A Rose by any Other Name....

Matt changed his blog's name from "Call Me Matt" to "Musings From Matt".

Ana changed hers from "Items of Interest" to "Nothing In Particular".

Now, I'm not one to jump on a bandwagon with a trendy new movement, however....I've been thinking.  I don't really like the name "Daily Ramblings" all that much.  

It makes me feel obligated to blog daily.  I don't want that kind of pressure.  Also, not all of these posts are 'ramblings'.  Some are brief quips, some are thoroughly researched in-depth statements, some are quite concise and well-organized (or so I'd like to think).  

So, I'm leaving it up to you to leave suggestions for a new name in the comments section.  

Back From Michigan

There will be more soon.  I'm sorry for this lame post.  I'm just too tired to write....

Moral Objection

So, as you know, I love having ads on my blog and I love, love, love it when my readers click them.  The ads come off the content from my posts.

Well, I posted about Henry (my Honda, the man in my life) and all of these ads came up like 'injured in an auto accident - you deserve cash!'   I DO NOT endorse these ads (or the idea that every time in life something bad happens to us there's a cash value reward we deserve - but that's a story for another day).  

I have a huge moral objection to these ambulance chasers - do NOT give them business.  Unless, of course, you are using one to sue another ambulance chaser directly - that kind of fighting fire with fire would be acceptable in my book.  

Advanced Warning

Just to let you know, I will be out of town the next couple days for a long weekend at my roommate's cabin in Michigan.  I do not believe I will be using the WWW up there, for I will need to enjoy Michigan to the full extent Tim Allen would want us all to. 

I apologize to my blog's fanatics - maybe this would be a good time to catch up on commenting on my other posts (nudge nudge wink wink).  Hopefully I'll return with some good material all revved up and ready to go.

Countdown to the Olympics

Two days!!!   Don't expect to see me in any social context over the 16 day period.  Just sayin'.

Have You Ever Googled Yourself?

Now, I ask this because almost EVERYONE in my generation googles people. Especially before going on a date - laugh all you want, boys, I do not know a girl who DOESN'T do this. There's also a notion out there that potential employers will google job candidates.

People with overly common names have a luxury of being able to hide. I am NOT one of those people. If you google my first name and last name in quotation marks, you get me. All me. There are some people with my last name and a spelling variation of my first name. So people who can't spell my first name (and believe me, they are plentiful) who google me may think I am currently working as a computer science professor at Notre Dame.

So, about a year and a half ago, I was on the job interviewing circuit (I was with a different employer, where 75% of the company was on the job interviewing circuit). I had a job interview lined up at the behemoth itself (again, not my current company).

I figured at this company, getting Googled pre-interview was standard. Since my past is not speckled, I wasn't too concerned. However, the night before my second interview, I decided to check things out, just in case.

It was all me. I made the honor roll in high school; I went to dance camp. But WAIT.

Down at the bottom of the first (and pretty much only) page of results, there was a slightly, ahem, less than favorable listing about yours truly.

It was a guestbook entry on "Princess Sarah's Dreambook" (I do not know Princess Sarah personally). It said my name, spelled correctly. It said my screenname (yes, MY screenname, created over a decade ago on AOL - this was about ME). That was the extent of accurate information.

I will not go into full detail, however, to clarify - I do not now, nor have I ever, lived in Afghanistan. I do not operate the website http://www.dirtywh*re.com/ (replace the asterisk). AND, I would not say that my favorite movie is "Naughty Night Nurses 2 - it was so much better than the first" - I have not ever seen either movie so I could not fairly make such an assertion (maybe some of my readers could - no judgment).

(Editor's sidenote: Yes, I do know exactly who posted this. However, I do not wish to bestow any time, attention or energy on said individual/situation at this time.)

Do you know how much time and energy it takes to get something bad about you out of cyberspace??! First I had to email Ms. Sarah herself, only she hadn't logged into the site in about 8 years and her email didn't work. Then I had to contact the site operator and have them take this entry down. THEN I was told there was nothing I could do until Google updated it cache, which was periodic. Nevermind the fact that this existed out there for about 8 years - I am wondering how many dates/acquaintances/employers googled me and saw this and I'm wondering if of the above were ever influenced by this.

Moral of the story - maybe we can't judge a person by his or her google results, although I don't see the trend of googling pre-meetup to end any time soon.

Telephone!

Let me let you in on something - I HATE talking on the telephone. I feel like there's something wrong with me, as a girl, because girls are supposed to, like, talk for hours on the telephone to all of our bffs. However, most of my female friends seem to feel the same way I do (with a few exceptions).

I am fine with speaking on the phone if there's something that needs to be discussed - or if it's catching up with a friend I haven't talked to in a while, but the notion of having a three hour phone conversation with someone I see semi-regularly is, in my mind, waterboarding.

What are your feelings on the telephone?

Dianetics Update

So, I've mentioned a couple times that it seems like the Chicago Dianetics Center is not only trying to recruit me but also seems to be spying on me and my actions by targeting me personally based on referring to events going on in my life or opinions I already hold.  Today, I got yet another e-mail from them.  I will present it without comment:

The Problems of Work seminar

Hi,

 

We will be delivering a free seminar on Monday August 11th at 7:30 pm.  This seminar is called The Problems of Work.

 

In this seminar you will learn:

• The number one cause of interrelation problems in the work place.
• The rock bottom cause of exhaustion in the work place.
• The "Secret" of efficiency.
• How to turn "bad control" to good.
• The 3 most fundamental elements of relations.

You are invited!  Please confirm your attendance by phone or email. 

 

*Please note the word in quotation marks.  Please note some previous blog posts.  Case closed.

Keeping With a Theme....

So I have a Snoopy calendar - I get one every year for Christmas (shh, don't let my mom know I'm on to her...).  Here is the month of August's image:

Ok, that might be some bad resolution.  Try clicking to enlarge.   

Anyhow, it says:  Love is committing yourself in writing.   I thought it went well with the theme of a couple of my past posts - Appreciation & If You Are Easily Offended.  I would like to commit to my readers in writing.  It's down on paper (err, I mean, html?).  I love you all and I'm not afraid to say so!   For as long as this blog shall go on, I am dedicated to you!!

In Search of....

A friend with a boat.  It doesn't have to be this big...just big enough to take around lake Michigan....

It's Not What You Said....

Ok, so I've had a couple 'feminist' moments on this blog.  However, one of the best things about male friends, relatives, boyfriends, etc. - the men in one's life, if you will....

A guy isn't going to get pissed about stupid stuff.  A man's never going to say to you 'it's not what you said, it's how you said it' - that is a woman's moment.  A man isn't going to get mad at you for being 5 minutes late.  A guy isn't going to be mad at you for saying something in a weird tone.  Or, at least, in my mind, he shouldn't.  There'll be a few exceptions.  But still.  Overall.  

That's what I love about (most) men.  Men don't get mad about stupid shit (sorry mother).  Men don't act like children when they're mad at you (again, most men).  

Man, I need more guy friends.  Haha.  

If You Are Easily Offended....

It's been brought to my attention that my blog and the strong opinions on it and can be potentially offensive to some of my readers - perhaps, to anyone who has any thoughts or feelings about politics or relationships.

I do realize this. However, I kind of think that's a part of my blog's allure (IF it has one). So, I'll be watering the blog down around the same time Jay Mariotti, Howard Stern and Ann Coulter decide to water it down.

I certainly don't want to offend my readers, ever. I love my readers. I love my readers more than you have any idea.

So, I'm sorry to those I've offended (maybe). Well, I'm sorry if people felt offended. I realize anyone who believes in living together before marriage or anyone who likes Obama or McCain or Bush or anyone who's a lawyer will probably be offended at some point. But I don't know that I'm actually sorry I said what I said. And I don't know that I won't say it again in the future.

Someone got offended about an Obama joke. Someone got offended about Kleenex. My mom thinks I offended Ana by making fun of her for using quotation marks.

I'm sorry. Sorta. But doesn't it just make you wanna come back for more?

Please feel free to disagree with me in the comments section with the same volume with which I opine. I eagerly await some strong words.