Laura Corogenes
Recent Activity
Laura Corogenes commented on Rehab For Internet Addicts on September 11, 2009, 8:49 PM
I knew if I lived long enough there would be a 12 step program just for me. I looked at their site and the survey. Now that I have read about the program online, I don't feel the need to actually enroll. I will just check back periodically for updates.
Laura Corogenes commented on Why Twitter Is Like High School on July 17, 2009, 8:31 PM
One of the things I like about Twitter is I can get on, quickly check up on a couple of people who's writing I find enlightening or entertaining, get a couple of ideas of blog posts or news stories I know I will be interested in, because they are recommended by someone I chose to follow on Twitter, and get off. Five minutes tops, a couple of times a day. It's perfect. If the people I follow don't choose to follow me, who cares. They are using Twitter for their own reasons. Just because their posts fit my appetite is no reason to assume my posts will fit theirs. It's irrational I know, but what bugs me about Twitter are the followers you collect based on certain key words. I mentioned Australia once in passing on a posted tweet. The next thing I know, 6 people from down under are following me. If they want to follow me, even though I may never mention Australia again, it's their choice. But, why would I bother following them? My posts never follow a theme, they tend to be whatever meaningless drivel is floating through my mind at the moment. I don't expect it to be of much interest to most people. I think your life must be pretty dull if you are willing to follow me. So if I only followed those that followed me, how much fun would that be?
Laura Corogenes commented on Is Marriage Just a Fad? on July 17, 2009, 12:51 PM
After reading the articles referred to above as well as listening to the 2 clergy comments, I have several thoughts I could express and may express at some point in time. In this space, I will focus on just one. Much to my daily surprise, I've been a married woman for over 33 years. I never entertained thoughts of weddings and marriage, until I found myself in the midst of both. I stumbled upon the institution and have been extremely lucky that it has worked out well so far. Don't get me wrong there have been days, weeks and even months in the last 33 years when I look at the stranger next to me and think "What the hell have I done?" I am positive he would say the same thing. But overall out of the 12,114 days I've been a married woman, my guess is that about 11,000 of those days make the hell endured the other 1,114 days well worth the effort. I am not going to say marriage is for everyone. Nor will I say that once married, couples are bound to spend the rest of their lives together. I agree with the old adage that it should be far more difficult to get married and far easier to get divorced. I am certain that if the pre-marriage process was prolonged, more intense and more extensive, there would be far fewer divorces to worry about. What I am going to say is any discussion about marriage being "just a fad" or obsolete is both faddish and doomed to obsolescence. Humans are relational creatures. We are born into the most intense relationship each of us ever endures, our relationship with the woman who gave us life. In many ways, it is all downhill from there. Life is tough and often ugly. We need all the help we can get just to survive from one day to the next. My point is, it is the relationships that get us through life. That make it bearable. So any relationship that works, that empowers, that brings pleasure and contentment to the parties involved is a positive. It is the relationship that counts, not the label applied to it. If one human finds another human they want to spend time with, someone they respect, someone they care for, it is a valuable relationship. It doesn't matter what you label it, if there was a ceremony, the sex, race or religious affiliation of the two parties involved or how long it lasts, it is a good thing. Some people, and to my surprise I have found I am one, feel more comfortable in a formalized relationship. One where expectations are expressed, negotiations take place and a formal commitment is made. I believe going through the formalized commitment of marriage makes my relationship with my spouse better than the relationship we would have if we had not taken the marriage step. There is absolutely no doubt that my husband and I love each other dearly, but sometimes we hate each others guts. Our relationship is cyclical, at certain times passionate and at certain times not so much; at certain times incredibly intense and fullfilling and at other times bereft of warmth or joy. All of this might be true if we never married. But there have been times when our relationship was ugly, our outlook was bleak where both of us thought about walking away. If it was easy to do so, we might have walked. Thankfully, nothing is more frightening to us than lawyers. And the trouble and work it would take to get divorced seemed overwhelming. So we stayed, pushed through it and came out better because of it. As hurtful and as painful as memories of certain marital experiences are, coming out together on the other side is an amazingly rewarding and passionate experience. I think there will always be marriage in some form. People like to stake their claim on their property. And as politically incorrect as it sounds, two people in a relationship do become proprietary of the other. People want to say - "This is mine. No matter how god-awful the rest of my life is, no matter how little control I have over my destiny, no matter how insignificant I feel, this marriage and this spouse are mine." Hopefully they can also say - "This is mine. This is what makes my life wonderful. This is how I chart my destiny. This is my greatest support. This marriage and this spouse are mine." If it doesn't work for you, fine. Find what does and run with it. But don't label it as obsolete or faddish. As long as marriage works for one couple on the face of the earth, then it has value.
Laura Corogenes commented on How does insurance work? on July 2, 2009, 6:48 PM
Insurance is my career, although I have never been involved in life insurance. I can tell you though that traditionally life insurance is perceived to provide "peace of mind". You are correct that once you have sufficient assets, you probably don't need a life insurance policy to pay for your funeral and burial. You have that much in the bank. However, the vast majority of people in the US aren't that fortunate. They live paycheck to paycheck and if someone dies, paying for the funeral and burial, etc. is an extra expense the family can't meet. Add to this the fact that the family is likely emotional vulnerable and one way they show how much they cared for the deceased is to pay for the most expense funeral they possibly can. Perhaps not wise, but certainly understandable. Life insurance also provides funds for those that survive the death of a family member. Again, if you have extensive assets and have few dependents, it isn't a big deal. But if you are a family of four, with 2 kids under 10 and both parents work full time but combined bring in about $50,000 a year, if one of them dies, they likely want to think that their kids will be cared for. Will have money for college, maybe some seed money to start them out when they are grown. A single parent making $25,000 can't do this on their own. Life insurance also provides quick funds. If a person dies without a will and assets are tied up as it works its way through probate, there may be plenty of money once it is through probate to pay for the funeral, do the repairs to a home that are necessary to sell it, pay off outstanding credit card bills, whatever. But that can take months, sometimes years. Life insurance funds are available usually within a few days. There is another truth that is rarely spoken of in regard to insurance. Insurance companies historically were some of the biggest investors in real estate and the economy of most towns and cities. You used to see signs at big construction sites, (I'm not sure you still do in this economy.) that stated that the financing for this project was coming from Travelers Insurance, New York Life, Met Life, etc. Because of insurance regulatory laws insurance companies have to maintain very large pools of funds - reserves- to, at it's most simplistic, assure that they had funds available to pay out benefits. So insurers have always had large chunks of money, either through reserves, where access is somewhat limited or through capital. That money was traditionally sent back to the community as investments. The insurance industry is also one of the largest employers in most developed countries. At one time, life insurance was an extremely valuable tool. It allowed people without ready cash to prepare for final expenses or secure their families' future. Then, through whole life insurance, universal life insurance and variable annuities it became a savings mechanism for people. Probably not a practical savings mechanism, but one just the same. Is it in some ways outdated? yes. Should it be revamped? probably. But at it's core it has provided a real benefit to society for a couple of centuries.
Laura Corogenes commented on Mary Roach Explores the Clitoris on September 21, 2009, 9:15 PM
I didn't get much out of this segment, but I did check out the "Where is Clito" animated short that Vicki recommended. I can't remember when I laughed so hard. I think it would probably spark more discussion than this actual segment.