Nonsense

Ninety-seven days later …

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Time flies

I could say I’ve been really busy as the reason for why it’s been a while since my last post but the reality is that I’ve just not had a lot to say. I get focused in other directions and forget that I even have a blog. There’s my guilt confession. I forgot about you blog. Oops!

Catching up

A lot has happened in the last three months. I’m now, officially, a year older.

Read some good books by some of my favorite authors – Suzanne Kearsley, Harriet Evans, Beth Hoffman, Dorothea Benton Frank, and Mary Kay Andrews.

Movies this summer have been a disappointment, though. I guess the highlight for me was the new Star Trek pic, but not much else has given me a reason to spend a small fortune to sit in big dark room with too many other people just to be entertained. Even the thought of popcorn couldn’t entice me to see most of what’s in the theaters this summer.

Family matters

Ollie

Ollie

I’ve mentioned my house mates, Ollie and Emmy, in a few other blogs. You may remember that they’ve been with me since 2001. Though Emmy is doing fine, Ollie had cancer and, rather than prolong his suffering, I had him put down in June.

We miss him. Well, maybe Emmy doesn’t. He was pretty much a bully and made her life miserable. I think she is actually pretty happy now. She has the run of the house and has become quite playful again.

Winding up

I’ll try to not forget about you again blog. With a little luck, I’ll be able to squeeze a few posts in between studying for the next CCP module exam and whatever else I can find to do to avoid studying.

Okay. I admit it. I am just lazy.

 

So, what to do?

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31st Academy Awards Presentations, Pantages Th...

31st Academy Awards Presentations, Pantages Theater, Hollywood, 1959 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It’s Oscar night and here I sit trying to decide whether to watch the Academy Awards show. Downton Abbey‘s season is over for this year and the new season of Game of Thrones hasn’t begun. Enlightened comes on at 8:30 but that’s only a 30 minute excursion. So, what to do?

I had the silly notion that if I sat here and typed drivel long enough, eventually, I’d come up with some sort of life altering epiphany, but no luck. So, what to do?

I should be diligently studying the manual for the next module in my quest for a CCP (Certified Compensation Professional) but, come on, it’s Sunday evening and work can wait until tomorrow. So, what to do?

I could pay bills! Nope. Not in the mood. So, what to do?

I could eat cashews and drink Dr. Pepper. I have both in my kitchen.  But if I went in there I’d see how messy the kitchen is and load myself up with guilt because I should be cleaning it right this very minute. So, what to do?

Yep, you guessed it. This is me being bored. So, now I’ll say ‘so long’ to all you nice people and apologize for taking up your valuable time. Assuming, of course, you’re foolish enough to still be reading this nonsense.

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Saying what comes naturally

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I was reading a great post at the Jotter’s Joint earlier and it reminded me of something that happened recently …

I was at a work luncheon the other day. It was one of those service award things  and I sitting at a table with 5 coworkers from departments outside my own who apparently weren’t in the mood to talk.

After a while it got awkward

Being the dyed-in-the-wool introvert that I am, I was perfectly fine with just munching my lunch and enjoying the scenery. But, as I looked around at the others, it seemed as though some were a bit uncomfortable with the quiet. So, beginning with the guy sitting next to me, I started asking questions.

I guess I went around the table a couple of times asking more and more questions until, after a bit, one of them commented that I sounded like I was interviewing them for a job. Without batting an eyelash, I switched gears and asked … if you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?

You see, in my job I write about HR topics and, like most folks when trying to make conversation, I tend to focus on things that come naturally to me. For example to get the conversation going, I asked …

How long have you been in your current job?

What is it about your job that you like the best?

My coworker was right

I was asking questions like a job interviewer, like the HR director I used to be. It just comes naturally. Small talk, unfortunately,  does not.

The neat thing, at least for me, was that once I asked the lame question about the tree, everyone cracked up. The ice broke.

The point is

It doesn’t really matter what your small talk is about. What matters is that you throw it out there.

Sometimes, it might fall flat. But, other times, it just may open the gate to a trip into other people’s worlds.

And, much like writing whatever is on your mind to keep the juices flowing, it is well worth the effort.

Even for us introverts.

A hearty thank you to the Jotter’s Joint for sharing some juice with this old girl!