Screw Edward Cullen, I Want Lloyd Dobler

I carpooled to work today (see tomorrow's blog) and because it was rather unexpected I didn't plan very well and so found myself at work almost three whole hours before I needed to be here. Even though I always have a large amount of work to do, I couldn't bring myself to start working quite that early, so I played the only movie I had with me - "Say Anything."

If you haven't seen it, go rent it and forget all that crap about vampires and werewolves, the boy in this movie really has it all AND he's human.

The movie stars a very young John Cusack, in one of his first roles, as a boy who falls for the smart girl in school. They've just finished graduating and Cusack's character finally decides to call and ask her out. The rest of the movie Cusack's character jumps hurdle after hurdle just to be with the girl he loves - because he's just a boy in love.

Alright. Alright.
Hollywood movies give us a false view of what real relationships look like, but really, does it have to be that difficult? In the movie Cusack's character follows his very successful love to England where she has earned a fellowship. The woman is successful and can mostly take care of herself and the man follows her, all the while providing support and making sure she doesn't cut her feet on any glass - think about it - he protects her. The greatest part about this is that he protects her in a way that you can't get once you leave high school and start your own life.

I know we're all very busy - we all have out own lives and having a man who merely wants to follow might not be what we all need - but think about how great it would be to have an unselfish, caring man who is there to support your endeavors and to give you what you need without expectations.

Would I like my dating life to be a Hollywood movie? Yes! But none of this Edward Cullen - I'd have to give up everything for him life - give me a Lloyd Dobler any day!

Want to see more of this movie!? Check it out on IMDB - Say Anything

Who's Just Not That Into You?

A few years back there was this groundbreaking new book called, "He's Just Not That Into You," and after reading the first few chapters, I promptly threw the book in the trash. This book seemed to think that all men are alike and that all situations can be solved quite simply by saying that the man really isn't all that into you. I appreciate the attempt to put the responsibility back on men, it doesn't really work that way if the book is marketed towards women.

Last night I had a brief panic attack when my friend texted me with the message, "I'm never dating again," because his reasoning came from "She's Just Not That Into In You." I later learned that this wasn't a not so clever attempt to rework the original book, but merely an article that he'd read. I gave him my standard answer - "I hate that book. It doesn't make sense, because specific situations cannot be solved with general solutions."

He seemed to accept this very reasonable response, but it made me wonder. Why are so many people willing to accept general solutions to their specific problems. I would stand a little taller, with more confidence in my opinion if the book hadn't become sooo ridiculously popular and if they hadn't made a newly released movie about it.

Anyway, I wanted to check out this article... I really did, but I couldn't find it anywhere. I can only assume that it was heart wrenching and horrible!

And I want to be perfectly clear - You simply cannot solve specific problems with general answers.

It's Like Déjà Vu All Over Again

As I start to review my dating history, I realize that basic pattern recognition skills are NOT my strong point.

I totally dated the same man twice and it has taken me months to figure it all out - Okay, it wasn't literally the same man, but it was damn close. Some might call this karma, because I wasn't too attached to the first man and I may have *cough* refused to have sex with him because he was too small *cough* and decided to go wash my truck instead.

Okay, to be fair, the real reason was because I didn't like the man. He was a psychology major, only child, a little pudgy, with dark hair and goatee like facial hair.

I don't think I need to tell you that we didn't last long. It's always difficult to date someone you don't actually like.

Okay, fast forward 3 years - I see this man again, on St. Patty's Day, when I'm so smashed I have no idea what I'm doing. I manage to make a fool of myself and refer to him as "the truck guy" and tell him to stay on his side of the city.

I proceed to go out to my car where I make out with some other guy, who is also drunk. We then go our separate ways and I am no wiser for the incident because...

Fast forward another 3 years and I start dating a red-headed, psychology major, only child, slightly pudgy, with goatee like hair guy.
Yep... it was the same guy all over again, just different time, state and hair color.

I think this may have been karma coming back to bite me in the ass because I wasn't very nice to the first guy, so the second guy wasn't very nice to me.


I'd like to think that I have now learned my lesson, after dating almost exactly the same guy twice. Well... probably not, though I'm positive that I absolutely CANNOT happily date an only child. Only children seem to lack the social skill set that I need to be happy.

So, what lessons can YOU take from this?

Well - For starters, I'd suggest looking at your own dating life- How often have you dated the "same" man in the hopes that the result will be different? Perhaps re-defining your dating agenda and requirements are in order.

And second - Karma is a bitch.

Shameless Promotion Day

So, for this week's shameless promotion day I insist that you go to McDonald's and buy a Happy Meal!!
Hello Kitty has finally hit the big time in whoring itself out - you can now get Hello Kitty watches in McDonald's Happy Meals from now until Feb. 26th. How fun is that?!

I personally have always been a big Hello Kitty fan and I'll be on the hunt for the Choco Kitty watch.

Check out all of the cutsie designs on the McDonald's web site.

Official Gmail Blog: Get your Gmail stickers

Official Gmail Blog: Get your Gmail stickers

Shameless Promotion Day

Today is Shameless Promotion Day because I found (or was told) about some things you need to know about!

The first one is this rather fun little book that is quite a twist from the usual Jane Austen fare.




Check it out on Amazon!

Because really, who doesn't love zombies!


My next shameless promotion will definitely bring a *smile to your face! Just when you didn't think Google could get any cooler, they are now offering FREE stickers! I don't know about you, but I heart stickers! Especially FREE Google stickers!

Check it out!

It's Time I Told You

This should have been the first blog post, but writer's block totally stopped me dead in my tracks. I feel that I must tell the story about my first kiss though. You'll see why this is so important - you'll understand why, from the first date, my parents should have locked me in my room and thrown away the key. I was always called "Trouble" growing up, but it wasn't until I started dating that I really embodied all that was indeed - Trouble.

Let me set the scene for you. It's dark, it's behind a church (*laugh* Yes) and I'm standing there with this guy. We'd made a deal, you see... a deal about sharing a kiss for New Year's and well, it was close enough to New Year's and it didn't really matter that I either was or would soon be dating one of his best friends because at the time neither of us were dating anyone. Although I believe the next day both of us were dating someone or another.

So yes, my first kiss was with some guy behind a church and no, we never dated... but I did date one of his best friends!

This is also statement of rule #1 - You should never date/mess around with two guys who are best friends. It always ends poorly. Unless, of course, one of them gives you permission, but that's another story for a different day.

Why Do We Put Up With This?

Dear Mr. Self-Absorbed,
I'm so happy that you decided to grace my day with your phone call. Yes, I'm so glad you had a great weekend. What's that? Oh, you went out and got drunk with your friends. Yes... I did see that you called and I'm sure I'm very sorry that I missed drunken stories from you.
Oh, so is this what you're doing for the week? Oh, that's nice. Yeah, teachers can be tough to deal with and living at home is such a drag.
Yep, it sucks that you're cold. I'm not cold... oh yes, shoveling sidewalks does get tedious. Oh, and I'm sure knocking down icicles is very dangerous. Well, I'm glad you went inside to get some hot chocolate.
Well I have work to do... No, that wasn't a jab at your unemployment status... No, I wasn't saying that you're a loser for not having a job. Oh, you had an interview... that's great. It went well? Oh, okay. They haven't called you back for a week, well that's a shame.
I really have to go to lunch now... oh, you're eating leftovers for lunch because your Mom didn't make you anything. Oh, well... leftover homemade Thai... yeah, that's quite a trial.
Oh your best friend and you are going out tonight. That's nice. Oh, he's calling now. Well good... Uh... huh. I see.
Well, thanks for asking about my day - I've been having some problems with the DMV and my car and work has been really difficult lately... hello? Hello? Are you still there?

I hate you,
TJ