I don't really like you...

So it may just be that I'm in a cranky mood.....OR I've come to a really big revelation.
I've never really liked anyone I've dated....well, I can't say NEVER. I'd say there are maybe two or three people that I still have any slight inkling of liking.
But really. For the most part. After I end a relationship, I usually come to dislike the sound or sight of them. Is that normal???? Most likely not.

So can be attributed to i'm so busy "liking" them that I ignore all the gazillion things I can't stand about them? Or do most people mask their faults very well? Yeah sometimes there's that little person in the back of my head who's yelling NO when I'm saying yes. But sometimes none of the dozens of people up there notice what is about to hit....Maybe I should no longer be allowed to pick my own prospects.

So I ask - do most people really like their ex's??? I know everyone probably has that one that they wish would be hit by a bus. But do most people wish they could line ALL of their ex's up for that fateful accident??

*no animals (aka my ex's) have been hurt in making this blog entry......

There should just be one language

There should be only one language that everyone in the world speaks. It doesn't have to be english. We can take a vote! Well, seein how we here in the US can't seem to get the poll thing right without problems, maybe that won't work....maybe everyone put the languages in a big hat at a UN meeting and somene pick one...although I still don't understand what the purpose of the UN is. They take votes (like the one to end the embargo on Cuba), and then nothing happens.

Today there was an earthquake in Japan, and they are saying there will be a tsnami to follow it. My Aunt is there on a trip for a month. And if you think I'm a worrier, you haven't met my mother.....so needless to say, she was freaking out. My Aunt is staying at some hostel God only knows where. After spending 20 minutes tryin to figure out HOW EXACTLY to call Japan with the country codes, I got the phone to ring....only problem is the woman on the other end doesn't speak A LICK of english. Which I confirmed after the second useless call. On the third, I started by saying "english?" and her response.."AAAAAAH......noooooooo". We both just started laughing, trying to hold a conversation, her speaking in Japanese, me in english, then laughter....Next she put a man on the phone who spoke enough enlish to tell me "please. slower" We got as far as him thinking I was checking in this week....OK we're at least getting closer.....Not sure who the next person they put on the phone was, but i think he was someone from my Aunt's tour. When he spoke, english suddenly sounded foreign to me! But he knew her and was able to get her on the phone.

Relief! "Hi Aunt Jane". Told her I heard there was an earthquake and we were worried. She is a funny person though. She was just happy to be right. She said she felt the quake, but no one else did, so she was going "see, I told them!" I'm glad she feels vindicated but I really didn't want to help her prove herself right, I wanted to make sure she was ok. When she started about this cute Brazilian fella she would like introduce me to, except he's engaged, I knew she was fine, and it was time to get off the phone.

All I can say is 'the big easy' doesn't seem very easy!

So I'm in New Orleans for a conference on Marketing in Higher Education. I can say I consider myself lucky that its in New Orleans this year because last year it was in Chicago. Me, Chicago AND in November don't mix - I simply refused to put in a request to go....and side note, next year its in San Diego *SWEEET*

So anyways, I've never been to New Orleans before. Maybe someone who's been here can help me out a bit....but I'm having a hard time figuring out if what i'm seeing is just the life in Louisiana and the 'dirty south' and what parts of it can be attributed to the devastation of Katrina.

But what I have come up with from my trip -

-'dirty south' music is as annoying in the 'dirty south' as it is up north.

-Its no wonder that people from other parts of the country don't like New Yorkers. At the luncheon today a guy from New York was explaining to people at our table that even though Giuliani wasn't liked because of his arrogance, when 9/11 happened, everyone in New York had to respect him because he was a great leader. Unlike when Katrina happened, Mayor Nagin of New Orleans got what he asked for because all he did was tell everyone they should have been helping him.... HUH???

-Do residents resent that is seems like everything about New Orleans has been overshadowed by the effects of Katrina? Or does that help them to rebuild? Ironically their famous drink there is The Hurricane....

-It is actually possible for me to be tired of seeing seafood on a menu. But damn New Orleans has some great food!

-My favorite tourist t-shirt for sale was the one that said 'FEMA Evacuation Plan - Run Bitch Run.'

-Men, especially those with gold teeth, regardless of where they are, kiss out of car windows at women..


*after thinking a lot about my trip and talking to a couple people, I did some research....and Louisiana is one of the poorest states in the country. Helps to explain some....but makes me wonder how some conditions that could easily be of the "third world" - how or WHY should they exist in a country with so much wealth....