While I’m wildly extroverted now, as an adolescent I was a surefire leg grabber; anytime anyone attempted to engage me with their phony, high-pitched cooing, my eyes would dart from side to side, as I ever-so-coolly began my retreat behind the nearest adult leg that would shield me from their artificiality–usually to the delight of [...]
You’re going to want to slap me, tar & feather me or violently X out of the page when you realize that this post is about the one thing you’re quite possibly sick of hearing how to make, find, or achieve…but, I urge you not to. Not yet, at least–namely because I’ve got a hot [...]
I am in hot, humid, sweaty-in-all-the-wrong-places Central America, and I am invited to a Christmas party. Eager to experience the holiday through a shiny new cultural lens, my mistletoe and I happily accept. In the name of cross-cultural exchange, I carry an innocent little twig of mistletoe, in hopes it will aid my [...]
You don’t have time for anything.
You’ve got five tabs open on your browser, glaring, bold-faced emails that require responses, glaring, bold-faced bosses that require answers, and a family that, later, will require your last tattered, surviving joule of energy, before you hurriedly run an Oral B across your choppers, pray that there’s a clean pair of sweats [...]
They say that the grass is always greener on the other side. Normally, I’d refute this, proclaim it an illusion, and instead promote some other tired, overused, pink, frilly powder puff version of ”seize the day,” “be grateful for what you have,” or, my personal favorite, “stop being a greedy, selfish, money-grubbing bonehead.”
Normally, that [...]
At sometime, somewhere, somehow you’ve royally *#%&@! up. And at sometime, somewhere, somehow, you will royally *#%&@! up again. Fact. Hell, maybe just today alone you have a few doozies under your belt (especially if you’re a Pepsi drinker–that counts, you know). Soft drinks aside, it doesn’t matter how closely you follow the rules, [...]
Today, there are no flowery introductions, no background information to give and no anecdotes to tell (I’ll even spare you the details of the cute guy I met while white water rafting here the other day in Costa Rica)–today, it’s straight to the point:
You don’t have a career. What you’ve got is a glorified [...]
A Tale of Dirt Roads & Deodorant,
AKA My Pocahontas Moment
I bob up and down in my seat, occasionally clanging the side of my head abruptly against the window pane–clearly a form of revenge on mankind for having long ago forgotten the rocky, untamed, desolate road. My skin sticks to the tattered brown faux leather bench [...]
This is a continuation of an earlier post titled 33 Tell-Tale Signs You’re a Closet Designer. You might want to read that one as well!
1. Your nickname in high school was “The Butcher;” not because of your uncanny ability to manhandle giant slabs of meat, but but because of your quick witted comebacks that verbally [...]
I sat down the other day and began thinking about what it truly was that I wanted to accomplish in 2010. But before I could come up with any meaningful goals to set, I had to think backwards about what things I ultimately want out of life, and what mini-goals I could set for [...]
Luck scares the crap out of me.
Contrary to common belief, luck is the one thing that has the power to completely, utterly mess up your life.
As much as I like the idea of getting lucky–especially while abroad, wink–the harsh truth is this:
Luck does not exist.
That’s not startling news though, is it? Most people already [...]
This is a guest post by Andrew MacPherson, author of the blog Rules Optional as well as Sail to Trail. When he says that rules are optional, he means it; the guy lives on a sailboat and is known to wear a kilt! Follow him on Twitter at @rulesoptional and @sailtotrail.
Just admit it… you’ve [...]
Cold Lasagna Is A Personality Trait
I am eating my lasagna cold. Ice cold, as a matter of fact. The cheese is not warm and gooey, the roof of my mouth rests easy knowing it mustn’t guard against impending second degree burns, and my mind does not drift off, like usual, to ponder just how [...]
The title specifies Mexican, but within the confines of this post I’ve selected the term “Mexican” to represent all populations of immigrants; part of the reason I made that decision is to parody–then educate–the large numbers of ignorant people out there who refer to everyone and anyone from Latin America as “Mexicans.” If you’re [...]
I’ve lived abroad. I’ve written eBooks. I’ve learned other languages. I’ve gotten pick-pocketed more times than I’ve gone skiing (true story). I’ve been a nomad. And I’ve fallen deeply love with the lifestyle design approach to life.
And as much as I promote that lifestyle with every last drop of my being, [...]
It’s a fierce restlessness that boils in your soul. It’s that same restlessness that scalds even the faintest symptoms of boredom, and takes cruel, sadistic pleasure in scorching anything that even mildly hints at routine. It’s been the catalyst of many unforgettable adventures, but it’s also been the source of many unforgettable heartaches; restlessness is [...]
Fate vs. Reality
I don’t believe in fate. I don’t believe in destiny. And as much as I want to imagine that somewhere in the world, there’s one lucky* special person out there who would make the perfect gouda to complement my oversized glass of Merlot, I think that’s a bunch of happy horseshit, [...]
Beyond my sneaking suspicion that most lifestyle designers are the type of people that would take great pleasure in running full throttle and leaping in a fit of glee right into a sea of seizure-inducing colored balls — and then do it again simply because they’ve now got the time to do so — there’s [...]
To clear up any misguided motivations you may have for reading this post, the answer is no, I am not going to disclose the juicy details of my one-night stand aboard fellow lifestyle design blogger Andrew MacPherson’s sailboat. (Just kidding, I have never met Andrew MacPherson, nor have I ever engaged in sexual activity [...]
I couldn’t resist. It’s only my second post, and there I go busting out the your mom jokes in the title already. But in all seriousness, your mom actually has a lot to do with what I’m about to say, because the odds are good that A) She is one of the reasons [...]
1. Dream about becoming a doctor or a lawyer, even though art is your true passion. Worse, become a doctor or lawyer, even though art is your true passion.
2. Convince yourself that America is the greatest country in the world, and we are simply more intelligent than everyone else. Now quick, tell me where the [...]
