August 2012
24 posts
On Packing
Always really ask yourself if you need every item you’re packing. I’m personally terrible at this, but you really don’t need three pairs of shoes and ten tank tops for a weekend away.
On Graceful Exits
It’s impolite to ask any of your “special guests” to leave your house after midnight. Unless he or she excuses his/herself, you’re stuck with them until the morning, no matter how full of regret you are.
As far as getting them out in the morning, you must allow at least six hours from lights off until eviction.
IF YOU MUST LEAVE YOUR HOUSE OF COURSE THEY LEAVE EARLIER...
On Graceful Exits
It’s impolite to ask any of your “special guests” to leave your house after midnight. Unless he or she excuses his/herself, you’re stuck with them until the morning, no matter how full of regret you are.
As far as getting them out in the morning, you must allow at least six hours from lights off until eviction.
IF YOU MUST LEAVE YOUR HOUSE OF COURSE THEY LEAVE EARLIER...
On Gift Giving
Save yourself buckets of psychological stress and just ask your significant other’s best friend what to get them on occasions that suggest a gift, if you’re uncertain yourself. And if you even suspect a gift may be in order, it probably is.
On Day Trips
No one has ever gone wrong by bringing an umbrella and a bottle of water with them everywhere they go.
CNE tomorrow! So stoked! I’ve never been before, but N promises they have funnel cake and Skeeball, so I’m down. And sculptures made of butter! What!
On Drawstrings
To replace the drawstring in a pair of sweatpants or a hoodie, tie the new string on to the old string and use the old string to gently pull it through. It’s loads easier than trying to thread the new string through freehand.
On Cell Phones
Before you make that phone call (after of course excusing yourself from your companions), take a minute and remind yourself that once upon a time we all survived without being able to call each other all the time.
On Teeth
Rubbing the inside of a banana peel on your teeth for two minutes will whiten them over time.
On Teeth
Rubbing the inside of a banana peel on your teeth for two minutes will whiten them over time.
On Peeling Eggs
After boiling eggs, immediately plunge them into ice-cold water and put them in the fridge for a bit. This makes the flesh of the egg contract away from the shell, and makes it easier to peel after.
On Buying Drinks
The appropriate time to buy someone a drink is just before he or she has finished their current one. To do so any earlier would make it seem as if you’re trying to get him drunk, and once his drink is finished is, well, too late.
I am personally of the opinion that people may buy drinks for people they are interested in regardless of both parties’ gender, but ladies beware: more than...
On Eating
A mouthful of food is too big if you cannot close your lips around it without closing your jaw.
On First Impressions
1. Be well-dressed. It matters.
2. Shake hands firmly.
3. Make eye contact.
4. Ask questions and listen closely to the answers. Be attentive. Make the other person feel like this introduction is the highlight of your evening.
On Cooking
Even if you’re terrible at cooking, you should learn to prepare at least one stand-out dish that you can prepare when you need to impress a date, or convince your parents that you really are self-sufficient.
On Cocktails
You should always have a signature cocktail, something that’s easy to make and fairly standard that doesn’t require six different liqours to produce. That way you always have an order handy, whether at the bar or somewhere more intimate, and your friends and associates can always order you something.
On Waitressing
If you forget an order, just stare at the person whose order it is and try to replay the conversation in your head. More often than not, you’ll remember it in just a minute.
This tip comes courtesy of Cait at The Gem, the greatest little bar in Toronto.
On Online Dating
If you are sending someone a message on an online dating site or initiating a chat session, try to scrounge up something more compelling to say than “hello”. Believe it or not, banal salutations are not a rousing endorsement to choose you over the seven other people who messaged your prospective partner that day.
Things to say to expand your message include: what you saw in his/her...
On Metropasses
Try keeping your Metropass tucked inside your phone case, if your phone case will allow it.
It’s less likely to fall out than it would be in your pocket, you’ll forget it less often (when was the last time you forgot your phone at home?), and you’ll generally have it closer to hand when boarding transit.
On Compliments, Part Two
When someone does something well (whether it be dressing, handling a difficult situation, or even just being generous to others), make sure to point it out. That way they’ll be encouraged to keep doing it.
On Timeliness
Always be prompt on matters of money, whether it be paying it or asking to be paid.
On Tattoos
Just because someone has tattoos does not mean that you can just grab their limbs or re-arrange their clothing to see it better. If you ask, the tattooed person will likely be more than pleased to show their tattoo off themselves.
On Compliments
A good compliment is observant and specific. Always opt for something specific (“I love your interest in foreign arts”) rather than generic (“You’re so educated”). If you use your compliment as a way to ask a question, it also serves as a good conversation starter.
On Dining
It may be old-fashioned, but I have never objected to gentlemen rising from the table when a lady does so. If you think that’s sexist, just do it for everyone regardless of gender.
If you are being introduced to anyone, however, rising is a must.
On Social Media
Remember: The internet never forgets.
