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Showing posts with label throwback tuesdays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label throwback tuesdays. Show all posts

27 July 2010

The Art of the Chase (Throwback Tuesdays)

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aIn the old days, when I had my eye on a dude, I had one strategy: shameless and reckless pursuit. And although this method made for some great stories, it never really yielded optimal results.

But what is the right way to chase a man? And should we even be doing it? He’s Just Not that Into You says no. The whole premise of the book is that the excuses that women make for why men aren’t making an effort with them are just so much bullshit and if he was really into you he would make the effort. So should we women just leave it all in their hands?

Consider this scenario: a few years ago I got the feeling that a casual acquaintance of mine was flirting with me. I was getting vibes but I wasn’t quite certain where he was going with it – was he interested? was he just a flirt? was I reading into things? was he too shy to make a move? I just didn’t know and didn’t want to risk embarrassing myself by making a move on him. The whole thing would probably have fizzled out without anything significant happening had my uber-brilliant sister not stepped in. She mentioned to him at a party that if he wanted to make a move on me, she would be okay with that. And what do you know? A couple of days later he asked me out and everything was lovely after that (until we split up and he married someone else but that’s another story).

Knowing what I know about that dude now, I know that he would never have asked me out if my sister hadn’t let him know that his advances would be welcomed. So does that mean that he just wasn’t that into me? Or was that me/my sister taking a participatory role in the courtship dance rather than putting all the responsibility on the man?

Most women believe that men are dense. So we don’t believe that smiling with our eyes is enough for them to get the message. Instead we offer our numbers, ask for theirs, find them on facebook, befriend their friends, hunt them down at parties, and otherwise make ourselves so available that the man basically has to alter his behavioural patterns to get away from us. Ladies, I have something to tell you: shameless and reckless pursuit is not the business

Men are hunters and we must give them the opportunity to do that. Otherwise they just get bored and we have to work overtime to maintain their interest.

I have a new strategy these days and it goes like this: I give a man three signs that I would be open to his advances. Three subtle signs. If he doesn’t catch on after that he’s either a) too stupid for me or b)not interested in me and he either gets demoted to jump-off status or erased from my radar.

Ladies, how do you chase? Men, how do you like to be chased?

20 July 2010

Who Told You to Have Feelings (Throwback Tuesdays)

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Only a few days left to nominate me and my blogging buddies for the Black Weblog Awards...have you done it yet?

Observe this conversation between fcuk buddies:

Girl: So can I come over tonight?
Boy: Nah, sorry I'm booked.
Girl: You're booked? What does that mean?
Boy: I mean I already have plans. Sorry.
Girl: Oh with another girl? Oh so it's like that then? Okay fine. Have fun. Talk to you later.

Boy: (confused) okay, um, bye.

Two days later...

Girl: You know you really hurt my feelings the other day...
Boy: (no memory of the above conversation) I did, how?
Girl: When I said I wanted to come over and you said you were booked.

Boy: *stupefied silence*

Ladies, I'm going after you today. You're wrong in three ways on this one:

1. Use of the phrase “another girl”

This implies that you thought you thought that you were the only girl. And the very fact that you are on fcuk buddy status with this dude should tell you that that is not the case. In fact, more times than not, you are the “other” girl.

2. Being Passive Aggressive

Saying “Okay fine. Have fun then” in a pissy tone of voice is a classic girl move that does not work. When men are in situations like this, they hear words, not inflections and not the feelings behind them. So if you're saying '”have fun” he's hearing “have fun” and moving on with his life. And you know you're pissed and you don't want him to have fun so why not try saying what's on your mind? I told you before, men are not mind readers. If you're disappointed that you can't get together then say something and maybe you guys can work something out.

3. Using the “F” word

“You hurt my feelings'”? Girl, you are out of bounds here. Who told you feelings were allowed in a fuck buddy relationship? A fuck buddy relationship by definition is a casual, non-exclusive, no-strings attached type of deal. If you're getting your feelings hurt because dude has plans with another girl, you're obviously not built for this type of thing and you need to keep it moving.

In my opinion, 99% of girls in the world are not built for casual sex. Not because they catch feelings (although you're wrong for doing it) but because they seem to think that the dude should care about said feelings. Ladies, if he wanted to care about your feelings you'd be wifey, not jump-off. So please either keep them to yourself or recognize your limitations and stick to feelings-friendly zones like relationships.

That’s my rant for today, but what say you dear readers? Are feelings okay in a fcuk-buddy relationship or should they be checked at the door with inhibitions? Have you ever been the girl or boy in this scenario? Discuss.

13 July 2010

Does Crazy Get the Guy? - Throwback Tuesday

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Not long after I wrote my post on being the 'just before girl' I ran into a friend of mine - let's call him Yoda - at the wedding of my ex-unboyfriend/best friend/roommate (another blog post for another time). We got to talking about why I should never have been invited to my ex's wedding relationships and my sister suggested that he fix me up with one of his single friends. He said "Nah she's not ready for it. She's the girl that guys get with before they get with the girl they marry".

Marshie-poo and I gasped simultaneously.

"Did you read my blog?" I asked breathlessly.
*blank stare*
Okay then.
"Why is that?" Les poos (marshie-poo and maxie-poo) asked.
Yoda went on to explain that I was too cool, too easy going, too laissez-faire for any man to take me seriously. "You need to learn to make some demands" was his final word on the subject.

Les poos proceeded to the wedding reception, at which I was too busy trying to stab myself with a butter knife listening to speeches and watching the lovebirds coo lovingly at each other to really think about it. But since then I've been taking an informal poll and it seems that Yoda is right. Which i guess shouldn't be surprising because Yoda was always right in the movies wasn't he? I don't know.

Anyway. let me share with you some responses:
My cousin's wife gave me a long, long lecture about the art of making demands. And how a man doesn't respect you if you don't set clear boundaries and guidelines for his behaviour.

The ex-unboyfriend/best friend/roommate (who thankfully married a cool girl who "allows" him to continue to plunge my toilet and take out my garbage be my friend) said that when we were in our unrelationship he interpreted my coolness to equal disinterest. i.e. the fact that I let him do whowhatever he wanted to do gave him the impression that I didn't care what he did.

My girlfriend also insists on not only setting clear boundaries, but that I make the men I date take me to expensive restaurants and buy me gifts in order to impress upon them that I am something special. And that when these men "misbehave" I call them on their shit.

None of this computes to me at all.

Here's my take on it: I don't have any children. I'm not about raising anyone so why do I have to set rules and discipline people? I grew up with a very demanding mum who yelled when she didn't get her way. Everyone in the house just did what she wanted so we wouldn't have to hear her mouth. This is a kind of death to me. I don't want men to do things for me just because they're afraid of what I'll do if they don't, I want them to do things for me because they want to. My relationship style is to give people the freedom to be who they are and see what they do with it. And no, I don't call men on every little thing they do wrong - but I do notice and file it away for future reference. When I reach my breaking point (yes, I do have one) I'll let him know.


This, apparently, is not the correct way to approach relationships. Go figure.

Meanwhile, as those of you who know me know, I have a healthy concentration of male friends. And as a result I get a lot of inside information on how girls really behave (not the remixed versions of stories we tell our friends in which we make ourselves sound much harder than we actually are). I see the pathetic and desperate emails they send, the begging BBM's and texts, and hear the crazy-ass voicemails they leave. These women rant, rave, cry, threaten, beg, and bargain to get these dudes' attention. Now and again they'll show up unannounced or freak out because they found a bobby pin that doesn't belong to them at the home of a man they know is seeing other people.
 
And you know what? These guys eat that shit up. Nary a one of them has ever stopped talking to a girl because of her crazy-ass behaviour. Meanwhile my private parts - and the private parts of all my female friends who are normal like me - are drying up at an alarming rate.

All of which leads me to conclude that us calm girls are doing something wrong. Should we be going all Jazmine Sullivan on these dudes? Is that what it takes?

Please enlighten me.

6 July 2010

Throwback Tuesday - The Just Before Girl

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The just before girl kinda has a bad rep.  Nine times out of ten she is (or is portrayed as) the one who lied, cheated, took advantage, stole, stalked, hurt, betrayed, or cheated on your guy. She's the reason he doesn't want to commit/is in a selfish phase/won't open up/can't trust anyone.

Yeah.  The just before girl can really fuck shit up for you.

But sometimes the just before girl is a blessing in disguise. Sometimes the just before girl is your guardian angel and you don't even know it. She's the one who endured the games, the fuckwittage, the fear of commitment, the push and pull, the switcheroo, and the unrelationship for a little or a long time; steadfastly staying the course, unwaveringly understanding;  showing your guy that he can count on her.  Or someone.

Unfortunately for the just before girl (but fortunately for you), shit never works out between her and your guy. It can't - that's just the nature of the just before.  But when it ends - sometimes more amicably than others - your guy emerges with a different perspective. On some level he realizes he was a dickhead and mindfucked the just before girl six ways from Sunday.  He emerges - like a butterfly from a cocoon - slightly less of an asshole than he was before.

This is where you come in. Your guy won't be perfect (they never are) but at least he'll be able to admit he's been a jerk in the past. Your road with him won't be completely smooth, but at least you'll have a destination in sight.

See I'm that just before girl. Looking back over my illustrious career as a serial dally-er;  I'm noticing that almost all the men I've dallied with have gone on to wife (literally or figuratively) their next girl.
 

This makes me strangely proud. 

Like a mother hen who has raised her chicks and sent them off to lay their own eggs;  I'm grooming boyfriends, fiances, and husbands on my little farm.  I'm like a finishing school for flawed men.   I'm like the last inspector in a factory who makes sure the product is in salable condition before it hits the shelves. Just call me Inspector #9

What do you guys think? Do you think the person that preceded you has any impact on your man/woman's behaviour? Are you the just-before girl/guy?


29 June 2010

Throwback Tuesday - One is the Onliest Number

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For most of my adult life I've been a one-woman show. And notwithstanding my auntie's prayers for a husband for me and my mum's assurances that "my time will come", I'm okay with it. Let's face it, I’m way too weird and way too solitary to really flourish in a long-term relationship.

I’ve really never bemoaned walking through life alone, but lately I’ve caught myself wondering if I should have married young.  Then again, the catalyst for these musings is always either some calamity that I don’t want to deal with or something heavy that I don’t want to lift, so I don’t think I have a crisis on my hands just yet.

It does make me wonder though whether I'll ever be willing to give up the sublime joy of living alone and let a (gasp!) boy move in here. Right now the idea holds just about zero appeal, but I’m still young(ish) and hot and running the streets every chance I get. Having a man to tend to will just slow me down! Ten years from now it might be a different story.

So in order to prepare myself for the possibility of co-habiting again, I’ve been giving some thought to the possible benefits of having a live-in man at casa max. This is what I’ve come up with so far:

1. He could take out the garbage.

2. He could investigate when I hear loud noises in the middle of the night.

3. He could lift heavy things.

4. He could nag me to do the things I am too lazy to do such as take my vitamins.

5. He could help me figure out which shoes to wear with my outfits.

Hmm that's all I can think of. That's sad.

Oh wait!

6. He could untangle the knots that I always get in my necklaces.

Oh good lord that's all I can come up with.  But I did come up with a few cons of having a man around. Let's take a look, shall we?

1. He will complain about the number of toiletries I have strewn all over the place.

2. He will complain about the number of shoes I have strewn all over the place.

3. He will talk to me when I am reading.

4. More laundry to do because I do not trust men to wash clothes for me. (Oh but I just thought of a pro! He could iron for me!)

5. He will snore. And while I don't really mind snoring so much, given a choice I'd prefer not to listen to it.

6. He will turn the television up too loudly. I know he will.

7. Although he could take out the garbage, in actuality he wouldn't and that would irritate me.

8. He will want to keep his clothes in my closets after I've finally gotten them arranged the way I want them

So yeah, all things considered it doesn't seem like having a man around wouldn't accomplish the same thing as hiring a handyman and a housekeeper. And I would have a lot more closet space.

Am i missing something? Enlighten me please!

22 June 2010

Throwback Tuesday - Dealbreakers

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Have you nominated me and my blogging buddies for the Black Weblog Awards yet? You can get all the details and sh*t over here.

Anybody who knows me knows that I am really not a planner. Outside of my wardrobe consultations with the bestie I never know what I'm doing from one moment to the next. In job interviews, the question "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?' scares the crap out of me because I never know what to say.

Needless to say, I also don't have a list of what I'm looking for in a man. This may have something to do with the fact that I'm not currently looking for one, but I also think that being too narrow in your search can stop you from seeing something out of the box that might be really good. Much to my delight, one of my favourite blogging boys agrees with me. (here too)

But a recent conversation with one of my girls - who had 42 must-haves on her list - and reading this and this, got me thinking I ought to give a list a try. But since a list of what I want in a man would be way too long, I thought I'd try a list of what I absolutely do.not.want.

So without further ado, here are my dealbreakers:

1. Rudeness

This includes poor phone/email/text/bbm etiquette. And rudeness to others. Don't pull out my chair at the dinner table and then snap your fingers at the waitress to get her attention. It won't fly.

2. Deadbeat Dads

If you refuse to see your children because you have beef with their mother, you fail. If you refuse to find a way to get along with your child's mother so that you can see your kids, you fail. If you don't support your kids to the best of your ability, you fail. If you blatantly favour one child over another, you fail. If you hide the fact that you have kids, you fail.

3. Selfishness/Lack of consideration

No one wants a doormat, but I'm not rotating around your sun either. If you don't get that there are two of us here and both of our needs deserve consideration; I'm out.

4. Lack of Confidence

What can I say? It's just not hot.


5. Can't See Through my Slickness

I can be extremely slick when I want to and I need a man who will call me on it. If I can run rings around you I will and neither of us will like it.

5-b. Doesn't Want to Wear the Pants

It may surprise you to know that at heart I am a throwback - cater to you is my theme song - and I expect the man to be the boss. I need a man that is traditional enough in his thinking to get down with this concept. You can't be asking me all the time what I want to do, you're supposed to tell me what I'm gonna do.


6. Racial Consciousness

He doesn't have to be militant, but he has to have some kind of racial identity. I dated a man once who had had two serious relationships in his adult life; both with white women. He asked me if I had a problem with that and I didn't - whatever floats your boat buddy - but then he went on to say that he felt that a person's race had no relevance whatsoever, and that's where he lost me. He has to think about race.

6-b. I also can't get down with non-black guys.

Sorry.

7. He must get (or at least tolerate) maxlogic.

If he's going to constantly try to make me see sense, he's gonna get throat-punched.

So those are my dealbreakers. They're not unreasonable, are they? What are yours?

And don't forget the nominations for the Black Weblog Awards! Easy instructions are right here.

15 June 2010

Throwback Tuesday - The Comfort Zone

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Welcome to Throwback Tuesday. Since Google Analytics tells me that most of you are new visitors, I thought I'd re-post all the good ish you missed before you got on board the max-logic train.

So ladies, you know how it is - you meet someone, you start dating, and you're working overtime to make sure your shit is on point. Everything is waxed, hair is always done, and every date requires a quorum to determine the perfect outfit. And it works, right? Things progress and deepen, you have the talk about exclusivity, and you begin to feel a little more secure. So you take the waxing lady off speed dial, choose your own outfits, and start wearing the glasses and saving the contacts for 'special' occasions. Nothing wrong with that. But then things progress a little further, you know you have him on lock, and suddenly you live at the corner of messy ponytail and lululemon pants. You show up for sleepovers wearing your head tie and your zit cream. And we all know you're not shaving or waxing a place.

Ladies, there's such a thing as too comfortable. And that is it.

I’m not saying that you need to look like a runway model every moment you're with your man. A wise man once told me "a woman can't be on her A game every time you see her". That’s true, but that does not mean you need to completely fall off your grooming habits.

Please remember - men are visual creatures - they are stimulated by what they see. So please give them something enticing to look at, or don't be upset when they look somewhere else. And remember what I told you - you gotta start as you mean to go on. So if you start out cute and get lazy, don't be surprised when he starts out smitten and ends up bored.

Now this does not mean that you have to do what I do dumb sh*t like waiting until he falls asleep to take off your makeup and tie your hair and then set the alarm really early so you can groom yourself and climb back in bed. That’s just silly. Head tying is a necessary part of hygiene and most men will appreciate the effort. But think of it as a trade off:

Head tie + flannel pajamas = not hot
Head tie + sexy pajamas = him probably not even noticing what is on your head.
Bonus points for head tie + no pajamas

Not wearing makeup if you're hanging at home = fine
Walking around with dots of toothpaste all over your face = fail

I think you get the picture. Am I off base here?

Oh and men - don't think you're off the hook here either. You know you get comfortable too. No one wants to see you walking around with strategically-placed holes in your boxers. And yes you have to put lotion on even if we are just hanging at your place (on your WHOLE body please - not just your arms and legs). We women may not be as driven by the visuals as you are, but we still want to see you looking good.

What say you all though? Ladies how comfortable do you get with your man? Men - how comfy is too comfy?


And don't forget the nominations for the Black Weblog Awards! Easy instructions are right here.

8 June 2010

Throwback Tuesday - 10 Dumb Things Women Do

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31 May 2010

Throwback Monday - My Version of the Ladder Theory

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Sorry folks - it was quite a weekend and I did not have time to post. We we'l do throwback today and I'll give you something good tomorrow...sound good?

So about a year ago I found myself on what appeared to be an impromptu blind date. Dude was smart, funny, and interesting but not particularly hot. And before you start to roll your eyes at my shallowness, let me assure you that I have dallied with my fair share on non-cuties in my lifetime. So it's not that every man I have to date has to be Idris Elba handsome, it's just that I've noticed a trend in behaviour that occurs when non-cute men date hotties such as myself.

Sidebar: this post is based on the principle that I am a hottie. Call me an egomaniac if you will, but none of this is gonna make any sense if you don't subscribe to that particular theory.

Anyway. For those of you not familiar with the ladder theory, it's a pseudoscientific explanation the ways in which men and women evaluate members of the opposite sex upon first impressions. In the ladder theory model, this decision is typically made quickly and is often final. This determines the other's potential as a future mate. (source)

So basically, when men and women meet, they place each other on a ladder based on how they score on a bunch of different points. The higher the score, the higher you go on the ladder. The whole thing is pretty stupid complex, but the one aspect of the ladder theory that is relevant to this post is "ladder disparity". Simply put, this is when two people meet each other and place each other on vastly different points on the ladder. Check out this picture:


See how Bob has Jane on the bottom of his ladder and Jane has Bob at the top of hers? That's what we're talking about here.

Now back to they mystery date. Although homeboy and I are both funny, smart, and interesting, I would likely end up higher on his ladder than he would on mine because I am hot and he is a troll of the difference in our levels of attractiveness. And I know what you're gonna say - looks don't matter, it's what inside that counts, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, pretty and $3 will get you on the bus. But before you start with all that, let me school you. The problem is not one's level of attractiveness per se, it's how our perception of our own attractiveness and that of our partners dictates how we behave.

Let me illustrate: I (a hottie as previously discussed) once dated a man who - when I first saw him - literally made my jaw drop. But oh my lord what a spectacular asshole he was. Seriously.  I've never been treated worse by a man and trust me when I tell you I have met some real jackasses in my time. But oh if you guys could have seen me, buying shoes for this man, cooking for him, enduring levels of disrespect that I can't even get into here, all because he was higher than I on the ladder. I felt that he was out of my league and that I had to bend over backwards to please him because of all the other women out there just waiting for me to fuck up so they could snatch him.

Conversely, I also once dated a man whose jaw probably dropped when he first saw me.  He was a nice guy, but definitely nothing to get excited about in the looks department. But oh how he showered me with attention and affection. Because I was out of his league, he had to work overtime to win me over.

So you're probably wondering, what's wrong with that?

Well in the first scenario, the dude was highly attractive and in his mind that gave him license to be an asshole. and no matter how accommodating I was, he stayed an asshole.  The only thing that changed was that I met someone else got sick of it and bounced. In the second scenario, despite my superior level of attractiveness I was not an asshole and never became one. And because of his efforts, old dude eventually won me over and we reached a point of equilibrium where we were equally into each other. And then he became an asshole and the whole thing ended in a dramatic, painful, and tragic way.

Get it now? No? Okay - let me break it down for you (so it can forever and consistently be broke). When a woman dates a hottie, she works hard to prove her worth. To paraphrase the late great Robin Harris, ugly girls don't want no trouble. They're just grateful a hot dude is giving them the time of day, even if it's wrong. But when a woman dates an uggo, he's not grateful, he's on a mission. He has one objective: to cut her down to size and he will do whatever it takes to accomplish his goal. He'll refuse to tell her she's pretty because he doesn't want to "gas up her head". He'll be distant, sketchy, and confusing  until he has flipped things in such a way so as to make her behave as though she's the one at the bottom of the ladder.

So the moral of the story is not that a pretty girl should never date a homely dude. It's just that a lot of girls go for the less attractive ones because they think it will be easier. There's an expectation that the unfortunate-looking man will continue to work hard for his hot girl throughout their relationship because at every moment he will be aware that she's out of his league. And I'm here to tell you: this is not the case. Non-cute men have egos just like cuties do and they're not gonna sweat you ad infinitum - why go through all that bother when they can just cut you down to a manageable size?

So what does all this mean for impromptu blind date dude? I found out that he is known in his social circle for being the ugly dude who pulls nuff girls because he's educated and well-to-do. And he dumps them with a quickness for infractions such as not having pretty enough feet or misusing a word in a sentence. And also that he's not feeling me.

See? Pretty and $3 can get you on the bus.

What do you guys think of my theory?

25 May 2010

Throwback Tuesday - Lies We Tell Ourselves

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Welcome to Throwback Tuesday. Since Google Analytics tells me that most of you are new visitors, I thought I'd re-post all the good ish you missed before you got on board the max-logic train.

Men I called you out already. Ladies, please believe your turn is coming. But today's lies know no gender; because everyone blows smoke up their own ass at one time or another. Now I'm not saying you have to stop doing it, you just have to know you're full of shit.

1. It just happened
This is the balm with which we soothe ourselves when we do someone something we shouldn't have. We all like to believe that the universe has conspired against us in such a way as to render us completely blameless when we find ourselves in an undesirable situation, when the reality is that our actions have set us on the path that led to this dreaded event. The #1 use for this line is cheating - we all just love to say it just happened and it was an accident, when really we made it happen ourselves by choosing to be in a setting that was conducive to it.
Unless you're one of those mythical magical people who actually does slip and fall on a dick/in a pussy, you need to stop lying to yourself.

2. You can't help whom you fall in love with
Unless we are talking about love at first sight - which we are not - this is a load of bullshit. In order to fall in love with someone, you kinda need to know something about them, spend time with them, have some kinda physical contact with them, get a sense of your compatibility. Am I right? of course I am.  So if you don't put yourself in a position in which it is possible for you to gain the kind of knowledge/connection that is required for you to fall in love, isn't it pretty much a guarantee you won't? And if you do spend time with someone and end up falling in love with them, haven't you facilitated that?
This expression never made sense to me - please enlighten me if I'm missing something.

3. I fell asleep
Oh this one just burns me! People use this one all the time! And guess what - nobody just falls asleep - you go to sleep. When you make plans to go out and you don't go because you fell asleep, you're a damn liar. Unless you have narcolepsy or fell asleep standing in front of your mirror with a mascara wand on your eyelashes, you're full of shit. You chose to lie down or sit down, you chose not to have some kind of safeguard to make sure you stayed awake or woke up when you had to, so guess what? You went to sleep. and you're an asshole.
Stop lying to yourselves people! 

What do you guys think? Are these legitimate excuses or just shield we use to hide from blame?



18 May 2010

Throwback Tuesday - The Problem with Friends and Advice

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Welcome to Throwback Tuesday. Since Google Analytics tells me that most of you are new visitors, I thought I'd repost all the good ish you missed before you got on board the max-logic train.


I dated a guy once who was a complete asshole. I knew it at the time, but somehow allowed myself to get sucked into his vortex and it took just over two years to get myself out. The whole experience was completely soul-crushing, but there is one thing he taught me that made the whole debacle worthwhile: be very careful about taking advice from your friends. Granted, he probably told me this in response to my friends' collective opinions that I should leave him, but it still holds water.

If you're as lucky as I am, you have a handful of friends who love you. But that doesn't mean they get you and it doesn't always mean they want the best for you. It's a sad fact of life that some people find joy in other people's pain, and that miserable people always want someone along for the ride. Which is not to say that your friends will set out to ruin your life, only just that you should take their advice with a grain of salt. We'll get back to that in a moment.

All of the above begs the question of whether I a) give advice and b) follow my friend's advice. And the answer to both is mostly yes. I give advice but I try very hard to wait until I'm asked for it. When I am, I usually ask 'do you want to know what I would do in this situation? Or do you want to know what I think you should do?'. Sometimes I say 'do you want me to be nice or do you want me to tell the truth?'. But that's just me. 

In terms of whether I follow advice, it really depends. Besides my sister, I only have one friend whose advice I would follow without first seriously examining her motivations for giving it. Everyone else's advice has to go through a screening process before I'll follow it.

Which leads me right back to where I left off - taking advice with a grain of salt. I think that before you follow your friend's advice, there are a few things you have to consider:

1. Where they are in their life
If you are taking dating/relationship advice from your girl who can't keep a man, you might want to think twice. You know the expression 'the blind leading the blind'? it applies here. If you see your girl do shit with a man that makes you cringe, why would you trust her judgment over your own? If you're taking career advice from your frequently-fired friend, you might wanna reconsider that. Just like you want your doctor to have a medical degree, you should want your friend to have some kind of expertise in a matter before you go following their suggestions.

2. Does the advice make sense for you?
Unless I specifically say 'tell me what you would do in my situation', I want my friend to give me advice that's based on, well, me. I want her to use what she knows about the kind of person I am and the situation I'm in to help me make a decision about how to proceed. We all know that people are different and what is normal behaviour to one person is completely unacceptable to another. I want my advice tailored to my realm of possibility.

3. How did she arrive at the advice?
Please don't tell me to do something unless you have thought it through. Because when I ask you 'why, why do you think i should do that?' you need to have an answer. Reflexive, unsupported, unilateral advice has little to do with you, your situation, or what is best for you, most of the time it's your friend just saying what she thinks is the right thing to say at the time.

4. Would she do it?
If a friend advises me to do something that I know for sure she would never do herself, it raises a red flag for me. Is she saying that because she recognizes that we are different, or does she just want to live vicariously through me? Or does she just want to see me crash and burn?

5. did i ask for this advice? - it makes me very nervous when i call a friend to tell them a story and they start telling me what to do about it. when i need advice i ask for it and if i don't then please assume i've already figured it out. in my experience, unsolicited advice is rarely worth listening and usually is less about me than it is about the person who is giving it.

Advice isn't an exact science. There's a lot going on beneath the surface - for both the asker and the giver - and we need to remember that. Just because you ask for advice, doesn't mean you have to follow it to the letter (although it gets annoying as shit when someone constantly asks you for advice and never fucking listens to it). Advice should be a conversation, not a proclamation.

Where you guys stand on taking advice from your friends? Giving advice? Have you ever had to cut someone off from giving/receiving advice from you?


11 May 2010

Throwback Tuesday - The Art of the Game

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Welcome to Throwback Tuesday. Since Google Analytics tells me that most of you are new visitors, I thought I'd repost all the good ish you missed before you got on board the max-logic train.

'[Ladies,] when you're with a man you like, be quiet and mysterious, act ladylike, cross your legs and smile. Don't talk so much.Wear black sheer pantyhose and hike up your skirt to entice the opposite sex! You might feel offended by these suggestions and argue this will suppress your intelligence or vivacious personality. You may feel that you won't be able to be yourself, but men will love it!'
(from The Rules by Ellen Fein and Sherrie Schneider)

Ridiculous, right? I know.
But consider this:

'I say that maybe she should stop reading it.
'I know...But it's like I've been trying to catch a fish by swimming around with them. I keep making myself get in the water again. I try different rivers. I change my strokes. But nothing works. Then I find this guide that tells me about fishing poles and bait, how to cast and what to do when the line gets taut...The depressing part is that you know it will work.'
(from The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank)

Don't we all feel this way?

I don't think I know a single woman who hasn't read, bought, or skimmed at least one of the following books: The Rules, Why Men Love Bitches, Men are from Mars/Women are from Venus, He's Just Not That Into You, or Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man. And while most women recognize the impracticality of following their advice, there is just enough truth to it to stop us from completely disregarding them (and because I have male readers, I'm not gonna get into the nitty-gritty of what the books say - can't give away all our secrets). The challenge is how to balance this dogmatic advice with a) the dating pool in your city and b) your own personality.

For example, The Rules tells women not to ever accept a date if the man gives you less than four days' notice. To which women inevitably say, 'I don't know a single man that would ever give four days notice! if I listen to these dumb bitches Ii'll never get a date!'

On the other hand, any smart woman knows a man will only put forth as much effort as you require him to. So if you don't insist on notice, you'll never get it. All the same, four days seems a bit extreme, no? So where does the solution lie? Somewhere in between I guess.

The main point that all these books make (and yes, I have read them all) is that men are hunters and without the chase they get bored. So women can't be too available. Which I think is absolutely true. It's in the execution that problems begin:

'Invite a man over for dinner and when he gets there pop a bag of microwave popcorn. Put it in a bowl if he's really special'?
That's pretty extreme. A woman reads something like that and just gives up because the shit is so improbable.

'When the cheque comes for dinner, don't even look at it and under no circumstances make an attempt to pay it'
Most men I know expect a woman to at least offer, even when she knows her offer won't be accepted.

'Don't be funny. Funny is masculine'
But what if you're just a funny person?

At one point in my life I gave up on these games altogether. I decided to just 'be myself' and 'be real' and lay my feelings and availabilities on the line without agenda or strategy. I considered it a social experiment and if you've been paying attention you know how that worked out.

So are games the answer for women? I'm not convinced. I think that what the problem is - and what these books ignore - is the way in which a woman will prioritize a man; right from the very beginning. She can be in the middle of a serious conversation with a friend and if Mr. New Dude calls on the other line, she'll drop everything to take the call. And once she has him on the phone, she's not switching over to answer a beep. She'll blow off plans with her friends for a date with dude and not think twice about it.

If I ever wrote a dating advice book, it would be one line long - live your life, girl. If you're on the phone and he beeps in, send his ass to voicemail just like you would your mother. If he hits you on BBM while you're sleeping, sleep. If you have plans with your friends, go about your business and let him catch you another time. You don't need to invent a life just to trick a man into thinking you're interesting and desirable, just live the one you have so that you actually will be.
That's my two cents. Post yours in the comments.

23 April 2010

A Throwback Post - Why I Don't Date White Guys

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Sorry guys - it's been one of those weeks. But here's another oldie but goodie for you.

Years ago when I was in school I had these two friends Adam and Cory. They were the kind of white guys I hate now...loved hip hop and thought that made them "down", called each other "bro", you know the type. I really only tolerated them because Adam was kinda cute.

Anyway, these dudes were responsible for the only two experiences I’ve ever had with white guys - which is amazing if you consider that I grew up in London Ontario. One was the fabulous Bobby who kissed me for the first time in his parents' bathroom next to the Elvis clock and with whom I got down 'n dirty in his jeep on the grounds of Brescia College - where the nuns live in London.

I know - I was scandalous.


Anyway, the other we'll call JP. And JP was, well, straight up whiter than the whitest white man. Let’s take a look:

He was from PEI
He played hockey
He had some kind of mullet

But ole JP had two things going for him: he was adorable and he was riding my jock hard. So yeah I let him take me out a couple of times and yes I went home with him one night. 

We lay on his bed and it was lovely. Oh, so lovely. Until JP had um, an equipment malfunction?

"Poor thing" I thought. Because as embarrassed as I was, I knew he had to be absolutely mortified. "I’m sorry!" he nearly sobbed. "I’m so sorry!" "It’s okay" I murmured encouragingly. I really felt bad for him. Until this:


"I’m so upset! I waited my whole life to be with a black girl and here you are and look!"(gesturing southward)


Um, yeah. so not only have you wasted my time, and left me with blue "balls", but you thought it was a good idea to tell me I’m the living manifestation of some massa-mammy fantasy you've been harbouring?!?
I was not impressed. But not wanting to kick a "man" when he's down (literally), I calmly got up and left, not letting on just how much I wanted to smack his pasty face. 

but then
but THEN
but then he never called me!


22 March 2010

A Throwback Post - The Little Engine that Could

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I had a bit of a rough weekend with no time to write so I'm sharing a post from my old blog with you today.

Many years ago I went on a date with this guy. The date was so unspectacular that I literally cannot remember anything about it – nothing at all except that I parked my car in a green P lot near Yonge & College. Actually – that’s one thing I remember – he didn’t drive. And y’all know how I feel about that right?? He was a singer and male singers tend to annoy me. They just think they’re so NICE. Even when they look like the bottom of my shoe. This guy wasn’t that horrid but he definitely thought he was destined for superstardom and that I should count myself lucky that I was given an audience with him.

Anyway. Like I said, I wasn’t feeling this guy. So I thought I'd try a theory I read about that was supposed to guarantee you'd never hear from a guy again: just f*ck him. Literally, not figuratively. If you go on one date with a guy and you never want to see him again, sleep with him and chances are he’ll disappear from the face of the earth. 

So I brought him home with me. The foreplay must have been weak because I don’t remember it at all. What I do remember is the histrionics that ensued. Once I ascertained that he was inside me (and trust me I had to do an extremity-count because I couldn’t feel much) I was absolutely astounded by the caterwauling that went on. He was bucking and weaving, moaning and panting and sweating. And sweating. There was so much sweat I have to say it twice. This dude sweated out alllllll my edges. It was about 10,000,000 kilowatts of energy to light a 40-watt bulb. You know what I'm saying? I was completely flabbergasted. And thank G-d for that because if not I would have fallen asleep, it was that bad. I just laid there, watching this bead of sweat collecting at the tip of his chin and thinking “yes work that little d*ck boy”. And if you know me at all you know I don’t talk like that so trust me when I tell you it was so crazy it gave me multiple personalities. Anyway, to add insult to injury the shit didn’t go on very long either. No length, no girth, no stamina. Poor child. I feel sorry for his future wife.

It was over, he was wack, I was sleepy (and obviously needed a shower). He left, promising to call me the next day. And I guess the theory was correct because then…and THEN… and then he never called me!

p.s. I saw him a few months later and some party or another. He made the mistake of trying to speak to me. I gazed at him coolly over the tip of my cigarette and said “anything you have to say to me you should have said when you called me the day after you fucked me. Oh – wait, you didn’t. So please don’t speak to me.”
Was that rude??

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bag lady. digital nerd. beauty junkie. shoe whore. i'm a sucker for big words and box-fresh kicks. know a little bit about a lot of things and have something to say about everything.
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