Bee’s Musings

I’ve had a couple of comments about the long delays in my posts lately.

Here’s the reason why. Gotta love roadshows. If you know any DBAs in Washington DC, Boston, Columbus, Chicago, St Louis, Houston, Irvine, San Fran, Phoenix, New York, Atlanta or Seattle, have them sign up for this show please. The sooner people register for the event, the sooner I can start blogging again!

Some confuse conversation with talking, or course, and go on for the rest of
their lives, never stopping, boring others with meaningless chatter and
complaints. But real conversation includes asking questions, and asking the
right questions before it’s too late. - Charles Schulz

I read this quote earlier today, and couldn’t help but feel drawn to it. How often do we think that we’re having conversations, that we’re truly communicating, when, in fact, we’re merely talking. A friend and I communicate mostly via text-messaging. This is partly due to our busy schedules, and partly due to how easy it is. Its even easier than calling someone. You don’t have to think of as much to say, and there really are no awkward silences. When you put the two of us in a car, there’s a silence. Its not uncomfortable, by any means, but it exists there, nearly palatable.

When I was a youngster, I was a relatively quiet kid. (Yes, I can year you laughing. Now stop, this is serious.) It wasn’t that I couldn’t talk, or wouldn’t. It was just that I had nothing to say. I think if we all slow down the chatter a bit, and learn to listen more, or even to have real meaningful conversations, we could all learn a lot. I want to get back to that point where we not only ask the right questions before its too late, we actually learn what the right questions are. They’re not “How about that rainstorm?” or “Did you catch that new movie this weekend?” They’re “How are you?” and actually listening to the answer. Or knowing that someone has a sick child or a new dog and taking the time to get to know them.

People are typically wonderfully passionate about something in their lives. I’m going to make it my new goal to listen more, to find out what people’s passions are, and, hopefully cut down on this clutter that we all hear every day.

There’s a special kind of relationship that happens every day, but that we rarely talk about. Most people don’t want to admit that they’re involved in it, no matter what side of the fence they’re on.

This relationship, my friend, is called “The Twinkie”

A twinkie is someone who is merely a filler. They don’t serve in the “meat and potatoes” role that a real girlfriend or boyfriend fills. You don’t want to take them home to meet your parents, or often even to a gathering to meet your friends. They’re just the people you hang out with, sometimes make out with, and watch movies with. You cuddle on the couch, have drinks, but you both know that that’s all it is.

The wonderful thing about twinkies is that there is no pressure. Since you both know there isn’t a future, you don’t have to talk about where the relationship is going. There is no relationship to go anywhere. You’re a filler, they’re a filler.

There’s a downside to twinkies as well. Once you get used to having them, you stop looking for meat and potatoes. You become complacent. Its easier to have them rather than trying to look your best and put on another happy face.

If you haven’t had a twinkie, I strongly encourage you to get one. And if you’re currently with one, make sure that you’re not settling too early. And if you’re in a relationship, and you don’t know if you’re a twinkie, ask yourself this: Are you willing to have “the talk”? Do other people know that you’re dating? If you’re not, you’re probably a twinkie.

My friend Dustin introduced me to a hillarious new website…IllWillPress.com. My personal favorite is Jiggly Butt, which you can view here. Enjoy!

So, since I’m home from work, and no longer required to be glued to a computer screen, I naturally log on at home to check what’s going on in the world of news. I’m a frequent purveyor of Google News, typically because of the wide variety of stories. And I’m also frequently amused when the picture doesn’t match up with the headline (when, for example Jennifer Aniston shows up with the crisis in the Middle East). But I digress.

Most days, I find a “Well, Duh” headline in my reading, and today is no exception. According to Forbes.com Pregnancy and Pot Don’t Mix. Thanks Forbes (and BBC, and countless others). We’re all very aware of the warnings about alcohol, tobacco, and even caffiene intake during those formative months - does the general populace truly believe that an illicit drug would be any different? What is the next headline going to be - “LSD Harmful to Lactating Mothers and their Infants” because the babies are having the hallucinations?

Just my humble opinion on the world. No offense to anyone reading this who may partake of said substances, or whose mothers did while they were pregnant (although that would explain a lot…)