These are my dress clothes

A: Super Bowl Sunday, Again?

According to the Comcast TV listing and guide, the Steelers will be playing the Cardinals this weekend in the Super Bowl. 

I have no further comment on the specifics of the sports aspect of this event, so stop reading if that is where your interest lies.  However, if you are like me and are interested in commentary related to the heart of game (the halftime show and commercials), please--read on.

Halftime show: It appears that the NFL’s decision to have Bruce Springsteen perform at the halftime show marks the fifth year in a row that we are forced to watch old people sing and dance.  I mean, seriously - when will we stop having to pay for JT and JJ’s wardrobe malfunction?  It’s ridiculous that you have to be 50 to get on stage.  Every year, I think this is the year that I’ll finally get my Troy and Gabriella Super Bowl Musical performance, but alas! who knows if that day will ever come. 

Commercials: Apparently, 3D is officially back.  On my quarterly trip to the supermarket, I saw a stand with 3D glasses to be used to view Dreamworks’ Super Bowl commercial.   This is super exciting not because I like commercials or free 3D glass but rather it is even more evidence that Billy Ray Cyrus is a marketing genius.  Of course, 3D glasses became cool again this summer with Hannah Montana’s Best of Both Worlds concert movie in 3D.  Having a 3D Super Bowl commercial that will be seen by over 90 million viewers just solidifies the far reaching influence Billy Ray has on America culture. 

A: Actually, no

We’ve advised you on music to listen to, books to read and activities to fill your life with happiness.  Now it’s time to help you with your career. By many standards, we’ve had success in our professional lives.  We’ve climbed the proverbial ladder and earn respectable livings.  Want to know the secret to our success?  Defiance.  Yep, it’s that simple.   Management respects defiance. Always.   How do you start incorporating defiance into your work life?  Glad you asked.  Here are some simple steps:

•  Start perceiving everyone as a coworker whether they are your boss or not. Remember this is American and there is no such thing as indentured servitude.   

• When you are right and someone else is wrong, you should say it.  You probably know more than you give yourself credit for.

• When you have a good idea, you should make it happen.  Even if it’s not your job.  Even if no one else supports you.    

• If a coworker (including your boss) is being a bully, refuse to put up with it.   Period.

•  No manager worth working for wants a yes girl.  So, go to work, learn how to do your job well and then start saying no.  

 Saying no is the best place to start your new defiant you.   It’s super fun. And super effective.  You should try it.  Start slow.  Once a week, say no to your boss.  It really works.  Even CNN agrees. And its such an important topic that Forbes has featured a series of saying no at work...in pictures.  Check it out here.

Think about kids.  One of the first words kids learn is always ‘no’.  Kids innately understand they need to be defiant to get what they want in life.  Most times, they say ‘no’ even when they don’t mean it. They recognize they have a will and they want to exercise it.  Because it’s fun and its normal.  Of course, over the next 18 years, kids learn to be obedient in order to be successful in school.  Well, now you are an adult and no one is stopping you from saying ‘no’ except yourself. The mentality of obedience that made you successful in schoolrooms will not take you far in corporate America. 

Now for the obligatory disclaimer.  Don’t get carried away.  We are not advising you to show up to work two hours late or just be rude at the office.  What we advise is to not fear authority.  When you resist it on a regular basis, people will start to perceive you as a decision maker and a leader.  Being a leader results in financial payoffs and more freedom at work.  And at the end of the day, if we can’t be one of the fortunate souls who are independently wealthy, we can at least strive for a job that affords us more independence and money.

C: I am just cheerleading

In these harsh times, it is important to find ways to make yourself happy.Shopping is the most surefire method, but since we are all basically on the brink of economic demise, here are some cheaper options:

• Listen to Dave Ramsey - his callers are all idiots and even 10 minutes of listening will lead to a euphoric sense of satisfaction about your own financial state
• Watch a dance show (celebrity participation is optional) - you will feel inspired to take up dance lessons, which you will not actually do, but the inspiration alone releases endorphins akin to running a marathon....which is, of course, the magic of tv
• Read some YA-lit - the genius of books written for children is that they are not trying too hard to impress; kids are too smart to waste 3 hours of their life reading a book Oprah recommends, so YA-lit is actually interesting
• Read a mundane blog - I have a friend who combats a stressful, high-powered job as a corporate lawyer by reading the blog of a girl she knew in high school. They were not friends, but reading about this woman's daily trip to Chic-fil-A and her kids' craft projects is incredibly soothing.
• Speaking of high school, check out your hometown newspaper's arrested column (here's mine) - reading about the misfortune of people you knew long ago is sure to raise your spirits b/c (a) you moved away from home and they didn't and (b) you are not in jail....unless, of course, you are....in which case - sucks to be you. But on the upside, if you are in your hometown jail then you won't have to do much to get happier.
• Trim your split ends while on conference calls - the fact that you are both improving the quality of your hair AND brilliantly multi-tasking at work is both promotion-worthy AND endorphins-inducing
• Eat a gigantic bowl of Lucky Charms - no need for explanation.....separating out the purple horseshoe marshmallows is pure bliss - straight up.

A: Top 5 books to read after Twilight

There comes a time in everyone's life (sooner for some than others) when one graduates from Adult novels to Young Adult lit.  Thanks to the Twilight series, many of you have recently reached this milestone and find yourselves wondering where to go next. Well let us start by saying that there is nowhere to go from Twilight except down, so set your expectations low.  With that said, we do have some excellent Twilight runner-ups that will get you through the lull until the next SM publication.

1. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rollings. For those of you who passed on Potter because you thought you weren't interested in wizard stories…well, just like you thought you weren't interested in vampire stories…you really are.   So just read it.
2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - So good.  Imagine Gladiators except change the time frame from the past to the future, replace the grown men with children and insert Mulan for Russell Crowe.  But we warn you now, it’s the first book in the series, so if you start now, you'll have to wait until next fall for the sequel, Catching Fire.
3. The Goose Girl series by Shannon Hale.   A retelling of Grimm's Goose Girl fairy tale.  It's a period piece trilogy with a super-likable female protagonist.  Of course, we've never read the original Goose Girl, but surely it can't be better than this version. 
4. House of Night series by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast.  Like most of the books on this list, the main character fits the archetype female protagonist with special powers who lives in a far away land called Oklahoma.  Its hard to imagine anything interesting taking place in Oklahoma, but the Cast family manages to make it work.  Currently, there are four books published but the fifth is being released in March '09. 
5. Graceling by Kristin Cashore. I'm sure you're thinking…Really?  Another story about a young adult 'graced' with special powers who lives in a magical kingdom?  Well this one is  different...these 'graced' kids are marked with mismatched irises.  Totally distinguishes the story from the rest.

Coming soon, our top pics for books in other categories such as 'post apocalyptic times', 'boarding schools' and 'books that if were made into movies would star, Alexis Bledel and Tom Welling'.

A/C: Amy & Caitlyn's infinite playlist

Whilst reading this blog, we highly recommend that you listen to the following songs to get the full sensory experience:

Current hits:

Selena Gomez Tell Me Something I Don't Know (Best probing life question: "How many inches in a mile?")

Britney Spear If You Seek Amy (Common problem with Amys:  "Is she smokin' up outside?")

Miley Cyrus Wake Up America (Best Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? question: "Global warming, going green...I don't know what all this means?")

Jonas Bros Video Girl (The JoBros advanced medical knowledge: "I'm not going to be another victim of the video girl syndrome")

MIranda Cosgrove About You Now (Acceptance is the first step to recovery: "Yeah I lied")

Demi Lavato La La Land (Damn teens and their metabolism: "I'm not a supermodel, I still eat McDonald's")

Ashely Tisdale (as Sharpay) I Want It All (Words of wisdom: "I Want It All")

Classics:

Miley Cyrus (as Hannah Montana) Best of Both Worlds

Hilary Duff (as Lizzie McGuire) What Dreams Are Made Of

Lindsay Lohan (as daughter in Freaky Friday) Ultimate

Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens (as Troy & Gabriella) Breaking Free

 

 

 

Hi, we are Amy and Caitlyn - two bloggers from Atlanta who met when a common goal to avoid the University of Georgia and lack of familial finances led us both to the tragic choice of attending Georgia Tech. It marked the demise of the glorious mid-90's and led to the unfortunate turn of the century. The good news is that we have since triumphed over those bereft roots and have made much better choices since then. The Oh's (2004 - current) have led to a glorious cultural rebirth for mankind, akin to the Italian Renaissance led primarily by the Disney Channel, a modern-day apprenticeship for the next generation of celebrity. Given our love of talking to each other, we felt that in this new day and age of Service to humanity, it is our civic duty to share our minds with the masses….it is what Barack Obama would want us to do and if nothing else, we are patriots.

It's been licious.