note to self: never be a nag...

so once again i ended up at antonio's nuthouse wearing flip-flops and hanging out with the boys. one of the guys just broke up with his "non-girlfriend girlfriend" -- who we all kinda liked -- because she was a nag. Why are girls so bothered by the littlest things? a discussion ensued. the key highlight: don't be a nag. little things are little things and guys just don't think that way. I have to agree. I tend to think that generally guys and girls approach problems differently, but the nagging thing is just one of those habits that women have been affiliated with. i think a lot of women do this because they don't have an outlet -- partially because they've put everything into their relationship -- so they need all of their partner's attention and when they don't get it they get frustrated. the solution? for most women, just talk to them. for me, it is has always been about letting the little things go, and when there's a problem, consolidating issues and addressing them systematically. but that's me.

conclusion:

dave drilled it into my head. chris agreed. nico nodded. i promised: i will never nag. unless of course, i want the relationship over (this was agreed upon as a sure-fire strategy).

stop! you didn't stop!

Just now when i was driving back from the store a woman yelled at me because i didn't stop long enough at the stop sign before turning right onto the street where i live. She was belligerent and a bit scary. I thought there was a possibility she was going to run after my car and continue her tirade when i parked at my home. she did not.



however, her yelling bugged me because i feel strongly that what is most important about driving is *being aware.* When it comes to stopping at a stop sign, i think the relevant thing to do is assess the situation: are there people around? children playing? cars coming? cars stopping?

the answers to these questions should guide your action.

I always do this, then i "clear my alleys" -- check each intersection and make sure they are clear of trouble, and then, i proceed.



The thing is, this doesn't always take three seconds. When it does i'll stop, look look look and sometimes look more to assess the situation, but in many cases, i'm clear to proceed after a mere stop. I believe that i should be able to do this. I think the 3-second stop rule doesn't work to make people better at assessing the situation, but rather make them better at following the rule. This woman has clearly lost sight of why we had the rule in the first place: safe driving. I'm a good driver, and i'm safe on the roads. I know when to stop, and for how long to linger. let me be.

soda pop

what is going on with the soda industry? Pepsi is sponsoring a BILLION dollar sweepstakes? and it's a co-promo with yahoo! sprite just came out with a new soda - sprite tropical remix. i have to say i quite liked the commercial. but i thought tv-advertising was dying, haven't they heard?

really, he doesn't bite

luke and i are having a contest to find the coolest dragon.
My search: chinese dragons.
Luke's search: chinese dragon


Here's one of my favorites.

find humour in the mundane

ri�dic�u�lous adj.

Etymology: Latin ridiculosus (from ridiculum jest, from neuter of ridiculus) or ridiculus, literally, laughable, from ridEre to laugh

Date: 1550

ri�dicu�lous�ly adv. , ri�dicu�lous�ness n.

Synonyms: Ludicrous; laughable; risible; droll; comical; absurd; preposterous



(1) Deserving or inspiring ridicule; absurd, preposterous, or silly.

(2) Fitted to excite ridicule; absurd and laughable

(3) Unworthy of serious consideration; as, a ridiculous dress or behavior.

(4) Broadly or extravagantly humorous; resembling farce



so devoid of wisdom or good sense as to be laughable:

"the absurd excuse that the dog ate his homework"

"ask a nonsensical question and get a nonsensical answer"

"a contribution so small as to be derisory"

"it is ludicrous to call a cottage a mansion"

"a preposterous attempt to turn back the pages of history"

"her conceited assumption of universal interest in her rather dull children was ridiculous"



the word of the day, of the week, of the month, of the year. my favorite word. "That's ridiculous"

republicans, duke fans and the problems of dating...

what? I just found out that my good friend is not only a republican (with barry goldwater as her hero!) but she's a duke fan. i always get on fine with republicans, but a duke fan? this is hard to take.



Dating is flawed: as my friend brooke says "it isn't about meeting interesting people" it is about *dating* -- interesting isn't the game or the objective. But, i like interesting people. i enjoy them. i meet many interesting people. people who i want to spend time with. people that i learn from. however, i meet very few people that i would actually be interested in dating. perhaps the flaw is not in dating, but me? nah.....



don't dream it's over: how could they remake this song? the woman has no passion, she sings this song with a whine. yuck. long live neil finn! six pence none the poorer!



what the government needs is technology: technology used to create integrated social services from the DMV to welfare. A single entry system, which could actually track if you qualified for one social service and let you know that then you also qualified for another one. The government needs to be the most effective data manager in the world. our government still uses carbon paper. not good.

Bridal showers and tagging up

Bridal showers have a few traditions (outside of lots of silly games about the bride and groom). One tradition is to save the bows from the gifts to create a bouquet that the bride carries during the rehearsal.

Recently, this has become a problem. Every bride registers at Williams-Sonoma. Every package is wrapped in this awful *tan* colored gross-grain ribbon. The result is a bland, unexciting collection of bows. how mundane. WS should offer multi-colored bows! WS is a monopoly though, so they don't have to.





For some reason i crave anonymity. This is self torture. I'm never going to get this. I am one of those people who will walk into a train station at 2 am on the French/Spain border and run into someone i know. Tonight i went to a Giant's game for my friend Hillary's husband's 30th birthday. I've never hung out with Hillary's gang (who are all wonderful people) but out of a group people: i work with one, i went to grade school with one, and i went cubing with one in college. There were a couple of standard cross-overs (went to grad school with a friend, works at a related company, knows friend of friend etc.) as well. For some reason this type of stuff has started to spook me a little bit.