Dear Captain Quantrill,

Yes, I see you are full of burning questions. First of all I don’t actually follow The Olympics, or even hockey for that matter, but seeing that the U.S., Russia, Finland, Canada, Sweden and Switzerland have all won their first match, I’d say they have a good chance of bringing home a gold medal.

Why do people think rap and dubstep  are actually music? Well, my friend there’s a saying, “To each his own.” Personally, I’m not a fan of rap, but some dubstep can be…well I wouldn’t call it pleasant, but interesting. It’s also something I can listen to while I’m doing homework without getting distracted by the lyrics. Also I’ve found with both genres they tend to have catchy choruses and one listens to the song merely for that and simply puts up with the rest.

Now as for the people that voted for Obama twice, yes you may not agree with their political standing, but I think you can actually still speak with them. Politics can always be a touchy subject, I know some people voted for him the second time because they saw him as “a lesser of two evils.” The way I see it, no matter who you vote for, someone will disapprove. Try to have an open mind, but at the same time never neglect the things you truly believe.

Initiating conversation with a girl is not as hard as you might think. Often just genuinely complimenting a girl is enough to grab her attention, but especially if you do it in a unique or interesting way. For example, one of the best compliments I ever received was, “As I’m sure you’re well aware, your smile is pretty fantastic.” Just by the way it was phrased, it made me stand up and take notice. You can try the cheesy lines and run the risk of a girl finding you immature, but doing something original just makes it all more real and you’ll have a better shot with her.

Your last problem is one I’ve dealt with at different times myself. Disliking your friend’s significant other is always a tough situation. First of all, you have to ask yourself why you dislike her. If she is doing something that you feel will hurt your friend, you may want to gently advise him that she may not be right for him. However, people in serious relationships will probably not want to hear this. Therefore you have to go about this in a very delicate manner, because you don’t want to sour your relationship with them either. You could confront her personally if the situation is serious enough, but again use caution in doing so. If your reason for not liking her is truly unfounded, or it’s not a detrimental situation for your friend, you will simply have to deal with it. It’s not easy to ignore, believe me, but for the sake of your friendship you have to just have to cope.

I wish you the best of luck and if you ever need more advice feel free to ask me another question.

-Ask Angela