The slow creep of corporations; Day 15 of Writing 101

You know the most important thing to do if you want to be a writer? Practice. And yet, you get home from a long day at work and you know the last thing you want to do is sit down and write. Me too. Until I signed up for Writing 101 – WordPress will sent a prompt every weekday for the month of April.

Day 15: “Think about an event you’ve attended and loved. Your hometown’s annual fair. That life-changing music festival. A conference that shifted your worldview. Imagine you’re told it will be cancelled forever or taken over by an evil corporate force. How does that make you feel?”

 When this prompt was emailed out, I feel like the people behind Writing 101 wanted a fiction, wanted the passion imagined, but the reality is, all of our events, all the time are being taken over by an evil corporate force.

Okay, maybe not evil, and maybe it’s not a hostile takeover, but are you telling me that you don’t notice the slow creep of corporations at your favourite events.

When I was in high school, my mom and I used to go to university basketball games. That was one of my favourite activities and had a huge impact on me as a young, female athlete. When I went, it was all about the game and the players. Lately I attended a local game, and it was all about a fast food place giving a sandwich to the person is row P, seat 34. The first point was brought to you by the automotive repair place around the corner. No it wasn’t, it was brought to you by that 20-year-old who has put hours of work into getting to be on the team and scoring that point.

Music festivals spend a major part of the introduction of each act thanking the sponsors, everyone from that international mining corporation to the airlines that flew the musicians there at a reduced rate.

The question is – how does this make you feel? The answer, it makes me feel tired.

I am tired of sharing the things I love with multinational corporations whose activities I often don’t agree with. I am tired of constantly feeling like I am the target of advertising, that I can’t go somewhere without being told what to year, eat, drink and where to buy it. I am tired that the content of events, education and activities change because of the influence of these corporations.

The most tiring part though is realizing that there isn’t much I can do about it on my own; that many of these events can no longer happen without the support of said evil corporate force. So I pose a new question.

Once you establish how you feel about the evil corporate force talking over your event, what do you want to do about it?

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Panic, the art of finding; Day 13 of Writing 101

You know the most important thing to do if you want to be a writer? Practice. And yet, you get home from a long day at work and you know the last thing you want to do is sit down and write. Me too. Until I signed up for Writing 101 – WordPress will sent a prompt every weekday for the month of April.

Day 13: “Write a post about finding something.”

It would be wrong of me to write of finding only one thing.

I am that seemingly oh-so-fortunate person who is constantly finding thing. Of course in large part that is because I am constantly losing things. My mom always said I would misplace my head if it wasn’t firmly attached.

My cell phone goes on top of a desk at work during a conversation; I walk away, my phone remains. Panic. The keys get tossed into the wrong part of my purse; I need to open a door. Panic. My glasses are a similar colour to most of the wood surfaces in my house, I didn’t put them in the exact place that I always do (always might be stretch here). Panic.

The good news is, if I spend any time thinking about the previous few minutes, I manage to track down my belongings quickly. The bad news, the thinking always comes after the panic.

My mantra is: Stop. Think about where you left it. Check purse. Then panic.

I’m still working on it. Speaking of which, where is my cell phone? Uh oh. Panic?

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I’m staying home; Day 8 of Writing 101

You know the most important thing to do if you want to be a writer? Practice. And yet, you get home from a long day at work and you know the last thing you want to do is sit down and write. Me too. Until I signed up for Writing 101 – WordPress will sent a prompt every weekday for the month of April.

Day Eight: “Go to a local café, park, or public place and write a piece inspired by something you see.”

So there is one tiny problem with this prompt. I am usually at the end of a very, long day when I get to the blog challenge. Tucked at my desk, which is actually a homemade, knockoff IKEA table that I acquired from an ex-boyfriend’s kitchen years ago, I open my email to read the prompt and write.

With today’s prompt I am being asked to head out; a park is too dark and not so safe in my neighbourhood to go to at night with a laptop, the cafes are already closed (and to go to them at this hour is considered breaking and entering) and I’m too tired to think through any other public places.

See you all tomorrow.

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Hot Times in the City

I will never, ever complain about the heat. After the weather we get here for six-to-eight months of the year, I will never say anything nasty about warm temperatures.

However I’d like to point out two things I could do without when the temperature finally shoots up.

1. Moisture
2. Mosquitoes

Seriously in Cambodia, you know, the jungle, it doesn’t get this moist and then after the afternoon thundershower/downpour it cools off … at least for 15 minutes. Here, when it rains in the afternoon all it does is make it a little muggier. It’s a good thing a constant shine is a good look for me *cough* lie *cough.* Also, these do-nothing-to-reduce-the-temperature-or-sticky-conditions thunderstorms have been occurring in the middle of the night, so after finally being able to get to sleep in the heat, I get to wake up again.

Now an understatement would be say that all this moisture and heat have been good for the mosquitoes. I’m pretty sure I saw one the size of a small house cat. Around here a flyswatter does nothing to these things, you need a shotgun to keep them at bay. I jest, but only kind of. I went for a walk after work the other day and my legs look like I contracted chickenpox while I was out. Also, these mosquitoes have some incredible aim. Every single spot is on a vein.

All that being said – let’s hear it for hot weather!!

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Friend goes bad, when things get ugly

Despite the fact that my friend said she was happy I was dating her ex-husband (the one she left for a women, the one she asked me to hang out with), I learned she really, really is not.

Unfortunately I learned the hard way, when she texted one morning to let me know that she had been driving past his house and sees my car there.
She actually was angry because, she knew “you are sleeping with him” and that I should have told her. Then she followed it up by saying sex she had with him was awful, so he deserved good sex with me (I’m roughly paraphrasing).

First, I felt afraid. It is very weird to know that someone has been watching your movements for months and you never realized.

Second, we are not close enough friends that she has ANY idea about the quality of my sex life, it’s just not a topic we talk about. And I don’t want to think about her sex life with him EVER.

Third, if you are really okay with something. Freaking out over text message is not how I would convey that.

In the end, I’m sorry our friendship ended as it did – despite my response, which a number of my friends called far to kind, I’ve not heard back from her. I have lost a friend, but gained something even better. So I guess I have a positive gain, but it’s still an icky way to go.

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Running makes you happy, right?

I love working out and going to the gym.

Don’t get me wrong, I sometimes struggle with getting going and whine about a long run, but when I get going I love it. I’ve never wrapped up a run or time at the gym feeling like, “oh I wish I didn’t do that.”

With this in mind, I figure everyone at the gym is happy. You remember that line from Legally Blond, “Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don’t shoot their husbands, they just don’t.”

Apparently I am wrong. Today I’m working on 10K, I’m just wrapping up my sixth kilometer and I realize there are two women glaring at me and the woman on the treadmill next to me. They tell me, rather rudely, they’ve signed up.

Now I know I have booked myself an hour on the treadmill, but I start thinking okay, maybe I put my name up on the wrong times.

Mostly I’m cranky that I can’t finish, especially seeing the other four treadmills in the place are empty, and there isn’t another four people (okay slight exaggeration) in the gym at 8 a.m. on a Sunday morning. But, I surrender mine, because they are nasty, nasty people. I hop to the next one and crank up the speed again.

They start and walk for about 20 minutes, with their iPods in so they aren’t even talking (so I don’t know why they needed to be next to each other).

I wrap up and check the board. Sure enough my name isn’t there; someone helpfully erased everything from the board. So I’m not as frustrated. But, who is so catty and mean in the gym on a Sunday morning especially with so many other treadmills.

It was contagious. But now I’m home and I’m going to appreciate the rest of my day.

And hey! I just ran another 10K in only a little over an hour – not bad for the start of the season!

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Lean In: What I should have done

At the end of a number of upper management meetings this week, the company owner and a consultant turned to myself and my male counterpart and told us, that we were great and that they were impressed with the quality of work we had been performing.

My male counterpart leaned back in his chair smiled and said, Thank you.

I got nervous, explained how I work with some great people, which makes is possible and that I was surprised they felt that way, as I often feel as though I am struggling.

On the drive home I realized I had done exactly what my gender stereotype would do and exactly what I promised I wouldn’t ever do again after reading Lean In, by Sheryl Sandberg.

Sheryl (not that we’ve not ever met, nor are on a first-name basis) would be so disappointed in me. She writes about how women in leadership and management roles need to avoid the gender stereotype and be okay with being ambitious, to take compliments and not feel like an imposter.  She says that women tend to hide or minimize their achievements in order to be “liked.” She writes that we have to learn to be more confident, political and aggressive and have better self-talk.

It’s a good thought and one that I want to achieve, but in a room full of men, it’s a struggle. I try to do better as I want to create a clear path for the women coming behind me.

I spent about five minutes kicking myself for my response and now I am looking to the future. I will “man up” as it were, learn to play golf to level the playing field and Lean In.

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Nice to meet you: awkward moments in fundraising

I get that by the end of the night, when there is an open bar, things can get a little sloppy. I usually expect that to happen closer to 2 a.m. and then not at a high-end fundraising event.

Yet another quasi-important business-type guy was introduced to me at about 8 p.m. The first thing he did was brush my hair away from the cheap name tag I was wearing and not in a classy way, nope he fully groped at me while dragging his hands along my chest and shoulder.

Ick point one.

Then while he was talking to yet another semi-important individual with a lot of money he was flailing his half-full wine glass around. I caught the contents on my hand (and thankfully not my dress).

He noticed, but instead of offering me the napkin he was holding, he raised my hand to his mouth and sucked/lickd the wine off.

If it was a bar I would have slapped him. It wasn’t. I politely retrieved my hand and headed for the door. And went home. To sterilize.

That is the indicator that it is time to go home.

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Not classy: An icky moment from a girls’ night out

I went out last night with a bunch of girls, I’d never met and for the most part it was a lot of fun. But, I encountered a moment that was significantly less than classy.

If you are going out for drinks at a bar and you order a round of shots, you buy them. If someone opts out before you order you respect that.

I was hitting my limit, and so made it clear that I was out for more drinks when the waitress came to the table. The next thing I know, there are eight shots being passed around. I said” no, thank you,” and the girl who ordered them turned to me and let me know my share was still $7.

That is not okay. Don’t order drinks for others and force them to pay.

Arg.

I’ll be back with a much more positive post later.

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Buyer’s remorse or don’t yell at co-workers

I don’t have much to say today other than I have some buyer’s remorse for freaking out and swearing at one of my co-workers during the weekend.

At the time it felt so good, and a not-so-insignificant part of me still feels it was necessary, but I know I could have handled the situation better.

And no, I hadn’t been drinking at the time. Although with the way my day off was going, I likely should have been.

I need more zen.

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