Fantasizing About Organization

I'd just like to state out loud that I'm fantasizing about this organization system, specifically the corkboad and the letter holder with the small shelf in between.  The small shelf isn't shown in this picture.  I'd like to put these three items over the crappy IKEA desk I have in my bedroom. I'm going to say, if I can get myself organized, I will treat myself to these items, which are 160 bucks.  That's a lot.  Maybe I can do without the letter holder.  We'll see.  I just want to verbalize a goal and a reward, because I think if I do that, I'm more likely to make it happen.  Thank you for listening to my fantasy.

It's Only Small Talk: Tips for Success

I’m a world-class small talker. I honed my craft in college on the streets of Charlottesville, VA, with its friendly-to-foot-traffic environment and slow-paced summers, which allowed ample opportunity for small talk. However, the foundation was laid where I grew up, in small-town King George County, VA, where you have to be able to talk to anyone no matter how different they seem from you. You can’t escape each other in a county with only 7 stoplights, so you have to know how to talk to people when you run into them at the Food Lion or the gas station. 

Small talk skills are life skills. As you grow up and move elsewhere, small talk is a way to connect with your new community and learn more about your world. Plus, with small talk, even the most boring day can become interesting. My small talk skills are how I made friends with the security guards and policemen on a movie set in town, which eventually got me onto the set to watch DeNiro film a scene. I’m a master of just hangin’ around, and you need small talk to be comfortable doing that.

Here are my tips, whether you’re just boppin’ around town or navigating a holiday dinner with tedious relatives.

Small talk tip #1: Talk about what’s right in front of you. 

I know this tip is obvious, because that’s why everyone talks about the WEATHER. It’s right in front of us, and we have it in common… but it’s so BORING. I want to help you move beyond “weather small talk” and be a more versatile small talker. This tip saved me this summer when I (uncharacteristically) got stuck without any ideas for small talk. 

I was getting corn for dinner. I put some in a bag, then saw a man shucking an ear with great purpose. Me: “Do people always shuck corn before they buy it, or do some of them just put it in a bag and shuck it at home, like I do?” 

“Well, I think most people just do it at home,” he said humorlessly. 

I decided to shuck the corn, more for the camaraderie of it. I wanted to be shucking corn with a stranger in the grocery store. But for the life of me, I could not think of any way to make small talk. I thought about mentioning something about the quality of the corn, but I didn’t think “I got some organic local corn that looked way better than this,” would be socially appropriate. I didn’t have any interesting stories about why I was making corn that night, nor did the man offer any information about himself and his corn usage. We were just vigorously shucking corn together. 

That man left, and another man came along. I was still shucking because I’d had to stop to text my sister to see if we needed more broccoli. Suddenly, I realized my hands were sticky. Eureka!  “My hands are all sticky!” I exclaimed, holding my hands up toward the new stranger.