5 Things You Can Think About Instead Of Your Non-Existent Lovelife

Good choice, man. 

Higher Education. Nothing can take away every bad thought about dying alone as a cat lady better than a thick pile of reading materials and pending papers and reports. Think about pursuing a post-collegiate education. Or at the very least, ponder on the idea of pursuing it. Is that really what you want regardless of whether or not everyone else seems to be going back to school? Can you handle a full-time job and school at the same time? Going back to school may mean less time for everything else that's going on in your life. But on the up side, getting another degree can land you a better job 2-3 years from now. Think about it.

Business Ventures. If you can't have success in the love department, pine for financial success instead. Money may not buy you happiness (in the truest sense of the word), but it sure can buy a crapload of distractions. There's nothing wrong with wanting to add some hard-earned cash into your bank account. The more, the money-er! But let's not discount that having a business is a great learning experience, too.

Hobbies. Everybody needs something that they enjoy doing. Otherwise, the world would be a bleak, boring, meaningless life. That's where hobbies come it. They must serve as bearers of sunshine and fun and meaning. Whether it be something fun and dynamic like Ultimate Frisbee or something more subdued like baking cookies, or sitting down to a good book, what's important about having a hobby is that you like it. Think about the things that you like to do and imagine what you'd like to do with that in the years to come. Who knows? Maybe that hobby could turn out to be a lifelong passion.

Your Job. An important thing that you should think about to begin with since, well, it keeps you alive. But consider why it's an important thing to think about. What was it that Lady Gaga said about a career?

"Some women choose to follow men, and some women choose to follow their dreams. If you're wondering which way to go, remember that your career will never wake up and tell you that it doesn't love you anymore."

Thank you, Lady Gaga. Point taken. For some people (like me), thinking about a successful career is more difficult and nerve-wracking than anything else, which is probably an even better reason why you should spend more time using your brainwaves for that.

Your friends' love lives. If you can't have your own love life, live vicariously through theirs. Most likely, if they're not sharing their lovey dovey evening plans with you, they're asking you advice about disagreements they've had with their significant other. That will probably be the only time you'll feel good that you're single because you don't have to deal with the drama. But you can generously lend an ear and offer words of wisdom (that you've carefully thought about, of course).

Spice Girls: Viva Forever!

I recently watched the closing ceremony of the Olympics in London (I missed the thing entirely!) and felt a wave of nostalgia wash over me when I saw the Spice Girls perform their most popular songs. 

I am a Spice Girls baby. I loved the Spice Girls the first time I saw the "Wannabe" music video and the rest was a history filled with their albums being played on loop in our car on the way to school every morning. I embraced the crazy outfits, the sky high platform shoes, Scary's tongue ring, Sporty's back handspring, the different personas, I loved it all. I sang their songs constantly (I only found out later on that "2 become 1" was a really sexy song! I sang that song without knowing what it was about!) and memorized the dance from their "Stop" video. Oh, and I remember watching the Spice World movie with my siblings when it came out.

Who didn't love these girls, honestly?












Back then, my favorite Spice Girl was Baby because she was cute and girly and the youngest. And for a little kid like me, she was probably the most accessible because of that. But now, years later, I find myself favoring the one I didn't care most about when I was a child: Posh. The reason why I favor her now might have something to do with the fact that he's married to David Beckham and that they have a successful marriage by Hollywood standards, but I also like her because she managed to make something of herself after her days of being a Spice Girl  wrapped up. She probably didn't want to rest on her laurels and live the rest of her days being known as a person that she was for only a small period of time, which is admirable, I think.

But I'm getting off tangent here. The Spice Girls! Watching them perform again after their break up  over a decade ago and a brief reunion in 2007 was something that made me feel like I was a little kid again. It even prompted me to look for their old albums so I can play them back whenever I wanted. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I could still sing along to "Wannabe" and "Spice World" and was pleased that the girls looked better than ever. Is it weird that I'm happy for a group of strangers?

It's nice to know that even though the years have brought on so many changes since they hung up their clogs, their music still causes 20-something people like me to feel the giddy excitement we used to feel years ago. That goes for any musician who've made an impact in the music world, really.

Long live the Spice Girls! They will forever have a place in my beating 90's pop loving heart.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

It's the middle of the night and the rain still hasn't let up. It's been days and it's raining like there's no tomorrow. For some, it seems like there really is no tomorrow. For some, tomorrow is gone. According to news reports, many people have died because of these torrential rains and the consequent floods. The worst part about it is that it's still happening. It's still raining, and there's nothing man can do to stop it.

It's frustrating to know that whenever the view of the outside shows a slight bit of peace, a fresh wave of rain is just tailing behind to add more to the chaos. One literally feels powerless against nature, especially if you're the one grappling with it firsthand.

I wish the rains would stop. I wish the floods would stop rising. I wish that the reports about homes being washed away, about people getting stranded, about people drowning would stop being true.

Whoever is reading this, if this gets read at all, please pray for the rains to stop. Please pray for the safety of the people who have become victims of something infinitely bigger than any of us. It might not be much for some of you, praying, but in times of crisis it could be the only thing that saves.