The Little Things Really Do Count the Most

Every time we receive an assignment in our Journalism class, our instructor chooses one student that he feels produced the best article in the class. The chosen student gets a handshake, a Spiderman sticker on their paper, their work read out loud, recognition for doing an amazing job, but most importantly, the satisfaction of mastering what was surely a difficult task.

Although difficult to receive, it is truly an honour if you are lucky enough to be a recipient of a sticker.

Angele Faucher, one of the girls in my class, just told me the sweetest story the other day on this topic.

For her one-year anniversary, her boyfriend Taylor gave her a Spiderman sticker because he knows how much it would mean to her to receive one.

As Angele told me the story, every girl in our class melted.

What does the Spiderman sticker symbolize for the couple?

It is indicative of Taylor’s consideration, thoughtfulness, and support. He truly listens to her, believes in her, respects and admires her, and cares about what she cares about.

Now that, Angele, is a keeper.

Epic Fail- How NOT to Pick Up a Girl

Try emphasizing her brain.

Kiran sits down to eat her lunch in the crappy café at the RRC Princess Street Campus.
Random business admin boy sits next to her and starts a conversation.

“So what are you studying in school?’ he asks Kiran.
“Journalism, you?” Kiran responds politely.
“Oh…so you want to be some writer? Like for Maxim?”
“Umm….no….I’m thinking like the world news eventually! It’s ambitious, I know, but I…” Kiran says.
“So…like you want to work for Cosmo then?” He says as he cuts Kiran off.
“Huh??…No, I said, world…” A confused Kiran stutters.
“Ah! I totally get it now. You’ll be a great weather girl.” The boy says, clearly very proud of his progress in the conversation.

Twitter???? Ah..ok!

So today in Public Relations, Melanie informed us that our assignment was to create a Twitter account.

Err...Twitter? Isn't it enough that I have hotmail, a blog, and Facebook? I'm not sure if I can handle another social media networking site...Remember the days of Myspace, Hifive(sp??), and other awkward friend-making/stalking sites? Please, not another one.

But then again, I've now been on Twitter for 20 mins and I already am enjoying it. The best part of it so far is that I can follow such a wide variety of people and get the news in that way. For example, I'm following CNN, CTV, Barack Obama, Oprah, Larry King, Anderson Cooper, Ellen Degeneres, and a few more, so now, instantenously, I'm getting a good variety of news that I'm interested in at my fingertips.

Additionally, I do think that Twitter is an amazing resource for communicators. It allows them the ability to send out their messages in a mass way that is super fast and efficient. Moreover, it also allows communicators to receive messages that they otherwise may not have access to. So overall, I may not be a huge Twitter fan yet, but I do see its value.

Can Guys and Gals Just Be Friends?

The million dollar question: can boys and girls ever just be friends?

The million dollar answer......I don’t have it. But I do have my opinion.

This is a touchy topic, and one that I know most people have an opinion on. My answer to this question is simple. No. They cannot.

Now, of course, I have one exception to this rule. Guys and gals cannot just be friends...if in any way, they are physically attracted to one another.

The premise is simple. Not every person of the opposite sex you meet and create a connection with, you’ll have feelings for. In fact, quite the opposite is true, in my opinion. Most of the people you meet, you will not have romantic feelings for. Some will become your greatest friends, strongest allies, and greatest confidants, and yet, you will never consider them to be any more than just your friend. Why is this? Because you are not sexually or physically attracted to them.

Think about it. When you meet someone new and begin to forge an association, do you not consider if they could be a potential match for you? Of course you do! Be honest. Every time you meet someone of the other sex, you consider whether or not you could see them more than an association or a friend. Sometimes, this process is innate, fast, and takes no time. Nope. He’s as old as my grandpa. Nope, she is kind of rude. We go through this process in our minds and in the end; a person emerges into one of two categories. Category one is friendship or association. Category two is potential.

I’m not advocating that you’ll be in love with a “potential” or be super interested in them. I’m just saying that if there is any physical attraction there, the person has potential to be more than just your friend. I’m not even saying that you’ll be SUPER attracted to the person (they don’t have to be your Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie), just that there is SOME physical attraction to begin.

So then what happens? You become friends with that person. That’s fine. I’m also not saying that the friendship is not sincere. It is....but still, I think that if at any time there is potential or physical attraction between two people, even if they are just friends, there will always be a degree of jealousy, possessiveness, curiosity, or interest between them.

Now, a refutation to my theory is this: in order to be in love with someone, you also need an emotional connection. I agree with this though. I’m just saying that friends have emotional connections to.... psychological and intellectual connections as well. So what differentiates a friend and a lover? A person you emotionally connect with and a partner?

That’s physical attraction.

When Harry Met Sally....go rent that movie. This movie deals with this topic in the best way.



Disclaimer: I am completely aware that people reading this blog may be interested in someone of their own sex. In order to make my blog comprehensively flow well, I only address women and men as potential matches. That being said, I do mean to include gay men and lesbian women in my posts. All of this still applies to you!

Three Types of Boys to Avoid

Three Types of Boys to Avoid

1) The guy that hits on your friends: There is no excuse for this kind of guy. And I have no patience for him. We all know him, the guy that seems to like one girl but cant really make up his mind...and is a little too nice to her friends, but never crosses the line blatently so she can't do anything but feel insecure and sad about it? Yeah, I know this guy. The one who enjoys a free-for-all, whatever sticks, he’ll go with. AVOID. If he can’t even decide that you’re the one he wants to pursue, you’re already too good for him. Move on. You’re dogging a bullet on this one. Trust me.

2) The overall asshole: This one is a bit more subjective, I realize. I'm not talking about the bad boy with a good heart here...When I was growing up, one of the biggest criteria I had for a guy was not only how he treated me, but how he treated everyone else around him. If a guy likes you, most likely, he’ll give you attention and will show interest in you. All positive things. The thing to watch for? How does he treat everyone else? Your family? Your friends? More than that, how does he treat the cashier? The gas attendant? The ticket taker at the movies? The taxi driver? The waitress? That’s important. Why? Because it is a clear indication of how he’ll treat you the second he’s not getting what he wants.

3) The cheater: No girls, I don’t care if “they weren’t really together,” “he wouldn’t do that to me,” “ he didn’t really like her,” “it was last year,” or “it only happened the one time.” If he’d cheat on her, he’d cheat on you. If he has cheated on you, his instinct will be to do it again. Cheating represents SERIOUS character flaws in the cheater...Moreover, even if it was really just a one time thing, you don’t know that, you'll probably be plagued with insecurities....so all I’m saying is, if you know a guy has cheated in the past, next. Find one that hasn’t first before you even consider the loser that has. And never forget, he's a loser because he cheated.

Next week's topic: Can guys and girls ever really just be friends?

Soulmate?

Soulmates, soulmates, soulmates! Soulmates?????

What are soulmates? Do they exist?

I believe in soulmates the same way I believe in flowers and chocolate. They may seem cliché, but they exist and they make our lives better.

Now, to begin, I also believe in fate and karma (call me idealistic, everyone does). I believe that everything happens for a reason,even if the reason is not evident or obvious to us at first glance. In terms of karma, what goes around definitely comes around.

My best friend Darcy often scolds me on my undying faith in the concept of karma. He says, “but Kiran, if you only do good things because you don’t want karma to come around and work against you, that isn't true karma. You’re only being good so it will come back to you.” He thinks the idea of karma is hypocritical and I will admit, that based on his logic, it implies that people’s good actions are not altruistic at all because they seem to be doing good deeds with the expectation that the good karma will come back to them. But I don’t agree with that. I think that over your lifespan, if you do good things and genuinely have a good heart, karma will reward you somehow. Kinda like there is no such thing as luck; luck is preparation meeting opportunity.

Anyways, off of my tangent, I do believe in soulmates. My definition for soulmates is a bit different then you may anticipate though. I think your soulmate is someone who completes you, who brings out the best in you, and who you are most comfortable with. That at the end of you life, you can trun around and say that you were most at ease with that person who understood you the best and with whom you bonded with most. Even if you don’t end up with that person or the relationship fails, that does not mean that it wasn’t worth something, that it didn’t teach you about yourself, or that it hasn’t made you who you are.

Based on this definition of soulmates, if you’ve read carefully, you'll notice that I don’t actually think that your soulmate has to necessarily be someone that you are romanticailly involved with. Instead, they can be a parent, a mentor, a sibling…..a best friend. The person in your life who you truly connect with. Stop for one second and think of that person in you life now or in your past who you havebeen most at peace with….they may be a strong contender in your soulmate search.

Watch the trailer below. It's for the film Prime with Bryan Greenberg, Meryl Streep, and Uma Thurman. The movie seems a bit silly, but it is truly lovely once you watch it. I highly recommend it because it deals with a few of the topics (soulmates as well as having an ex matter to you even if the relationship fails) I've written about tonight.