Posts tagged post
The Last Time I Thanked Someone
‘Thank you’ and ‘You’re welcome’ are seemingly heard less and less, these days. People are getting so used to text-talking and internet-speaking that I think they are losing those key components that are, really, necessary in everyday social skills.
When I was a young girl, my parents taught me (and I mean TAUGHT me) to show respect and gratitude to others. I was raised saying ‘sir’, ‘ma’am’, ‘thank you’, ‘you’re welcome’, etc… Nowadays, it appears as if our children are lacking this knowledge/skills due to their parents inability or pure neglect to teach them such things as this.
I must say the words ‘thank you’ and ‘you’re welcome’ at least ten times every single day of my life. Every time that I ask someone for something or to do something- whatever- I say, ‘please’, as well. I do not ORDER people around, as a general rule of thumb (unless the just really tick me off, anyway). The ‘thank you’ comes out of my mouth, immediately, when someone does/says something worth thanking them for- and I thank folks for most anything, really!
We, as a society, need to get back to the ‘Old School Ways’ of doing things and start teaching our young ones how to better respect themselves as well as others. The ‘Thank you’s’, ‘You’re welcome’s’, and ‘Please’ really need to be taught, once again!
~E
We Need To Talk
Now, that’s a conversation starter!
Lede in’s like this are designed to raise the emotional banner, right off the bat. Think about it. Whenever you hear someone say this, does it not make you, automatically, ‘straighten-up’ and ‘prepare’ yourself for what’s to come? 
I mean, if they were going to tell you about something good that had happened, they would, probably, not opt to begin the conversation this way, right? They might start off with a, “Hey, guess what?”- or, perhaps, an “OMG, I have to tell you about x,y,z” but, certainly, not “We need to talk.”
As a writer, I can appreciate this type of lede because, well…they sure do make great headlines for articles! When someone reads those words, they feel compelled to click on the link in order to read further! Isn’t that the main objective of a title (or header) – to capture your audience and draw them in for a closer view.
The internet is a huge place loaded with tons beyond tons of articles on every subject imaginable.
As a writer, you must be creative enough to title your work in such a fashion that it will stand out above the rest as well as be on target with the subject matter of your writing.
Don’t forget about the value of a well-written first sentence, either. That first line should work to KEEP the attention of your audience that the Title brought in! It’s okay to ‘just type’ your thoughts/information but, do yourself a favor by going back over your draft and ‘fine-tuning’ it so that it will work to hook your target audience, envelope some sort of emotion within them -straight away, keep their attention and leave them with a desire to come back for more.
Until next time,
~E
Don’t Let Facebook Ruin Your Relationship
I doubt most of you need anyone telling you Facebook may be ruining your relationship, considering it is most likely a reality you, yourself are living. But, in the event that right now it all seems like one, enormous mess of awfulness too powerful to approach, destroy and rework, here’s a breakdown – complete with labels, scenarios and love lessons, in hopes that you can tackle this virtual monstrosity and take it apart, piece by terrorizing piece.
#1 Your Relationship Status
Here’s an immediate source of controversy contributing to the difficulty of early dating. Ever been here? You like a girl, she likes you. You date, you share a bed, you spend some time together- everything’s going well and splendid. Then, oh no! She asks, “Are we like… Facebook ‘relationship status’ together? You react poorly (i.e. you don’t change your profile settings). And suddenly, just like that, it’s over. Well, friends, that’s because to modern women, your Facebook relationship status is the equivalent of a high school promise ring. It’s a public announcement that you’ve picked someone to stand by; problem being? You probably don’t want to publicly announce anything of the sort. A good way to avoid this is by deleting this setting from your profile all together and making some righteous speech to her about how you are a private person and feel it your right to remain secretive even in a “perversely invasive technological age”. Good luck with that!
#2 Unfortunate Old Photos
If she’s your Facebook friend, she already knows too much. She’s seen you two years ago when you had that stupid haircut, five years ago before you killed off your acne, last week when you got too wasted to stand upright. If there’s flaws in your behavior (and let’s be honest, hopefully there are or else you’re certainly not human), she’s already seen them. For this reason, be fickle about being tagged in photos. Un-tag wisely. It just may save you from some truly considerable trauma.
#3 Tagging Her Offensively
You know how sometimes when a woman asks you if she looks good and you reply, saying something you think is positive but, actually, provokes wailing sobs and fuming screams from her? A photo that you may deem completely harmless, may make her cringe, cry or call it quits on you. So, instead of being presumptuous, just let her know you uploaded some photos and she can feel free to tag them herself. (NOTE: Do NOT only tag yourself and not tag her. She will definitely think you are trying to hide her. For more on this – read below)
#4 Lack of Online Affection
You may just be one of those sensible guys who don’t like to constantly post on people’s profiles. But, if you’re dating a lady who is and you’re trying to follow preliminary dating protocol, you better get hip to it. Girls like this eagerly await the day their newest flame will find the chance to post some witty comment to their profile. When you don’t, they think you’re either too lazy to care or trying to hide them from your internet friends. An ideal excuse: “To be honest with you, when I really like someone, I don’t like to interact with them online that much. I think it cheapens the sincerity of our connection, don’t you? It’s so impersonal”.
#5 Your Ex’s Invade
Your personal history is scrawled across this public forum. She can scroll through a blog roll of your recent years and see who you date, how it went, what she looked like and the romantic love notes posted. As with the photo untagging, trying to be savvy about deleting these little blips when you’re starting to see someone new and curious. They have the delete option above comments for this reason in particular. USE IT.
#6 Her Ex’s Invade
You think you want to know about her ex’s, but you don’t. You never do. Unfortunately, now, you don’t have much of a choice. They’re there. They’re posting on her profile, on her profile picture, telling her “Hey sexy, you still got it.” This makes you livid. Chill your stuff, dudes. It doesn’t mean anything. In fact, try to spin it positively by using it to your advantage. Be different from the dudes she ditched and use their internet trails as an example of what NOT to do.
#7 General Jealousy
Internet groupies are a huge problem for both sexes, no debate here. If you happen to have a lot of them, try never to respond to their advances in any way that she could misinterpret as interest (because she will). If she happens to have a lot of them, be grateful that the girl you currently get to lay is extremely attractive and wanted and only working her moves on you. If you have a strange feeling that you’re NOT the only one she’s working her moves on AND she has a plethora of Facebook admirers, take it as a warning sign. What your thinking (fearing?) is probably right…
#8 Poking
Poking is the virtual, (I hesitate to say) “adult” manner of pinching someone playfully in elementary school. It means “I think you’re cute, but I’m a coward.” Unless you’re already dating a girl, and you know she’s the type that would get a kick out of something like this, don’t do it. It’s too controversially corny to be a good move and can potentially very quickly kill your game.
#9 Time Stealer
Spending too much time on your iPhone checking out the latest upload? STEP AWAY FROM THE ELECTRONIC APPLIANCE. Nothing can kill a physical relationship faster than an infatuation with cyberspace, particularly if it’s for Facebook – a service that advertises interactive communities – because she will infer that your internet community is more important that your interaction with her. Moreover, to constantly post and upload, will only make you look all too available and uninteresting. Get a hobby, dude! It’s healthy for you and way hotter than being able to type as fast as a 1950’s secretary without a diploma.
#10 Becoming A Fan Of The Wrong Page
What groups you join, what pages you favorite, what you virtually promote – all of this goes into the boiler of her brain when summing you up. So, be sure to be choosy about what invitations and page suggestions you accept (i.e. pages with nicknames and/or connotations concerning raunchy sex, getting wasted, geeky group games, etc). Otherwise, what you thought of as a simple click to support a friend may simply stop your sex life.
#11 Discovering Your Inbox
ALWAYS LOG OUT. I’ll say it again. ALWAYS LOG OUT. If you’re at her house and you happen to log on and then leave without doing so, she may (either accidentally or intentionally) snoop around your inbox. And while you may not remember having any problematic messages stored away, you never know who has recently messaged you from your past or what past messages will somehow surface to sabotage what you’ve presently got going.
#12 Discovering Her Inbox
You may not be a snoop, but the page is open and it’s there, staring at you, begging you to sneak a look. Of course, I urge you not to do it. Not to protect or defend women, but to protect yourself. You will discover things that mean nothing and seem monumental. It’s in the nature of Facebook to blow everything out of proportion and the last thing you need is to have your head contaminated with old messages from ‘internet lusters’ with whom she’s already forgotten about – in favor of you.
#13 Picture’s Worth A Thousand Words
When it comes to Facebook pictures, know that she considers your profile picture the ultimate announcement. Whoever finds their way into your profile picture is, in her mind, given high priority in yours. So, even if your pal took a hilarious photo of you at a bar with three Budweiser beer girls or of you and your best girl friend doing something hilarious together, avoid at all costs advertising this as a profile pick. To her, this means she’s not good enough to be your favorite. And, even if this is absolutely true, it’s something she absolutely doesn’t need to know.
Don’t get yourself caught in the flames of Love and War folks!
~E
LadyE's Blog 