Nice Hair

A friend and I walked past this Glamour Shots studio in a mall last week and both stopped dead in our tracks, looked at each other and said; “These places still exist?!”

Hilarious.
Get your shoulder-padded dresses and Aqua Net out people. It’s on. 
(Ok, so when I just Googled “Aqua Net because I couldn’t remember if it had a hyphen or not, this photo popped up. Oh my god. Cracking up…)
If you’re feeling confident about your super sweet old hair-do, email it to me; diane at (@symbol of course) bluelollipoproad.com and I will post it. Oh this is goooood.
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Does Simply Being Friggin’ Awesome Count?

I was invited to and joined some people at a “Steelers Bar” watching the game last night with a business contact/mentor of mine. I don’t typically watch football very much and don’t have a team. I am however all about going to a random dive bar to get in the mix and people watch. Last night was one of those perfect mixes of the uber wealthy and uber country. I love that stuff. 

This mentor and I were spending time together to catch up and so he could offer some thoughts and advice on work for me. So between beers, a buffalo chicken sandwich and screaming Pittsburg fans, we got some good chatting in. One question he asked me was; “What added value do you bring to a company?”
You know those times when someone asks you a question that seems so easy to answer, but somehow stumps you or makes you think in a way you never have before? Yeah- Im sitting here still thinking and it’s been 15 hours. Does this mean that simply being fun, smart, reliable and nice isn’t enough of an added value to impress anyone in HR to get you a job?
Well that’s a bummer to find out after all these years. 
Eh, I still think it’s possible.
If this question stumps you too- ask your friends and family what they think your “added value” is. You might get some pretty interesting responses. I’m still waiting for mine…
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Find An Ounce

I have been thinking and talking a lot about the people going nuts around this country and blowing each other away. (I am sorry if that line is too graphic for you, but that’s what’s happening and I think it’s appropriate to write it as that to show the severity of the problem. It’s awful.)

My initial reactions to the shootings happening last week were sorrow for the families who’ve lost loved ones and how horrific that must be, then anger at the shooters, then just an overall complete confusion and sadness. 
What the hell is going on in people’s heads?
It seems we simply just don’t care about, nurture and listen to each other as much as we could or should. Economy schmonomy. I am so over that excuse. Are Americans all that simple? Is it that simple in general? I think not. I hope not anyway. Are we really that bummed we had to sell one of our 4 cars, can only afford 3 lattes instead of 7 this week or that we can’t peruse the mall every other day? That seems so shallow and easy. What ever happened to taking care of your neighbor? Saying a friendly hello? Holding the door open for someone or taking an extra minute to do something nice for a stranger just because? 
Ever have those lonely moment missing your family that lives far away, annoyed feeling that maybe you haven’t exactly figured out that dream job yet, anger because you can’t afford to decorate your apt. even though you work so hard or that pit in your stomach when you stare at your laptop watching your bank account dwindle thinking to yourself wtf am I going to do? Then you breath for a minute, take 2 seconds look around and say to yourself; Holy crap! I have a family even though they’re 4,795,867 miles away- I have job even though it’s not super awesome right now, I have an apt. and safe place to sleep and I have a laptop to use to be able to see the lack of funds in my bank account! Damn I’m lucky!
I’m with you. When life feels like every last thing sucks ass and it’s a lie when people say “It will get better” it’s not fun. We have one of two choices; be miserable, give up, hate, punch, shoot someone or find one last ounce of whatever goodness life hasn’t beaten out of us yet and feed that.
Hate makes people give up and think there are no other options. There are always options. I really hope we can all start loving ourselves and each other a whole lot more and hating ourselves and each other a whole lot less. I wish everyone would stop using things like the “bad economy” as an excuse as to why people are often so hateful. Come on. We are so much smarter and better than that.
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Baby Steps

Sitting in the sun today, having a conversation with my Mom, I realized truly for the first time ever that I have been trying to change the world. I realized it’s simply impossible to do alone. I guess I thought that if I put my heart into everything 110% that somehow bagillions of people would believe and practice right along with me that everything is possible and the world could be perfect.

Clearly I’ve been biting off way more than I can chew.
Reality Bites. 
Although it bites, allowing this reality hit me today, it felt like a thousand-pound weight lifted off me that I have been carrying around for my lifetime. Whew. It feels pretty amazing to allow myself to finally believe that simply doing the best I can is good enough. Understanding the world is never going to be perfect and while it’s great- it sometimes just sucks is actually a relief somehow to me. Moving forward I will take mini bites. Maybe then I’ll actually start making that difference I’ve always wanted, while actually taking care of myself too.
Thanks Mom.
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