Coolness explained

Dear Doctor Angela,

What is the secret to your coolness? I mean Strongbad can’t touch you. I think it will really help me with the ladies…

Sincerely,

Envious in Anchorage

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Dear Envious in Anchorage,

I can understand your struggle. Not many people really understand how to be cool. It’s quite the art. Lucky for you with my simple 5-step process, you’ll be on your way straight to coolness, and you won’t have enough free nights for the ladies.

Step 1: Tell people about your coolness. Obviously there is a lack of knowledge, so why not get the ball rolling and get the word out yourself?

Step 2: Wear your sunglasses indoors for just a little too long indoors. This is an old trick but it sends the same message every time, I am too cool for school, and too cool to remember I still have sunglasses on. Walk into the room, resist the urge to remove your sunglasses. Then about 15 seconds later, casually “realize” you still have your sunglasses on, and slickly remove them from your face and slid them into your pocket.

Step 3: Make a Facebook album and include only pictures of yourself from one photo shoot. You, yourself and a camera. Take a stance, stretch out your arms, look casual, look athletic, flex, take some clothes off,  just don’t look at the camera. Entitle it something creative like “all about me” or “just me”. I mean, you’re just so cool, who doesn’t want to look at 30 pictures of you in different poses?

Step 4: Act like you don’t care. You don’t care about tests, your job performance, or anything really important including others. If someone asks if you are considerate of xyz, automatically respond with: “xyz can suck it!”

Step 5: Tap into cool media sources. See the new Beverly Hills, be on top of Gossip Girl and make sure you know what’s going on with Survivor, Top Chef & American Idol. If any of these shows come up in conversation, you have to know what everyone is talking about and be able to contribute. After all, everyone wants an intelligent friend.

Follow Steps 1-5, and everyone will think you are super cool…and if you don’t, you won’t even notice, because you’ll have spent so much time doing things and thinking about yourself that it won’t matter. Until next time…

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No one is thinking about you. They’re thinking about themselves, just like you.
-Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination

My apologies

I just checked my blog and realized I had 6 responses to my post. I don’t have personal internet access right because I moved into my new place and forgot my ethernet cord! I will be up and online soon and then I will start responding to your questions. Thank you to all that responded.

Coming soon: Before and after pictures of our apartment!

My Advice Column

By popular request , I am beginning a limited series where folks can write in and ask my professional and correct answers to your problems. Think Dear Abby – but Dear Doctor Angela.

I will now take your questions. You can comment them or message me.

Step 1: Put a live tree in your house

I often find it peculiar to think that our holiday season is spent making lists, shopping, wrapping gifts, and putting a live tree in our house. Especially the live tree thing. (Does anyone else think that’s totally bizaare?)

I’m not trying to be a hater. In fact, I fully admit that I am thankful to have a family that is well off enough to give me amazing gifts year after year. It was such a blessing to me to receive a djembe (from my sister and dad) and The Office Complete DVD set (from my mom) among other gifts.

I also really enjoy giving gifts. I am always tempting to cheap out and get everyone smaller gifts that they won’t like as much as what I could really get them.

At the same time, I hate getting gifts that are really useless, that are just clutter, that I don’t want/need. It’s sad but it’s only when I receive those gifts that I think about how that money could have been spent to buy someone a pair of shoes, or a well, or some needed clothing.

I need to change my attitude about gifts and giving. I love this video I’ve posted below. I want to do this. I want everyone to do this. I do think we should give gifts to one another. Jesus was a generous dude and I think that it’s okay that we give eachother gifts to bless eachother. I also think we need to reconsider how much we spend on who, and realize the length of own attachment to material things.

If you have a few minutes, I’d encourage you to watch this video. I don’t post videos very often because I never really watch anyone else’s (generally speaking), but I hope to post this next year at an earlier date, so anyone who is interested can join me, and join the cause.

Have a Merry Christmas and first and foremost Happy Birthday Jesus, the King of Generosity and Giving.

O.T.

I have a lot of trouble reading the Old Testament of the Bible. I’ve tried, and I’ve tried…and it’s just impossible for me. I’ve read through Genesis, even studied it for 2 weeks at Chapter camp and I loved it. I’ve tried to go from there and it just didn’t work out. In college I took a Judiaum class in hopes that it would inspire me to read more of the “Hebrew Scriptures”. Again, it couldn’t help me.

Right now I’m reading this book that talks about how the Bible is believed to have more than 40 authors. Instead of God using one man to write the Bible he chose lots of different people. Why is that? The author suggests it’s to present God from 40 different perspectives from all different periods of time. What an amazing way to view scripture and to read about God.

With all this said, I still can’t read the O.T. I never went to Sunday school as a kid so I don’t really know any of the old stories besides what’s found in Genesis. I can’t answer anyone’s questions regarding any of it! Do I really need to? Any advice?

2009 Christmas list

I know, this is has probably been on your mind since my last post. You just can’t wait for the updated version. Well, the time has come.

1. To be out of college debt. I plan to do this by next year at this time. So if my habits are somehow cheaper than usual, that’s my excuse.

2. To have a full-time job or a job that provides health insurance , that I can not only enjoy but feel like I’m impacting the lives of others.

3. That my dad’s side of the family would just forgive eachother and not let money and pride break up our family.

That’s my list. Oh, and also, I want Rock Band.

Christmas List

Today I was reflecting on my old blogs. For some reason it brought back a memory of me (that I never wrote about). I was in my older cousin Paul’s room hanging out when I was around 10 or 12 years old and I made a Christmas list. I can’t remember it verbatim, but I think it went something like this:

• friends
• a boyfriend
• a life

I showed my cousin, who I greatly admired, and he responded “wow, that’s a pathetic list”. That memory makes me feel sad, warm and embarrassed at once…and I can faintly hear The Cranberries in the background.

Mostly it feels like such a far away version of myself. It’s definitely someone I’m not and someone I haven’t been for a very long time. No more looking for an escape from my life. No more chasing imaginary boys. No more sitting with my back my door.

I planned to post my new Christmas list (here) but I need time to think about it. 3 things don’t immediately pop into my head like they did when I made that list, in fact, I can only think of 1. Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad. To be continued…
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In other news, I posted my desire for a tall bookshelf on Reading Freecycle and I got a response today! 6′ by 2′ wooden bookshelf with 4 shelves and a 2 cupboard likes doors at the bottom. I am so excited!
Please, please don’t be ugly.

10 Signs Your Life Revolves Around Facebook

1. “Can I have your number” is replaced by “Do you have a Facebook?”

2. You profess your undying love to inanimate objects such as food, fictional characters and sometimes even real people through your Facebook status on a daily or hourly basis.

3. When planning to take pictures, you sometimes plan the name of your Facebook album before you take out your camera…so the pictures can match it, of course.

4. When you’re bored, you refresh your newsfeed to see updates…like every 10 seconds.

5. The first thing you do when you experience a dramatic event in your life (such as The Phillies winning a World Championship or your favorite character on Lost dies) you, first, update your Facebook status.

6. The worst thing that happened to you last week was when your X friend de-friended you on Facebook.

7. The worst thing that happened to you in the last few months is the new Facebook.

8. You joke about the fact that you say things outload like JK, OMG, LOL, LMAO, but you’ve been saying them for a few months now…

(warning seek immediate help if you exceed more than five characters when speaking in chat)

9. You spend more time playing around on Facebook applications that speaking to people in person.

10. When you like someone, you spend more time looking at their Facebook page than you do having actual conversation with them.

(If this is true, congratulations! You’ve reached first base – Facebook friends.)

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If more than 1 of these situations apply to you, you should probably stop spending so much time on Facebook. If you can add more intense examples to this list from personal experience, please share below & seek immediate counseling.

Buy a shoe, give a shoe

Shoe Shopping + Philanthropy = Toms Shoes

My friend Andrew just introduced me to this sweet shoe site. The idea is when you buy a pair of shoes from them they donate a pair of shoes to meet a need in South America.

Plus there’s free shipping:)

These shoes are meant for walkin’, for you and for them.

Coffeetopia?

I’ve seen tons of billboards and commercials. Wawa claims to be Coffeetopia. So I went into Wawa recently, altering from my normal Sheetz location. I walked over to the MTO and was atonished to find that coffee was not in option…at all. In fact, they only have it available in the pot.

I understand they may have 15 different kinds of regular coffee available – that’s neat. But, calling themselves coffeetopia is a bold claim when they don’t even make lattes, frappecinos or chai. Please, Wawa – call yourself Coffee Haven, Coffee Hub but Coffeetopia is too big of a claim for what you have to offer. Sorry.

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On another note with coffee. I really enjoy going to Starbucks to get their speciality drinks, but what is up with their plain coffee? How do people drink that stuff, it tastes like bold chalk.