wasted time?

I fell in love with all things Scottish about 9 years ago...but recently my eyes were opened to a related group of people - the Irish - who have given the Scots a run for their money to occupy that special place in my heart.

Now I've discovered that I may have been misdirected in my affection all this time...because apparently, I would settle well in the land of St. Patrick.

You Belong in Dublin

Friendly and down to earth, you want to enjoy Europe without snobbery or pretensions. You're the perfect person to go wild on a pub crawl... or enjoy a quiet bike ride through the old part of town.

What European City Do You Belong In?

sigh

I went to my first-ever salsa lesson last night with a friend from work. Two words: GOOD TIMES!

Dancing is one of many times in life when I'm so thankful to be a girl. It's so nice to just be able to feel the vibe and be LED by the man. I don't envy you guys for having to think of the beat, the moves, directing the woman's moves, etc.

I think it's especially hard for a man to lead those of us who have a tendency to "get it" and try and anticipate where you're going, etc. Hmm...life lesson there? Anyway, back to the subject at hand.

Ladies, what IS IT about a man who's got rhythm, can dance and leads well? I mean, I totally fell in crush with the instructor last night...just because he was a fabulous dancer.

Don't get me wrong. You don't need to win "Dancing with the Stars" for me to want to dance with you...but guys, take a note here. Even if you think you're not very good, take some lessons...you're probably not as white as you think you are (in the rhythm department), and the ladies will swoon.

mr. yuck is mean...

...mr. yuck is GREEN!

brilliant marketing

Many thanks to my good friend Basim for pointing me to this brilliant piece of marketing.

I hope the person that thought up this campaign got a raise.

i'm not a stalker...

...but I feel like one some days!

See, I have an acquaintance at work that needs to become my friend, but he could NOT be more quiet, introverted and a generally keeps-to-himself kind of guy. He's actually quite chatty when you get him to talk, but otherwise you wouldn't even hear him make a peep! I'm not making him out to seem very interesting, am I?

Well, let's just trust my judgment, kids. He's good people, and we'll become friends if we ever get to talk for more than 2-minute increments in the kitchen/copy room. However, since that's our only current social interaction at the office...this is how it goes down (here's where I start to feel stalker-ish):

I can see the door to the kitchen/copy room from my office. Therefore, I can see when my coworker/friend enters said room (mostly to pick up copies, if you must know), so in order to facilitate little chats here and there, I have developed a tendency to print stuff and leave it to be picked up whenever it strikes my fancy, which usually coincides with my friend visiting the copy room to pick up his own printing.

Now, I realize this might seem a bit scary. Honestly, I happen to think it's VERY funny as well...and the bottom line is that we actually usually have a decent chat or two every week thanks to my planning efforts. Someday if we really become good friends, I'll tell him about this and we'll have a good laugh.

For now, I just laugh at myself, especially when I miss him (he's quite a fast walker) and wonder how many other people do this sort of thing around the office...especially when there's a crush involved (which is not what I'm saying is involved here...but the social scene at the office is a bit dry, so give me a break).

I mean, don't get me wrong...it's not like this is a completely one-sided friendship development plan. We met for drinks one afternoon a couple of weekends ago, at his suggestion, and we chatted for 2 hours. I'm just sayin'...

Besides, I'm the marketing girl. And it's part of my JOB to make sure people are enjoying their job, getting the support they need...and building relationships among coworkers is all part of that.

But go ahead...let me have it...I'm a strong girl...I can take it!

Oh, one other thing: I tend to think this is very much a girly behavior...but I'm curious to know if the male population of my readers has/would ever demonstrate such antics.

Discuss.

giggle

I'm composing a letter to a someone called Nguyen Quoc Thang...so I've just written the phrase "Dear Mr. Thang".

That cracks me up.

i suffer from etc

I think the reflexologist at my gym is trying to drum up some business. I first noticed a few home-made ads around the locker room and workout floors a couple of weeks ago, but never paid them much attention.

This weekend, while queuing at the fountain to fill up my water bottle, I actually read one of the ads. I've recreated the part that struck me below:



Now, although I occasionally do suffer from stress (I mean, who doesn't?), it's not often a part of my daily life. Thankfully, the reflexologist made it clear what other ailments I might have that she could address, namely: etcetera. If she hadn't included that one in the list, I might have thought she couldn't do anything to help me.

a new word for the OED?

Don't you hate it when you know several people who know this person you've never met...and they all think he (or she) is really cool...and you know you'd be friends if fate hadn't somehow kept your paths from crossing before one of you moved away from ALL of the people involved?

Yeah...I call that being "pre-friends" with someone.

Troy and I are pre-friends (although I'm not sure he's aware of this status or the name of it).

Troy is friends with Todd and Laurie and all sorts of other cool people in Houston. And we'll be friends if he still lives in Houston when I get back. But for now, I am getting to know him through bits and pieces on several blogs, including his own. But since there's a degree of separation between our blogs, I forget to read it for days at a time...so I've remedied that today by adding him to my links.

Some might call this stalking, but as I established above, I call it being pre-friends, and I'm considering a letter to the OED editors requesting credit when they add it.