All These Nice People are Starting to Make me Look...Good

I was recently graced with ANOTHER lovely blog award from the sweetest, nicest lady, MommyD, who blogs about being a mom and cooking lots of good stuff. I love to read her blog and pretend I might actually one day turn on my oven.

She also used to weigh well over 300 pounds--she now weighs less than half that. Go to her blog and read how she did it--without scary Jillian Michaels standing over her, snarling mean things.

The award requires me to answer important life-changing questions. Here we go:

1) Q: What is my favorite memory of springtime? A: Living in NYC & seeing the whole place in bloom. Gorgeous.

2) Q: If I could change ANYTHING in my life, what would it be? A: I would have a personal chef make dinner for us every night (have I mentioned how much I hate cooking?).

3) Q: What is your favorite hobby? A: Not having a hobby. Being a smart-ass. Sarcasm. Does that count?

4) Q: Why did the chicken cross the road? A: To get away from this silly question. Duh.

5) Q: What is my favorite flower: A: Peonies, hydrangeas, oh and sunflowers. Too many to pick just one (I crack myself up).

6) Q: If I could have one superpower, what would it be? A: World peace and great hair.

7) Q: What is my favorite color combination? A: Dark, dark pink combined with... me in it. It makes my eyes look really green. I also love the mocha color of my coffee when I've just added cream to it--perfect.

8) Q: 467 - 64 = A: I don't do math. I could, but I choose not to.

9) Q: Disney or Looney Toons? A: Neither. I prefer to look for humor in real life (not hard to do), as opposed to having it shoved in my face. Plus, I don't do cute unless it's puppies or babies.

10) Q: What is my favorite "bad for me" snack? A: Truffle fries with sea salt at The Ritz; caviar parfait at The St. Regis; sweet potato fries with blue cheese dressing at Ramos House Cafe; pumpkin cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory. (I could keep going...)

There really aren't any rules that go with this award except to "pay it forward" (I promised MommyD I wouldn't gag at this part). Normally I'm a closet nice person but happened upon this uplifting "pay it forward" story from one of my blog followers, The Jodes. I dare you not to shed a tear...okay, I'll shut up now before you all accuse me of going soft.

(I'm also supposed to forward a pic of a rainbow and flowers. Sorry, no can do. It goes against all that I stand for that is bitter and acerbic.)

So here are some blogs I enjoy immensely:

HomeSweetSarah This gal is really, really funny. She blogs about her life, drinking, new marriage, drinking, fashion, drinking, makeup--all with a twisted twist. Okay, so she's my niece. So what--you got a problem with that?

ZebraSounds Judy is an AMAZING writer. Every Friday she posts a cool roundup of things you may not know, like how she met stark naked, cycling Lance Armstrong, pics included. Yea, I know. (Plus she has great hair.)

MAS is More Michael may be a Twitter superstar, but he's also just a really down to earth guy who gives great advice about this crazy thing we call social networking. (Plus he's got a sarcastic streak that makes me think there's hope for him yet.)

Not-A-Fortune Allison is AWESOME. She's my snark sister in an alternate universe. Why? We both quote "Friends" verbatim and live for Chinese food--well, any type of Asian food, actually. Plus she's a terrific writer and kind to animals--unless you're an idiot male animal--then you're on your own.

The Crymes Syndicate Besides having the coolest last name ever, Margaret also happens to be quite droll (I've been wanting to use that word for awhile) in describing her life and difficult past.

2 Girls on a Bench Okay, these chicks are freakin hysterical. I want to be their new best friend. They love food as much as I do and they not only write about their various culinary adventures but take pictures of all the yummy stuff they eat as they write their soon-to-be-sold screenplay. Dammit, now I'm hungry.

Entertainment Realm Amy covers music, books, chick stuff--in a way that is interesting, funny, and poignant. She's just terrific.

I now bequeath this fabulous award and pass along these 10 questions of monumental importance:

1) What movie will you not turn off whenever it comes on?

2) How old were you when you got (or gave) your first kiss?

3) What movie star is your dream date?

4) What food will you absolutely not eat under any circumstances (and why)?

5) How many hours of TV do you watch each week?

6) Do you get your five servings of fruits and vegetables every day?

7) What is the first rule of Fight Club?

8) Did you really like the Dennis Hopper (RIP, dude) movie "Blue Velvet?"

9) Do you read the last page of a book to see how it ends?

10) What is Joey from "Friends" signature phrase? Bonus: What is the name of their coffee shop?

So, enjoy these new friends and tell them RachelintheOC sent ya. Expand your mind and see what else is out there. I promise you won't be sorry.

And if you are...take two shots of espresso and tweet me in the morning.

They give an award for that?

 

I am fabulous. But you already knew that.

However, guess what?

A fun, charming blogger by the name of Nicole (at The Fickle Nickle), has warmly bestowed recognition for this blog with an award. I'm blushing (not really). But I am eating chocolate, so that’s something.

Thank you Nicole…please stop by her blog and become a Follower. She’s really cute and sweet—all the stuff I’m not.

Here are the rules that go with the award:
•Thank the person who gave you this award.
•Share 7 things about yourself.
•Pass the award along to 15 bloggers whom you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic…

Well, I just did the Sharing-Thingy in my last post SO I will add 7 more that all have to do with food because I’m hungry:

1) I was a vegetarian for about 5 years, until I became pregnant the first time and I HAD TO HAVE BACON. And rootbeer.

2) I don’t eat any small beans, like navy bean soup, because they look like bugs.

3) I didn’t like tomatoes until recently.

4) The only steak I will eat is filet mignon. If a steak has any fat on it whatsoever, I will not eat it.

5) I won’t handle raw meat, chicken, etc…it’s just icky. I will do fish, but meat gives me the heebie-jeebies.

6) I don’t like barbeque potato chips of any kind, though I love spicy food. I know, it’s weird.

7) I always put grated Parmesan on the outside of my grilled cheese sandwiches. Try it. It’s reallllly good.

7.1) I would rather eat sweet potato french fries than regular potato french fries. Dipped in Blue Cheese. Yummy. (Just had to include this one since we were on the subject of food.)

Now I get to nominate the 15 bloggers I feel deserve this award. So, without further singing and dancing by Neil Patrick Harris, the award goes to:

1) Dating After 40

2) Life with the Campbells

3) Behind the Shades

4) Writing Out Loud

5) Welcome to Adulthood

6) Writing Heroic

7) The Gangsta Government

8) L.M. Lawrence

9) Exclamation Jack

10) Harry Ramble

11) ToniTV

12) The Mommy Mentor (Child Sleep Coach)

13) Innocent, Accidents, Hints & Allegations

14) Writing No Drama

15) Gitana’s Blog 

16) 2 Girls on a Bench

I encourage you to visit all these fabulous blog sites and linger for awhile. Go ahead. I give you permission. (Yes, I know I did 16. Oh well. So I’m a rule breaker. Shoot me. Not really.)

Tell ‘em Rachel sent you.

And save me some fries.

Follow me on Twitter @RachelintheOC or become a follower of the cult of Rachel here on my blog. Mwah. I love you all.

Your Questions: Answered (Kinda)

 

Many of you have asked, in some way or another, what makes me different than a (god help me) “typical” REAL OC housewife (I hate that fucking show). Because, you know, we ALL own five million dollar homes, drive luxury cars, wear five-inch heels to preschool drop off, and have blonde hair and fake boobs. Right?

Ah, no.

So, here’s me in a nutshell:

• I don’t drive a luxury car. Or an SUV. I do drive a Mazda CX-7 which seats five--it is considered a small “crossover.” I like it because it has a great stereo system and a turbo—I like to go fast with my music cranked up loud (windows closed). Tee hee. It is dark grey, which is pretty.
• I’m 5’4” if I stand up really, really straight.
• I weigh about 130-135 pounds. I’m a size 10. I have real boobs and they’re not small. I have curves. I love my curves and so does my guy. I walk a lot—we live close to the beach—but I don’t pound the pavement trying to look like a stick. When I can, I do Pilates or yoga. That is, when I’m not running around after my…
• Two children, boy age almost five and girl, almost eleven. Which is why I drink
• Vodka and wine. Belvedere, in case you want to send me some; and Sanford Chardonnay. I love most good reds, also, just not from a box. I don’t drink a lot though, because I get migraines. One drink, maybe two on the weekend is my limit.
• I got married to JP when I was 28. We’ve been married 18 years this October. This is my first marriage, his second. He has no children from his first. Interesting fact: I have two sisters (one older, one younger) and we all got married at the age of 28. I know, trippy, right?
• I rarely get my nails done—no time. I just keep them short and trim. Contrary to the OC Rulebook, I just don’t have time for pretty toenails. But I have really nice toes and feet so they look good anyway.
• I’m good with makeup. Come over, I’ll do yours.
• I don’t actually own a single Juicy Couture jogging suit—not one. Goes against all principles of living here, I know--they may kick me out for this one. I just prefer yoga pants and a tee when I write. Plus, I feel the look is kind of cliche and has been played. If you wear them and love them, more power to ya.
• I refuse to buy my daughter anything designer. Many parents here promise their kids designer stuff for grades which I find completely abhorrent. She gets hugs and kisses for good grades; and we’ve been saving for a trip to London for just her and her daddy (the little guy is just too young so he and I will stay home this trip). THAT is what her good grades will get her. Not some designer bullshit bag she can throw on the ground.
• Dude, you know, and like. I do begrudgingly admit to saying “dude” with my son. As in “Dude, why are you pouring your pasta on your head?” Like that. My father made us girls very aware growing up that saying those words were silly and made us sound stupid so, like, we tried to use them as infrequently as possible, you know?
• I do not have duck lips. I have a nice, full lower lip. I wouldn’t mind if my top lip were fuller, but it’s a nice shape. I will admit to ONCE having lip stuff injected into my top lip just to see what it was like. OMFG it was more painful than childbirth—never again. I almost passed out halfway through and made them stop. If I’m going to feel that much pain, there better be something tangible at the end, like a baby or say, a writing contract with a major house. Plus JP hated how hard it felt. Don’t guys hate that?
• Religion and Politics—I’ve made it very clear that I’m a liberal Jew--in Orange County, CA, The Land of Conservative Christians, which makes me the moral minority if ever there was one. I personally don’t feel I have to censor myself (duh) but I have several liberal friends that do feel, based on their jobs, that they can’t speak their minds and I feel that’s sad.  We all have to make that choice. This area is, however, very, very fond of little baby Jesus.
• I was born Jewish. I’m a Jew by birth and by guilt. I never go to temple. I speak no Hebrew and I didn’t have a bat mitzvah. I love bacon. Don’t ask me Jewish stuff—I know a few Yiddish words but other than that, I really don’t know anything. I do know I’m half Russian and half German. The only Jewish food I like is my mom’s matzo ball soup, brisket, and potato pancakes. The end.
• I’ve known I wanted to write since I was five. I majored in Communication Studies at CSUS (Sac State) with a minor in Journalism. I wanted to move to New York to write. Then I realized I could take my degree and do anything. I watched my older sister go to work for a pharma company and make lots of money so I did the same. Did that from 1987-2004 for two different companies. Did great. Hated it. Did move back east though. That was kinda cool. 
• I’ve worn sunblock on my face since my twenties, when I sold Sea & Ski, and saw first hand the damage sun can cause to a person’s face. I am 46 and have no wrinkles. You can hate me now.
• I used to sell Trojan brand condoms. In Carson City, NV. Think about it.
• For God’s sake, my eyes are naturally this green. I do not wear colored contacts—jeez. My grandmother’s sister, Leigh, was the only green-eyed one out of five girls. Somehow I ended up with that recessive gene—all of my family members have brownish eyes.
• I don’t wear false eyelashes either. Never have. All me, baby.
• I despise cooking. Always have. The entire process—from buying stuff to chopping to cooking to cutting—bores me to no end. Put on a cooking show and either I’m outta there or I’ll take a nap. Luckily, one of my ‘husband requirements’ was to marry a man who can cook and JP is an excellent chef.
• I dated a professional bullrider. Yes, he was bowlegged.
• I play classical piano, though I can pick up almost any tune and play it by ear. I’m a sideshow that way.
• I really hate high heels, but I’m having a love affair with my black suede Prada Mary Janes. I mean, who wouldn’t?
• I hate shopping malls, Disneyland, really anything with crowds.
• My first job was painting signs.
• I hate shredded coconut, though I love coconut Lifesavers.
• I love gumballs.
• My favorite food is spicy. Give me anything spicy, I’m happy.
• And, I can pretty much find any information you need on the Internet. People are freaked out by my ability to do this. (Just found a book for a Twitter friend that she’s been trying to find for over twenty years—took me about five minutes.)

I am the least OC person you will probably ever meet—perhaps because I wasn’t raised here (Sacramento). I have no expensive jewelry. I don’t go to events to “see and be seen.” With the exception of a small Louis Vuitton obsession, and a few pairs of exquisite Prada shoes I got on sale (okay and some Blahniks), I don’t do the designer thing. (Worth it to invest in quality bags and shoes and don’t let anyone tell you differently. My daughter will wear those one day.)

Disneyland is a whole other blog. Let’s just say that we live twenty minutes away and I’ve been over 300 times or more in the past ten years (“multi-pass” for all you Fifth Element fans) and I’d be happy if the whole place just sunk into a giant sinkhole at this point.

I think that should be enough to bore you for awhile. If you want to know anything further, just ask. I may or may not answer on the grounds that I just don’t feel like it.

 

Feel free to comment, follow me, or share this post by clicking the SHARE button on the very top left of this blog. As always, I appreciate you stopping by, though I’m not going to do a happy dance for you since that would require effort.

Follow me on Twitter by clicking the button at the top of my blog. See how easy that is? You’re so smart.

Ode to Kelis’ song “Milkshake”

 

My tweets bring all the peeps to the blog,

And they’re like,

It’s funnier than yours,

Damn right,

My funny’s better than snores,

I’ll keep you awake & the,

Mancode’s large.

 

La la-la la la,
Write it up
Lala-lalala,
The Peeps are waiting.

 

The ManCode brings all the chicks to the floor,

And they’re like,

So true on the score,

Damn right,

Chick knows men at their core,

Work it,

Make the men do the chores.

 

La-la-la-la-la,

Make my martini,

La-la-la-la-la,

I’m busy writing (make it a double).

 

(Taking my bows…)

 

Follow me on Twitter @RachelintheOC or subscribe here.

The Top 10 Stupid in The OC—a guest post for The Top 10 Blog

I did this post for Tony at The Top 10 Blog who was kind enough to find me and ask me to create a list. Any list. Clearly, he didn’t know what he was in for.

Find his cool lists here. Lots of fun reads.

Here is my post:

“A great guest list from RachelintheOC. If you like what you see here then you must visit Rachel’s excellent Blog.”

You can follow @RachelintheOC on Twitter or on her blog: RachelintheOC.com for more musings, such as why men do weird stuff.

I live in Orange County, CA (a.k.a. “the OC”) known for its beaches, gorgeous weather, and tall, tan, blonde people.

I am a petite (that’s an OC word), pale redhead.

There are several stereotypes I fight against daily living here: vapid blondes, fake boobs, luxury cars, high heels, conservatives.

Actually, all that really does exist. What the hell am I thinking?

Herein, a Top 10 list of the stupid crap, idiocies going on in the OC every day:

10) OC drivers LOVE their SUVs. Particularly their luxury SUVs. They particularly love to drive said luxury SUVs at high speeds on the demilitarized war zones, er, streets of the OC in order to cut you off, especially if you have the gall to signal that you’d like to change lanes. How dare you.

Parking those behemoths is something else altogether. Given that these drivers (sigh, women) have never parked anything bigger than their teenage-boy sized asses on an upscale suede barstool before and are now expected to maneuver something akin to a small school bus into a compact car spot while chatting on their cell phones—well. Need I go further?

9) On that same note, mothers driving their obligatory luxury SUVs in school parking lots don’t feel that California laws, such as that pesky little one like stopping for cute tiny preschool pedestrians carrying Elmo backpacks, applies to them. They have a tennis lesson with their obligatory hot trainer to get to, by God.

8) If you are female, it is imperative that one has one’s toenails painted at all times or risk side-eye persecution. It is written.

7) If one is actually walking one’s child into school, one must be dressed in the obligatory designer jogging suit, full-on diamonds and carefully applied makeup, even though it’s only 8AM. 5-inch heels not optional.

6) Southern California is the fake boob capital of the world. Apparently, having double Ds makes up for a multitude of sins. However, when you see tits up at shoulder level, you can’t help but stare. Things have clearly gotten out of, er, hand.

5) Many OC girls learn at an early age that carrying a $100 Juicy Couture backpack to school is just not good enough. Neither will mummy’s Louis Vuitton castoff do. It is a brand new Tods or risk tantrum city, thus giving rise to the ability of handling manipulation and bitterness at a young age. This comes in handy in the future when headed for divorce number three.

4) Despite their English teacher’s best efforts, children in the OC will pepper their language with regional phrases such as “like” and “you know” and “dude,” well into their forties. Many times salvation comes too late, resulting in questionable career choices, often with “guru” in the job title.

3) OC men in their forties who still say “dude” may live in a shack, but will proudly drive their BMWs and Mercedes like idiots. (Once passing me on the right at high speed, in a school zone, plowing into a very large, very slow-moving vehicle. Hehe.)

2) Ah, the duck lips. You’ll be hard-pressed to enter any bar, restaurant, or heck, even a Starbucks, in the OC without encountering that creature known as the duck-lipped female—usually accompanied by the aforementioned fake boobage. To be fair, she is usually escorted by the hair-plugged male with the Porsche keychain, who in actuality drives a Hyundai tricked out with a leather bra. And chrome rims.

1) And finally, religion and politics seem to be a big deal here; but only if you are on the far right on both counts. I’m neither (Jewish and liberal please, stand up). I’m also a pale redhead with real boobs. Huh…I wonder if there’s some kind of karmic connection there.

Let me check with Shirley MacLaine and I’ll get back to you…

My Geek Confession on a Dance Floor

 

I am a geek.

Well, let me back up a sec. I feel a person can be passionate about a thing (vodka) or a person (Brad Pitt—though he seriously needs to lose the beard beads. He’s harshing his hotness quotient BIG TIME), or even a television show (“glee”), and not necessarily be a geek (or “gleek”) about them. You may or may not agree with this assertion. I don’t really care.

My point is that I am confessing to you here and now that I am a full-fledged Madonna geek. Have been since “Holiday” (1983) and still am with “Hard Candy” (2009) and the accompanying “Sticky and Sweet” tour. (Hey, I did warn you.) 

I will spare you the bubble gum pop rundown of her early musical career and questionable fashion choices—with the exception of mentioning that her rockin red MAC lipstick applied carefully with a lip brush rocked back then and still does today—as did her smokin Chanel Vamp lips shown in her “Truth or Dare” documentary.

Again, geek. You were warned.

There is no denying the sophistication and influence this Italian-American spitfire has had on the music and fashion world. Madonna’s constant reinvention and sense of illusion is what has had millions of us enraptured, some 25, almost 30 years later.

What I hope to discuss here is the effect she had on my own empowerment—whether helping me to stand up to an idiot boyfriend by repeatedly listening to “Express Yourself” (and ultimately ending that relationship), getting myself out of the dance floor without waiting for some white guy who dances like a white guy to ask (“Into the Groove” and “Vogue”), or to feel comfortable enough with my own sexuality to wear a gorgeous, sexy bra peeking out of a well-tailored jacket on a date ("Justify My Love” or well, come to think of it, any song of hers, actually…).

I laugh at her sense of humor, her ability to poke fun at herself; I’m amazed and thrilled at how many people she has pissed off with her “in your face” sexuality—particularly when it comes to organized religion. I see that as simply what a strong woman is capable of in this male-dominated society.

Listen, disagree (men) all you want. She’s made serious bank and has provided for her children, multiple husbands, boyfriends, countless dancers and crew over the years, and various and sundry charitable causes – even if it took posing naked in a book called SEX to do it.

Yea, she’s kind of a wiggy chick (Letterman and a few curse words, anyone?); wacky outfits (bunny ears for Louis Vuitton, seriously?); Kaballah (though you have to give her credit for popularizing this mystical aspect of Judaism that people had never heard of; heck, I’m Jewish and even I knew very little about it until Madge bridged the gap); the rumors of plastic surgery (come on—gotta be true, right?); and her continued efforts to prove she can act (not. hehe).

If I see Madonna “on the cover of a magazine” (Vogue), time will literally stop while I read it intently from beginning to end, memorizing every word, viewing the pictures in awe of that crazy bod, the cool clothes (albeit sometimes wackadoodle, but still, I like her avant garde style), how her makeup looks—(der), wondering what controversial comment she’s said now, or whether she’s feeding a country for the next 10 years with her multi-millions, something we as a country have failed to do.

University students study Miss M for the marketing machine she is. Ironic, given that she never graduated from college herself. I know I personally have learned several lessons. Have you? (Worth noting here that when I lived in NYC when I met my husband in the early 90s, she moved into his building. We lived in one tiny apartment. She knocked out the walls of four or five—on the Central Park side, of course. We saw her once—bossing her driver. It was great.)

I will end here by saying that I have embraced the cool hotness that is Madonna and will continue to do so as long as she keeps putting it out there. Her detractors are many, and I’m sure she welcomes them as a challenge---she stands up for what she believes in and tells everyone else to basically fuck off. I love it.

I started my daughter’s Madonna musical education years ago, when she was probably four of five (she’s now almost eleven). She can recognize Madonna’s voice pretty much every time, no matter what the song. My boy has picked up the Madonna “name that tune” talent as well. His favorite is “Vogue” right now.

Yea, I know she’s not the best singer. Yea, I know she’s no virtuoso. That’s the beauty of the chick. Madonna KNOWS she’s no virtuoso and yet she still learns and grows. And that’s enough of a role model for me.

Okay, I’ll shut up now.

Geek, out.

 

For a list of my all time favorite Madonna songs, see below (alphabetically listed):

Beautiful Stranger*

Beat Goes On

Candy Perfume Girl*

Crazy For You

Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You*

Don’t Tell Me*

Erotica

Express Yourself

Give it 2 Me

Hollywood*

Human Nature

Hung Up

I Deserve It*

I’ll Remember

Intro the Groove

Live to Tell

Jump**

Justify My Love

Miles Away

Music

Nobody Knows Me*

Oh, Father*

Promise to Try*

Ray of Light

Revolver

Sanctuary*

Secret*

She’s Not Me

Sorry

Something to Remember

Swim*

Take a Bow

Vogue

Voices*

The *asterisk represents my absolute favorite songs, in particular her lesser known songs (with the exception of “Jump”—her best song ever) that I find I go back to again and again.

All tracks are available from the evil empire—oops, sorry—I mean itunes.

Enjoy.

If you don’t already follow me, please do so and I’ll follow you back if you’d like. I can also be found on Twitter @RachelintheOC.

Technorati Tags: Madonna,empowerment,fashion,makeup,cool,evil empire,iTunes

Pigs Have Flown: a Guest Blog by Mr. RachelintheOC

The Man Code: Errors and Omissions or what I thought the title of my response to my wife’s blog was going to be. Then I thought to myself, who would it really be for? Women love to spend time talking, reading, and writing about men. Go to your local Starbucks on any given day and you will witness at least one group of women talking about men, whereas you will be hard pressed to find men talking about women. The men will be talking business, sports, or politics. Men are simplistic creatures and don’t typically have much to say about women, or for that matter relationships in general.

I have been around women for over 55 years, both hetero and gay, and have determined that relationships with women are easy, when you know the “code”. So perhaps I can offer my two bits to the relationship discussion about women to those guys out there who follow RachelintheOC and find harmony in their relationships unattainable. So, as we are simple creatures, I offer you a simple plan.

Let me begin by stating that I am a practicing quasi master of the Yoda Relationship Building Order and the guiding principle to relationship harmony that I live by came from a man who had been happily married for over 75 years. During an interview with him he was asked what was the secret to a successful long-term marriage. He distilled it down to five words . . . “give them what they want.” This simple principle is the “code,” the keystone to relationship success and harmony with women.

However, a word of caution. Deviate from the “code” at your own peril and begin down the path to The Dark Side.

Furthermore, I would offer some suggestions in three critical situations that you will frequently find yourself in and that your response to these situations will make or break the harmony.

1. In response to being corrected or schooled in the finer points of the relationship, “yes dear, I didn’t know you felt that way.”

2. In response to being queried about the beauty or sexiness of other women, “she’s okay, but then again, I am spoiled.”

3. In response to being surveyed about her weight (e.g., do these jeans make my . . . ), “there you stand, all those curves and me with no brakes.”

Remember, keep your wits about you since these queries usually come when your guard is down and always remember, there has only been one man to ever beat the Kobayashi Maru.

I’d like to leave you with this final thought: you might want to rethink that life insurance policy. If you don’t have one, they tend to have a higher concern for your health and well-being. They make sure you’re eating right, you’re taking care of yourself, and you’re comfortable with minimal stress. If you do have a policy, well . . . it’s every man for himself.

Good luck!

Technorati Tags: Man Code,Women,Starbucks,Kabayashi Maru,Dark Side,Curves,Jeans

(JP is my honey and I am so proud of him that he actually put pen to…er, fingers to keyboard. He is not a writer but he did a damn fine job.

For the record, he does practice what he preaches—most of the time, anyway.)

Follow me on Twitter @RachelintheOC or subscribe here to my blog or RSS feed.

Response to “The Man Code”

 

Frankly, I’ve been thrilled and not a little bit surprised by the reaction to my “Man Code” post of last week.

I’ve received lots of comments posted to my blog, via my Twitter and Facebook accounts, and by email as well as face to face (I know, does that even exist anymore?).

Clearly, there is more research to be done on this topic but I’d like to make a few things clear.

My goal was simply to discuss the humor in the differences I observe between myself and my honey—to serve as an example, if you will, of how men and women operate and think things through in an entirely different manner—not that there’s anything wrong with that. I make no judgments except to put them down here in a sarcastic manner (or normal operating mode for me) and to hopefully make people get a laugh during their tough day.

If you take a look at the comments, you will see mostly positive contributions, with the occasional dissenting opinion, which is great and I encourage. I’m thrilled when anyone has worked out their own system and many have shared their great stories here with me. I hope you take a quick second to read them and laugh along. I hope I continue to hear from folks with their stories since I plan on adding to my “Code,” so please share my post with your family and friends.

JP and I have gotten some real laughs out of his “Man Code” habits, mostly because he didn’t realize he was doing them. (I would add “and vice versa” except, you know, I’m a chick and we know everything. Hehe.)

He says he’s going to write his own “Women’s Code” post in response (Alert: a MAN will threaten to write something in response to something, but will actually do it when pigs fly), and it will say simply two words: “Yes, dear.”

To which I respond “What planet are you from?”

 

Please continue to write in with your comments, stories, and examples. I appreciate any and all “MAN CODE” stories. Follow me on Twitter @RachelintheOC or subscribe to my blog or RSS feed here.)

 

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