Fun at Work Check-In

Okay, so it's actually an internship. Not sure if that qualifies for the title of work. Although I do A LOT of work there. Just not paid. Yet. Anyway, in my attempt to up the fun level at this place I've been dreading going into I reengaged myself in Pandora and 8tracks while writing case notes. Now I'm sure most of you are familiar with Pandora. 8tracks maybe not so much. But you should be. It's essentially that good ol' middle school mixed tape (may have dated myself here) in its online version. And the peeps who post them come up with the best titles. The one I was listening to the other day as my supervisor walked in: http://8tracks.com/claramdiez/fuck-my-problems-i-m-happy-to-be-alive?mix_set_id=3. Nothing dirty on there but Oops!

I don't know if this minor change has made a huge difference but baby steps. I did enjoy myself more than usual this week so it must have.

Any suggestions for next week?

Rediscovering Fun

I've been bordering on becoming what was my nightmare about going to school for social work. That I'd become the stereotypical martyr/negative thinking/no smiling/there's no room for fun in this job because the world is so horrible social worker. I don't actually believe in this kind of philosophy so I haven't yet become that but I am hating my internship this year and that's seriously affecting how much fun I'm having on the J-O-B. And since I left a nightmare job full of martyrs and negative Nancys to go back to school (AGAIN!) this is something I must resolve for my sanity. Therefore my goal this week is to find the fun at my internship. Or create it if necessary. It's up to me to be the person I want to be, which is to squeeze as much fun and enjoyment out of life as possible.

Fun Food: Lasagna

The bf and I love to cook. Him more so than I but I love eating freshly made food so I'm getting in on the fun more too. I've recently realized that my fav thing to cook is lasagna. One of the reasons being it's absolutely delicious. But the other being that it solves one my biggest cooking conundrums of getting everything done at the same time so it's all still warm and not overcooked. You simply layer all the ingredients any which way you want, stick it in the oven for an hour or so, and then all you have to do is prepare the side dishes, which are usually a salad (no worries about keeping it warm there) and garlic bread (pop it in the oven with 10, 15 minutes to go). So easy!!! So in honor of my fav dish to make here's my most recent lasagna recipe that was given rav reviews by the taste testers (no matter that the taste testers are friends):

Ingredients:

- Lasagna noodles

- 3 c. Sun dried tomatos

- 4 c. Marinated artichoke

- 1/2 c. Pesto

- 16 oz. Ricotta cheese

- 16 oz. Mozzarella

- 8 oz. Parmesan

Preparation:

- Boil the lasagna noodles first until they're almost done.

- Once the noodles have boiled pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.

- Spread a small amount of pesto on the bottom of the pan so it's just barely covered.

- Add a layer of the cooked lasagna noodles.

- Add a layer of the marinated artichokes.

- Add a layer of the sun dried tomatoes.

- Add a layer of ricotta and mozzarella.

- Add another layer of the cooked lasagna noodles.

- Add another thin layer of pesto.

- Add another layer of the marinated artichokes.

- Add another layer of the sun dried tomatoes.

- Add another layer of ricotta and mozzarella.

- Sprinkle the parmesan on top.

- Place the dish in the oven for approximately 45 minutes.

Notes to Self:

The amounts of ingredients are estimated as I made this recipe up and can't actually remember how much I used but you'll know how much is enough for you (That's more of the fun part of making lasagna!).

It's so delicious! Enjoy!

Do you enjoy cooking? And if so what do you love to cook?

This isn't quite the one from above but since I didn't take pic but this one looks pretty similar.

Carmageddon

This is a little late and people are probably sick of hearing about it but a little reflection on this event feels needed because after all the fuss and fear that it would destroy Los Angeles, it ended up being an amazingly good time. The streets were empty! Millions of LAiens left town, took public transportation, or simply stayed home. Since the bf's place was at one end of the 405 closure and mine was at the other end, we had decided to hole up at his place for the weekend (mostly because of the pool) and do nada. Then, when we realized that there was no one out alternative plans to attend festivals and parties started to churn but then we decided to stick with the original idea of doing nada. Therefore, our weekend consisted of a lot of naps, delicious home cooked and local restaurant food, walks in the 'hood, movies, the women's World Cup, and some pool time complete with leisurely reading. Both of us are usually pretty high energy with a lot going on so this is rare for us but much needed. And that seemed to be the case for many of our fellow LAiens as it was extremely quiet even with a lot of people out and about walking around enjoying their local community with happy, peaceful smiles on their faces. Not a single horn was heard the entire weekend, which may be unheard of. All in all our vote is for a monthly shutdown of some major LA freeway! Or maybe we'll just impose our own Carmageddon on ourselves every so often.

How did you spend Carmageddon if you live in the LA area? Or if you had the opportunity to not drive anywhere for an entire weekend what fun things would you do that you don't normally get to?

Resume Shirt

I stumbled upon this brilliant, fun website, ResumeShirts.com. Not sure yet if I'd do it but I'm glad they're having fun!

Dancing Queen

I know dancing's a major fear for many people but I love to dance! Anywhere. Anytime. With anyone. Okay, there are probably some limitations but I haven't yet found them. I dance after a few drinks. I dance stone cold sober. I dance at clubs. I dance at weddings (The bf and I are thinking about becoming professional wedding dancers.). I dance at non-dancing venues. With or without music. I dance in crowds where there are so many people, wobbling slightly would probably be a better descriptor. I dance in my room all by myself. I dance in the sun. In the rain. Clothed. Unclothed. Happy. Sad. Dancing makes me feel alive. But I do have a slight vendetta against my parents because they never forced dance lessons down my throat so I'm entirely self-taught. Which makes for a kind of Night at the Roxbury/Fame/Beyonce style that's all my own.

The bf and I as pro wedding dancers

In the event this hasn't yet convinced you non-dancers that dancing can be fun here are some reasons for dancing and how to have fun with it:

Benefits to Dancing

- Burns calories. Secretly. When you're having fun dancing it doesn't even feel like a workout but in actuality burns 265 calories an hour (if you're a 130 lb. gal according to Medical Movement). What!

- Aside from the calories it has much health benefits.

- You might meet your significant other. That's how I did. And dancing's still an important part of our relationship. I'd say he's a cross between Fred Astaire/Usher/Carlton/Andy Samberg, which compliments my own self-taught style perfectly.

- Other social connections. Should you work up the courage to do it in public.

And How to Make it Fun:

- Dance Alone: Choose your fav music and let loose. You don't need a mirror if even that makes it too embarrassing. At worst just wiggle your hips slightly more than normal. The average person might not even be able to tell you're dancing. But you know what? It doesn't matter because you're all alone and the average person isn't going to see you. See if it doesn't make you smile just a little.

- Get lost in the moment. When you do that there aren't any worries. You have nothing to worry about anyway. No one's judging you. Okay, no one who counts is judging you. And anyone who is judging you is probably not a very good dancer themselves or they'd be too caught up in their own movement to notice yours. The trick is to not worry and have an absolute blast. Dance elegantly. Dance goofily. Dance perfectly. However, you do it do it and as long as you're truly having fun people will be lining up to be your partner, or at least drift near your vicinity to steal some moves.

- Smile. And laugh. That always makes it look like you're having fun even if you aren't.

- And along with that fake it til you make it. I'm not entirely sure I actually am a good dancer but I fully believe I am. But it wasn't always like that. I had to get over some insecurities. And I did that by faking it until I turned pro.

Flat Stanley

About a month ago my bro called me to see if I'd help his boss' daughter out with a school project. I agreed and next thing ya know Flat Stanley was making a visit. I've never read the book or did this project while either in or teaching elementary school but I know it's a popular project in that circle. The bf, his parents, and I took him to the Huntington Beach Pier and had an absolute blast taking the following pics. Just goes to show ya even as adults you can still have tons of fun with the kiddy things.

It's Not the End of the World...

as we know it. That song ran through my head much of yesterday as I prepared for the demise of our existence. And by prepared I did yoga, went for a run, and attended a couple of parties completely unrelated to doomsday. Needless to say doomsday didn't occur. Unless that is even fewer chosen ones exist than previously thought.

While I obviously didn't think the world would actually end nor do I think it's going to end in 2012 or any time during my lifetime, events like this get me contemplating. Our lives could end in any moment. I won't go into all the ways this could happen since that would be the antithesis of fun. And really we all know this. But how many of us actually live like we're dying (not to steal anything from the song with the same title)? I probably deliberate over this more than the average Joe but even I live a life more in fear than love, adventure, spontaneity, and fun. Or at least in more fear than I'd like to. And so in honor of the latest doomsday prediction to go wonderfully wrong I vow to spend more time enjoying all of the moments of my life.

Perhaps a little more time spent riding these

Finishing Things

Having fun doesn't mean always getting to do what you want when you want to do it. There are many times I think I'd love it if my life were like this but in actuality it'd probably have the reverse affect if it actually happened. Plus I don't think there exists a single person who has this kind of life. So we all have to do things we don't particularly want to. Knowing that they contribute to an ultimate goal or allow us to more quickly get back to doing what we want to do helps the situation. Also, if you can somehow turn it into something more fun in some way that also helps. Or knowing how accomplished you'll feel in the long run. But there are times when next to nothing helps in that moment. So the next moment when you're FINALLY done that's when the fun really begins.

Studying is rarely fun but it always feels so good to be done.

Mothers

In honor of Mother's Day and my mother in particular all of the reasons my mom is fun:

- She sends me cute and silly things in the real life mail (like the kind you go to the post office to buy stamps for).

- She calls me just because she saw something little that reminded her of me.

- She turned my childhood into my own personal after school program.

- She still cheers me on just like she did during AYSO.

- She plays with all the toys that make noise in the toy store.

- She sings loudly with me on road trips.

- She teaches me about all kinds of good stuff in life.

- She buys me all kinds of little surfing memorabilia I didn't know existed in the midwest.

- She's always excited to hear from me.

- She's always down to play and have fun.

Happy Mother's Day Mom! I love you mucho!

Fun Buster: Energy Suckers

Yesterday I finally realized my problem. Yep, I only have one and luckily it's because of other people (kidding for anyone who knows me... or doesn't know me). I am a sponge. That's what a newsletter I got from Oprah.com told me yesterday. I tend to absorb others' lower energy, take it upon myself, and then become unbearable to be around (okay maybe that isn't true but it's slightly unbearable to myself in my mind). I'd kind of realized this but it suddenly became clear just how much power I was giving these people and letting it affect my life (which is my problem).

We all know these Energy Suckers: The Debbie Downer, the Anger Management Candidate, the Ruminator, the Basket Case, the Worrywart, the Non-stop Talker, etc., etc., etc. I could probably think of at least a dozen more pseudonyms for my arch enemies. But that wouldn't be fun (actually I lied, that was pretty fun) and I've given away enough of my fun to these folks.

In recognizing this as MY problem I've realized I need to do something about this because this is something I'm letting interfere with my life and how much fun I'm having in it. Ideally I'd just not interact with Energy Suckers (Thich Nhat Hanh actually suggests this in his book Savor.). But since this isn't practical living where I live and doing what I do on a daily basis, I've come up with some fun alternatives to enhance my entertainment in dealing with them, which I'm going to list by my pseudonyms since I believe that each Energy Sucker must be dealt with in a different way.

Debbie Downer Strategy: When Debbie Downer gets going counter every complaint with a benefit of that complaint. For example if he/she says, "The weather's so awful today. I really hate rain," you could reply with, "Gosh, I sure do love rain. I don't have to wash my car then!" Do this often enough and Debbie Downer will probably disappear from your life forever on her own accord (or partner with you).

Anger Management Candidate Strategy: Stare lovingly, almost googly-eyed like at the Anger Management Candidate when he/she starts going off. That alone should be disruptive enough to at least cause an angry exit.

Ruminator Strategy: This person may not even have anything all that negative to say but the fact that they go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on is enough to drive anyone crazy no matter what they're saying. I suggest carrying a small tape recorder and when your Ruminator gets going hit record and then play it back to them. They'll either get the hint or want the tape recorder so they can listen to themselves in their free time.

Basket Case Strategy: Since this person is always in crisis mode play the one up game. If they think their significant other is about to can them bring up starving children. If they got a flat tire right after getting fired remind them that Mrs. Jenkins down the street got a fired, a flat tire, and lost her house all in the same day. Eventually they'll get tired of playing this game and you win!

Worrywort Strategy: Play the one up game here too. For every worry they have counter with an even bigger worry. What if I fail this test? Hmmm... well, what if you get kicked out of school? What if he never asks me to marry him? Hmmm... what if he leaves you and you're alone forever?

Non-Stop Talker Strategy: Start talking non-stop too. Either they'll stop and realize what they're doing. Or they won't and at least you can use that time to vocalize your true feelings (don't worry about doing this; they won't even notice), state your grocery list aloud, or practice for a presentation you have later on in the week.

A couple things to keep in mind:

- These strategies are only meant for chronic and persistent cases. It won't help anything if your usually cheery, half glass full best-friend is having a rough day. In this case be supportive and let them have their rough day.

- Many Energy Suckers will have multiple energy sucking techniques. In which case if you can remove yourself from the situation do so immediately. If not be prepared to employ multiple strategies and try to have as much fun as you can doing it.

Does anyone have difficulty with Energy Suckers? What are some techniques you've used that work?

Made Up Word Scrabble

I love games! Which should come as no surprise to ya'll. That'd pretty much be blasphemous (I really wanted to use the word blasphemic but thanks to online dictionaries, alas it is not a real word.). Board games. Sports games. Word games. Pretty much the only games I don't like to play are mind games. And I don't stop at games other people have made up, marketed, and made a shite ton of money off of (or not; I don't know what board game makers are getting these days). Oh no! I make up my own games. Typically with the help of others. This began in my youth with my siblings, making our own board games. And while I don't do that as often now as I did back then, there are still moments such as when-with a little help from my friends-(or a lot of help since I can't actually remember where the idea originated)we created Made Up Word Scrabble. This resulted from the boredom of trying to play the standard version of Scrabble insanely late at night (or early in the morning depending on how you like to look at it), possibly with a few drinks (not of the fruit juice kind) consumed.

How you play:

- Begin like standard Scrabble with each person drawing 7 tiles and taking turns spelling words

Here's where it gets real crazy:

- Arrange your letters in any way that you see fit to make up your own made up words.
- Then, create a definition for that made up word. The more ridiculous the better.

And that's it. I'm not sure if we assigned point values or threw that out the window. But our "dictionary" of made up words is still in the box and added to each time we play the newest version of our old favorite. Yes, this is a game that has lived on beyond that night/morning (even when drinking only fruit juice). We've even had emphatic requests by other friends who weren't present for it to play.

Does this sound like something fun to you? Have you ever made up your own game? If so, what was it? I hope you have fun recreating our Made Up Word Scrabble or your own game in the very near future.

April Roundup

Aaahhh!!!! I've had such a busy April I haven't even had a spare moment to post here. Luckily that mostly means I've been having a whole lotta fun. There was the Coachella music festival, the 2nd 8th Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational (Yep, you heard that right), and Easter. While I could easily have a post on each let me list my top three fun things about each event:

Coachella:

1. Warm (okay hot) weather. After feeling like I'll be spending the rest of my life in southern California's version of winter this was much needed.
2. Camping. I love to camp. Even if it's next to thousands of other people.
3. The music. Of course. I saw a number of phenomenal acts but my favs were Mumford & Sons, Arcade Fire, The Black Keys, Duran Duran, and Erykah Badu.

2nd 8th Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational

1. Eating lots of grilled cheeses... duh! 'Course now I'm completely grilled cheesed out.
2. Doing something different.
3. Cooking some pretty fantastic sourdough bread, brie cheese, and mango and jalapeno marmalade with the bf as our entry. We didn't place but we're always winners in my book!

Easter

1. Delicious food items that weren't grilled cheeses.
2. Polish horse shoes (probably incredibly un-PC but I've never heard it called anything else... wait, just looked it up and it's actually called ladder golf.) with the bf's fam.
3. Leftover goodies to take home.

And of course, there were the requisite bday parties and other shenanigans involved. Here's hoping to a little less hectic month coming up so I can write a little more.


An amber view of Coachella

Wedding Update

Went to my 8 millionth wedding in the past year last night. Perhaps that's a slight exaggeration but the bulk of my social life this year has revolved around getting married-related events. While it's mostly been a tremendous amount of fun I am looking forward to the four month break I'm getting. But in honor of the streak I was on here are some of the more fun things about the weddings I've been to this past year:

- Outdoors: I love to do everything outdoors anyway so anyone who decides to say their nuptials amongst nature wins points with me.

- DIY(Do-it-yourself)ness: I'm a crafty kind of person so I really appreciate when the decor is hand-made with love rather than cheesily man-made manufactured ugliness.

- Many dance parties: Anyone who knows me knows I love to dance. And so does the bf. So at this point we're pretty much professional wedding dancers (We're thinking about going into business.).

- Cake: I've had some amazing cakes over the past 12 months and am contemplating pretending to be getting married for the rest of my life so I can continuously eat wedding cake samples. Big big ups to the most phenomenal vegan cake I've ever tasted.

- Food: Also have had some amazing food and variety. Big winner was the hors d'oeuvres cornucopia of fresh home grown, homemade food at one of my pal's weddings.

- Candy table: I'm starting to notice a theme here with my most fun items. This I'm hesitant to encourage because I really don't need any more candy ever again in my entire life but oh, it's so good!

- Kids: I know some people don't like them at weddings but I think they're hilarity in small packages, especially during the dance party.

What are some of the fun things about weddings you've gone to? Please share.

Spontaneity

As we become grownups (Oh no! Did I really just type that outloud?) sometimes spontaneity goes by the wayside. "I can't, I have to work," "I can't, I have the kids," "I can't, I have a mortgage," etc., etc., etc. Responsibility can be important. Certainly I'm not advocating running amok until you've lost your house, job, kids, cat, whatever's important to you. But it's also important that you aren't so responsible you can't remember the last time you truly enjoyed that cat. That's where spontaneity comes into play. That's where not washing your dishes until the next morning so you can play a game of Twister (with your cat) comes into play. Or taking off on an impromptu road trip without telling anyone where you're going and turning off all modes of communication comes into play. That's exactly what the bf and I did for a dayish this past weekend. While the level of responsibility the bf and I take could be debated, we are without a doubt dependable. If anyone needs anything or has any kind of celebration we're there. And while the celebration part is usually a great deal of fun it doesn't always promote proper spontaneity. It was so freeing to do something we wanted to do simply because we wanted to do it. Without any sense of obligation. And that my friends is what spontaneity can do for you. And what I will be incorporating much more into my life.

Stacking Rocks

While on a bike ride on the bike path from Culver City, CA to Marina del Rey, CA I came across these:

Remembering (or simply making it up in my head and calling it remembering) something about rock stacking being a sacred practice I wanted to know more about it and so I turned to google. I found a few things that alluded to rock stacking as being a spiritual practice but little to no elaboration and so being way too boring to read any further, I gave up. Overall it seems to be a practice that some people do for fun, either as a spiritual practice or simply to challenge themselves. While it isn't my chosen way to have fun I'm glad others are doing what they enjoy most. And because of them I'll continue to enjoy random rock statues on my bike rides.

I'm Not the Only One

Sometimes when you get into a routine and it seems as though everyone around you is caught up in a similar routine and no one's winning an Olympic medal for it, you forget that you aren't the only who has a different vision of what the world can be. I was reminded of my fun mission today when I saw the following video:



Kevin Richardson's idea is akin to an idea I've had about law enforcement and how ineffective it is. We have a million police officers whom everyone is afraid of and yet I'd dare to guess pretty much everyone breaks the law in some tiny or humungous way on at least a monthly basis. Obviously something isn't working. Why not borrow from the little elementary school classroom management behavioral technique of ignoring bad behavior and rewarding good behavior? Now I'm not saying we turn a blind eye to violent criminals but as Kevin demonstrated in his video people are more likely to behave in a societally accepted manner when there's something in it for them. My idea was passing out ice cream coupons to people obeying laws but I like Kevin's too!

And another thing I really liked about this video is its association with thefuntheory.com, which is "dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better. Be it for yourself, for the environment, or for something entirely different, the only thing that matters is that it’s change for the better." I agree completely and it was just the inspiration I needed to know that I'm on the right track and the world can be improved through fun.

Grammar Girl

It's been challenging to come up with any funness when working on projects/papers for school I really don't care much about other than finishing them so I can get a good grade. But I did manage to come up with one and that is the Grammar Girl website. I can be a bit of a grammar junkie so while I've heard of the site I hadn't had to use it yet but today when I got a bit confused with the good ol' semi colon I popped on over there and had a grand time. I'd highly recommend her for all your grammar needs.

Elliptical Machines

I do not find gyms in any way fun. Running or biking on something that isn't actually going somewhere really bores me. 'Course I am quite spoiled since I live in a location where I'm able to thoroughly enjoy outdoors activities all year round (although you can ski, snowboard, and snowshoe in the snow all winter). But I suppose if you do find gym equipment fun and need some sun in your life I saw elliptical-like machines at a park I was biking by the other day. Unfortunately I have no idea how to get to the park other than from the bike path I was on...

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

But not always in an airheady, we can't play sports or think with our brains kind of way. This post is inspired by yet another coed soccer match where a guy made a sexist comment. To get my rant out of the way since that isn't what this blog is about one, why are you playing in a COED league if you think girls are inferior and you don't want to play with them? And two, honestly, the majority of the girls are way better and have played at a way higher level than you. Sorry, I have low tolerance for the male ego. Or perhaps a high tolerance and after awhile it boils over.

Now that I got that out I can move onto the fun part. Which is relevant whether you're a gal or a dude (with an ego or not). Fun is often conceptualized as something to do when we aren't working on serious things. And serious things are more highly valued in our society. Oh, those Puritans! They're work ethic is HILARIOUS! Hilarious because it appears that those who are most successful in their careers followed their passions, truly love what they do, and are having a damn fantastic time doing it even if they're addressing "serious" issues. And they aren't wasting their time. They're using their brains, creativity, talents and skills. And frequently the world benefits from their fun. Think Bill Gates, dude from Facebook (whose name I should know because I use facebook and saw the movie), the Dalai Lama, U2, Oprah. Many of these people are also closely scrutinized and criticized but I think that's more out of jealousy than anything. Perhaps if we all made doing what we most enjoy more of a priority we wouldn't have a thing to be jealous about?