the Bone" here in my town. Woody played basketball with a friend of mine and signed her basketball at the end of the game. It was really cool. I hope this was of some help to you. Have a great day!

Melissa

Wednesday, 1 November 2000 10:29 AM
Dear Melissa,

I am thoroughly enjoying your correspondence with Tom. You seem very attracted not just to Ian Thorpe but to Australia in general - in one of your emails you mention that one of your friends says you are "turning Australian". What do you think differentiates Australians from Americans?

Thank you for agreeing to consider our questions. You are totally cool.

Sincerely,
Monica Crouch.

Hey Monica,

I think that there are several things that differentiate Australians from Americans. The first one is probably the overwhelming kindness and generosity of the majority of Australians. Sure Americans are kind, but they don't give as freely and they always expect something in return. Another thing would just have to be the representation in general. Australians seem to be really at peace with one another and they respect each other. Americans hold extreme grudges and disrespect people whenever they can. We have such a high rate of crime here and it is disgusting. Also, just the fact that your country has such great representation leaves it to be admired.

I hope this gives you somewhat of an insight into why I enjoy the country so much. It is also my pleasure to answer your questions.

Melissa

Thursday, 2 November 2000 6:51 PM
Dear Melissa,

My girlfriend is currently giving up smoking. She has been using the nicotine patches (do you have those in USA?) for some time now and has pretty much finnished the program. She's normally a very nice (lovely) person, but she can get a little agitated when she's having nicotine withdrawls. The problem seems to be compounded when she decides that she's simultaneously going to cut back on smoking pot (grass, weed, marajuana). She has resorted to smoking herbal tea in times of stress.

I would be grateful for your opinion on whether the herbal tea is a good idea or if she should just continue with the pot, at least until the nicotine withdrawls stabilise somewhat.

Thanks sincerely,
Naughty Stu.

Dear Stu,

I have taken a bit of time to think about and go over your query. The only thing that I can honestly offer to you is my opinion as I don't know about the medical risks of smoking herbal tea.

I have not wanted to include much of my personal life into answering questions such as this, but I think that it may give some sort of insight to your situation. My mother was addicted to both cigarette smoking as well as pot among other drugs, for more than half of my life. She decided to quite smoking cigarettes before pot. She was also very agrivated. Anyways, eventually the withdrawels grew less and less and she is now fully without them. I hope that gives you a bit of something to look forward to.

As for my opinion on the herbal tea and the pot. In my personal opinion I would say that the herbal tea is a safer resort to pot. Pot as you probably know has many health factors and is very addictive. I have never heard of any medical problems coming from smoking herbal tea. I do know that smoking anything is going to be bad for you though. I think that for her to be quitting everything cold turkey is astonishing. And to resort back to it on occasion is perfectly normal. But now that she is done with the cigarette smoking, she can focus more on her pot smoking. And with a lot of support she can make it through that as well, and eventually she won't need any of it. Just help her to realize that the stress is a normal part of life and that there are many ways to over come it. Like, meditation. There are also classes on the art of breathing (well in the USA at least). But the main thing is just your support and love. With it she will be able to overcome all things.

I hope that this has helped you out with everything. I'm no medical professional but I do know about drug addiction as well as nicotine addiction. And it is never a permanent thing if you are willing to overcome it. Good luck Stu!

Melissa

Thursday, 9 November 2000 9:02 PM
Melissa,

I was wondering what your school project was actually about? Have you ever been to Australia?

Regards
Ig

Hey Ig,

My school project is about the difference in attitudes and abilities of US swimmers vs. Australian swimmers. It is a comparison and contrast paper on Gary Hall Jr. and Ian Thorpe. I have not started my research on Gary Hall Jr. because it will be easier to come across. And I have never been to Australia. I hope to get there some day though. I've wanted to since I was a little girl. Well, that's all I can say for now cuz I may change the content of my project. It just all depends on what's easier I guess. I bit off more than I could chew with the Ian Thorpe and GAry Hall Jr. thing. But it sure would make a good debate. :)

Melissa

Friday, 10 November 2000 12:36 PM
Dear Melissa,

Did you vote? Who for? Why?

David

David,

No, I didn't vote in this presidential election. I had several reasons for not doing so, however they aren't really reasons that fly with the people in my community. I didn't vote because I didn't watch the presidential debates therefore I was not familiar with the candidates. I wanted to know that I was voting for someone that I felt could pull the US out of the slum that it is in right now. I wanted to know that the man I voted for had the best interests of the country in mind, and not just the money and the house that comes along with the position. I didn't want to vote for him because he had a nice suit or he put his words together well. As you probably already know we have still not recieved word on who our president is. It will take up to ten days to do so. But in this case having the election dubbed, "Too close to call," I am sure that only one vote can make the difference for our entire future. And the fact that I didn't vote does not weigh heavily on my mind because I know that in the end it was the best decision I could have made for myself and those around me. Either way though this president can represent well and be the best we've had, or he could screw us over. It's not in the voters hands, it's in the hands of the man who makes the decisions in the oval office.

Melissa

Tuesday, 14 November 2000 6:23 PM
Dear Mel,

Two christmas' ago, I got a grey maltese terrier called "Maxi". He's a cute little thing, and generally very obedient. The problem is that lately he seems to be taking a very strong interest in other male dogs.

He also seems to be interested in female dogs, but given the choice, he seems to preffer the males. The result has been some very embarrasing and unsavoury moments when I walk him at my local park.

It has gotten so bad, that I can no longer stand the humiliation of taking Maxi out. Not only is he gay, but he's been known to be so forcefull and determined in his actions that he tends to overpower other dogs to have his way.

Can you suggest how I might teach maxi to behave, and hopefully even get him to turn his attention to the girls? Is there any hope for him?

Keep up the great work!
Lucas

Hey Lucas,

I think that there are really only a couple of ways that I know of for you to fix your problem. The first one would be to try and tame your dog. IF you've already done so and it's not working then maybe you should take him to a vet (pet doctor). They would probably know a lot about the situation as they deal with pets on a daily basis and they went to school to learn about what to do. Another thing I would suggest would be an obedience school of some sort. At least there they could discipline the dog in ways that you probably are not aware of. If none of that works then I suggest maybe you take the dog out for walks at night when there are no other dogs around. That way you won't have to worry about offending anyone and you don't have to worry about being embaressed. I hope that helped you out in some way or another.

Melissa

Wednesday, 15 November 2000 3:42 PM
Dear Melissa,

Thankyou for your sincere and sensible reply to my last question, it was warmly recieved and most appreciated. Now, to my urgent medical problem...

Not three hours ago I was eating take-away Sweet & Sour Pork on fried rice for lunch. As i stabbed at the pork with a plastic fork, i heard the plastic (of the fork) crack. I thougt it must have been cracked up the middle, but would still be useable for the rest of the meal.

After swallowing the offending piece of pork, i noticed that a prong was missing from my fork. I searched around in what was left of my lunch but, alas, no fork-prong. Obviously I must have swallowed it. It is just under an inch long and very sharp.

I might be just worrying too much and convincing myself, but i do think i can feel a slight irritation in my abdomen. Do you think i am at risk of seriously damaging myself? should i go to the hospital (that's Mandy's advice)? Should i just wait and see if it "passes"?

I am somewhat worried. I hope i survive the digestion,.

Please advise,
Naughty Stu.

PS. I am telling the truth!

Hey Stu,

Nice to hear from you again. Firstly, you're welcome for the advice I gave you awhile back. Now onto your more recent problem. Personally I don't think that there is anything serious that will come about. I don't think that your body will be able to break down the plastic like it would break down the pork. But I think you will be able to pass it. However, if you are feeling slight pains in your abdominals then you should have it checked out. It may just turn out to be something gas related due to maybe some bad pork or something. But you can really never be too safe when it comes to your health. At least you would be able to say that you KNOW it is nothing wrong, rather than you DON'T THINK there is anything wrong. See what I'm saying? So, I guess that my initial advice is to maybe wait until your next bowel movement and see if you feel any better. If not then definitely go and see a doctor about so you can make sure it didn't have anything to do with the plastic. Hope you feel better.

Melissa

Thursday, 16 November 2000 10:55 AM

Hi Melissa, we have gay mardi gra coming up here in Sydney, have you heard of it? I would like to have an International/USA (same thing) feel to my costume. Any Thoughts?

Carlotta

Hey Carlotta,

I have heard of the gay Mardi Gras. We have one of those in San Francisco every year I think. I would think that in deciding what to do about your costume you should consider things that are popular both in the US and Australia. Like maybe characters from American shows that air out there. Maybe from Friends or Drew Carey show. I can't tell you what kind of costume to present yourself in cuz it is ultimately up to you. Just consider things that are popular in both countries and I think it would be a hit.

Melissa

Thursday, 16 November 2000 12:34 PM
Hey!

have just bin reeding your website. this forum is way cool. we have "ask marina" in Brazil, but "ask Melissa" kicks ass. Now, my question:

The family who live in the apartment next to me and my girl are French. I hate French people because they are unclean and eat frogs. I want to find a way to make them move out. I have tried playing loud music early in the morning and tipping their trash on the ground. These are not working and I think I need to come up with some more creative ideas. Can you help????

Viva La Mellisa!
Ed.

Hey Ed,

I'm sorry to inform you but I've got no "creative" ideas for you concerning your neighbors. You may want to ask someone who feels the same way about them. That may help.

Melissa

Thursday, 16 November 2000 2:53 PM
Hi Melissa,

Thanks for your advice...i don't know if it's time to start worrying now.
Since the "incident", I have dropped two chocolate dogs...the first was 4 hrs after the fact, the second was 24 hrs after.
I didn't pay too much attention to the 4 hr loaf because I thought it was too soon (what do you reckon?), however I had a fairly thorough (you don't wanna know the details) examination of the 24 hr specimen...
there was no sign of any plastic fork prong that i could identify.

Now i'm no expert on the arts of digestion and excretion, however my calculations suggest that it should be showing up about now. If not, where is the little sucker?

help!
Stu

Ah Stu, the ever-present feedback customer. Just kidding. I'm glad to hear that you are still alive. Had me wondering about you :). WEll, since you have had bowel movements I don't have to ask you about that. And you say that you examined them and didn't find anything resembling the piece of the fork huh? I think that my last suggestion to you is to go to the doctor's. I mean are you still feeling any abdominal discomforts or anything? If the answer is yes then it is time to suck up the manly part of you and go the the doctor. Like I said before better safe than sorry. That's all I can really tell ya. Hope you get to feeling better.

Mel

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