Monthly Archives: January 2015

Four Things on a Friday

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Four Names People Call Me Other Than My Real Name

1. Liz
2. Lizziebell (Only one person gets away with this)
3. Beth (My family)
4. Little Sister (My baby brother thinks it’s cute)

Four Jobs I’ve Had

1. Waitress/Bartender at Olive Garden
2. Copywriter for Stromberg Architectural Products
3. Salesperson at Beall’s and Belk
4. Shift manager at Mr. Gatti’s

Four Movies I’ve Watched More Than Once

1. The Dark Crystal
2. The Labyrinth
3. Serenity
4. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Four Books I’d Recommend

1. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
2. The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
3. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
4. Jim Butcher’s Codex Alera Series (Furies of Calderon is the first)

Four Places I’ve Lived

1. Burnet, TX
2. Abilene, TX
3. Commerce, TX
4. Overland Park, KS (for a summer…long story)

Four Places I’ve Visited

1. The Bahamas (Atlantis Resort)
2. Los Angeles, CA
3. Miami, FL
4. Grand Rapids, MI

Four Places I’d Rather Be Right Now

1. Ireland
2. New York
3. London
4. Cairo

Four Things I Prefer Not To Eat

1. Haggis
2. Pho (though I have promised to give it a second chance)
3. Raw Tomatoes
4. Ketchup

Four Of My Favorite Foods

1. Chicken Flautas (It’s my go to when I eat Mexican Food)
2. White Chocolate
3. Watermelon
4. Any kind of fried potato substance: hashbrowns, french fries, tater tots, latkes, etc.

Four TV Shows I Watch

1. Doctor Who
2. Master Chef Junior
3. Sherlock
4. The Wendy Williams Show (don’t judge me)

Four Things I’m Looking Forward To This Year

1. New Job!!
2. Going on a real summer vacation (Cruise, or 4th of July in Ecuador)
3. Getting my finances in order
4. Finishing my NaNoWriMo novel

Four Things I’m Always Saying

1. Like (I know, it’s, like, terrible!)
2. I know!
3. See, what had happened was… (usually when talking to students, or relating stories about them, and always sarcastically)
4. Awesome

I stole this from a Stephanie at Twentieth Street (who usually comes up with the Twosday themes), and she stole it from someone else. It’s kind of fun, actually. Give it a shot!

Is There Science Behind Intimacy?

Advice, Dating, , , , ,

I saw an article posted on Facebook by several people I knew, and had to give it a look (it’s amazing how often I get ideas from Facebook posts). What I found gave me more insight into my dating habits than I was prepared for, but those are the risks we take to find out about love.

The article claims to hold the key to how to fall in love with anyone, then proceeds to tell an anecdote about how the author fell in love with her current partner (no explanation as to how long her personal love story has lasted thus far). The more logical of you are probably about to argue with me that anecdotes are not logical, scientific proof, and I agree, but her experience had been based on an actual scientific study.

Even she admits that her experience didn’t fit the parameters of the original experiment, though, so the findings may not be particularly valid.

Enter my data. I think I can definitively say that, if done correctly, the process of the experiment does work. Or at least it betters your odds.

So what is the process?

The original experiment, as explained in this article (I have not looked into the original experiment myself), is fairly simple. The experiment places 2 single, heterosexual strangers of the opposite sex into a room and has them answer a series of 36 questions of increasing levels of intimacy. The idea being that the “shared vulnerability” breeds an instant closeness and trust that in return breeds romantic feelings…under the right conditions.

Then the participants stare into each other’s eyes for 4 minutes.

4 minute timer

I would think that 4 minutes was an uncomfortably long amount of time to stare into the eyes of anyone, let alone a stranger, but the experiment worked for at least one couple, and the author of the article said it worked for her as well, albeit for different reasons. I do love how she describes the 4 minute staring session…

It’s not like we don’t do this whole stranger to love experiment pretty regularly. Shows like The Bachelor thrive on this exact premise. And does anyone remember the whole kissing experiment from a year or two ago? It was really an advertisement, but the video went viral (and I love the song).

But does it work? Continue reading Is There Science Behind Intimacy? →

Positivity breeds good things.

Just me, , , ,

I had an epiphany the other day, and since it was decidedly inline with my Romance Goals for 2015, I’m sharing it here for all of you ladies and gents. I was talking with the Boy, and I realized that I held no animosity towards him, and with that realization came the release of a tension that had hidden between my shoulder blades for almost a year now.

He had apologized, and two weeks of conversation had proven to me that he was sincere. In fact, I’ve even tested him, albeit unintentionally, and he does seem quite sincere. On a couple of occasions I thought he was teasing me, or rubbing my nose in things, and when I confronted him about it, he apologized again for the misunderstanding.

He’s even helped me to not be a total crazy person when dealing with Superman (previously known as the Starchitect). See, I occasionally dwell on the what-ifs:

  • “What if I’d said_____?”
  • “What if he meant _____?”
  • “What if I had done ____?”

Continue reading Positivity breeds good things. →

Looking at the Gender Divide: Where does it come from?

Advice, , , ,

Usually when discussing the “gender divide” people are referring to the pay gap between the sexes. Men make more money than women in similar fields, regardless of experience or proven success.

But why?

At the end of the day, that particular discussion goes back to the power levels between men and women. Historically speaking, women have been treated as property because it was believed we were incapable of doing the same work as a man. It was also understood that the woman’s place was in the home to raise the children and provide the education. This arrangement, however gave all the POWER in the relationship to the men.

We women revolted and thus have been fighting for equality for quite some time now (right to vote, property rights, reproductive rights). We took the fight to the boardroom sometime in the 1970’s, and we’ve been fighting the “good fight” ever since. Whoever has the money, has the power, and women as a whole have been fighting to regain some of the power.

money-equals-power

If you ask me, though, this “fight” to be recognized in business is only a reflection of the power struggle inherent in our relationships. Continue reading Looking at the Gender Divide: Where does it come from? →