Interesting view on marriage

nospam@example.com (Klyment Tan) — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 00:55:44 -0500

I met with a young couple on Wednesday. I photographed them along with their children and several relatives from the woman's side about three weeks ago and we went through the family photo shoot to select photos that they'd want edited and printed. After going through the photos, the lady and I talked. We talked for an hour or two and the subject of marriage and raising of children came up. This couple was very open with the status of their relationship. They have been married for about five years and before getting married it appears as though they came to the mutual agreement that as much as they would like to believe that marriage is forever, in reality such a relationship is finite. In twenty years, her father and mother went from a loving relationship to one where neither could stand each other and they parted on good terms. This woman and her husband felt similarly and even noted that they'll stay together as long as they can but they didn't feel that once the marriage "expires" that they should try to prolong the suffering of their partners and those around them, including their children.

I'm not sure what to make of this part of the conversation. I've met many married couples whom I feel should have been divorced long ago. Sometimes I tell them. Sometimes the discussion expands and sometimes I get dirty looks or cold silence. But this was the first couple that I'm aware of that went into a relationship with a planned exit route. When pitching a business proposal to a potential investor, a good part of the offering to have is the exit route - a way that an investor can cleanly cash out and exit the business relationship. In a way, it's like a planned divorce agreement between the venture capitalist and the entrepreneur, complete with prenuptial agreement and continuity plan for liabilities and operations. Well, at least so is the American way of looking for venture capital and investment opportunities. Scott and I came across this attitude when competing at a business plan competition in the American northwest. But this was the first time that I've seen this in a personal relationship.

Perhaps personal relationships are more similar to business relationships than many of us would like to believe.

Amazon.de wishlist - ARGH!

nospam@example.com (Klyment Tan) — Thu, 13 Jan 2005 06:52:56 -0500

So I tried to pick up something on a Serendipity developer's amazon.de wishlist. Problem was that there's no way to do an English checkout and I don't speak German. Sucks. Looks like he wrote an entry in his blog about it. Check out the details there. He's written a bit in English about how picking up stuff like DVD's on Amazon.com probably won't cut it either. I'm a Canadian, BTW. =)

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Interesting view on marriage

Amazon.de wishlist - ARGH!