Apathy13

I recently purchased some creatine protein shake mix. I was just wondering, are there any harmful drawbacks from creatine as with steroids? I have heard it takes oxygen away from the brain and supplies more to the muscles, later to find out that was not true. Then I heard that it simply pumps more water into your muscles, so water is much more of a necessity. Not sure about that one yet. I've always wanted to bulk up a bit more. I'm not small or self-conscious, just something I enjoy doing and it makes me feel good. I just want some bigger/faster results and I was wondering if this is a safe way to go. As far as I know all it is, is basically a big boost in protein, which helps with muscle mass and weight loss. Does anyone know anything else about this that would help me?

Does anyone know what the legal laws for dating are in Minnesota? Me and a girl are getting more and more towards dating, but she is just a little more than 2 years and 2 months younger than me. My last girlfriend (just broke up) was just a little less than 2 years and 2 months younger than me. No one ever raised a question about it and her parents loved me. This other girl's parents I haven't met yet and I'm wondering what their reaction will be if we start dating. I'm worried to start a relationship and find out its illegal by state law. Is it ok to date someone that much younger as long as parental consent is given? I am turning 19 in a month and she'll be 17 in February as well. Does the whole adult/minor law come into effect even with parental consent?

I just got a call about a half hour ago from my ex-girlfriend that just broke up with me this last week. One of our friends we haven't seen in a year came down this last weekend when I went up and got him and he had a blast this weekend. He tried calling me tonight, but I was on the phone and I ignored it like I do to anyone that interrupts an important call. I got a call from my ex-girlfriend and she told me I needed to call him right away. That he was balling and crying like she had never heard before, and she couldn't even understand a word he was saying. I called him and he was in really bad shape. He had just punched out a window and cut his hand on the glass, I made sure it was okay and not a severe wound and it wasn't. All I could hear him say was "I'm so scared of what I might do to myself, and I really dont want to." He comes from a family whose father walked out on them and whose mother was very abusive. He lived down here in the cities and that's how I met him. He had to move back up north because of living expenses that he couldn't come up with anymore. He's so bent out of shape, because people are telling him to give up and that he's not worth anything, and anything he does is a waste of time. Mind you, he hasn't been suicidal since before he met me and my girlfriend - he told me we are basically his only family. I'm leaving in about an hour after I can get money for gas with my girlfriend to go pick him up and I'm so scared about how things might turn out. I don't know what to do. I talked to him on the phone and got him to calm down, and now he's trying to sleep. I also got him to promise me he wouldn't hurt himself or do anything else until we get there. I am just so very scared and I don't know what to do or how to handle this type of thing. I've never experience this. If anyone can help me please do, I'm in the most desperate need right now. If you are religious or even if you aren't please pray for this friend of mine, he is really a good hearted guy and he deserves so much to be treated better than he is up north. I don't know where he's going to stay or anything. He can't stay at my house because my dad doesn't like him, and he did last weekend, plus we have 5 people living in my house at the moment. Any suggestions, please! Sorry this is so cluttered, I'm not even thinking straight or taking time to organize this. Help...

I haven't ever really thought about this, but if I was to call myself a man I would have several qualities. I suppose I'll just list some of those off: - Respectful - to authority figures and people in general - Emotional - not afraid to cry when its necessary (I do cry by the way, not ashamed of it) - Pride - someone who carries pride with them obviously values something in life - Commitment - whether it be to a woman, to a career, or anything else meaningful in life I'm sure there are others, but I'm exhausted at the moment; I'll probably post again later with some more. I think 18 years old was the breaking point for me. I was out screwing around (much like I am now I guess), but when I hit 18 reality hit me a bit harder and I realised many of the more important things in life, such as respect, maturity, and commitment (even though my girlfriend left me for another guy involved in a relationship, but I won't get into that here). I also think it has alot to do with culture/race/religious beliefs. So really, it depends about who you talk to and what they believe in, is what I'm trying to say. Those were just my thoughts on the topic.

Something I would have to say on the issue is that I was generally like him and I still am on the topic of enjoying more to speaking to adults more than teens. One such reason is that I myself have a thirst for knowledge. Teenagers, more obvious than not, are fairly unintelligent in many aspects of the common world. I'm this same way as your son and I just simply enjoy talking to adults, aquiring information, and just learning in general. Sure I have friends that I hang out with quite a bit, but they are generally not the type to strike up long, serious, and inquisitive conversations with. As for sports I can't say I'm the same way, because I love to get out on a soccer feel and have some fun. My roommate however, has never played a sport in his life, and is otherwise generally uninterested in even watching or hearing of sports. He also enjoys music very much and talks about it quite often. I don't want to jump to any conclusion, but just make a point as well- you and you're husband can't choose what you're son will like or dislike and I'm sure you certainly know this. If you're son likes music, so what? It's definitely not irregular. Sports aren't for everyone and perhaps your son is one of those people. As far as girlfriends go, not everyone is looking for a girlfriend at that age. I did and found one for a while. It was generally uninteresting at the time, and that could be the case for him as well. He could just find the whole concept of a relationship particularly boring at this point in time or perhaps he doesn't want to focus the time into one person. You said he is quite a bright young boy and for that maybe he realizes/thinks that he won't benefit much from a relationship at a young age. Authority figures never really caught my attention too much either. I typically ignored/disrespected them because I felt they had no purpose in my life and I didn't want to be told what to do or how to do it. I just wanted to make my own decisions and learn from those experiences, which could be the same way your son is feeling/thinking. I don't know what type of experience he had with the driving, but I'm pretty sure its not uncommon to fear something that has happened in your past. I would suggest talking to him about it and if he does not listen give him more time to get over it, he'll come out of his shell when he's ready and you can't or don't really want to rush him. I don't exactly know what you mean by he doesn't care about honor, I thought you left that a little vague, but if you explained it to me a little more I'm sure I could give you a few ideas. But as the last poster said, you can't really push your son into your ideal views or anything, you have to let him chose his own path. The more you try to, the more he will resist, and that could cause more problems. Hope this was a help, he seems pretty normal and pretty hand in hand with how I was at his age. Though I'm not much older and 18, I figured I could relay to you some insight as to how us teenagers sometimes think.