Friday, June 22, 2012

From Rants To Film

I just wanted to take a moment and thank people for reading my blog. As you may have noticed I've been pretty quit lately. There are two reasons for this. The first is that I have moved to Southern California and as ass backwards as it seems I have slowed down my lifestyle from the kind I had in Northern California. Maybe it's all this sunshine it chills me out. In all honesty have found a bit of peace down here. I see where I want my life to go and I am now ready for the journey. So I am taking things day by day and instead of forcing things I am patiently waiting with an open mind and an open heart. BUT of course I wouldn't be myself without a little dark humor and a lot of honesty, so the other reason I haven't been posting is because I have been turning this blog into a story with characters that my extremely talent friends and I will be filming and posting online in the form of video blogs. So please stay tuned we will be filming 4 episodes of, "He Said What" this summer, shooting for the end of July. We will most likely post a new episode ever 2 weeks. If people like it we will keep filming, so please I'm an artist I welcome feedback to the videos. Once again thank you to all the women and men (as I found out) that have read this blog. A special thanks to the women in my life that have let me write about their relationships, advise, and thoughts. I hope I continue to show you that you’re not alone in this crazy world. And in staying with my music theme here is a little Dubstep for ya ears. It’s not for everyone, but I heard this song and fell in love. It’s Flight Facilities- Crave You- Adventure Club Dubstep Remix. Enjoy!

Sunday, April 22, 2012

You Can Grow Flowers From Dirt

It’s pretty clear that when looking at my dating history a prerequisite to getting my attention are flashing red lights that read “Emotional Black Hole: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DATE”. Yep for me and many woman alike that means, Eugh I’m bored why not. So it really shouldn’t be any surprise when I or as I tell myself, we, end up wondering what went wrong. I have noticed the guys that have this emotional unavailability have usually been royally screwed over by, as they say A Bitch. So I often wonder how do these guys get so emotionally attached to a woman that is such a…well you know? I mean really do these girls start out coy and sexy then turn up the heat on the disaster meter. What makes guys stick around and fight for someone who treats them like crap? In my highly scientist study of the male species I notice they are messed up over the worst sounding women. I mean so messed up I say, “ Wow these seems like fresh raw emotion when did you break up?” He replies, “ 4 years ago” COME ON BUDDY! Really? Get over it. This seems to be something I hear a lot especially since those are the types of guys I welcome into my life. So then I play out the scenario in my head of what it would be like to be one of these girls. And all I can think is when does it go from being coy and sexy to cold and undesirable? Every woman has there down fall of a type, since becoming single about 3 years ago now I believe I go for these types of men because I am also in emotional dating limbo. Every time I get close to having a relationship I convince myself new guy doesn’t compare to (Insert emotional hang up guy name here). Side note I really think the downside of being super wrapped up in plot lines from shows like Sex And The City is false hope because Ladies, Mr. Big is fictional, in real life we still wouldn’t know his name was John. Anyways one of my really awesome good friends told me recently: Maybe you get hung up on so and so because you’re not ready. When you’re ready whom ever will come along and you won’t look back. She also said that all the dating disappoints are a foundation for what you really want. You take a little from this guy and a little from the next until you have enough to know what you really want and then when he comes along you have bits and pieces that make a whole. I found comfort in that. BUT I’m still perplexed at the amount of time it takes for men to get over women who were not good to them! This is Kate Nash’s Merry Happy. I love it because any song that sounds happy, but is sarcastic will always make me smile. Plus I love the line, “But I know we are not the people that we turned out to be”.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

LUV is a Two Way Street

I would like to share my favorite story with you. This story has been the words of wisdom that have helped shaped my “adult” life. So here it is….

Emma was planning a trip to Tahoe with her sister and a another girl friend. The three women were going to take the weekend and go see a concert that they were all very excited about. Now Emma is a newlywed, but married a man that has been a family friend since they were kids. So Emma and her husband, Tom had a very open and trusting relationship. Emma and Tom were well known for their spontaneous weekend trips so it should have been no surprise when Emma came home one Friday and started packing for her weekend. When the invite was extended to Tom not only did he decline, but he threw a fit and told her that she could not go. Emma shocked asked what the problem was and like a man that has problems communicating he didn’t give her a straight answer. Emma would rather die than have a man tell her what she can and cannot do. So she told him to go fly a kite, packed her bags, and had a fantastic girls only weekend. That Sunday she came home and Tom was more inclined to talk about why he didn’t want her to go. He had been scheduled to work part of that weekend so he was unable to attend. It wasn’t that he didn’t want her to go he only wanted her to wait until he was available. When Emma tells this story she concludes by saying, “If he just would have asked and not demanded I would have done whatever he wanted.”

Since taking a supervisor role in my professional life and building up an emotional wall in my personal life I have learned there are certain ways to talk to people to get what you want/ need out of them. I am not talking about manipulation, but more of the line between aggression and compromise. Take my story from above for example.

Tom didn’t want Emma to go on the trip. There are two outcomes to his problem 1) She goes on the trip 2) She doesn’t go on the trip. In my personal opinion Tom did what most men would do. He asserted his dominance by telling his new wife that she could not go. No self respecting woman wants to be with a man that isn’t open to compromise. It is important to know what you want, establish what your needs are with your partner, listen (Key Word: LISTEN) to their thought process, then make your decision to move forward with them or without them. Whatever the ramifications are after your choice is something you have to live with. BUT Ladies when stating your argument stay calm and use LOGIC, not emotions. Your man would be less inclined to write you off if you avoid emotional outbursts.

In my personal quest to find a man that fits me, the ability to balance self awareness and compromise has been paramount. I am someone who puts everything out in the open. I choose my words and timing carefully, but once I am certain that my thoughts are concrete I share them and am ready to listen to what my partner’s response is. I am willing to compromise if it doesn’t jeopardize what I believe my core values and life desires to be. A hypothetical example would be: Mark and I are dating for 3 years and he is unhappy with his job. He wants to quit being a personal banker and go work as a fisherman in Alaska. Now if you know me then you know Alaska is the last place I want to live (I have an irrational fear of bears). However this is something that is important to Mark’s happiness and therefore well being. If he came to me and said I’m moving to Alaska you can come or stay, then I’d defiantly stay because the use of ultimatums is against my core values. Now if it was a conversation that showed he put equal thought into my well being as he did in his then the conversation would be open , even if I wasn’t initially a fan of the move.

It’s okay to know what you want in life and to live without fear of disapproval, but if you want a successful relationship, in my opinion, there has to be a honest open calm dialogue. Men respect women that stand up for themselves. So like in the story of Emma and Tom (married 32 years now) don’t give up who you are or things you like to do for your partner. Stay true to yourself and they’ll either respect you and stick around or peace out, in which case you’re better off without them!

*Both stories of Emma/Tom and Mark were taken from actual people in my life, names obviously changed.

I love Kimbra she’s got style and soul. She has just hit the radio waves in the song with Gotye in Someone I Used To Know, which of course the radio managed to butcher with a crap remix in its first week. This is her song, Two Way Street. She has a couple of awesome videos so you may see me use her music again.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Riddle Me This

There are a lot of women that are tired of hearing cop-outs like: I have a lot on my plate, I just got a new job, My heart was handed to me…5 years ago. Why do people insist on giving excuses instead of the truth? At least with honesty there are no questions or false hope. Hope is a lingering pain where the truth is a short drop.

Men talk short hand to each other, but when talking to women they beat around the bush instead of giving clear cut answers. As women we tend to come up with elaborate stories as to why a guy hasn’t called or doesn’t want to be in a relationship. I feel this is a conditioned response due to the riddling nature of any conversations where a man has to explain himself. I have never once in all my years of dating had a guy with the balls to say, hey I just don’t want to date you. Is it because they’re trying to consider our feelings? They don’t want to be harsh? It doesn’t have to be said bluntly, but it should be said in some form or another. I once told a guy that I didn’t want to see him anymore because I felt we lacked chemistry. I thought that would make a clean break and was a damn fine answer but he still tries to call me every once in awhile. I’m starting to think he’s a masochist. Either way the chemistry will never be there and I just wanted to be honest.

I think what drives girls crazy is the not knowing. Not being able to figure out what is going on inside a guys head. When you are into someone that doesn’t appear to be into you there are always questions like, Am I not their type? Not funny enough? Are my boobs to small? Every insecurity a woman has ever felt is magnified. Maybe men unintentionally leads women on because they don’t want to have the daunting conversation that will cease fire on all the questions. It is easier to ignore the problem than to face the firing squad. Not to mention technology makes ignoring so much easier these days.

Why do we feel the need to let the other person down slowly when we decide not to further the relationship? Would you rather have your feelings spared with an excuse or do you want to hear the truth even if it stings a bit?

This video is a live performance of Sara Bareilles. She starts with a cover of Cee Lo Green’s Fuck You, then she goes into her song, Gunna Get Over You. No, it doesn’t exactly tie into this weeks blog, but it does make me feel better when I think of a certain fool in my semi-recent dating life J

Friday, November 18, 2011

My Yarns Will Keep Me Warm

Family always has relationship advice. Mostly because their happiness depends on you getting married and having babies for them to spoil. When younger members of your family start to get married the pressure is really on. I recently went to my cousin’s beautiful wedding. I am helping my grandmother out of the car and a handful of suited groomsmen walk out of the church, I don’t even notice their presence until my concerned grandma loudly informs me, “Oh Karen, there you go maybe you can marry one of them.”….wow, really! This is the same grandmother who gave me the following advice, “ I don’t think you have a boyfriend because the first time they mess up you dump them.” What can I say she has me figured out. I tried to explain to her that when the first thing they mess up on is telling me they want to have sex with other women, then yes I get rid of them. This didn’t seem to matter I should still give them another chance. Thank god times have changed because I would rather be single and happy then insecure and coupled up. Even though I know I have been right in all of my choices to rid certain men from my life it got me thinking about expectations.

When going out for the night you never want to build the events up in your head. High expectations usually bring a disappointing evening. When you least expect to have fun it always turns into the best night ever. So it should be the same with relationships. I have heard and been guilty of meeting a guy and thinking, out loud, how amazing he is and how this is going to work out. Three weeks later your downing a pint of Ben and Jerry’s Chubby Hubby wondering why you don’t have one.

My other cousin has a cool how I met my husband stories. She was going to a friend’s party where her and this guy were being set up together. Both admit they wanted no part of a blind set up since they had been exhausted by the dating scene. However, they both reluctantly attended the party and spent the entire night hitting it off and now they’re married. People always say it will happen when you least expect it. My question is when does it change from not expecting anything, taking things day by day, to seeing yourself with this person? Because let me tell you I have done that whole low expectations things and right when I decided that I could possibly date this person (three months from meeting them) they pulled the rug out from under me. I’ve also had instant chemistry with a guy. He seemed very interested then when I made myself available he stopped trying to get to know me. It feels like a loosing battle.

My engaged friends ask me how my love life is going. I give them the usual shrug which means I don’t want to talk about it and they respond with, “Don’t worry you’ll find him”, like I’m looking for my lost puppy. Here’s the thing that most coupled people, single guys , and grandmothers don’t understand: there are women like me that are not looking for husbands. Shocking I know! I look at a husband as more of a side effect of a long term relationship than a goal. However, I wouldn’t mind to just stand still with one person for a while. One of my friends told me about an article where 30% of women who ended up divorced or in a miserable relationship say they knew it wasn’t right and walked down the aisle anyway. I love what my friend said in response to the article, “That’s what happens when it’s a race to get a ring not making a lifelong commitment”. So see guys! We’re out there, the ones that aren’t trying to ball and chain you just so we can wear a rock.

So I guess what my question is, how do you turn off your expectations when they’re not that high to being with?

This is Kimya Dawson and the song is called Tire Swing. I love her soft melodic sound and this has one of my favorite song lyrics in it, “If I’m a spinster for the rest of my life my yarns will keep me warm on cold and lonely nights”. Now the dummy who posted this video got the line wrong in his lyric scroll, which is a little annoying because I think it’s hilarious and true.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

No Man Is Worth...

It is well known that the limbic cortex part of the brain is larger in women than in men. This size difference accounts for why women are more emotional. However, additional studies show that men have just as strong, if not stronger, emotional responses to stimuli the only difference is that men immediately hide these emotions while women tend to wave them around like a homecoming banner. This difference is why a heartbroken woman will call all of her closest friends and family and analyze what she did wrong while a man will seclude himself in room for two months. Ever see the movie Swingers? The scene with John Favreau, Ron Livingston , and the orange juice is the perfect glimpse of how men deal with break ups. So what is it? Why do we go off the deep end?

While it is understandable that both sexes struggle with the loss of a relationship I don’t understand how women will morn the loss of a man whom they are not in a committed relationship with and treats them like dirt. To clarify, I have never heard a man say, “I don‘t get why she says she loves me, but still wants to date that other guy”. Now if I had a dime for every woman that said this I would be kicking it with the Kardashians. Actually I still wouldn’t want that, but you get the point. And no I did not make that quote up I have a friend that was told,“I love you, you’re the one, but I don’t want to be in a relationship with you right now”. STUPID! Ladies, why do we grieve over something that never existed?

Time and time again I hear echoes of empty promises traveling through the air as my friends share stories about the men they’re involved with and frankly I’m tried of it. Not of listening to my friends of course, but of the BS that ladies put up with. And further more the affects of disappointment and heartbreak that weighs them down everyday. Why do we let one person have a catastrophic effect on us? I have dated men that are incredibly emotionally barricaded due to a bad relationship. I just want to shake them and say, “I’m not her” but that would be weird and overly violent. There are people out there that can get over relationships quickly, I happen to be one of them. If I make a decision it is rare that anyone can change it. My buddy Brooklyn asked me a couple weeks ago, “How do you get over them [failed relationships] so fast?” My answer is: I accept that I feel the regret of not being someone they want, then I get pissed for letting someone cut me down, I allow that to marinate for awhile, finally I remind myself that battling to have someone in your life that isn’t ready to accept you is pointless. So screw them, their loss, move on! Of course sometimes it’s hard but don’t fight for someone whom isn’t fighting for you.

I want to share the lyrics to one of the most brilliant female vocalists/ lyricist of our time, Ms. Lauryn Hill. This is her verse in Manifest by The Fugees both in a music clip and written to aid with the point I am trying to drive home.



"You see I loved hard once, but the love wasn't returned
I found out the man I'd die for, he wasn't even concerned
And time it turned,
He tried to burn me like a perm
Though my eyes saw the deception, My heart wouldn't let me learn
From um, some, dumb woman, was I,
And everytime he'd lie, he would cry and inside I'd die.
My heart must have died a thousand deaths
Compared myself to Toni Braxton thought I'd never catch my breath
Nothing left, he stole the heart beating from my chest
I tried to call the cops, that type of thief they can't arrest
Pain suppressed, will lead to cardiac arrest
Diamonds deserve diamonds, but he convinced me I was worth less
when my peoples would protest,
I told them mind their business, cause my shit was complex
More than just the sex
I was blessed, but couldn't feel it like when I was caressed
I'd spend nights clutching my breasts overwhelmed by God's test
I was God's best contemplating death with a Gillette
But no man is ever worth the paradise MANIFEST"

Friday, November 4, 2011

Fireball Swag

Happy Friday Everyone! Today’s video is from a women who knows how to SWAG it out! Now some of you have asked me what I meant by swag just watch any Dev video and you’ll get the point. This chick rocks. Most of her videos you can hear on the radio, but she has a lot that you just have to scrounge for. I’m luck enough to have one of my Mixmaster put together a complication of hers. The video for In The Dark is brilliant, except for the snake I don’t ever condone the use of snakes (not sexy just scary), so check it out. This however is Fireball so enjoy my Friday send off.

Also a big shout out to my little cousin, by one whole year, he’s getting married tomorrow! I’m very happy for him and his new wifey. And he best believe I’ll be rocking that singles table like a CHAMP! I actually don’t know what I mean by that, but I’ll gather my other single cousins and make all the married people jealous with our shenanigans…okay once again probably not., but you can count on some drinking and picture taking…woohoo!