Just me, my pineapple and my composition notebook pants...

Girl S here...finally...Below is the list of 10 things we need to accomplish in 2010. It took me 33 minutes to sort through emails to find this damn thing. I also woke up to 8am to the sound of chainsaws and blowers, so this blog about my current personal progress will most definately contain explitives. Earmuff it if you can't handle it- or Eyemuff it..whatevs

1. Go to a state you’ve never been to

2. Become a regular at a bar

3. Take one class on anything that interests you- must be a series

4. Read 1 book suggested by another one of us

5. Write a letter to the editor/get something published

6. Help Build a Home for someone – can’t know the person! Has to be an act of charity.
7. Try a New Church

8. Make a New Friend - We are talking straight up stranger here people.
9. Commit to writing for at least 10 minutes, 5 days a week

10. At least 1 day a month, perform a random act of kindness

My progress and thoughts are below. Please feel free to respond.

1. Go to a state you have never been to: We havent planned anything, and i'm getting scared because we have two ladies in this group getting married. Are you allowed to go on girlfriend trips once you're married?? What are the rules once you're hitched? What rules do your friends play by? I know there is a lot of hype about the bride, but all too often, 'here comes the bride' has meant ' there goes your buddy.'

2. Become a regular at a bar: Maybe we should switch this one for me "stay away from the bars so the bar-keep who saw you fall down the steps and throw your shoe at a bum will soon forget your name."

3. Take one class on anything that interest you: I cant commit to any sort of schoolin' until my 6 month grace period ends (May 2010). I dont like to be commited to learning. I just like to do it on my own. I spent 22 straight years in school and feel like the most important thing I learned was the golden rule...which doesnt cost $100k....oh, and I can sing-recite the preamble to the constitution. We the PEEEE-puuuulll....

4. Read 1 book suggested by another one of us: Seeee, I thought we had to read as many books as possible- i'm down here reading my ass off waiting for my fucking purple pin and personal pan pizza. FAIL.

5. Write a letter to the editor/get something published: I recently wrote a strongly worded letter to my apartment complex about the parking situation. It wasn't published or sent, but it was pretty fancy. One day though, I will write that book i've been threatening to. No names will be changed to protect the innocent. Just you wait..

6. Help Build a home for someone: I can't wait to do this!! If I could build homes for people who NEEDED them everyday of my damn life, I would do it. I'm extremely grassroots when it comes to most things, and I like using my hands and heart simultaneously. If my resume could simply read "I just wanna do good things, change the world, and make people happy," it would.

7. Try a new church: This one is tricky for me, i'll be honest. After 25ish years of the ole Body 'N Blood, I dont know if I can go elsewhere. I feel at home and comfortable in my faith, but in the way you are with your favorite sweatshirt or running shoes-- they feel good, but you know you need to change because they just don't fit anymore. I'm actually reading a book called "Angry Conversations with God," by Susan Isaacs, and have never related MORE in my life to a persons' thoughts, beliefs, questions and grievances with God. Once I solidify the foundation i've worked 25ish years to build, THEN I will explore what else is out there.

8. Make a New friend- straight up stranger: How friendly do we need to get? Do we need to be phone-talkin' friends?? Every friend I can think of I have met through another friend.--nutty. Seven degrees of separation, kevin bacon WHAT?! I would like to amend this to state: new friend cannot be made at work. AKA, when I get a new job, those fools don't count.

9. Commit to writing for a least 10 mins a day: YIIIKES. Even in all of unemployments' fabolous glory, I have not wanted to commit to sitting down and writing. I dont know if it's the writing or the committing, but its safe to say i'm equally terrified of both. On my list of life goals "write a book" is on the tippy tippy top, but simply writing my feelings is something I have dreaded since we had 'journaling' assingments in religion class at age 7. Wackness. What kinds of feelings could a 7 year old have? "I'm hungry. Danny looks so fine with his front tooth missing. Allison gave me lice. I can't wait for kickball?" I was worn out from journaling, and I couldnt express myself any more by the end of the 3rd grade. Now, I have an internal stigma associated with writing and expressing myself. I shake my fist, SPS*

10. At least 1 day a month, perform a random act of kindness: In the episode of Friends entitled "The one where Phoebe hates PBS," she tells Joey that all acts of kindness are inherently selfish because they make you feel good personally. So, Phoebe sets out to do things that are kind, but would make her feel bad AKA, getting stung by a bee so the bee would look macho to his bee-friends. The bee was played for a fool because he died as a result of the stinging. All i'm saying is kindness is a often a two way street, and Karma isn't always a bitch. It's okay to feel good about the kind things you do, in fact, you should feel effing amazing-- and keep doing them. I may be an idealist, but if we knew more about all the good things going on in the world, I probably wouldn't be so paranoid about the year 2012 coming. I keep trying to do this ONE big, nice, unexpected thing, but i've decided instead, that i'm going to strive daily to do something kind, even in the most simple form. We should all take a chapter from the book of Ellen DeGeneres, she seems damn nice.

GOOD BYE CHEER and INSPIRATIONAL WORDS FOR THE WEEKEND:

"Be. Aggressive.
Be. E. Aggressive.
B.E.A.G.G.R.E.S.S.I.V.E.
Aggressive.
B. E. Aggressive.
A-GRESS-IVE!"

Girl S--OUT

"Crazy" Human Beings

Today my brother said something so profound, I had to share. He is a 19-year-old freshman at a prestigious state university (also my alma mater), and having an older sister has certainly prepared him better for understanding girls than those boys without sisters- which is often the case.

Anyway, his future roommate (also male) has his first real girlfriend. (Like I said, it’s a prestigious state university. These kids all had 4.0s , AP and college credits, and were members of every club imaginable in high school but talking to the opposite sex makes them want to hurl. Like I also said, it’s my alma mater. I know.) Anywho, Roommate's first girlfriend is a regular 18-year-old girl- She talks a lot. She takes pictures of everything. She’ll run off with her girlfriend and giggle even when her boyfriend is around. So, Brother and Roommate went on a whirlwind Spring Break road trip . . . with Girlfriend and her friend. By Day 6 of togetherness, Girlfriend was on Roommate’s last nerve.

As my brother regaled me with the tale, he said so plainly:
Brother: “And I feel bad for Roommate. This is his first girlfriend so he doesn’t know that girls are crazy.”
Girl J: “Excuse me?”
Brother: “You know, girls are crazy. Not like crazy crazy, but as in they’re crazy. You become used to it, and then you appreciate how endearing it is. Girl J, we're different and to the other person that makes you "crazy". Otherwise we’d all be like the Human Being.” (Reference to NBC’s sleeper hit “Community” and the school’s mascot, the Greendale Human Beings. See photo above.)

The thing is, besides being called “crazy,” I think his point is quite wise. Boys and girls are different and only when you recognize these differences can you truly appreciate what the opposite sex has to offer. (i.e. Explain to me again, why can't you wash those socks during football season?) I’m 25 and think I just realized this within the last year or so. Maybe he is the smarter sibling.

Girl J's ABCs of Lent

The Lenten season is upon us, and since each of us Girls of 2010 spent 12 to 16 years in Catholic school, I thought it was only right to share my Lenten resolutions. So, if you know me outside of the blogosphere you know I love abbreves, and I work for a company that loves a good acronym. Thus, it was only natural that I began referring to my goals as my “ABCs of Lent.”

A- Affirmations. I wanted to take the time over these introspective 40 days to affirm those I care about. We used to do this in high school all the time, but in the hustle and bustle of everyday life, we often don’t take the time to tell each of the amazing people in our lives just how amazing we truly think they are. So, if you’re reading this, get excited. You have some good words coming your way.

B- Bible. Any moms of a GO2010 may want to skip ahead to C. (Well, actually C isn’t my finest moment either so maybe just skip ahead to the end . . . . Mom, I know, you’re still there. . . . Okay, I think they’re gone.) Anyway, despite our Catholic schooling, my Bible knowledge is EMBARASSINGLY low. (I said I’m sorry, Mom.) I know stories, broad strokes, and overarching messages but not the way other Christians I’ve encountered know and understand it. Thus, I’ve began my personal quest to read the Bible. This doesn’t necessarily mean finish the Good Book in this time period, just make a solid effort to read a bit each day.

C- Cursing. Whereas A & B are to be done more, C is to be done less. I’ll admit it. My name is Girl J, and I have a potty mouth. I gave up cursing for Lent, and although I stumble every day, I have made solid strides. The saddest part about cursing is that these silly curse words are used more often than the extensive and grandiose vocabulary we cultivated during our quest for knowledge and higher learning. However, I rarely use that vocab and mostly just make up words in lieu of curse words. I said “son of a jubba” the other day. I’m not sure what that means or what I wanted it to mean, but I call that progress.

By our powers combined

Girl S is coming to town! This time tomorrow Girls J, S, and M will all be in the same city! (With Girl A sooo close and can come by at any time!! :) ) Girl S has a whole lot going on - a job interview and a birthday (she is turning 27, which is insane to me because she and I met right before her 16th birthday party. We're old.) so there may be some updates from her in the upcoming days!

What will the next days hold with this incredible powerhouse back together again? Only time will tell.

Tough Cookies

Watching Millionaire Matchmaker this weekend, I watched Patti talk about how men need to pay for dinner to establish they can take care of a woman; how women need to wear their hair long because men like it that way; how a woman couldn’t come to one of her parties because she was 15 lbs overweight and thus not up to Millionaire standards. Wow. Where to start.

First, I don’t know about you all, but I hear a lot of superficial things the women have to do/work on to be introduced to this millionaire who is coming in less than perfect. Patti never says, “You really should have finished your Masters degree” or “You don’t volunteer enough” as the reasons women aren’t invited on the yacht. Second, nothing’s ever mentioned about a female’s value as a partner, which my parents raised me to believe marriage (the point of using a matchmaker) was about . . . silly hippies. Finally, I ask- why do these poor girls do all the things she asks just because these guys have a solid business or invested wisely? Ladies, money doesn’t make a man good. Yes, there are good men with money, but I would rather live in a refrigerator box with Conan O’Brien (pretending he didn’t just receive a multi-million dollar settlement) than with Donald Trump in his tower any day.

But that’s neither here nor there; the crux is I understand what Patti’s selling. Guys want a lady and sometimes femininity is lost in the shuffle of being a strong, independent woman. But, fellas, you gots to give us a break. It’s not easy to be all of these things. I admit, I like to feel girly (don’t tell Girl M.) However, I also have to keep a certain amount of guard up. I mean, I’ve watched plenty Lifetime movies to know you can’t trust all fellas. (Just a joke. . . not the part about watching Lifetime movies. That’s very real.)

In all seriousness though, I have to take care of myself and that has made me a stronger individual then the dainty women Patti’s peddling. Just this weekend, while out for a Bachelorette party, I watched a guy push the envelope with one of the girls in the party. Whilst I was walking to the bathroom with another Girl J (Girl J#2), a guy thought it’d be funny to block her from leaving the dance floor. She stepped to the right to pass him. He stepped in front of her. She stepped to the left. So did he. She politely laughed and tried to pass a few more times. He was in her path each instance. Finally, Girl J#2 pushed him to get by. Then, he, of course, called her b@*$^ as if she was a brute for the altercation. Now, Girl J#2 is not a pusher (think Jesse from Saved by the Bell more so than Natalie from Bad Girls Club) and in all honesty, the guy in this scenario was a jerk and not representative of all men. (He ended up getting kicked out of the place because he was getting to handsy with all the ladies.)

However, the real point I’m trying to express is that we girls are faced with this stuff all the time and have to be tough cookies sometimes because of it. I know some of my experiences as a single girl in the city have made me tougher, but I think I’m better for it. I wish women were respected because they take care of themselves – not called names. I know I have plenty of people in my camp on this (everyone in this blog for sure), but I think it’s important to affirm how proud I am of all the Girls of 2010 for being strong, self-assured, independent women.

Lastly, I hope men realize just because a woman is strong and independent, doesn’t mean she isn’t a lady and likes to be treated as one. . . So feel free to hold the door open for us when we take you out to dinner.

February Progress Report: Random Acts of Kindness

One of the most ambiguous activities on our 2010 list, in my opinion, is performing a monthly random act of kindness. First, what constitutes “random” and what part of the act needs to be random? Does that mean only the recipient can be selected at random, which is one school of thought? Or should the act itself be the random component, and thus those closest to you are the most likely to benefit from your good deed? Ideally, I think both are correct and will be accepted by the group, but it’s still something that has me performing kind acts and going – What will the girls think?

As the girls and I have gone through the first six weeks of this endeavor, we’ve all tackled this goal differently. For the sake of marking our progress, I thought I would share our first round of good deeds as I am sure they will continue to evolve. We folded laundry for family members without being asked, filled a coworker’s secret stash of soda, and showed monetary appreciation for a homeless man’s musical stylings. All in all, a great first month. However, I’m personally stumped for February. Every idea I have has me saying – is this random enough? Is this kind enough?

So, what do you do when you’re stumped? Go to the Internets, and boy, am I glad I did.
A) It was entirely heartwarming to see that there were so many people out there working on this goal of perpetuating kindness. Google “random acts of kindness.” I promise you won’t be disappointed.
B) I found the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation http://www.actsofkindness.org/. I clearly joined and encourage all the girls of 2010 to check it out. They have ideas, suggestions, and testimonials for random acts of kindness in every facet of your life. So. Cool.
C) Best part is- It’s Random Acts of Kindness week (February 15-21)!! This tidbit was all the inspiration and motivation I needed for the month. I’ll be sure to share the progress after the task is completed.

Happy Kinding!

Girl A: Inspirational (by Girl J)

Well, it’s only right that Girl A shouldn’t describe herself after she’s gone through the trouble of setting up, accurately and poetically describing all of the players in this social experiment and documenting the first month of our foire into personal growth and development in 2010. However, Girl A totally would. She’s the organizer, and with a group such as Funny Tetons, Accomplished Adventurer, and Breezy Gangsta, we NEED an organizer.

Just as my book category accurately described myself, Girl A’s was totally spot-on –inspirational. Now, I ask you, how many people do you genuinely call “kind”? I offer to say that adjective is rarely used by myself because that word has almost a Biblical, larger-than-life connotation. Girl A is one of the few people I would bestow that title. Not only is she kind, ridiculously considerate, thoughtful and sweet, but you’re often so overwhelmed at the amazing and humble person she is, you rarely relish in her feats. She studied in Thailand for 9 months where she also taught English to the locals. She got her MBA whilst working a fulltime, emotionally demanding job serving her local community . . . . all while being down to party. If you’re not inspired, I suggest you look for another blog.

This Inspiring Organizer has a big year ahead of her- getting married, moving to a new city, and embarking on a new career. However, don’t be afeared, because if you are, you clearly didn’t read the above. She’s got this on lock.