I’m not talking about the under-the-sheets kind of luck, although you may be able to apply these luck-attracting strategies to your pursuit of the finer physical pleasures.

I’m talking about the kind of luck that gets your name chosen in a drawing for a signed Bulls jersey. The kind of luck that compels radio stations to call you with free tickets to Hawaii and back. The kind of luck that pushes you to bump into strangers that offer you a free haircut. Luck that makes everything go right one day. Luck that wins you a $5 lotto ticket when you scratch a colorful stub off in haste, needing exactly $4 to pay that stubborn StreetWise guy out there so he’ll stop telling you to smile more.

Have I made my point yet about what luck really is?

Here’s another kind of luck, this time it’s a real example. If you don’t live in Chicago, you’ll need to know this before we continue: public transportation in Chicago is nice, but sometimes can be crowded and can take forever to get to your rendezvous point. Recently, as I was riding the brown line train, a young man in baggy pants with a backpack stood next to me by the door as our train pulled into the Belmont station. He was switching his weight from one side of his body to the other, moving his feet back and forth like he was eagerly awaiting a urinal. So I obviously assumed he was doing the Potty Dance until I heard what he was saying, over and over to himself:

“Get Lucky, Get Lucky, Get Lucky. Come on, Get Lucky….”

I saw what kind of luck he was after: he wanted to catch the red line connection when we got into the stop before it pulled away.

Turns out, he was in luck. The doors of our brown line train opened, he lept forward like a young racehorse, and I watched him make the red line connection.

I  air-fived him. Just in my head. Because the guy was inspiring. He told himself he was going to get lucky and then he did. You know what he has? Positive attitude.Yup. And guess what? That’s a lot of what luck is.

You’ll say it’s stupid. You’ll say, “Okay, but a positive attitude can only go so far.” But you’ll never know what can happen to you when you aren’t ragging about how bad your luck is, how bad you have it, how stressed out you are.

You’re not going to notice the $5.00 floating just below your feet if you are updating your facebook about how annoying that professor was to give you last minute homework. You aren’t going to stop and chat with the dude next to you who might end up working for the company of your dreams.

Chances are, you aren’t going to be paying attention to what’s around you if your brain is that cluttered. Plus, you’re going to be racing through your day worrying. You won’t have time to enter the drawing on that website for a free DVD. You won’t have time to take a different route home from work or class, the route that might lead you to a new Chipotle opening up and giving away free burritos. You never know. So make the time; open your eyes.

Here’s my advice to you, as a veteran of luck, there are only a few things you need to be lucky:

1. A Good Attitude

2. Desire to Explore and Experience New Things

but sometimes it’s really just

3. Pure Chance

And that’s all for today, folks.

Next time you find a penny, pick that sucker up.Then wash your hands.

This is not my hand. Thanks Google Image Search!

http://javagg.tumblr.com/

I realized maybe she’d seen my eyes lingering near the buttons, so I responded, “6″.

Several moments later she said, “The words you’re lookin’ for are ‘You’re welcome’”. Her tone was unfriendly; she was upset with me.

I was sort of shocked by this, being essentially told I was rude. At first I was mad at her, but then I realized that I should have acknowledged that pressing the button was worth thanking her for.

I sort of kicked myself too, because today I opened several doors for people: the ridiculously heavy doors of the Chicago Public Library, the double doors to my apartment building upon seeing my neighbor scramble to find the door key, the doors to Dunkin Donuts – when I actually told someone “come on in!” with a smile. And now this, being told off by the elevator woman, really threw a curveball into my otherwise perfect record day.

I wish I could have explained myself to her – this stranger in an enclosed space with me – but I didn’t. When talking to strangers, how do we draw the line between what to say, and what not? Are we all a people looking out for each other, trying to connect and make each other more caring? Or do we simply like seeing others fail where we’ve succeeded?

All I know is next time, I won’t forget to say “thanks”.

This is meant to be funny/ironic. But I’ve always wondered what else can be on a resume… Who knows? Maybe the untold, the unscripted, is really something an employer is searching for. Maybe resumes shouldn’t always be formed, cut and dry, über professional lists of your career experiences. There IS a “Skills” section of a resume. I think it should be open for interpretation and elaboration

For instance:

I am a non-smoker.

Know what that means? I’m cost-effective - I won’t have to leave every hour on the hour to take a drag outside.

I have a slight case of bibliophilia.

I admit it – I’m a book lover. I’d like to say this is a non-contagious disease, but I regret to inform you that I will avidly try to contaminate you. I will be reading such interesting titles that you will be distractedly curious. I will latch onto you with amazing conversations about words. You will be hooked.

I am a former business owner.

I ran a lemonade stand with quality Country Time Style instant-mix ingredients. It was a booming business, though I was unable to continue past the summer season.

I am a former Power Ranger.

The yellow one. And I knew all hand motions to morph. Super fighting skills and coordination will benefit your company. Also my long-time friendship with the powerful Zordon is a networker’s dream.

I am being tangential. The point of this blog posting is to reminisce about all the resumes I have flung into the abyss of the internet. Where do they go? Why do they never contact me back? They must search my name and find this blog and judge me horribly. Or maybe I don’t have a specific keyword in my resume that attracts the attention of the recruiter.

It could be also that the internet just knows that I know I’m not going to get a response, and therefore does not respond. This is called the Law of Attraction.  Basically the law goes that if you think positive, then positive things will enter your life. If you think negatively, perhaps something like “I’ll never get a job”, well then, the universe understands that to mean that you never want a job, and doesn’t give it to you. If this is a metaphysical way of thinking, then so be it. But I think it works.

One day I saw a penny on the floor and picked it up, thinking “this will bring me good luck.” And it did, I got two phone calls from recruiters that day. (I wasn’t interested in the positions, but still, it was positive progress.) All the people in my life who constantly complain about drama seem to have never-ending drama, and all the happy people seem well, happy, because they usually get what they want. However, I did read this from an Oprah-endorsed book called The Secret, so maybe this law of attraction stuff really is all mumbo-jumbo.

I like to imagine what people do with cover letters and resumes. Make fun of them? Scoff at the inadequacies? Yawn in boredom?  Furthermore, how does one interpret the right candidate from words? There is only so much that experience can prove. It can’t really prove competency or success, or predict the infinite wealth of know-how and new ideas that a candidate may provide the employer with.

I guess the bottom line is, if you’re looking for a job, stay positive. And if you’re a recruiter, give us young’ins a chance to prove ourselves. Don’t delete that resume from your inbox. Call me up. You may be surprised.

There’s a woman sitting by me on the train with a claddagh ring on her right ring finger, with the crown pointed up. This means she is in a relationship – the fact that the crown is facing out, and the heart facing down, means her heart has been “captured”.

She looks to be about early 30s. She is wearing pearl earrings and her short blonde hair is slicked back into a ponytail. She’s playing solitaire on her phone, has wool purple gloves and a shiny leather purse in her lap, and a computer bag on the floor between her feet. She has a pretty aqua scarf around her neck, I can tell it has a high thread count, but it’s mostly hidden by the high collar of her wool blend mid-knee length jacket. She’s chosen all of these ways to present herself to the world, including the ring, a final touch. Overall she is the epitome of a Chicago career woman.

So what’s she doing with this ring? Until now, I’ve always associated this ring with younger girls.  In high school, these rings were all the rage. I remember coming to class one day, my ring symbolizing that I was in a relationship, and a friend squealing “OMG” at this nonverbal message.  Furthermore, because of the usage of the claddagh ring in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, I was captivated by the sheer coolness of the ring.

Depending on which hand, and in which direction you have the ring pointed, the meaning is that you are either: single, taken, engaged, or married. This simple and subtle ring position speaks volumes: but only if you know what it means.

And for guys reading this article, perhaps this is the first time you’ve even heard of a claddagh ring. Shame on you. Clearly, being able to recognize this ring would help you out. Typically a diamond ring on the left hand would turn you away, but now you have to worry about a different kind of ring. This one is on the right hand. If the heart is open and facing you, then she’s single: go for it. 

The claddaugh ring tells the world your relationship status. Which is something our culture is obsessed with, for example, our dedication to updating our relationship status on facebook.  One bride and groom even updated their statuses at the altar promptly after saying “I Do”.

(Come on, admit it. You do it all the time.)

Back in high school, the nuns sat us down with a police officer for a stern lecture about how our Facebook profiles were attracting stalkers. That predators were viewing our profiles and looking at our pictures and personal information.  Mostly they were brilliantly unaware of our ability to accept or deny friends on these said social networking sites.  Really, this was faux concern for our safety, and was instead, a concern about their image as a Catholic all-girl’s high school. Oh, my! We just simply can’t have these girls posting lewd photographs of themselves! (This is not far-fetched, considering my school sent out a memo stating that when dancing with a boy, there should be enough room in between for the Holy Spirit.) Conversations with teachers started in classrooms all the time, they asked us why we used Facebook, why was it so popular, what was the point? My peers gave valid answers as reasons: they needed to connect with family and friends they couldn’t see as often, they could easily exchange pictures, it was a good way to keep track of friends.

But what they didn’t say, or what we didn’t realize, is that Facebook is just a glorified window-watching experience, a way to utterly stalk a person’s entire life with just a few clicks. People seem to be completely fine with posting intimate photographs of themselves in bed with a significant other (yes, I’ve seen it), classy portraits of themselves chugging beer upside down, aka doing a “keg stand”, and finally, photographs that are self-portraits, dressed up for the camera with a pouty mouth and perky breasts.

While on the surface, all of these types of photographs can be offensive, obnoxious, annoying, the truth of their purpose for being posted is simple: it’s all manifestations of insecurities.  The pictures that people post of themselves tell the world something. It’s not just a picture, and you didn’t just post it “because”.  Facebook is all about controlling your appearance.  Photos of significant others together, kissing or in bed, scream “ Hey look, I have a mate, value me!”.  Pictures of kids chugging beer scream “I party, therefore I am social. Look how cool this makes me!” Finally and most obviously, photographs that are posed, often highly sexualized portraits for the camera explain, “Look world, I am clearly sexual and attractive. Please desire me.” And these self-portrayals extend to status updates as well, particularly about partying, and then the next day, about regretting all those shots.  And this is what we click on, as we face-stalk each other. Who did what over the weekend, who has a new boyfriend, who lost or gained weight since high school. We are curious, we judge, we compare another’s record of life experiences to our own.

I definitely do not want to sound condescending or arrogant, because in fact, I have placed photographs like this of myself on Facebook as well. I’m just as guilty of being vain! I want people to see me when my life is going good.  I think that Facebook really is all about controlling your image. I want to take a critical approach to Facebook, and be able to look at society through this new lens: imperfections and all.  Because face-stalking isn’t all bad.

In fact, face-stalking can be highly productive. Every day I, as I’m sure you do, scroll down my news feed to see what’s on my friends’ minds.  Status updates reveal which friends aren’t feeling well, which friends are celebrating accomplishments like getting a new job or internship, or even a new relationship. These status updates provide a way for friends to know things that would otherwise go by unacknowledged. This is what we need as human beings: to connect to others. To know that others care about what we’re doing, and to reciprocate this concern for our friends as well.  Writing on a friend’s status update or even simply “liking” it helps us to maintain friendships on a very basic level with this simple acknowledgement.

I’ve noticed that it is common to include a quotation in your status update, borrowing other’s words to best reveal your current mood. I’m not going to lie, no matter how little I know about you, I’m probably going to Copy+Paste that quote into good ole’ Google, so that I can figure out where you’re coming from. It’s interesting to me, that words from lyrics, speeches, television shows, have power and resonate within an individual so perfectly.  Here’s the crazy part though: sometimes I’m just going to look up your status, but never comment. Maybe I don’t know you, maybe there isn’t much to say. But that’s the beauty of Face-Stalking: no one will know if you ignore them.

There is something freeing about the anonymity of face-stalking. There are no rules, no limits, no guidelines. We are free to roam the depths of friends and “friends” profiles.  And I think this is part of the reason why it is so popular: we are curious. We like to investigate, like to be able to find the answers and reasons behind why our friend is acting this way. It’s something the nuns could have never predicted (and certainly, if I were to try to explain it to them, they’d never understand) but Facebook has found a way to make stalking socially acceptable.

For whatever reason, I had believed for 7 years that a pea coat, even though I had to wear two sweaters underneath it along with two scarves, a hat, a hood, and two sets of gloves, was an appropriate winter wear choice. I’ve come to my senses now, and donned this dreadful puffy thing. Its fur on the inside lining, polyester on the outside, stuffed with duck down feather filling. Thank you ducks, for keeping me warm. I may look like a giant blackened marshmallow, but damnit, I’m warm. Furthermore, it was only $50 at Marshalls, so that right there is something to boast about.

I sort of think this is a boring topic, but it reveals a lot about me: I’d rather cover myself in feathers than be a chic Chicagoan.

Some people may be saying, “Bah, I don’t have time to read a webcomic.”

That’s a pretty lame excuse, since I know you will spend questionable amounts of time stalking people, maybe even me, on Facebook. I think you can spare a few seconds a day to catch up on some great stories.

There are TONS of webcomics out there, in fact, The Webcomic List website has compiled a list of over 13,600. Woah. That’s a lot to keep up with.

I’ll just share with you a few of the ones I read.

#1. Questionable Content
Obscure indie music references, playful yet violent banter in coffeehouses, and BEST of all, troublemaking pet robots

It's easy to make fun of Warhammar

#2. Ctrl-Alt-Del
Video game nerds. One normal guy, one crazy guy, and a human sized Xbox robot. Crazy guy often causes chaos.

Gender Neutrality is pretty funny.

#3. Head Trip
Cutely drawn smart chicks who often get annoyed with the stupidity of society and pop icons such as Britney Spears, usually followed by a violent imagining of what needs to be done to said crap. Also includes references/parodies of Heroes.

what you must do when your girlfriend is angry...

#4. Wasted Talent
Engineer school grad Angela Melick displays her life via savvy webcomic

She's asking for it.

#5. Least I Could Do
Attractive, sex-crazed, vain, and shallow man. Highly offensive to women. I still read it.

Others I Like:
Cyanide and Happiness
Xkcd
Buttersafe
Anders Love Maria

So, there’s this new fancy thing called Twitter. If you don’t know what it is, that’s okay, don’t feel bad. I just learned about it recently myself. We’re only a little bit behind the rest of the media frantic, instantaneous world of communication.

Twitter is a web site that allows users to tell the world what they are doing with by simply “tweeting” status updates similar to Facebook. But unlike Facebook, it comes without ribbons. It comes without tags. It comes without packages, boxes or bags.

It’s simply status updates. One after the next. I can tell you all that I’m drinking a glass of water. And you can respond “lolz zomg have fun with h2o!” It’s just that simple.

Or perhaps: you want to know where I am at any given minute? Want to figure out if I’m busy in class, lying around at home, or out drinking again with leprechauns? Just a quick glance at my twitter will tell you that of course I am partying with drunken magical creatures.

Maybe my life is not so interesting, perhaps, as say Ashton Kutcher’s. He’s currently in Miami with his wife and fellow twitterer Demi Moore, and is “dedicating today to getting the perfect tan”, but is also worried about child prostitution. John Mayer is a little bit deeper, tweeting “I don’t look forward to sleep. I dream constantly, so it’s just like staying awake except weirder.” Taylor Swift just landed in L.A and “loves editing video blogs”.  Other celebs on Twitter include director Kevin Smith, That 70’s Show star Danny Masterson, singer Tom Waits, talk show host Jimmy Fallon, author Chuck Palahniuk, and singer/crazo Britney Spears. While it is fun to see what big names are up to, it’s also nice to use to keep in touch with your close friends as well. (SO, friends, get a Twitter already, gosh dangit!)

Recently I posted this twitter,

”grubhub’s email marketer is a genius. freaking thursday evenings when im starving…damn you evil marketing genius”.

And got a response from GrubHub themselves,

“He’s going to frame that comment lol”

I am still confused as to how they found this twitter, as I was not “following” or “being followed” (Twitter Speak) by GrubHub’s profile. Nonetheless, this was quite an amusing exchange. (P.S. Grubhub, if you see this, you’re welcome for the free marketing.)

More Twitter Speak:

Twittering, Tweetup, Tweet Meet, Tweetlettes, Tweet.

The best part of Twitter is that you don’t even have to get to a computer to tell everyone the elaborate deets of your life. Besides, you’re out experiencing life, and not at a computer, anyways! You can simply text to Twitter’s number “40404” and let everyone know that you’re baking dinosaur cookies, making out with a Rastafarian, or building a bridge for cats out of popsicle sticks.

Even beyond text messaging, there are applications for your desktop computer (TweetDeck) , for your iPhone (TwitterFon), as an extension to Firefox Browser (TwitterFox), or for your Blackberry (TwitterBerry). Everything is instantly accessible, as it should be.

So go ahead, give Twitter a try.

NOTE: Furthermore, for all you Facebook change haters, it’s obvious that they did this to keep up with the growing popularity of Twitter’s status update interface.