15 February 2010

It takes two to make a thing go right

Listening to: Lykke Li, "Dance Dance Dance." Invariably, every time I hear a fantastic and catchy song that tickles the twee in me, it's from a band/singer in Sweden or Norway or somewhere near there. It makes me think I should go take a visit. I also suspect I'm a few years late to the Lykke party according to this Popmatters review.

The other day, I asked the world which sounded worse: cuddling or snuggling. My respondents gave me mixed answers. The general consensus was "both would get you in trouble." Me, I've never heard the term snuggling except used in conjunction with pets, blankets, or now Snuggies. Snuggling thus seems pretty benign. Then again, I feel the same way about cuddling. I don't campaign for much but years ago I thought cuddling should be viewed as a harmless act. Leaving aside that argument for the moment, I've been gifted something wonderful recently.

My friend HT forwarded me these files, titled the "Winter Boo Kit." Take a look, it consists of a job description, an application, and a termination letter. What exactly is a winter boo you ask?

"During the winter months, life starts to slow down and most find themselves comfortable at home in hibernation mode outside of work and special occasions. Because of this, having a winter boo or snuggle buddy is helpful to get through this season of battling the elements. We are looking for hardworking, dedicated candidates that will make this season fun and exciting, making spring and summer feel like it’s right around the corner."
I don't know about your part of the country but San Diego has been freakishly cold recently. Like fifties at night. Brr. Who doesn't need a winter boo to cuddle/snuggle next to in such inclement weather? Please take a look at the files and recognize the genius behind them. And if you're brave enough, you can apply to whoever this Ashley person is. Beware, there's a laundry list of qualifications but as she puts it, "I do offer the opportunity for advancement. Upon outstanding behavior, you may be promoted to boyfriend, fiancé, or even husband if you are lucky."

This leads me logically to our next order of business: dating resumes. Lilly already wrote a post on the topic so here's my short follow up. Basically the point of a dating resume is two-fold. One, nobody really cares what you like to do or what your turn-ons and turn-offs are. Let's get to the point: what can you do for me? That's the real question we have isn't it? How can your unique combination of interests and skills be used to make our dating/relationship lives better? That's what these little dating profiles should be about. But they don't address this issue at all. Instead they focus on similarities, which is useless because dating can be fraught with so many potholes even if you have everything in common. The key is to any successful relationship (working, dating, etc.) is to have defined objectives and realistic expectations. A dating resume will help clarify those items.

The other point of a dating resume is to give the prospective employer a glimpse of the past. While we can't be judged solely on things we've done before -- can I get a hallelujah? -- it is important to have some idea of what someone's gone through. Thus the "Previous Dating Experience" portion of the resume, and especially "References." Longest relationship was seven months over two years ago? Good to know. Had a string of twenty failed dates? What's the reason? If you need a jump off point for this portion of the resume, I refer you to my Relationship Worksheet. Don't knock it till you've tried it.

Another thing that I think would be fun is for your friends to each construct a dating resume. I offered to write up George's but for some strange reason she refused. That's okay, I did my dating resume and after seeing it I'm sure she'll be inspired to make her own. If someone else out there makes one, please show me because I know a lot of prospective employers. And I need the finder's fee.