May 3, Houston: The big one -- the Inprint reading -- occurs at the Alley Theatre on Monday, May 3. Do not miss it or you'll be sorry. I'm not kidding -- I'm going to say the craziest, most intellectual yet hilarious stuff I can think of, and I'll be sharing the stage with the ultra sexy Oscar Casares, too.
June 24, Houston: I'm one of the peeps scheduled to read at Poison Pen, at Houston's famous Poison Girl bar. Besides me, everyone there will be ultra, *super* sexy. Come see me and drink!
June 26, Washington, DC: I'll be reading at the American Library Association conference. Come on down.
My other blog: Go read my the Houston Chronicle parenting blog (or my ChronMomBlog, as I like to call it) and make sure my kids won't resent me more than other kids resent their own parents.
Buy my new novel, Lone Star Legend. Already did? Well, buy a few more for your friends, then. :)
Thursday, July 24, 2008
girl clothesIt's good for women who care about their image to be friends with women who also care about their image and who have a similar taste level.
Because you know how shallow people ask if women dress for men or for other women? I dress for myself, but having a female peer inspires me to greater heights in that regard.
Hence, I bought the silver sandals.
actually learning at a training thing
At my job today, my dept was forced to take a time management seminar. Basically, it was punishment for the actions of one or two disorganized people. I was super, duper annoyed with the situation, because I had a lot of work to get done today and I'm normally very efficient at work, but it's hard to be efficient when you're taking a four hour course about time management.
So I went in as a hostile witness, basically. I was determined to learn nothing. I admit it.
But then, of course, I did learn a little. I learned tips for managing my personal time, and also several things about myself. Here they are:
1. I manage my time super efficiently at work.
2. I don't manage my time as well at home.
3. I have a Type A personality, relatively, for a girl.
4. My job takes up too much of my time now.
5. Instead of trying to help people by trying to figure out the answers to questions I don't already know, I should totally send them to the person who knows and save us both the time.
6. I would probably make a benevolent dictator of a manager.
7. I hate the word veggies a lot and need to add it to my list of words and phrases that annoy the living shit out of me, such as comfy, hubby, baby bump, sweet spot, and tongue bath.*
You want to know the tip they taught me that's going to help my personal life? You make a Master List. You put on it all the stuff that you have to do in the conceivable future. (I already do that, but here's the key:)
Then you use that to make Daily Lists each day. You only fill the Daily Lists with stuff you really need to do that day, or stuff you could reasonably accomplish in one day.
See, the Master List is to clear your mind. The Daily List is the real to-do list.
See? Up til now, I've been making periodic, mile-long Master Lists and then getting disheartened when they take more than a week to finish. But this way, you don't put unrealistic pressure on yourself to complete everything in an unrealistic time frame. You see??
Maybe you already knew that. Maybe you took the same seminar. I'm pretty sure one of my friends has taken it, because she talks about "eating [her] veggies" at work (meaning, getting least pleasant tasks out of the way) and
R-R-RE-E-E-E-E-ETCH
Sorry. I really hate that word.
The older I get,
the more I like to hang around with secure and successful people. I especially like to talk to super successful people and ask them nosy questions about their lives. The most successful ones are always willing to tell you everything, I find. I think they get lonely, successful people. I think they don't often meet people who want to know what they really do and who'll understand the answers. Because, unfortunately, a lot of people are insecure haters. Insecure haters don't seek to understand -- they just make assumptions and then hate.
You know what I mean?
Like, you'll meet a rich real estate guy, and people will say, "Oh, he's just rich because he's a sell-out" or "because he's good looking" or "because he plays the race card" or "because he kisses ass."
But then, if you walk up to that guy and say, "So how'd you make your money?" he will straight-up tell you, "I heard that the Indians wanted in on our hotel market, but they didn't know our business culture well enough to approach it yet. So I researched their culture and then offered my services as a liaison for a decent-sized cut."
And you're like, "Sweet."
Because how can you hate on somebody for being smart/successful/awesome, unless you're just someone who hates anyone who's doing better than you?
You can't. Come on. Seriously.
something else I learned today
If you are my fan, then you like what I create. You might think that means that you like me, but you could be wrong. Because you don't really know me. You might assume that you'd like me, then see or read something that makes you realize that you really, really don't. And it's okay if you only like what I make and not who I am. That happens to me all the time... I like music made by people who are assholes.
If you are my friend, then you like who I am. Because you know me in real life, so to speak.
I guess it's okay if you're my friend and you don't like what I create. I guess.
I talk/think about that with my arty friends sometimes, actually -- what it means if we like each other, but not each others' work.
I think I need to have both kinds of people in my life. Not "fans," per se, with all those connotations... but people who like me, and also people who like my work, whether or not those groups overlap very much.
It's bed time now.
I'm sad/pissed/resigned because I wanted to play World of Warcraft for a little bit, but, instead, I spent an hour and fifteen minutes on the phone with AT&T and then with Yahoo, trying to get my remote DVR function straight.
And now I'm gonna go to bed, then wake up and go back to work and work my butt off. And... I like my new job a lot, actually, but I don't like that it feels like I'm always there now. (Or else always in my van or on the bus, on the way there or on the way back.) I feel like my free time can't live up to my hopes anymore, and like my life is rushing by, week by week.
Then again, tomorrow is Jeans Day. Yay! Jeans Day!
That's all, for real.
I'm not going to play WoW. I'm going to bed. Seriously.
Talk to y'all later. I have more to tell you, but it's time for bed.
* Typing those made me grind my teeth.
Labels: materialism, vanity, venting, work
10:48 PM #Comments:
We've talked about "baby bump" before, but OH MAN I am with you on veggies.And I'm afraid to even ask about toungue bath.
# posted by
Amy : 6:06 AM
..."think outside the box"..."threw up in my mouth a little"...aaaarrrrgggh, don't get me started. I also can't stand LMAO, LOL and all of that stuff. I think it's because I was online well before knowing those, and so I hate them. I can finally forgive some people using them, but still. I cringe. :P
# posted by
: 8:13 AM
Oh, listen, I hardly ever cared about my appearance at all until I started hanging out with Tina. We had so much fun thrift shopping and she was kind of my stylist. I am probably 20% more girly now. Or at least more accessorized.
"Veggie" is also pretty bad as an adjective, one that I hear quite often, as you can imagine.
# posted by
Marigoldie : 9:49 AM
I LOVE YOU Gwen! You crack me up s much, in writing and in person. I have a list of words I hate too! One of them is caveat. Why? I don't know! Words I love? Macabre is one of them, especially the way it's spelled.
# posted by
ShoeGirl : 5:19 PM
Oh, Marigoldie. I'd say you made me more stylish, not the other way around.
It's difficult to think of a word I hate more than 'hubby'.
# posted by
tina : 7:10 PM
Hey Gwen :) I am so happy you linked to my post, because I am a big fan of your blog.
Also, I really want to see the silver shoes. I have a pair of half silver half transparent plastic shoes, but that's not as good as actual silver. Want.
# posted by
alice : 7:47 PM
For getting least pleasant tasks out of the way, I like "eating a frog." It's from a book about avoiding procrastination, titled _Eat That Frog_." Better than eating veggies...
# posted by
jujublee : 10:27 PM
I hate all those words, too. And your blog cracks me up, mostly. If you see my son on WoW....tell him to go to bed!
ps More Cat Adventures please!
pss At least your cats are heterosexual....I could tell stories...oh could I tell stories...
# posted by
Lisa : 12:40 AM
Amy: Admittedly, it's been a while since I've heard anyone say "tongue bath." First I read it in horrible romantic fiction, then, in the '80s, it became a sort of synonym for "ass kissing" or "circle jerk," I think. But it popped into my mind along with "sweet spot," so I had to sear y'all's retinas with it. Sorry!
Keri: I'm okay with LOL, but I really hate LMAO or whatever. Hey... Remember on newsgroups, when people used to type "LAFFFFF!" instead of LOL?
Marigoldie: As an *adjective*? WTFuck??
I love how you and Tina are friends. I sort of stalk y'all's friendship from afar, sometimes. More thrift finds on your Flickrs, please.
Shoegirl: Why, thank you. Caveat... I don't know... I kind of like that word, because it sounds like caviar. My friend Gen hates the word schawarma, but I have to like it because it describes something so good...
Tina: Y'all have a mutual stylin'-ing.
Suggestion for word you hate more than hubby: yummy, when used as an adjective to describe men? Particularly men's hairy abdomens?
Alice: Yay... I didn't know you'd seen mine.
Sandals: Mine are half cork! You show me yours, I'll show you mine. (As soon as I replace the batteries in my camera.)
Jujublee: I totally wouldn't be surprised if our veggie guy ripped off your frog person. My fave expression for that phenomenon? "Getting this annoying-ass shit off my desk."
Lisa: You should tell the stories! And tell me what server your son is on, if you want. (I'm on Skywall. It's not popular, I know.)
As for the cats...
You guys, I have a serious cat story to tell y'all, but I'm not sure I can come up with the words. It's equal parts shocking, disgusting, touching, and hilarious. And disgusting. And illegal.
Maybe next week, if I have the strength...
# posted by
Gwen : 7:29 PM
I'm looking forward to the cat story; can't decide if the hilarious or illegal adjective attracts me the most.
# posted by
: 7:49 AM
I nominate two more for the Cringe-worthy Words category:
1) Panties;
2) Moist.
You can hate them separately OR together!
# posted by
: 6:58 PM
Maggi: I'm working my way up to it.
Propa: I think you've just mentioned the most classic, timelessly hateable words of all. Like, basically, those are the Grace Kelly and Jackie O of hate-inspiring nastywords.
In case anyone still cares and ever checks back -- here are the sandals I'm talking about:
http://www.endless.com/dp/B000Y1E2P4?tag=bizrate-endless-20&linkCode=asn&creativeASIN=B000Y1E2P4
# posted by
Gwen : 11:09 PM
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