Let me take a second to congratulate myself on a clever title for a post about writing notes to friends. See what I did there? Go, Melisa! When all of the self-isolating (or social distancing, physical distancing, quarantining, or whatever we’re calling it these days) started a couple of months ago, the vast majority of us resorted to doing whatever made us feel better. That is to say, in a time when we’ve had (and continue to have) to do something that is for the most part extremely uncomfortable—staying home most or all of the time—it seems only natural that we would choose to spend our time doing the things…
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Lean On Me.
For some reason, whether it’s Mercury being in retrograde (is it still? I don’t really keep track) or just a massive coincidence in time and space, I have a bunch of really good friends who are currently hurting and stressed. They have recently lost loved ones, have loved ones in the hospital, have financial issues, or are experiencing a personal health crisis or marital strife. It’s awful. There’s a lot of heartache out there. Being someone who throws her whole heart into relationships, I carry around a feeling of helplessness in regards to the struggles of my beloved friends. It simmers gently, just under the surface, bubbling up when I’m…
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Just Give Me A Second And I’ll Figure It Out.
Unfortunately, all of the answers can’t be found on Google. I mean, LOTS of them can…but often there are questions or problems that can’t be resolved by typing in a query. Here’s what I do when I have a dilemma: I call someone to talk it out. Now, you might think that when I say “talk it out”, I mean that I’m calling that person to have a two-person exchange about my issue and then hang up feeling triumphant because we have figured it out together. Good job. That’s what I thought I was doing too, for a while. Not so. I mean, that’s my INTENTION, but that’s not exactly…
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#BlogHer14: It Was About The People
On Sunday night I returned home from San Jose, California and the tenth annual BlogHer conference. This was the sixth BlogHer conference for me—the second as a team member—and while it was exhausting, it was also just SO GOOD. I’m still recovering, in fact. Reentry, the adjustment back into my everyday life, is the very worst part about attending this conference for lots of us; for me it begins when I say goodbye to my friends and continues as the exhaustion—which has been building for months and approached breaking point last week—sets into every pore and then doesn’t leave for days. FOR DAYS. I expect to regain the ability to…
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Somebody’s Gotta Do It.
It’s probably not news to you, but I’m very extroverted. I can talk to just about anyone, I’m very comfortable in group situations, and I do tend to, as my sister calls it, “always choose the Fun Pass”. (My sister ORIGINATED the Fun Pass, by the way. We’re good at Fun.) A dear friend I’ve known since high school is not extroverted. (Nothing wrong with that!) In fact, we’ve had countless conversations over the years about how anti-social and introverted she is, in direct comparison to my place on the other end of the spectrum. If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard her say, “I’m just not…
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In This Case, “PH” Has Nothing To Do With Chemistry. (Scientific Chemistry, Anyway.)
By far one of the best things that has resulted from blogging since the fall of 2007 is the fact that I can travel just about anywhere and have the ability–time allowing–to meet up with a friend or two (or three, or four, or five) who happens to live there. As soon as I found out I was going to be in Detroit this week I messaged my friend Melissa to let her know I’d be in town and although I didn’t know yet what my schedule was going to be like, I hoped that she would mark the date so we could attempt a meet-up. Melissa has been blogging…
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#BlogHer13: Wow.
After reading somewhere in the neighborhood of 600 BlogHer ’13 recaps (so far) for my job as Social Media Researcher for BlogHer, I caught up yesterday afternoon (for now) and decided to go ahead and write my own post before hundreds more show up in my queue and my brain gets fried completely. (I hear it sizzling, so I thought I’d better hurry.) This was my fifth BlogHer; I’ve attended it each year since the last time it was in Chicago (2009). It was the first BlogHer that was experienced as a member of the BlogHer team as opposed to just attending. I’ve said for two years now that San…
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Always, A Reason.
I was recently talking to an acquaintance who was on her way to meet a friend for lunch. This woman and her friend were close in high school around twenty years ago but only see each other every couple of years now, even though they live less than thirty miles apart. The woman I was chatting with was giving me a few reasons why she thought the lunch was going to be a chore: her old friend has some undesirable qualities–what they are isn’t important to the story–that tainted their get-togethers. I asked her, “Why are you meeting this woman for lunch? She sounds completely annoying and rude.” She answered,…
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I Finally Found A Reason To Like Google+…Hangout!
Even though I’m always fine once it’s said and done, I’m not a big fan of change, generally. Though I have never read the book “Who Moved My Cheese?”, I know without a doubt that it was written for me. (I’ll get around to reading it, someday. Maybe.) That’s why, when I first heard about Google+, my groans could probably be heard all around the world. ANOTHER social media platform that I had to learn if I wanted to keep up with the times? Gah. I signed in and set up my profile, sort of, and started adding people to my circles, the entire time frowning, shaking my head, and…