The power of advertising: Part 2

So, I went out to dinner tonight with my boss and three other of my co-workers to celebrate my and Meredith's birthday (Meredith is one of my co-workers). We went to The Texas Roadhouse out by our office. Besides Meredith, who is my age, all of my co-workers are closer to my parents' age. Being that I am the only single person in my office, my co-workers get very excited at the idea of finding me a nice gentleman to go out with. The running joke when we go out together is that we will get some cute waiter and we'll leave him my number. So, tonight, we actually had a nice, cute waiter. So, my co-workers were all over it! The waiter actually ended up sitting down with us to have a conversation which mostly consisted of my co-workers asking him things like, "where do you live", "who do you live with", and finding out other such information to determine if this would be an eligible young man. So... Here's what we found out. His name is Bryan (yes spelled with a 'y'), he's going to be 26 in may, he had a girlfriend last year, but currently lives in a townhouse with a friend. Yes, my co-workers are ruthless! So, at the end of our evening, one of my co-workers, Lynn, turns to me and says, "do you have any of your cards on you?! " "No." I say. So, they are now trying to figure out how they can leave him a way to get a hold of me. So... my BOSS ends up leaving him an office card, but put my name on it. I have to admit that I was mildly embarrassed. "It doesn't have your last name on it and it doesn't have your home number on it...if he doesn't want to call you, he'll just throw the card away", says my boss. All in all, it was an amusing evening.

The random, the silly, and the just plain weird.

The random:
Yesterday I wrote my first check to the government to start paying back my student loans. The check number...666. Hmmm, what does this say about giving money to the government?

The silly:
One of my co-workers students (1st grader) was telling another kid about corn dogs. The other student wasn't sure if he knew what a corn dog was. So the 1st grader explained it as the following, "you know, you get at it amusement parks or fairs... you get it from the confession stand." No, that is not a typo on my part, the kid actually told the other child that you get a corn dog at a confession stand!!

I was working with one of my clients yesterday and we were playing a game where you had to tell the use of a given object. My client's word was sweater. This is what he told me was the use of a sweater, "you use it to cover your tummy so no one will see it, because if people can see your tummy they will laugh at you."

The just plain weird:
SO, I was in the DMV yesterday to re-new my driver's license and there was this guy infront of my arguing with the worker. I wasn't really paying attention until I caught the phrase, "it's against my religion!" When I tuned into what they were arguing about, the man was making a fuss about having to sign the electronic signature pad. He said to the worker, "haven't you read the book of revelation? This is the mark of the beast. If I sign this, I am signing my soul away to Satan." It wasn't the signing of his name that was the problem, it was that it was electronic. The man proceeded to talk about how when you sign the electronic pads your name goes into some central system where the devil can then access all your information. I wish I could tell you that I am making this up, but I am not. WEIRD!!

Babies, Balloons, and backstabbing

Finally, a new episode of Lost! I feel like it has been forever! I enjoyed this episode. It wasn't very action packed, but I appreciated that it wasn't as dark as most of the second season has been. I really wasn't expecting Sun to be pregnant, I thought for sure that her pregnancy test would come back negative. But, hey, what's another Baby on the island!? Maybe this one will be a girl, and she will grow up to marry Aaron?! Hmmm. This brings me to my Lost questions of the week!

1. Sun: pregnant with Jin's baby... or the Island's baby?? As my friend John so eloquently said, "If the island can make Locke walk, it can make Jin's swimmers swim". Or is there some kind of "immaculate conception" thing happening with the island?

2. Henry: Other? Personally, I think he is not to be trusted...it's something in his eyes. The thing that makes me the most uneasy about him, is his ability to plant seeds of doubt in others, like when he commented to Locke about always following Jack. It seems as if he trying to ensure they don't trust each other.

I actually think those are the only questions I have right now. I am also very tired and so may realize tomorrow that I have more questions! Anyways, I hope everyone enjoyed Lost tonight!

"Just Kate"

When I was little, people used to call me Katie. At some point in my young life (I think I was 7 or 8), I decided that Katie was too immature sounding and I wanted to be called Kate. Apparently, when people would call me Katie, I would correct them by saying, "no, it's just Kate". Something about not wanting to be called Katie has stuck with me through the years. Today, I emailed one of my client's parents to give them some information. The mom emailed me back, "Katie, thanks for...". Kaite!! There is no 'i' in my name! It was spelled out at the end of the email I just sent you, 'Kate': K-A-T-E. Clearly, no 'i'!!! The best is when I am conferences and such and I am wearing a name tag and people look at my name tag and still proceed to call me Katie. Do, I just look like a Katie as opposed to Kate?? There is no real or rational reason for this to bug me, just one of my pet-peevs I guess.

growing pains

Sundays are so bitter-sweet. On one hand they are relaxing and a lot of fun, but on the other there is the impending doom of Monday that hangs over the whole day. This Sunday was particularly delightful…church in the morning, lunch with friends, shopping with friends, quality roommate time, and more hanging out with friends. A group of my friends has had the tradition of going to Applebee’s on Sunday nights for the last 4 years or so. Last night we had an interesting discussion on growing up and our taste in music and movies changing and stuff like that. I have often wondered, at what point did my parents stop liking new stuff. When they stop listening to new bands or keeping up with current culture. I remember being in college and thinking, I can’t imagine not keeping up with the culture or liking new music. My friends and I had a discussion about this very topic last night. We all admitted to each other that we are starting reach the point in our lives where we don’t like new stuff. My roommate confessed that she had downloaded a bunch of old Brian Adams, I have been listening to a lot of Oasis and Better than Ezra, my friend Ben had similar confessions about the music he’s been listening to. Why is this happening?? It was interesting, when we each talked about why we were listening to “older” music, everyone made some comment about having fond memories of high school or college attached them. My friend Joanna commented that perhaps we like to remember a “simpler” time in our lives. Could this phenomenon of arrested cultural development really just be a symptom of growing pain?? I believe it! When I listen to the song “wonderwall” by Oasis, I transported back to the parties we had in high school marching band after a game. I have such fond memories of that time. I have been feeling lately like growing up is overrated. Being an “adult”: overrated. Having responsibilities: overrated. Paying bills: overrated. Really, I do like my life. I have wonderful friends and family, a good job, a roof over my head, all that stuff. But there is a part of me that longs for the time when my biggest worry was who I was going to take to homecoming!!

Great Expectations

EXPECT (according to Webster) implies a high degree of certainty and usually involves the idea of preparing or envisioning

Have you ever had one of those evenings where you haven’t felt like a participant, but an observer? Saturday seemed to play out that way for me. As I have been processing this weekend, one word continues to come to mind. Expectations. To be quite honest, that word sends shivers down my spine. Why? Because to have expectations is often times equated with being disappointed. This weekend, I encountered many people who had expectations and those expectations were let down. Expectations of others, of what an evening will be like, of a relationship, of what we want for our own lives. I watched a number of my friends create expectations of one variety or another and I watched each one get let down. YUCK! So, what is the answer here? Do we learn to just not expect anything? Personally, I think that is impossible. But, it is almost certain that, at some point, one or more expectations will not be met. The let down is inevitable!!! So, we cannot eliminate expectations meaning we therefore cannot eliminate disappointment either. I, personally, am not a very flexible person. I don’t “role with the punches” very well. I am the kind of person that makes plans for today, tomorrow, and the next 10 years. I like to be in control, to have all my ducks in a row. However, life does not care about my ducks or if there are in a row or a squiggly line, or even anywhere close to each other! I have had many expectations for my life… what working would be like, what I would look like, what being an “adult” would be like, and I have to say that for the most part those expectations have been let down. Now, on most days, I would tell that it’s been for the best. In some ways, having expectations is like putting blinders…it narrows our field of vision. We look at life and say, “I have option A or B” . We don’t leave ourselves open to option C, D, E , and so on. So, my question then becomes, how do we balance having expectations with being open to life coming in and changing things? Hmmm… my brain is starting to hurt. I expect that my brilliant friends will have some wonderful insight on this.

From the microscope to the panoramic lens

Here is a riddle for all of you. What is loud-mouthed, claims to know everything (including the location of the break in the space-time continuum) and is socially awkward? Need a clue… Everyone has been one of these? Yes, I am talking about the adolescent. Some of you may be reading this thinking, “I was not a loud-mouthed, know it all, socially awkward, adolescent… I was the perfect, well behaved, humble, socially eloquent, young adult.” Well, if that is what you think, you are either lying or seriously delusional! Trust me, and if you don’t, ask your parents! I try not to remember much about my adolescence. It’s tucked carefully away in a box with many locks. It’s interesting though, my memories of that time, particularly middle school, are very different than my parents memories of when I was that age. For example, I remember middle school being HORRIBLE! I hated myself and everyone else, I had no friends, and no purpose in life. I was awkward, I was tall, skinny, and had ears about 3 times the size of my head. When I was home a few weeks ago, my mom and I were talking and somehow middle-school came up. I made some comment about it being the most horrible time in my life and my mom said, “what are you talking about Kate?” So I explained the cruel and unusual punishment that was…..middle-school. My mom chuckled and said, you really liked your teachers and you were in a writing club you really liked; she continued to describe a life that I am pretty sure I was not present for! Was I abducted by aliens?? Did I indeed find the break in the space-time continuum and occupy some parallel universe for the whole of middle school???? Well, I now have the privilege of working with middle-schoolers, and I feel as though I can now explain the holes in my memory. I affectionately call adolescence the “microscope” phase of life. Let’s pause for a moment and think about what purpose the microscope serves. It serves to focus on something small… to make it larger so we can see it in detail. This is what happens in middle-school. We view our world as if we are looking through a microscope. We focus in on something and it becomes huge and it’s all we see. I shall give an example. A middle-schooler is walking down the hallway at school and “Jenny” doesn’t say hi to her, the following is the inner-monologue that would transpire: “Oh my gosh, Jenny is mad at me… she hates me… no one likes me… I am worthless and will never amount to anything…my life is over”. For some reason, as a child goes through the time of adolescence, they are unable to see more than what is in their “microscope”. So, something that, to the outside world, would appear to be a blip on the radar, is now taking up the entire radar screen. I believe that this is why I only have bad memories of middle school… because I was looking at my life through a microscope. Now that I am a “mature” “grownup” (I use quotes because I cannot confirm that I am either mature or a grownup), I am in what I like to call “The panoramic lens” phase of life. I now have the ability to see more than what is right in front of me… I have a wider perspective. So, as you encounter loud-mouthed, socially awkward, know-it-alls, whose life will be ending for one reason or another, remember you were that person not so long ago…but feel free to thank the good Lord that you are not anymore!!

The dingo ate your baby!

Another action packed episode of Lost! Perhaps more enjoyable than the show itself, is the environment in which I watch!! A few of my good friends and I get together each week and eat dinner, hang out, and watch/discuss Lost together! This week was particularly enjoyable! We went to our friend Kate's house (as we do often) and she has a particularly emotionally unstable dog. To the naive, casual visitor you may think him to be cute and innocent... but be not fooled! He is calculating and manipulative. Last night, one of Kate's friends came to "Lost night" for the first time...yay!! She brought her 6 month old daughter with her (cute as a button I might add). The dog has some, shall we say, abandonment and replacement issues. He one, is afraid that Kate is going to leave him for another dog (or worse another human!) and two, is concerned that someone will come and into the house and assume a role more important than he. On this particular evening, the dog was feeling rather threatened by the 6 month old baby. This small creature may attempt to take Kate's attention away from him. Therefore, it is best if he stakes his claim on the baby before Kate has a chance. Yes, that's right folks, the dog tried to pee on the baby!!! Fortunately our friend Kegan was there to save the day!! Oh my goodness, that dog is an adventure! Now, to the matter at hand, Lost. The following are my questions about last evenings episode. I hope that you all enjoyed your Lost watching experience as much as I did.

1. Others: good guys or bad guys?

2. When the man came to talk to Ethan, I thought that it was "zeke" (the bearded guy who stole Walt), but then when they showed the man, he had no facial hair. However, towards the end of the episode, they found a fake beard and some glue... was the man infact "Zeke" and his whole vagrant fishmeran thing he's got going on is just a disguise?!

3. Were they saving the baby or infecting the baby?

4. The teenage girl: Alex, not Alex?

5. The survivors have only been on the island for about 2 months. Claire was taken, I believe, two weeks after they crashed. She was gone for about another 2 weeks. That would mean that it's only been a little over a month since she's been in the other hatch. So... a) why did the others leave the hatch and why did they abandon it so quickly? b) If the others left the hatch a month ago, why did it look like it had been abandon for year?

Happy deep thinking friends!! Have a great end of the week... and ladies, I think the we all learned a lesson in this past episode: Don't except drugs, knitting tools, or a nursery from slightly attractive but mostly creepy men, it will only end badly.