Luke Skywalker

Today was absolutely a beautiful day. Being winter time, the weather has been pretty drab. But it got up into the 70’s today and will be like this for the next few days. I was completely over the moon when I woke up. The sun was beaming thru our windows and I could feel just sense of happiness. It’s amazing at how sun can affect my mood. Research has shown that the more light one is exposed to, the better they feel. SAD or Seasonal Affective Disorder is something a lot of people suffer. Thou I may not suffer it in a “clinical” sense, I do notice a huge difference in my moods when the sun is out , to when it’s dreary outside.

We went to the local shopping center this early afternoon, and as I was walking to the car, I started being really silly. I was pretending I was Luke Skywalker with the sword thingy in my hand. As you can tell, I’m not a huge Star Wars fanatic, however, I was enjoy moving my arms around, pretending I was fighting off some evil force. My partner just looked at me and rolled her eyes at the back of her head. I started laughing uncontrollably and she said “act your age.” I know she is only kidding, when she says all of this because I know how much she likes it when I go “stupid.” She doesn’t see it very often, so when it DOES happen, she secretly is smirking with happiness. I said to her “since when have you started acting YOUR age?” She goes “I don’t go around the mall, pretending I’m Luke Skywalker.” That got me into fits of laughter yet again, I couldn’t stop laughing. The sun was beaming into the car as we were driving to our next destination and I couldn’t get enough of it. I also couldn’t stop laughing. You may not find this funny, but I guess it’s one of those moments where you JUST had to be there.

Ahhh, how much I love the sun! I can’t wait for summer to arrive, so I can head off to the beach and soak up the rays my body and mind has missed out on. I sometimes consciously realize just how much the sun and light affects my moods, and when I do realize it, it’s as if a whole new bit of life has been sprung into my walk. I walk with a little extra “umpf” and I you can’t wipe the smile off my face..

current mood-ECSTATIC

Body Odor

The past few months now I think, my partner has had to take co-worker either to work, from work or both. And every time she always talks about how he smells. He smells mostly of stale smoke, but every time she gets out of the car, she has to spray something to get rid of the stench. I’ve often wondered if she’d ever tell him that he has an odor problem, or if she’ll just keep on withstanding the smell.

Body odor really gets to me. I have a pretty sensitive nose, and I can smell when something, or someone is “off.” Sometimes I’ll be walking down an aisle in the supermarket and I’ll get a “wiff” of someone, and geez, talk about blow me away. I have to do a double take to see who is around, and if others can smell it as well. I absolutely hate body odor. They make deoderant for a reason, and people should use it. If not deoderant, than at least take a shower man! I understand how some people sweat profusely, but don’t you think you’d be more conscious of your own smell?

I remember a few years ago, I was working at Target here in Australia for a few months. I was on a working visa, and was fortunate enough to be able to work for a few of those months. I was working in the fitting rooms, and there was this girl, about 10, who tried on a few outfits. When she gave them back to me, they reeked of body odor. I had to hold my breath, it was that bad. I thought to myself “self, why doesn’t this girl wear deoderant??” Just because she’s 10, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t need to wear anything. Aww man, my mind shudders at the memory of that smell. And the poor girl that was going to have to try on that outfit after her. Luckily, I put the clothes behind me, and gave them enough time to air out. But man, does that girl’s mother have no idea?? But it’s just that smell, either the salty, tangy smell, or it’s a dirty smell, but either way I felt bad for the poor bugger.

I wish I had the power in me to tell someone whether they’ve got a body odor problem or not. I am very self-conscious of the way I smell and if others can smell me. I have been fortunate in the aspect that I don’t sweat a lot, and if I do, it doesn’t smell. But I am an avid fan of cleaniness and will at all costs keep myself clean. I just wonder if other people are as conscious, or if they don’t really care. I know some people decide not wear deoderant for reasons of their own, hence why they also don’t shave their armpits, but c’mon for the sake of others around you, could you at least try to shower once a day? Is that so hard to ask? Maybe it is, I guess I’ll just keep on pretending all is well, when really all I wanna do is hurl!

-current mood-RANCID

First Impressions

Most of the time, I hate first impressions. I hate first impressions when it comes to real life, for the simple fact that one’s perception of me, always tends to be negative. Well, maybe not negative, but never positive. People have told me, when I asked them “what was your first impression of me” that I’m either 1) really shy or 2) a snob. My friends have told me this, and as much as I try to not come off across as such, I still manage to.

In college, I found it hard to make friends because people would look at me and assume I was in a soriority. I guess being in a soriority was a “bad thing.” I never was involved in one, but I do know they as an institution have this stigma of being snobs. I know I dressed well (in name brand clothing) and I kept to myself a lot. How can that be perceived as being snobby? Well, I guess I can understand how. But why do these first impressions have to stick? Of course, after my friends got to know me, they realized I wasn’t a snob, and that I definitely wasn’t shy. I know I sometimes give off the “leave me alone” vibe, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want friends or that I don’t want to converse with people. Do I have to wear a sign around my neck saying “I’m really an okay person to talk to?” No I know I don’t have to, but sometimes I just shake my head and think “I guess it’s their loss for not giving me a chance.”

That’s why I find it much easier to get along with people online. Most people “give” me a chance, thou I have had a few that seemed to not want to give me the time of day. Or they are in a bad mood, interpret something I say the wrong way and then lask back at me. People have to realize, being online and conversing online, so many things can be mis-construed and what I may be trying to get across to someone, it’s not what they’re interpreting it as. But I always seem to find myself apologizing to THEM for something that THEY misinterpreted. I believe in giving people the benefit of the doubt, and if after explaining themselves to me, I still am not so sure, I’ll let them know. But I feel like you can’t base judgements on an individual based on one interaction.

But for the most part, I get along really well with people online. I’m pretty outgoing and I enjoy conversation. I find myself easily approachable and if people want to talk to me, they more than can. But nonetheless, people still find it hard to communicate with me…or maybe it’s hard to keep a conversation going? I know sometimes for me, I find it hard to keep up conversation, but if I really get along with someone, there is always going to be something to talk about. I just wish sometimes, that people in real life would give me more of a chance as the people online do. People online think I’m this great person (not trying to sound conceited, only trying to make a point) but when real life comes around and I try to make friends, I’m always struggling. I understand that I can’t get along with everyone, I just wish more people would give me the benefit of the doubt, that’s all.

First impressions are important, I’ve come to realize this. But why are they so important? Why are they so important when it comes to even developing a friendship with someone? First impressions in terms of a relationship is a whole different ball game and I much rather not delve into that at this moment. Is it human nature to be on your guard when it comes to be-friending someone else? And why are we all so prone to jumping to conclusions when someone says something (either verbally or written) It’s like we don’t want to give anyone else the chance to prove us wrong, so we automatically pass judgements on others. Maybe it’s not necessarily just passing judgements, but making your own assumptions based on what has been said or done. Does that mean we’re passing judgements? I don’t mean to cause a tiff with people, it’s definitely not my intention, but I always seem to tick someone off now and again. But hey, I guess I can’t please everyone now can I?

-current mood-FATIGUED

The Universe

This weekend, my sister in law was talking about the axis the earth is on. She began talking about the universe and just how things “evolved.” We got to talking about evolution, and just the “how” questions. It seemed like every time I would think of an answer to a question, she’d come up with “but how did that come about?” And it really made me think about the universe and how evolved we have come.

How come earth is the only planet that we know of, that has life on it? Human life that is. I won’t go into the whole world of UFOs or anything that like. I’m more fascinated in just knowing how big the universe is. This past weekend, there was an amazing picture that NASA I believe had published. It was a picture of the Milky Way, and one tiny spec was supposed to be the size of the sun, in comparison. It totally baffles me at how big the universe really is. People talk about heaven and hell, but whether it really exists, that’s not the point I’m trying to make. I look up into the sky, I see the vast blanket of starts above me. They are so far away, yet as far as I can see, they’re still there. It seems endless, the horizon never stops. The universe is absolutely huge, but how did it come about? And just how much of it have we studied? When I think about space, and hear about people going into space, they are only seeing a portion of what space really is. It will be amazing to be able to experience what people at NASA are able to experience. I can only imagine how breathtaking it must be. We’ve come a long way in terms of finding out more about the universe and how the world came to be, but there are still yet so many unanswered questions.

-current mood-INTRIGUED

Editing other people's posts

I often wonder if people get offended if I edit their posts or messages for spelling and punctuation. I’ve been in a number of groups where you post messages (i.e. yahoo) and I always find myself editing their posts for spelling and puncutation. Is that rude of me to do? I wonder if people even notice. No one’s said anything to me, and I don’t mean any harm by it. I have no problem if other people wanted to edit my posts for spelling and punctuation. But for some reason, it’s just a pet peeve of mine. Like when you’re talking to someone, and they have a piece of food on their cheek. You want to be focusing on what they’re saying, but that piece of food is annoying the crap out of you. You know if you reach out and try to wipe the food off their cheek, they might get startled. So you keep on focusing on that piece of food, while the conversation at hand begins to blur in the background.

I grew up being self aware of my spelling and gramatical errors and I try my best to do the best I can. We’re not in school, so these posts are not being graded or anything. I know I’m not perfect, and I tend to spell words wrong or use them in the wrong context. So why do I make it an extra effort to edit other people’s work? I’d just like to say, if you’re reading my posts and I do end up editing your posts, please don’t take an offense to it. I guess it’s just the “anal retentive” in me.

-current mood-TIRED

I Like Girls

Today I went shopping at Jay Jays ™ and I bought this shirt that says “I Like Girls” on it. The shirt, I believe, is a men’s shirt, but my partner picked it out and I said “I’ve gotta have that.” I laughed when I saw it. I asked my partner “are you going to be embarrassed if I wear this?” She says “I don’t know…” I’m thinking to myself, “hey at least it doesn’t say I like pussies” of which I’ve seen these shirts for sale. I get up to the register, and a guy is ringing me up. I started to get a little embarrassed myself because I was wondering to myself “does he think it’s for me?” Then another guy came up, took over my sales order. But neither guy blinked their eyes at my shirt. I sometimes like getting a reaction out of people, but these two guys didn’t seem phased at all.

I’m not all about flaunting my sexuality, but what makes it okay for a guy to wear this sort of shirt but not me? Either way, it’s going to attract some attention. There was a hillarious shirt that had two squirrels, and one of them had his mouth full of acorns I think. The one squirrel says to the other “you look good with your mouth full of nuts.” I laughed so hard, I thought of a perfect person who we could have given that shirt to. But I wonder if he would have gotten strange looks. But like I said, either way, who ever is wearing the shirt, it’s still going to attract attention. So why is it more socially acceptable for a guy to wear a shirt pointing to his penis saying “free lick here?” I know why, I don’t need to literally have this question answered, but companies make these for a reason. But I get offended when I see a guy wearing a shirt like that. But if a gay guy wore it (thou more than likely I wouldn’t know he was gay) I’d laugh my a*se off. I guess it all wires down to the fact that we live in a heterosexist society, and anything but that is deemed “abnormal.” But really, what IS normal??

-current mood-RELAXED

"This is the 5th time you've rang..."

Telemarketers, do they get the clue? One of my major pet peeves are telemarketers and people who come to our door trying to sell us something. This past week, and weekend, my partner has been hounded by this particular person. I don’t know where this guy is from (in terms of what he’s selling) but I do know, he’s utterly annoying. My partner is a shift worker, she works from 5:30pm-2:00am. She doesn’t get home till at least 2:30am or later. She then usually stays up till 4:00am just to “wind down.” She will sleep in till 12-1:00. But this past week, without fail, this particular guy would ring at 12:15pm. Every time he’s rang, my partner has said “I’m not interested.” She usually hangs up on him, because she’s sick and tired of him ringing. She kept saying “I’m not interested, please stop ringing me.” Saturday rolls around, he rings again. My partner is getting severely pissed off. She says “you’ve rang me every day this week, I’ve told you I’m not interested, so why do you keep on ringing?” The guy of course tried to use the excuse of “would you be interested in buying such and such product.” My partner says “no, I’ve told you 6 times already I’m not interested,” then she hangs up. Not even 5 minutes later, the SAME guy rings. This time my partner flew off the handle. She says “how about you give me YOUR home phone number, and I will ring you at ungodly hours and annoy the crap out of you?” The guy said “oh, I’m not authorized to give out my number.” My partner says “who authorized you to get my phone number? I haven’t authorized anyone to give them my number.” The guy started to raise his voice at my partner and my partner started swearing at the guy. I was in the living room listening to this conversation and I started to get a little scared. My partner says “you take me off your list. I’ve told you time and time again, to quit calling me. If you call here one more time, I’m going to take legal action.” Then she hung up.

I was absolutely flabbergasted at how pushy and how annoying this telemarketer has been. Sure, one or two every couple of weeks, but c’mon every single day? I often wonder if we had a private number, would they still ring and annoy us? And it’s the exact same person. You’d think, if someone tells you to f*ck off, that you wouldn’t ring back, or at least not for awhile. Nope, this guy rang not even 5 minutes later. Does he expect someone else to answer the phone? I know these telemarketers get the list of numbers from a huge database and that it’s their job. But there is a line to be drawn when you’re repeatedly told to leave someone alone.

This is a job I certainly couldn’t see myself doing. I don’t think I have the thick skin to do it . I know when I was living back in the states, I would screen my calls. It was always a given that they’d ring at least once a day. If someone didn’t t leave a message on my answer machine, I knew the person wasn’t in dire need to get a hold of me. If I was home, heard the message, I’d intercept the call. But most of the time, I’d screen my calls. I still usually do so here. Most of the time, if I don’t answer the home phone, they’ll ring my cell. But telemarketers, geez, can’t they get a clue?

I guess the moral of this post is..if you’re in telemarketing, and someone tells you they’re not interested, DON’T ring them every single day. Like they’re going to change their mind in that short period of time. HELLO!! If I wanted to buy something, I’d ring you, okay??

This is sort of off subject, but what is it, with having people ring up, who are stationed in India or somewhere foreign to us? When ever I ring up a place, to get customer service, the person is from a different country, and they’re really hard to understand. Why do companies hire people from overseas, for a job that is most of the time, vitally important to get a point across to people? Communication is so important, and if there is a language barrier, how is it for the person calling? Is it rude to say “I’m sorry, but I’m having a hard time understanding you. Is there someone there who speaks fluent English that I can speak with?” There have been times where I’ve wanted to say this because I can’t stand them at all, but I’ve been afraid they’d get offended. But I guess, if something is really important to me, and I still couldn’t undertand, I’d make sure I got a hold of someone who I was able to understand. I remember the tv doing a news broadcast about this, and so many people don’t realize that call stations for many places (mostly credit card companies) are overseas. I still am baffled as to why the companies do this. Are there not enough people in their own country that would do this job, that they have to find it elsewhere? Or it’s cheaper to find it elsewhere? I know I certainly wouldn’t do telemarketing. It’s all about how many sales one can get in a day, and if they don’t reach the quota, they don’t get paid. Maybe that’s why telemarketers are so pushy. I hate pushy people, hate it, hate it!!!

-current mood- UTTERLY ANNOYED