Look what comedic material fell into my lap

Most of you know I work in the public relations industry. I did six-to-seven years in PR penitentiary, i.e. PR agency life. But now that I'm out on parole (i.e. the beautiful freedom of corporate life), it's interesting to see the industry through a different point-of-view and I'm really enjoying the experience. (In all seriousness, agency life isn't that bad...)

Anyways, in my inbox this morning was a cold-call e-mail from a boutique PR agency I've never heard of. I'm changing up the names/locations to protect the innocent (highlighted in red), but this was just so awful that I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share how not to pitch your PR agency to someone:

Whoops!

I love how I counsel my colleagues (and former clients) that one shouldn't start a blog if you aren't committed to updating it at least once a month. And looking at my last post (dated July 26), I'm feeling a bit hypocritical right now.

I could tell you I've just been too busy (I have) or I haven't had anything to blog about (that's not true), but I think the truth is I'm in a bit of a social media rut. Between work, Fatroll (my lack of posts there coincide with a weight gain... sigh), Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn -- I'm worn out. I've been doing social media before it was cool, so I feel like where I'm at is where the rest of the world will be at in two years.

I'm not telling you to go and short Facebook stock (it's not even public, so it would be hard to do anyways), but I have an eerie feeling I'm not the only one who finds enjoying life and people face-to-face is way more fun that staying glued to my phone/laptop/Twitter feed/Facebook status updates/etc.


So now, I'm going to go back to bumming on my couch with my bum-partner-in-crime (Walter), listen to The Saint soundtrack from 1996 or something and re-read Harry Potter and avoid people until tomorrow.

Later ;)

And now, a quick commerical break

So, I'm dog-sitting a fun-loving wolf-pack this week. It's a set of five dogs that Justin and I check on three times a day to let them out, give them love and make sure their bellies are full of yummy dry dog food goodness (remember, I'm never feeding a dog wet food ever again).

Notice the wrinkles on his tounge? It's funny. Trust me.

Problem is, they're -- with the exception of one -- various different breeds of terriers. We have Duncan, the alpha of the pack, who is a goregous Westie (and my personal fav). His tounge is also bigger than his mouth can support, so just the tip of it always hangs out. Then there is Jack, the Jack-Russell terrier; Kingsley, the Pomeranian; Elvis, the Yorkie; and, Bella, a dark-,coarse-haired terrier mix. Bella is the only female of the group, and also the one who randomly barks for no reason. Most of the time, the guys just ignore her after awhile because she won't shut up, and you could probably make some societal conclusions about the whole affair if you think about the interaction long enough.

As cute as they are, their breed type also means they shed horribly. And this morning, I decided to wear an all-black outfit to check in on them before heading to work. I looked like I had my own coat of hair by the time I got to work.

BURN!!

I could be this chick, I suppose. Her skin looks like she is a pug.

Last week, I went tubing for the first time. You may have read about it and my #WTSDS. But it's been a week and a day, and while the redness has subsided from the resulting sunburn, my skin is itching non-stop. Like, I would be at work and would have to run to the bathroom just so I could scratch my skin for 5-10 minutes in peace and without feeling embarrassed. Or wake up in the middle of the night and sit in a warm bath just to make it stop.

Weird thing is, I'm not peeling. It just feels like I have ten million bug bites that won't go away.

Anyways, it turns out that there is a list of things you should and shouldn't do when you have itchy sunburn and I pretty much did all of it wrong. So in the interest of helping you all out in the heat of the summer, here's some tips and tricks courtesy of WikiAnswers to making sure you recover quickly.

To Go or Not To Go... A Decision on Going to my 10-Year Reunion

As some of you know, I've been toying with the idea of skipping my 10-year high school reunion. Justin is indifferent (we were in the same school, graduating class) and given the last year and a half, I don't really want to be asked about how my life is going. Because, news flash, it sort of sucks right now.

You know how it will go down, right? Something to the effect of, "Justin and Jenni! Never thought you two would date, let alone marry. ("Yeah, I'm pretty shocked  sometimes too...") How's life treating you? You both were so bright in high school, I bet you have great jobs. So, how's it going? Started having a family yet?"

And then my answer will inevitably be something along the lines of, "I'm going to go cry in that corner now." In some ways, I want to pull a Romy and Michelle and say I invented the Post-Its. It's not that far fetched, really. I do work for the company that invented them. Hahaha. Unfortunately, I am not in R&D and I'm not an chemist specializing in adhesives, so that would be a short-lived discussion. Or it should be... I wonder how far I could take that discussion with people... :)

Why Power Suits Ruined Opportunities for Women in the Workplace

Climbing up the proverbial work ladder in the last couple of years has introduced me to a wealth of information, expectations and stereotypes about women in the workplace.

And now I’m in a bit of a culture shock situation. The shift from a female dominated profession/workplace (like many PR agencies) to a male dominated one is making my head hurt.

Thanks to the 1980s Power Suit, women have struggled to be taken seriously in the workplace. Yes, the very style meant to prove that women were equal to a man (at least in the shoulders) is the very thing that has screwed us over in today’s society.

What Stopped Me Cold Turkey

I’m not ashamed to admit it – I devoured the Twilight books series in the span of a week and a half; two weeks if you count the online portion of Midnight Sun (the half-completed book that tells the Twilight story from a different character’s point of view).

And I remember watching the first movie (with a friend who will remain nameless) on DVD and I thought it was a bit ridiculous, but whatever. I was still on the Twilight high. There is something about crappy writing about high school angst that moves me ;)

But what literally stopped me cold turkey was an incident that took place about a year ago with two friends (and who will remain nameless as well) on the opening day of New Moon – the second movie in the series.