Morning person

I've always prided myself on being a morning person. My brain seems to work so much better in the early mornings. And the fact that the office is dead until 8:30 really helps my concentration too.

But what I'm not that best at in the mornings is talking to people. At least not until I have my coffee.

I've found that on the days where I decided to get a little extra shut eye and get into the office after my cube neighbors that, until I've had time to caffeinate and settle in, I'm rather annoyed by the pure existence of others.

In fact, I find anyone who has already consumed caffeine to be highly irritating first thing in the morning.

I need a sign that says: BEWARE! Use caution when speaking to the Bitch before 9 a.m.

Even on those days when the SO sleeps over it's not usually a problem because he's just as mute as I in the mornings.

That is, until today. Given that we both have so much work to do before the holiday weekend, we decided to set the alarm earlier and get into the office for a productive morning.

Groggy, I pull myself from the warmth of my bed and stumble toward the bathroom, only to be met by the SOs foot swinging through the air - you know, as if he were attempting to kick me in the face.

He was chipper and had energy like I'd never seen before 10 a.m. What gives, SO?

Thing was, with only 6 hours of sleep under my belt I didn't have the energy to do more than grumble a "you're hyper this morning" in his general direction.

Hindsight, if he would have kicked me in the face maybe I could have called off today. Only kidding...unless he broke my nose.

Ha. J/K again! He couldn't get his foot up that high anyhow.

Just kidding, Just kidding. SO, you're the best.

Really, his chipperness was a refreshing change from our typical silent mornings. But when it comes to anyone else, if I have to see you before my coffee, I prefer a silent interaction.

Though I'd love to not see you at all!

So tell me dear readers, what does your routine look like prior to coffee consumption?

On another note, it's a long weekend! YAY!!  I'm excited to report that I'll be spending tomorrow at Cedar Point riding roller coasters and Sunday falling through the air at 120 mph (skydiving, naturally). I'll get to put my new jumpsuit and altimeter to good use. And I'm hoping to have some solo skydiver pics to share with y'all next week!

Any big plans for the 4th?

Cheers!

-A

I wish you'd just transform already

So this weekend I got to see the new Transformers movie - Revenge of the Fallen. It was over two hours and I have virtually no complaints about the movie - great special effects, a few good chuckles, and who can moan about about watching men like Tyrese Gibson and Josh Duhamel on the big screen?

At least, not in a bad way. Ha!

But there was one little annoyance during this flick - or shall I say on very large annoyance.

Just before the movie started a man and two boys plopped down next to us. One boy looked like a normal 8-year-old, chatting with his friend, excited about seeing a late-night Transformers movie. The other, was, well, how do I say this....fat.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not against fat people in the slightest. However, when a parent has a kid who's clearly going to have (or who probably already has) health problems because they've let them have too many brownies in their life, it kinda pisses me off.

At the parent - not the child.

It also pisses me off when they allow them to act in the way this kid did throughout the entire movie.

As I mentioned, they started out rather chatty but shut right up when the movie started. This was a good sign. Or so I thought.

But as soon as he ate his way to the bottom of his jumbo popcorn - yes, he had his own - he went to town on slurping down the remainder of his large soda. 

Lord only knows how, over the course of 2 and 1/2 hours how this kid didn't have to get up to pee at least once, but he kept his ass glued in that chair somehow.

Once the soda was gone he proceeded to poke on the plastic top and break it until it had completely collapsed into the cup.

After that noise subsided he apparently got bored and slid to the front of his seat so his feet could touch the floor. 

Why?

So he could loudly crunch every single kernel of popcorn that had missed his mouth earlier in the movie.

About this time, the other kid and the man, who we decided was probably the father of the smaller child as he seemed like a reasonable man who would have told his own kid to shut the hell up about an hour earlier, got up to go to the bathroom. 

When they came back, the chubster proceeded to use his outdoor voice to tell his friend what he'd missed.

At the end of the movie, we all got up to leave, following this group out the door. Just before he got to the isle way, the fat one bent over and stuck his hand into what was left of the dad's popcorn for one last snack.

Mmmm....floor popcorn.

Okay, so not exactly, but once the bucket is on the floor and the movie is over it might as well be straight from the floor.

Regardless of the distraction, it was a great movie. Highly recommended!

What good movies have you seen lately?

Cheers!

-A

Hard work? What's that?

This morning on the way into work I was listening to what is typically a mind-numbing morning show that forces me to turn to my CD player in disgust and listen to REMs Greatest Hits, again.

For some reason, I continue giving these Cleveland morning shows a chance - after Bob and Tom got replaced by Rover my morning commute just hasn't been the same...or nearly as funny. Regardless, today's show did more than make me feel dumber for listening, and I'm glad I tuned in.

The hosts were discussing a recent issue they had with management regarding the cancellation of an anticipated event and the ensuing action that was taken to resolve this issue.

What happened, you ask? Well, I'm getting there - hold your horses.

That's the first time I've ever written out that statement, and now I'm not so sure I understand...

Rather than resting on his laurels, like most people might expect a morning show host to do, he took action, used his brain, came up with some ideas, presented them to management and BOOM, they're back in business; event un-cancelled.

With a little hard work, brain power and creativity they came up with a solution that benefited everyone.

So, what's the point?

Well, most who are reading this right now probably don't get what the big deal is because y'all are hard-working professionals who bust ass everyday to complete work that you're proud of and to have a flourishing career...or maybe just to pay the bills, whatever.

But there are so many people out there who aren't willing to put in that kind of effort, who will do just about anything to avoid doing real work. We'll call this type Lazy Man (LM).

With news like this, the LM would have said, "oh well, that's just the way it is." Or even worse, would have been happy because now he doesn't have to put in the work to pull off an event.

People like this piss me off.

I've encountered too many of them in my short career so far. LM pawns off the hard work, or comes to a roadblock and says that it just can't be done. And this happens at every level, too. From the receptionists and administrative assistants, to interns and entry level employees, all the way up the food chain to the executives.

What gets me the most is when people are not terminated because of this. Laziness is not in your job description, people!

Though I've found that the interns and entry level folks who do this don't last long - at least not in my industry. But that's not the point, now is it?

There are just too many good people out there looking for work, especially in these times, for people to be able to get away with hard work avoidance. The market is flooded with smart, hard-working individuals who are willing to bust their booties for a company - at way less than market value, I'm sure - and yet the LMs of the world are still employed.

WHY?!

So as much crap as I give these morning-show hosts about the daily mind-numbing topics they often discuss, at least they're working hard to keep their careers afloat. And in looking at it, with all the lazy, unthinking people out there, the content of these morning shows caters perfectly to the general public.

All I have to say is this - no one is going to do it for you, people. It's time to get off your ass and take your career into you own hands. For those who don't really care about this path, please, I'm begging you, at least do something to benefit the rest of us. No one likes a waste of space - especially in the office.

Stepping down from my soap box....now.

Thank you.

-A

Photography Friday...on a Thursday

(The brilliant idea for this title, stolen from my good blogger buddy and real-life friend Narm.)


It's that time again...this time it's the Jamaica edition.

Please note, that most of these images were not taken with a professional-grade camera. In fact, on all of our excursions we took one of those disposable waterproof, hard plastic cameras on a rubber band string doohickeys.

You get the point.

Oh Jamaica...where do I even start?

Let's just say if I never went back to that island I'd be a happy camper. Don't get me wrong, the island was beautiful, and I actually wish we would have had more time to explore the rain forest, maybe even do a zip line tour - which we passed up because upon further inspection it wasn't that adventurous after all - but I'm sure the scenery was gorgeous.

Looking at this, I'd imagine so:

(Some form of steam coming from the forest...)

Anyway, so when you get off the ship at what I understand to be an old sugar mine, you are immediately accosted by locals trying to get you to go into their cab to take you God knows where on this island.

Once we found our group we waiting, and waited - you'll find this to be a theme throughout.

Our excursion was split into two separate events. The first was what they referred to as white water tubing. We were going tubing down a river with exciting rapids, stopping at one point to cliff dive 30 feet into the ocean, or at least, this is what I was sold.

In reality, the river looked more like this throughout.

(White water...huh?)

There was a five year old girl in her own tube, what does that tell you?

When we stopped half-way through, we saw the "cliff," which was a man-made wooden plank about 15 feet above the river water, which at that point was, oh, about 2 and 1/2 feet deep, tops.

It said jump at your own risk. Unfortunately, I didn't capture this on film - I was too appalled.

If it says that in Jamaica, it's translated as "you will most likely die if you attempt this," in American.

Needless to say, we passed on that opportunity.

After tubing we were supposed to get picked up by our driver. So we waited, and waited, in the hot ass sun, slightly frustrated from our overly-hyped river tubing experience, and getting more pissed off by the minute.

And since we were told to leave all our stuff on the van we were all slightly concerned about our belongings, too.

But he showed, eventually, and then we were off to our next adventure. And that it was!

We climbed Dunns River Falls - a 600 foot, never-ending waterfall. The experience was one of my favorites from the trip. There was just enough danger and excitement involved that it kept our blood pumping.

(A small section of the 600 feet we climbed that day!)

Though after, we were led through a tourist trap of Jamaican shops. We were caught by the first tent by a guy who called himself the Termite - real name, Jason Smith....quite Jamaican if I do say so.

We were led back into his lair where the SO purchased a Bob Marley shirt for his roommate, and the Termite proceeded to carve our names into these mahogany figurines. Then he told us some story about stacking them on top of one another when we are "mounting" each other. No joke. This guy was a trip.

Anyhow, after that we really had to get back to the ship so we practically ran through the rest of the shop area, getting touched and yelled at by Jamaicans, telling us we had no respect.

Sorry people, we had no time, either.

The driver picked us up right on time - GASP - and we made it back to the ship in one piece - though starving and exhausted from a long day on the island.

It was a great experience, but next time, I'm choosing Turks and Caicos over another visit to Jamaica, mon!

Cheers!

-A

Back to reality

Did you miss me?

Okay, don't answer that...but I'm back from a much needed seven day vacation in the Caribbean, and honestly, I'm not ready to be home.

Normally, after a vacation I'm ready to be back to a routine and feel rejuvenated. Not this time. Don't get me wrong, I'm relaxed and feeling more like myself than ever, but I spent the last day of vacay contemplating a strategy to sneak onto a neighboring cruise ship and do it all over again.

And as you've probably guessed, this week will be filled with stories of the people we met and adventures had. Trust me...there was a lot of both.

What a better way to kick it all off than by sharing the best part of the trip first.

It's pretty self-explanatory, really...skydiving in Miami.

We left this for our last day, going out on a high note - no pun intended. And boy was it ever!

The entire experience was perfect. It was a gorgeous 85 degree day. The staff at Skydive Miami was amazing and I had the best tandem instructor ever - Randy. 

For a guy who's jumped over 1,400 times in his career he sure enjoyed our tandem experience, which made me enjoy it that much more. It's inspiring to meet someone who loves what he does so much that he's excited to share it with others. But really, who wouldn't be, if jumping out of an airplane was how you made a living?

On the plane ride up he asked about my job, and once he pulled the 'chute he welcomed me to his office. 

And quite the welcome it was...

I have to say, it was the most thrilling and liberating experience of my life. I've conquered the sky and I can't wait to do it again. The next jump is already on the books for this spring!

So tell me dear readers, what has been one of your most exhilarating experiences?

Cheers!

-A

The 'L' Word

Today I want to talk about what not to say on a first date.

No, I didn't tell some poor soul that I loved him on the first date, what kind of girl do you think I am?

A couple nights ago I found myself telling the story of a date I went on very shortly after moving to the Cleve.

While out with a friend in the basement of Blind Pig (mistake #1), a friend of a friend grabbed me and flung me in front of one of his friends on the dance floor - meet my friend Collin.*

*His name may or may not have been Collin.

So we danced. All night. He was pretty impressive, actually, so when he asked for my number at the end of the night I gave it to him (mistake #2).

Friend of a friend. Safe.

And so the dating game begins...kinda. He called a few days later and the next weekend we went on a date.

He picked me up, took me to Little Italy, it was awkward.

And of course, in my oh-so-standard word vomit fashion I proceeded to dispel way too much information.

Apparently somewhere along the way I thought that filling the silence, no matter what came out of my mouth, would turn around any awkward situation. Typically, especially in my life, it makes things more awkward and I end up embarrassing myself. Though it's still a strategy I live by.

In my ramblings I mentioned just how drunk I was when I met him.

Lush.

Oh and if you didn't catch it, that was mistake #3.

The point I was attempting to make was that I was only out on the dance floor because of the vodka Red Bulls I had downed previously in the night. So in reality, I was trying to prove that I wasn't a typical club-attending 20-something.

When he mentioned to me that he was completely sober the entire night I almost flagged down the waiter to order another glass of wine.

LUSH.

I'm pretty positive that's what was going though his mind, anyhow.

Wow - nothing like a typical TMI situation gone wrong to spoil the evening, eh?

Needless to say, that was the first and last date with Mr. Sober dancer.

Impression FAIL.

So if you learn one thing from my diarrhea of the mouth it's this: if you were drunk the first time you met someone, I'd wait until after the first date to tell them.

Cheers!

-A

A little healthy compitition never hurt anyone

Last night after a strenuous workout I decided to attend a relaxation yoga class to end the day right.

Only...it ended up not being so relaxing, after all.

Attendance was minimal, probably because of the weather, and most of the people in class were new to the practice of yoga.

My initial concern was that the instructor would, in turn, make the class easier. But luckily for me she held a normal flow class with modified poses for the newbies.

As soon as I realized this, I proceeded as I normally would and even increased the intensity from time to time.

(Editors note: that's the great thing about yoga, you can make it as intense and challenging as you want it. Not that you care.)

Throughout the class I noticed the woman next to me keeping pace with my motions.

Upon further inspection she was a 50-something, frail looking woman, who had apparently been practicing yoga for longer than I've been alive. And this was something she was dying to prove to me.

To test this theory I went above and beyond in a couple of balance poses - and when she followed my lead and subsequently fell out of these poses I was thoroughly satisfied. Not only was I spot on that she was competing with me, but I totally beat her out in the balance category.

Point Ashley.

Then we moved on to a couple strength moves. I dominated.

The end of class was focused on flexibility. Not my strong suit. But of course I pushed my hamstrings until they were screaming at me - willing them to stretch just an inch farther. You best believe she took notice of this, too, as she proceeded to fold in half on top of herself, and make it look easy.

Flexibility FAIL.

At the point I wanted to lean in and let her know that "hey lady, I'm a runner, my hamstrings just don't do that."

But of course, after savasana [corpse pose = relaxation, for all you non-yogis], I was all zen and stuff and didn't give a crap.

Honestly, I'm thankful for my competitor last night. She helped me push myself in a class that I otherwise may have taken the easy route through.

Cheers to you, lady. Cheers!

-A

Maintenance Man

For those who haven't been keeping up - I don't blame you, I didn't do much bloggie stuff over the holidays, either - my weekend was spent moving.

This was one of the easiest moves yet. Given that I've moved across the country twice now, and once across the state of Texas, I would hope this is the case.

But really this was probably the easiest move I'll ever have - unless of course next time I'm well enough off to hire some movers to do the dirty work for me. This weekend, I moved a total of three floors.


That's right, same apartment complex, better location.


When I found out that this apartment was available I jumped on it - less expensive than before and it comes with a sliding glass door out to a fenced in yard. The perfect set up for puppy ownership.


But anyway, this is going somewhere, I promise.

The move wasn't too painful, though the organization process is slower than I'd hoped. Turns out, I own a lot of shit. The SO was trying his hardest to get me to make decisions on what exactly I needed and what could be thrown out. A lot was pitched, but you'd never know it to look at my new place. Yikes, lots more work to come.

During the post-move organization process, I ran across a few maintenance issues. Lucky for me, I made nice with the weekend maintenance man long ago, so when I reported these issues on Sunday morning, he came over promptly to repair these problems.

Within 15 minutes the apartment was fixed up and George had plenty of time to spare for small talk. Of course, I was more than happy to placate him - you never know when I'll have a dire maintenance emergency again - and actually, he's quite a pleasant man.

He chatted with me about the weather, the progress of my moving, past "situations" in my old apartment, and wrapped up by letting me know that if there's anything I need, to let him know.

So the lesson here - make nice with the maintenance man, you never know when you're going to need him. And you might be surprised at just how nice he really is.

Has anyone else capitalized on such situations before? What are your apartment living tips and tricks?

Cheers!

-A

Friendly rivalry gone bad

As most of my friends and loyal readers know, I'm a big sports fan. And I'm especially passionate about my MSU Spartans as that's my alma mater.

You also may be aware that one of my qualms with living in this state has been the obnoxious OSU fans who assume, because I'm from the state of Michigan, I'm the devil.

Don't get me wrong, I love a good sports rivalry - taking jabs at my friends when we win, the occasional bet now and again, but for the most part, I'll befriend anyone, regardless of where their allegiances lie.

Well tonight, I ran into two of the most ignorant college supporters I've ever met. 

That's a big statement. Huge - given the fact I've run into my fair share of obnoxious sports fans throughout my Big 10 history.

As I was wandering the halls of my building, still in my Michigan State jersey (confident, even after our loss at the Capital One bowl today - hey, I'm no fair weather fan!) I ran into a girl in my building. 

She was quite lovely, actually. Mentioned that she too is from Michigan and she even offered her assistance with moving. Her friends on the other hand, frightened me a little - since we're being honest here.

The girl from Michigan is a U of M fan, which she mentioned in passing. The two others asserted themselves quickly, letting me know, in a most aggressive manner, that one was an Ohio State fan while the other pointed to her hooded sweatshirt with an embroidered Notre Dame logo and proceeded to pound on her chest with a tight fist.

"Notre Dame, yeah that's right!"

"Ohio State, here. Yeah! Just so you know how we roll." - followed by a nice little stare down.

Um, wow. Okay.

I'm sure I looked appalled and rather horrified. I was, and I'm not so great at hiding that on my face. The aggressors noticed, as they chuckled on their way down the hall, "did you see her face, ha!"

Clearly, I was by far the least dominant female in this situation (by about 40 pounds, at least).

If this hadn't have been the case, or even if there wouldn't have been three of them, I would have pointed out that they are friends with a U of M fan and there doesn't seem to be much of a problem. So what gives?

Aside from the time I got threatened by a Cavs fan in a bar bathroom during the 2007 playoffs- "If the Pistons win tonight I'm gonna be the first one to find you and kick your ass" - this was the most aggressive attack by fans of an opposing team.

C'mon people, we're all adults, let's grow up and get along in our friendly rivalries, shall we?

-A

p.s. On the positive side, I may have made a new friend in the building - if I can manage to separate her from the scary friends.

The woman and her Beamer

True story.

Early this morning, as I was getting out of my Saturn Vue in the parking garage below my office, a woman in a 3 series BMW pulled in next to me.

I was gathering my things as she got out of her car and proceeded to turn around and wait. As I climbed out and started toward the building entrance I realized, she was waiting for me.

C'mon now, lady. I'm not going to do anything to your precious car. Granted, I do drive a Saturn, but it's new, and pretty, and yes it's actually made of metal. And really, do I look like a girl who's about to smash open your passenger window and hot wire your car? Yeah, I didn't think so.

Being a little irked by this I decided to dawdle and fumble with my things a little longer, just to make her wait. Her anxiety shown through even more when she clicked the lock button on her key fob once more, in turn beeping the horn, just to let me know that indeed she did lock her precious vehicle.

Once I started toward the building she turned to walk five paces in front of me - as if she'd never even seen me.

To further test my theory - not that much testing was needed, given that it was 6:30 a.m., we were the only one's in the garage, and she was looking directly at me this entire time - I quickly spun back toward my car as if I'd forgotten something.

When she realized I was no longer on her heals, she stopped immediately, turned in my direction and proceeded to wait...again. Her glare could have burned a hole through me.

I shut my drivers side door and made clear eye contact as I locked my car, hitting the button twice, just to be smug.

As I followed her into the building, she pretended as if I wasn't there and never once held a door for me.

If you're going to non-verbally accuse me of wanting to steal your car, the least you can do is hold the door for me when I don't.

Bitch.

-A

The Twins

Thanksgiving weekend was delightful. Aside from the 9 hours spent in a car over the course of two days, and the slight disappointment I felt after seeing Twilight, it was quite a lovely weekend.

After returning from a couple days in Michigan with the family, I was put to the test. The friend test. Two nights in a row, actually.

I hope I passed...

Saturday I was invited to attend a house party nearby and meet some of the friends who were in town for the holiday weekend. After a glass of red wine at home this sounded like a great idea - that is until we entered the front door and everyone turned to greet the late arrivals.

Not intimidating at all.

It wasn't that bad, really. Looking back, I probably should have been more intimidated than I was. But I don't usually realize things like that until after the fact - which comes in handy when I embarrass myself and am too oblivious to realize it at the time.

In the course of a couple hours I was introduced to a dozen or so friends for the first time - it was great to put faces to names and to meet all the fantastic people in the SO's life. He's got some amazing friends.

It's weird though, meeting people that you've never even heard of who come up to you and say, "oh, it's so great to finally meet you. I've heard so much about you...."

I hope I'm not super obvious when my response is "thanks, it's great to finally meet you too" when I'm really thinking "who the hell are you and why do you know so much about me..."

The most interesting night, though, was Friday. A fairly relaxed evening in was anticipated, and though it was an evening in, insanity ensued.

Between the Christmas Ale and friends breaking out in song - everything from TI to Boys to Men (yes, seriously) - the evening turned out to be quite the shit show. At one point, people were even sneaking out. Luckily, we were able to capitalize on this moment as well and remove ourselves from the drunken singers - who were not nearly as talented as they thought in that state.

But before all that, I got to meet the other twin.

One of my friends is a twin - something I didn't really realize until just recently. His brother went to a different college, lives in a different town, and it just never came up that his brother was born on the same day. From what I was told they're pretty different, but I managed to make my own assessment after meeting him for the first time.

The physical differences were minimal, both are tall and slender, though one twin was slightly taller than the other. One twin has hair that is a shade lighter than the other. Style, too, seemed similar - but that's difficult to judge after only one encounter with the other twin.

Though they look almost identical, have exactly the same laugh, and for the most part sound the same, from the moment the twin walked in you knew there were big differences.

One twin is much more laid back than the other - his presence is almost calming. He is comfortable sitting quietly, taking it all in, while the other tends to be highly animated and fully engaged in conversation.

There also are significant differences in the way these two interact, and the way they are reacted to, within the core group of friends. It was interesting. Just by observing it was easy to tell how others viewed the twins and the status that each held within this group.

I always thought it would be great to be a twin - you have a constant companion, someone who is just like you to hang out with. But the more twins I meet, the more I realize how it's not like that at all. Being a twin means you need to work just that much harder to make a name for yourself, to stand out and be an individual. And in fact, most twins are quite different from one another. I've even known twins who can't stand each other. It definitely makes for an interesting family dynamic.

So tell me dear readers, what are the twins like that you know?

Anyone else do anything exciting for the holiday weekend?

Cheers!

-A

Finally - an update

So this weekend was a giant FAIL in the daily blogging promise.

I know. I suck.

What can I say, it was a busy few days.

Thursday I was blessed to be surrounded with lovely bloggers from around Cleveland at the Cleveland Blogger Meetup at Bar Cento. Hosted by Alexa, this event was a blast - I can't wait for the next one (hint hint, lady...).

I had a surprise of my own at this event. I decided to contribute by raffling off a black and white of my Brooklyn Bridge photo to lucky winner Bill Teets from Yes, I'm Judging You. If you're not already a reader, you should be. He's good people.

The event was great, and it was fantastic to meet everyone face to face! And if you're ever in need of a private room for a fun event, I highly recommend Bar Cento. The food is great and the wait staff is fabulous.

The rest of the weekend paled in comparison. Though I did manage to get myself into quite the situation on Friday night while hanging out with the man friend and his friends (some of whom I was meeting for the first time). A guy I dated for a short time - that I am still friends with - decided to come out to our neck of the woods. Awkwardness ensued when he and his friends meandered into the bar where we resided. But this is another post in itself.

So tell me dear readers, what did you do this weekend?

Cheers!

-A

Other encounters

Today is going to be one of those days.

Busy, mainly. Likely somewhat stressful as I have numerous tasks to accomplish both at the office and after work - no matter what time I manage to head out.

So, out of a) lack of time, 2) lack of ideas, and d) pure laziness, I am bringing you some of the recent encounters that my favorite bloggers have experienced - all of which are highly entertaining and much more witty than anything you'll find here.

On top of that, I haven't done much lately aside from work, run and spend time with the man friend, none of which you really want to hear all that much about I'm sure.

So on to the more interesting encounters of my fellow 20-something bloggers.

• My favorite dater, So@24, takes a trip to visit Amber...see what unfolds.
• Allison's BF creates a pseudo man-room for the winter...video gaming ensues.
• One of my bestests, Jennie, has a run in with the Cough...we all know this person.
• Narm had an encounter with himself...as a nutrition label. Hilarious!
• CC over at Fork in the Road had a run in with one of the grossest creatures alive. At least now it's dead.
  
• Alexa encountered a major guy friend FAIL.
  
• I had a lovely online encounter with Ben's dogs...see here. I heart them! And soon, I will be getting one of my own! More on this later.
  

And don't forget to check them out regularly as they are some awesomely talented writers.

Cheers!

-A

I'm back - but I'm lazy

Therefore, I'm linking off today to an entertaining encounter with the neighborhood boy scouts by my dear friend Ben.

Thanks, Ben, for our entertainment today.

And I promise, once I'm back in the swing of the Midwestern life I will share all my NYC experiences with you - there are a few encounters you're bound to find enjoyable.

Cheers!

-A

New Phone = New Surprises

There are always crazy things happening in my life - always. It's great because most of the time it's entertaining and it gives me a good story to tell (good being subjective in some cases). Personally, I like to categorize the following as 'good.'

I got a new phone. And I love it.

No, it's not the iPhone like everyone thinks at first. It's the BlackBerry Pearl. It's amazing. It's sleek, powerful and [fairly] user friendly.

(And look how pretty it is!)

But most of all, I know it's amazing because it's taking me a long @$$ time to figure out how to use it. I'm starting to get the texting part down but my speed dial is being all weird and I'm not sure I know how to overcome that yet. And this whole Internet on the phone thing is pretty darn cool too.

Embarrassingly though, I have no idea how to change my ringtone yet. I know. I suck. So much for being a self proclaimed tech geek. I don't have a clue what I'm doing.

But I still love it.

This is not about the phone though. Nope. It's about the guy who sold me my phone.

Walking in at 5:30 on a Tuesday evening was perfect, no one was there and I was helped right away. I also knew exactly what I was getting so not much time was wasted perusing the phone selection.

So upon entering, cell phone guy Brad (that may or may not be his name) asks if I need help:

Me: "My plan is up and I want to get the BlackBerry Pearl."

Easy enough - transaction begins.

About 5 minutes in I realize that this guy is flirting with me. Naturally, I live it up and flirt right back...why not, right?

I'll tell you why not - because he has my cell phone number!

Me = moron.

I realized this way too late in the game - as I was walking out the door. *Insert dumb blonde giggle here.* I suspected that he might capitalize on this opportunity with a call or text in the future.

The future was closer than imagined. After barely pulling out of the parking lot I get a text indicating that if I need anything, to call or text Brad on his personal line. PERSONAL LINE??? I'm a paying customer- wouldn't that then make me a hooker, too?

But then - dumb blonde moment #2 - I respond.

Me: "Thanks! I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

WTF?

I should not be allowed to text, ever - it always gets me in trouble. Now, cell phone guy Brad probably thinks I'm interested. Stay tuned to see if I get a text invite for sushi, because yes, he knows I like sushi. Damn!

As you can see, my life is full of new 'excitement,' mainly because I do it to myself!

Please tell me someone else has had a moment like this before. Please.

Cheers!

-A

He'll talk to anything that listens

This was my description of one of the many people we shared a table at Crunchy's with on Saturday night (buckets of beer and the best cheesy breadsticks in town, can't be beat!). As he sat in our booth, leaning over to talk to the Iowa fans at the neighboring table about how they're going to get pounded by Illinois (truth) I realized that this guy will talk to anyone or anything that will listen.

J is a memorable guy, when he walks into a room you can't miss him - and not just because he's 6'4" (though not the tallest guy in our group that night...seriously). He's dynamic, personable, and it always complimenting someone.

"T-bone, you're lookin' great in that shirt," was one of his favorite lines of the day.

I'd like to say he's one of those that talks more with increasing amounts of alcohol, but I'm not sure that's possible.

At the beginning of our tailgate, 8 a.m. or so, he shows up, wearing not one piece of Michigan State clothing and was immediately surrounded by people as he told the first of many stories that day. He has a way of engaging the audience and involving everyone in the conversation. He even had us playing guessing games as to how much his 76ers shirt cost.

He's a one man show, that's for sure.

J's definitely the crazy guy in the group, but you've gotta love him - he's nothing shy of friendly, honest, and genuine.

Everyone should have a friend like him - do you? What's the one thing you love most about your crazy friend?

Cheers!

-A

(Pictures of the weekend to come soon - stay tuned, if you care)

A bi of all kinds

This past weekend some friends and I were discussing the trend of bi-polarism. Okay, so not in the literal sense (and yes, I do realize that bi-polarism is another one of my made up words...let's call it an Aism).

The conversation arose due in part to a reference to one of my close friends that tends to fall off the map from time to time and just not show up. We consider him socially bi-polar because one minute he's all excited to hang out and the next he decides not to show and disappears for a couple weeks.The next thing you know, he's back and excited about the next opportunity to plan something and be a no-show.

This conversation has me thinking about other types of bi-polarish behavior out there, so I've come up with the following examples from my personal experience. If you know of any others, I'd love to hear about them.

1. The Office bi-polar - one minute they can't praise you enough, the next they are e-mailing in all caps or calling to tell you how stupid you are (yes, in fact, I've have both of those happen).

2. The Relationship bi-polar - this is the person who is all excited about the relationship, is really into it and into the other person, then decides maybe this isn't the case. Shortly after breaking it off, they are back claiming they've made a huge mistake. (note: we are not referring to those casual instances where someone keeps coming back for more action, this is in a legitimate relationship.)

3. The Drunken bi-polar - this is that friend who is super shy and quiet, but when drunk you will find her dancing on tables and taking her top off. This also is the friend who is super happy go lucky and becomes the extreme emotional drunk where crying and yelling and fighting ensue.

4. The bi-polar sports fan - we all know this guy, some like to call him the fair weather fan. He loved the Pistons until Ben Wallace left, then we lost to the Cavs and he jumped ship. Now he's back in his Prince jersey "knowing" they'll win it all this season. C'mon Jack, true fans don't work that way. He could take a lesson or two from the devoted Brown's fans in town.

5. The Grass-is-always-greener bi-polar - these folks always want what you have, then when they have it, they're not so impressed. So they go back to their old ways and remain as unhappy as always - and they let everyone know about it.

6. The Social bi-polar: as described above, this guy just doesn't show - even when he's the one who's arranged the outing. What gives?

7. True bi-polar: we can't forget to leave these guys off the list. There's one in my life that I will not discuss to preserve anonymity.

(Editor's note: bi-polar disorder is a serious personality issue that should not be joked around about, and this is not my intent. Rather, I'm making fun of all those people who just can't seem to stay on one side of a decision, thought, or experience for more than 10 minutes).

What are some of the bi-polarisms you've experienced?

Cheers!

-A

Misperception

Today I was thrown for a loop - and a rather large one at that.

Generally I consider myself to be a good judge of character. When sizing people up upon first interaction my overall feeling typically ends up being fairly accurate. Not only that, when meeting others in a group, most members of that group tend to have similar views of a person and can agree on the general nature of the new guy. Today, this was not the case.

After walking away from a recent interaction and upon further discussion with those involved, my opinions were solely that, mine. It seems that the others have opinions that border on polar opposite my initial thoughts. This has me taken aback. Looking back, I see some valid points in their thought process that make sense, and in making a character judgment I want to not only base my opinion on how the interaction felt and my emotions walking away from the situation, but also on actions that took place during the encounter.

Still, however, after reflecting on the situation in great detail, I have a perception that greatly differs from those with whom I shared the experience. It scares me to think that I my opinions differ so wildly from those I'm closest to. But what scares me more is that I may not be as good a judge of character as I originally thought.

So is it me, is it them, or is it the new guy? And how exactly do I get my keen sense of character perception back on track? Looks like I may have some more pondering to do on this one.

Cheers!

-A

A man named 'what?'

The BFF and I headed to Cedar Point yesterday for an amazing 13 hours of fun-filled roller coaster riding. One of the big benefits of going to Cedar Point every year (aside from the obvious thrills) is the people watching. When I retire I'm going to be one of those old people at the mall who sit and stare at the crazy shoppers. I love people watching. And Cedar Point seems to attract some of the most interesting people if the Midwest on lovely summer Saturdays.

While in line for the first ride of the day we noticed an early 20-something with two very interesting tattoos on his triceps: a question mark on the left and an exclamation point on the right. We pointed it out to one another, exchanged looks indicating our confusion, and hopped on the ride as if that'd be the last time we'd think about Mr. Punctuation.

Alas, after our first thrilling coaster and heading to the next we see him walking in front of us. My guess that he was heading to the same ride we were next was right on target. This was the longest wait of the day so we had plenty of time to discuss his ink and speculate as to why he would have such interesting tattoos.

1. He loved Schoolhouse Rock as a kid

2. The confusion of others (?) excites him (!)

3. He had to complete the set - otherwise the comma on his left butt cheek wouldn't make sense

After a while we got bored and moved on to judging others, but it was fun while it lasted. But tell me, if you were the one with the tricep punctuation tattoos, what would be your reason?

Cheers!

-A

p.s. Happy Birthday, Dad. 

Inspirational encounters

Throughout my career in public relations I have had the opportunity to meet a number of people with a wide range of personalities and traits. The past year spent in healthcare PR has been a learning experience, but this weekend proved just how rewarding my job really is.

At a recent function in Philadelphia, I was blessed to be surrounded with some of the most inspirational people I have ever met. These people are living with a disease that most would consider to be a death sentence upon diagnosis (in fact, until I knew more about the disease and its treatments, I thought exactly that).

Expecting to greet 10 patients who are disabled and/or wheelchair bound, I was pleasantly surprised. Each person had his own story about diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Of the people I met, you would not know that even one of them was sick - some of which have had the disease since the early 1980s (before I was even born, folks).

The three-day event was wonderful. We mingled, we learned, and in the end, we became friends. I am fortunate to have met such an inspirational group of people. The community they share is highly connected and they continue to inspire and learn from one another. If only general society could take a lesson or two from this community...

Cheers!

-A