Extreme to Mainstream

The illusion that tattoos and piercings and generally "odd" looks are mainstream. It seems that everyone you meet has a tattoo or piercing sometimes. The girl ringing up my groceries, the ladies at the hair salon, heck I even noticed my banker has a tattoo.

There was a time you really only expected to see these things on your mechanic or brick layer. Hard lived, blue collar kind of men. Thugs, gangsters and prisoners of course as well. Definitely never on a lady. Why going back a little, it was so unusual to see a tattooed lady that they were only employable as sideshow freaks.

No longer does the 13 year old say "But mom, Suzie has her ears pierced". Parents must now contend with "But mom, Suzie has her tongue/belly button pierced. Why can't I??" No matter how "mainstream" people argue that these looks have become, there are a few things I have NOT seen.

• I have NOT seen a tattoo, piercing or wild hair color on a doctor or nurse.
• I have NOT seen a tattoo, piercing or wild hair color on a newscaster.
• I have NOT seen a tattoo, piercing or wild hair color on a lawyer.

And I hope I never do.

I am just naive enough to believe that this is a good thing. I am not saying that it is wrong to have tattoos or piercings. I have some of my own. But have enough respect for your profession to keep them from being visible.

Please don't expect me to receive a diagnosis from a doctor with his name tattooed on his neck. I really hope that the world does not get to that point in my lifetime.

Get Your Sexy On

The Green Lantern has his power ring. Superman has his phone booth. I have a black lace bra. What makes you feel powerful?

It doesn't matter if you are a businesswoman or if you just want to boost your self confidence in the bedroom, the same rules apply. You have more influence when you feel good about yourself. In the business world, there is much discussion of the "power suit". The function of the power suit, is to serve as a modern-day suit of armor. Its purpose is to project unrelenting, untouchable power in the face of adversity without saying a word. Women in business also wear power suits, but they are, without exception, designed with the same lines, the same criteria of acceptability that govern the men's suits. Some women do feel comfortable dressed in the masculine style that disguises the female form and makes you "one of the guys" in the office. For many of us, though, this makes us feel like we have, once again, betrayed who we really are. It's time to bring sexy back. The question is, how to do this without losing our credibility as business women?

Dressing in a dramatic color, or in an outfit that plays to our feminine shape, will get you a "Don't worry your pretty little head about it" attitude from you male co-workers every time. So, we take a step back. We build our "new" power suit from the inside out. We start with undergarments that make us feel sexy. Sexy is confident. Sexy gives us power. Wearing something absolutely feminine and maybe a little naughty under our professional attire will not only make us more sure of ourselves, but will add an element of risk and daring to our everyday routine.

One of the keys to success in the workplace, is knowing something the other guy doesn't know. There is nothing quite as fulfilling as sitting across the conference table from a rival who can't figure out why you are so relaxed and confident. Little does the poor fool know, that you have prepared for this tournament. You have the impregnable armor of a slinky brocade push up bra and g-string, with a garter belt holding up the sexiest of thigh high stockings. You feel like you can conquer the world.

Does Talking Out Loud Help You Think?

Talking out loud takes courage. Weather you are an business mom our an executive of a company and every time you open your mouth you’ll feel like your putting your ego and reputation and ego on the line. Or if you are the executive you may be putting your there too.

tough. This is why executives make the big bucks (no matter how large or small you may think of them) The only way people know what you want and what you want the organization to achieve is to say it. We can say it over and over again till we bored our self to tears.

But if you’re an mom, or executive, the way kids will believe you mean what you say is if you keep saying it – and then ensure that your actions and your management group’s actions are all in alignment with those words.

So start talking out loud about what you think and you want. And then ask “How do we get there? What do you think? And listen hard to the answers.

Eventually, you’ll find that you have to do the least talking of anyone. Your vision for your organization will be achieved and exceeded everyday. Because you talked out loud and made it happen one word at a time.

Talking to yourself can be a habit for some people they can also use it to keep them selves organized, stay focused, and to remind themselves what to do next.

Others may talk out loud when they feel lonely. “ Often people will reflect with comments like “great Jog”, or “that was really stupid”.

And who doesn’t talk to the radio to the TV once in a while?

On the other hand talking to oneself can indeed be a manifestation of mental illness. Some people with psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia may lose touch with reality and experience auditory hallucinations of vices. They feel compelled to respond to “ their” voices and even carry on extensive conversations. It’s not unusual in downtown area of big cities to see homeless people, quite oblivious to their surroundings, conversing earnestly when no one else in nearby.

When people seem to carry a conversation these days with them selves these days, however, it most often means they have a Bluetooth earpiece and a cell phone. These one –sided conversations can be pretty annoying if you’re stuck in front of such a caller in a line for any length of time.

So .. there are plenty of situations when talking out loud to yourself or to no one in particular is perfectly appropriate and socially acceptable. But when we have to listen to lengthy one- sided conversations from a cell phone user, we call it “noise pollution”.

How to Fall in Love All Over Again

A NIGHT ON THE BEACH

Have you ever fell in love all over again with that same special person? A moment in time that reminds you why you do what you do everyday to keep your life going? My husband and I were getting comfortable in our normal routine, and with each passing day we spent less and less time together. I felt like we were more like roommates than anything. We didn’t fight, still cuddled together at night (almost as an obligation), and let each other know that we loved one another. This spell went on for about six to eight months. Most of the time in which we didn’t realize what we were putting our marriage through. My husband came up with the idea of taking a small vacation to get away from our busy lives and spend more time cherishing our precious time together.

What started out as a weekend get a way, wound up to a weekend trip to a resort on the beach. For the first day or so, we were so tired of our hectic life from back home, we kind of just relaxed in our own way. He slept in, and spent most of his time outside around the beach. I sunbathed the first part of the day, went to the spa, and came back for a nap. Since, we were so used to doing things apart, it was almost who we were becoming.

We both noticed that we were still spending so much time apart, and decided for the rest of the trip not to do anything apart. Yet at the same time not smother each other either. We ate dinner together that night, it was so quite, we didn’t have a word to say to each other. The next day we lounged around and tried to have a conversation, but it felt like we had become so different we couldn’t find anything in common interest to discuss. This became really irritating, the vacation we were trying to have to reconnect was falling through more and more by each passing day.

I wanted to do a little soul searching, so I just went out and walked the beach alone at night. I saw couples laughing, and having such a great time enjoying each others warm bodies. The next morning, I went to the local city shops, and bought some lingerie hoping this could put a spark in our damp days, not knowing if he would even turn an eye my way. I didn’t know that he was feeling even worse than I.

Before bed that night, I put on the sexy red and black lingerie that I had bought and crawled into bed. The man that I was married to didn’t even seem the bit excited. I was crushed. The next morning he woke before I did. He had breakfast waiting for me and a card expressing that he felt like we were drifting apart, and he wasn’t having that happen to us, and we didn’t deserve this type of punishment like it felt we were going through. I finished my breakfast, got shower and waited around for him to come back. It was already the afternoon and no sign of him returning, I was for sure that we had given up, as I was starting to. I heard a knock on our condo door, I opened the door and there he was with a boquette of flowers. He handed them to me and said “hello, I’m your husband, would you like to go to dinner with me tonight?” I was unsure what was going on, but I played along and said yes. He left, leaving me so confused, at the same time amazing with what mystery there was.

A bell hop brought me a note saying to be ready at 8 o’clock. I felt as I was dating again. My husband came to our room and got me right on time as the note had stated. I was unsure where we were going. We arrived at this beautiful restaurant that was completely empty. As we walked in this dim, aroma filled room, there sat a table with flowers and lit candles for two. We walk and sit down, there are what appears to be books on the table. I look at my husband with confused and amazed eyes, he got the hint. He opened the books, they were pictures and cards from us. As he flipped each page, my eyes started to water more and more. He said I want to be us again, I realized how much we were slipping, and missing out on. He asked me to dance, and all of a sudden soft romantic music started playing. He held his hand out as you see in the movies, and as we started to dance he held me so close. The butterflies started fluttering in my stomach and I felt more in love than I had when we first met.

That’s how you fall in love again. Being reminded of the life you have and not to stray too far away from it.