Belated Congrats!

My two very good friends, Matt & Jenn Adams, just welcomed their first baby - a girl named Emma Lynn Adams! This is super exciting because Matt is one of my oldest friends (and by oldest, I suppose, I really mean longest-term) - we go way back to high school. Anyhow, Matt and Jenn are great people with big hearts so I am sure they will make great parents.

I am not posting a picture of Emma because I haven't had the honor of meeting her yet and, therefore, taking my own picture of her (even though, right now, I could easily lift one from facebook). I am not sure the Adams' family photo licensing policy, so I'm going to err on the side of caution on this one! However, I should meet her shortly so I'll be able to share more on this wee one soon!

Jaime's Second "Word of the Day" Since the Inception of this Blog Over a Year Ago

Outlandish.


out⋅land⋅ish  [out-lan-dish]
–adjective
1. freakishly or grotesquely strange or odd, as appearance, dress, objects, ideas, or practices; bizarre: outlandish clothes; outlandish questions.
2. having a foreign appearance.
3. remote from civilized areas; out-of the-way: an outlandish settlement.
4. Archaic. foreign; alien.


Basically it means peculiar, or out there (well, at least that's what I use it for). I don't know why, but I love love love it. It's my favorite word for this general meaning. I think it's partially because there's a facebook group category entitled 'Just for Fun - Outlandish Statements'. I often make outlandish statements. I love outlandish things. This blog is outlandish at times.

Just Sayin'

New York City!!!

Next week, I'm going to New York City for a couple days with my mother. We don't have any major clear-cut plans at the moment, but there'll be some serious shopping, eating, and broadway show-seeing going on.

On that note - does anyone have any specific restaurant or (Mom-friendly) bar recommendations? I am taking suggestions now.

P.S. I will try to update the blog from my phone from NYC. We'll see how it goes.

The New Pepsi Logo

So it seems Pepsi has a new logo (at the top). It clearly is an evolution of some of the previous recent logos (directly above).\

I don't like it.

I don't particularly know why. I guess I just don't get it. Why? I don't like the new lobsided-ness of it. I liked the more balanced red and blue so much better. What was the need for this change? What is the purpose of it? Is this supposed to be modern? Is this supposed to pull me away from Coca-cola? Is this something that would make a person switch teams, if you will? I know, I was an advertising major, I know - keeping the name out there, yadda yadda yadda (speaking of - Staples sure got their money's worth out of the Staples Center yesterday, didn't they?). Anyhow - I don't like this design. I liked the other one better. Not that it matters. But I move it was a bad decision. If they were ready for a change, they should have gone for something more drastic. Or they could have stuck with what they had. I don't think this will do anything, other than cost Pepsi the fees of putting new creative out there.

Your thoughts? Do you like this new logo? Did you like the old one? Like pepsi, in general? Pepsi or coke?

So You Think You Can Dance, Season 5

To be quite honest - I am not really ALL that impressed with any of them. It's not like last season, when there were SO many that I LOVED (Twitch, Josh, Katee, Kherington, Chelsie Hightower, Kortni, Courtney, Matt, etc.). It seems as though, on the show, every other year is an off year. I LOVED LOVED LOVED the second season, and the third season, again, left me feeling a little under-satisfied. Sure, I loved Sabra, Danny and Neil, but most of the rest were just underimpressive/might as well have not been there.

Anyhow.

My thoughts on the cast this season. I like Randi and Evan, but I like them as a pair. Also, I think what I like best about them is that they seem to be sincere, down-to-earth people - I don't know that I'm in love with either of their dancing. I don't know if either of them will hold me when the partnerships separate - to be quite honest, I don't really know what Randi does (when not doing someone's choreography).

Melissa and Ade - I like Melissa's dancing, however, each time she opens her mouth, I like her less and less. That and she doesn't seem to have what it takes to actually win things. Ade - he is a good partner, but kind of like Randi, I don't even know if I notice him outside the partnership. I don't really know what he does. I kind of assume he's good because the final product is good, but I'd be hard-pressed to tell you something about him as a dancer, individually.

Moving along - Janette and Brandon. Janette is good. I like her style and sass, although I don't know if she has what it takes to win. In another season, she'd probably have found herself in the bottom 3 by now, but with this group - she's pretty much got a one way ticket to the finale. Brandon. Ok - call me Mia Michaels on this one - I'm not feeling him. He's definitely GOOD. There's nothing wrong with him. But in a show that's featured SO MANY contemporary dancers, I don't know that I'm, in Randy Jackson's words, jumping out of my seat for him. Again, he's good. He's definitely good. I just am not taken in by him like I have been by other contemporary dancers.

Then, there's Kayla, whom the judges love, but America, and I, seem to be indifferent to. Another one who is undeniably good but just not outstanding. I could really do without Kupono. Jeanine - who is yet another good one who can't seem to get me to notice or care about her. Philip - who is not good at other styles of dance and seems to be getting old for people. Jason seems to be pretty good but doesn't appear to have the likability (and hasn't had the best luck in the draw of the dances). Then there's Caitlin. I like Caitlin. But America doesn't. And NONE of my SYTYCD watching friends like her. I give her two more weeks on the show, max.

Anyhow - long story short - the only dancers on the show who seem to have the following, ability, personality, camera time, and je ne sais quo necessary to win the competition are Evan, Janette, Melissa, Philip, and Brandon. However, I can't really see any one of them as a clear cut winner. Your thoughts? Is anyone a 'standout' this season?

It's Been Too Long Since I Last Spoke On Sarah Palin....

Sarah Palin is a girl after my own heart. She's got big dreams. And dangly dog earrings.

Misspelled Words....

Ok, I remember once seeing a trivia question about what is the most commonly misspelled everyday word...the correct answer (drumroll please):

DEFINITELY

I DEFINITELY agree with this assessment. I'll give people credit; it is a more difficult word. However. SERIOUSLY. It drives me NUTS every time I see it misspelled. Not because it's misspelled, but because of the alternative choices of spelling.

Definatly (has to be the most common). Definetly. Definately. Defiantly (different word but based on the context of the sentence, I knew what they meant...). Definitly (so close, but yet, SO far).

I am, secretly, a grammar snob, but I try not to be outward about it 1) because I find grammar snobs obnoxious and b) because then, the second I have the least of typos, I know it's going to be thrown back in my face.

A simple way to remember how to spell this word....it's DEFINITE with an LY on the end. Sounds overly simple, but I never really see definat, definet, etc. People don't seem to have trouble with the root word, so I dunno why it suddenly gets difficult when adding two letters. Anyhow.

Other grammar pet peeves out there? I DEFINITELY have a problem with the you're/your and to/too/two confusions. Any other horrible misspellings that I'm missing?

Some Thoughts of Male/Female Friendships

So anon raised an interesting point in the comments section of a previous post, in regards to men and women being friends:

And on the question about if we are just trying to foster a friendship, we do not want to be friends with you. That is not meant in a mean way, but we don’t want to be friends.

Also, Samantha Jones bluntly put it: "Women are for friendship, men are for f*$&ing".

I am not sure my thoughts on this personally. I actually think almost everyone has some opposite sex friends, especially in the form of coworkers, former classmates, friends' significant others, or friends of one's significant other. I definitely have some male friends - friendships I've fostered through all of the above circumstances. I mean, why not? Friendship makes the road easier and helps us get through the hard times (Kleenex?) - I mean, look at my friendship with Emily. A terrible situation brought us together - if we hadn't found each other in that mess, I'm afraid to think of what could have happened.

Anyhow.

I do think guys and girls can be just friends. I think, though, a large factor is how good of friends they are - of course a casual friendship is easily understandable. However, if we're talking really good friends/best friends, then there might be issues. I think, personally, as Piper pointed out in a previous post - it all depends on if that's been worked out. I think as long as both parties are not interested in more than a friendship, then everything is ok. Throughout life, I've had multiple decently close guy friends (and they are the kind of guys who happened to often have close female friends - perhaps there's a certain type of guy best suited for this).

Anon also pointed out in his post that perhaps if there is more communication amongst men/women, there would be less confusion. I think that's probably one of the best perks of an opposite sex friend - getting a guy's opinion on stuff. That, and sometimes, situationally, friendships just happen based on circumstance/proximity/what have you, and it's not like dating someone - the gender doesn't really matter.

However, there's some Dave Matthews quote out there (which obnoxiously infiltrated many of AIM profiles back in college):

A guy and a girl can be just friends, but at one point or another, they will fall for each other...Maybe temporarily, maybe at the wrong time, maybe too late, or maybe forever.

Here's my take on this - I think if the man is interested in more than a friendship, he knows this from the beginning. However, if he is not interested in the woman as more than a friend at the start, I personally don't see him becoming interested, despite becoming closer to her emotionally, etc. Simply, men know if they are attracted to someone or not, and this generally doesn't change. However, with women, I can definitely see things going the other way, because women have a tendency to feel attracted to men they feel close with and comfortable to (as opposed to it being based solely on physical appearance). So, in short, I don't think a guy will fall for his female friend unless he feels that way about her off the bat, but I can see a woman falling for her male friend over time.

Anyhow. Your thoughts? Is it possible for a guy and girl to be very close friends/best friends without one falling for each other? Are women more likely to fall for their male friends, or vice versa? Do you believe in male/female friendships?

Jean Shorts?

Ok, what are everyone's thoughts on jean shorts - aka jorts? I know some of my good friends have strong feelings on these. I distinctly remember, back in college, right around the inception of facebook groups, one of the biggest groups out there was 'Students Against Jean Shorts'.

Ok, in my personal opinion - if you're a male and you're over the age of 15, jorts are off limits. If you're a child, then it's ok. For women - I guess it depends. I say this because, blush, well, I own a pair of jorts. They're quite old, actually - like 8 years at least (so they were acquired at a time when jorts were less taboo, at least I'd like to think). I can't honestly remember the last time I wore them. However, for some reason, each spring cleaning, they keep surviving the goodwill cut. I think it depends on a lot of things - however, these jorts that I own are short and have a cute cut to them, so they, in MY opinion, SHOULD be acceptable.

Thoughts? Can/should I wear my jorts? Will I be judged?

New Phone!

I got a new phone (and not a second too soon!!)!! It's the LG enV touch.

Now, to figure out how to use it. If anyone has any advice on it, please send it my way. Thank you!

Some More Thoughts on Sex and the City and Fate, Etc.

Carrie Bradshaw: I got to thinking about fate. That crazy concept that we're not really responsible for the course our lives take. That it's all predestined, written in the stars. Maybe that explains why, if you live in a city, where you can't even see the stars, your love life tends to feel a little more random. And even if our every man, every kiss, every heartache, is pre-ordered from some cosmic catalogue, can we still take a wrong step and wander off our own personal milky way? I couldn't help but wonder, can you make a mistake and miss your fate?

Now, this was a lovely episode and all(the one where Miranda has Brady and Mr. Big moves halfway across the country) - it raises an interesting point - can we, somehow, screw up our fate? There's a nice, sweet, charming quote at the end of it:

Maybe our mistakes are what make our fate. Without them, what would shape our lives? Perhaps if we never veered off course we wouldn't fall in love, or have babies, or be who we are. After all, seasons change. So do cites. People come into your life and people go. But it's comforting to know that the ones you love are always in your heart. And if you're very lucky, a plane ride away.

Anyhow.

This raises an interesting question - is it possible to 'miss your fate'? I know my spiritual friends will say no. I know my more scientific friends will say there is no such thing as fate. I probably fall somewhere into a 'middle ground' when it comes to spiritual vs. scientific.

Some people say 'what's meant for you won't miss you'. I am not sure what I believe on this one. However, I can think of four instances in my life where, ironically, it seemed like things were just meant to work out a certain way, against all odds. I'll go as far to say I can think of four instances where I ALMOST screwed up my fate, but for whatever reason, things worked out the way they did anyway.

However, according to this way of thinking, it's almost as though one is just supposed to sit back and wait for fate to happen to him/her. I believe in being proactive about things. I do believe that when a person really wants something, it's up to him or her to go out and make it happen. I kind of feel the whole 'fate' concept sometimes kind of contradicts this. Hmm.

Thoughts? Is there such a thing as fate? Is it possible to screw up one's fate? Can anything be done to alter fate?