This weekend I've spent hour after hour after hour working on a logo and my business design. I had a basic sketched idea, and I was originally going to hire someone to make the icon for me. But because of financial constraints (damn holidays and slow start to my massage client list) I decided to download Gimp and give it a go on my own. It's been ages since I've used a graphics program like that so it took awhile.

But eventually I came up with something I was fairly happy with. And from that I designed a business card I was pretty pleased with. They have been ordered & should be here in a week!



Still haven't finished the website, but at least I got the cards on the way. Who knew all this would be so much work!

Many people are surprised when they find out that lady_guenievre and I not only work for the same company, but also work in cubes right next to each other. People almost always ask "how we do it [work together]" but they rarely ask what we talk about. Well, that's a mixed bag really, sometimes we have deep conversations that go on for most of the day, and other days we barely cover what we're doing for lunch. Yesterday was a rare day though, it was a link day. As we went around the net, we found a bunch of pages that seemed worthy of sending to our spouse. So, I figured I would share with you today, what we sent to each other yesterday.

Octopuses are really smart, no really. That actually was a topic of conversation at dinnner too.

Virus Uploader checks a file against 41 different AV apps.

Borders is closing, I wonder if they have any good book sales

Vanity Fair's summation of the decade.

A copy blogger turns out to be a woman

A harsher view on the above copy blogger

A new book about the SCA

The guy who wrote the above book

The continuing saga of trying to build the better cat box

The Google Phone that will cost a lot less than an iPhone or a Droid

An essay written in the 80's about suburbia and it's evils

So, there you have it. Sometimes we spend the day talking about SCA stuff, or house stuff, or some other interesting subject (at least to us). And some days, we just copy and paste our URL bar to each other...

(Kiss, Love you Darling)

Once again my confirmation call rule has saved the day. I encountered Jerkwad on FreeVanilla. He looked familiar, like perhaps we may have been in contact before. We started chatting a bit, and he said that he thought maybe he recognized me from another website. I thought it likely that he and I had been in contact on SexSite at some point in the past - while I don't have face photos there, if we'd been in contact, I would have sent him face photos, the same ones that he would have seen on my FreeVanilla profile. He was very flirty and forward and outgoing, which made me proceed with caution - maybe he was just a flirty guy, or maybe he was just a player looking to get laid. When in our early conversations he started offering me massages and moving the conversation towards sex and my proclivities in that area, I directed him away from that entire line of conversation, curious to see if he would show genuine interest in getting to know ME and not just in getting laid.

I said "How about this? We're both on SexSite, so we're both clearly sexual people - but frankly, I don't want to discuss that with someone I've never met. If you'd like to date me, then date me - and forget for the time being that I have that SexSite profile. Get to know the non-sexual me. The sexual me comes later, and I assure you that you will not be disappointed with what you discover there, if you make it that far."

( Read on to see what happened... )

I came home fired up and angry and ready to write an entry in my journal expressing my frustration at being stood up for the first time in a long time - but this time not by a random first date, but by an old friend. But now, well... that fire's gone out of me. Let me explain.

( Read on to see what happened... )

I turned down the job at Skin Sense... I just wasn't willing to sign their year long contract. If I didn't stay with them a year, I would have to pay them $2,500 for their training. Hated to turn it down though... it would have been a real live job as a MT, which I'm very excited to have. Something else will come along.

Speaking of which, i was contacted by a friend that is a new spa manager at a different place. She suggested I apply there. I don't have as much experience as they want, but you never know... It does appear if I'm going to work in a spa though, I'm just going to expect to be selling stuff. Seems to be just part of the deal.

Canine cards came in today, they look great. Now D & I are working on websites... can't hand out very many without the website live. Speaking of which... nothing like a 10+ hour work day followed by multiple hours of work on the massage stuff. Back to the grind.

I got my actual license in the mail today! I'm even more official then I was on Friday!

Ugh... I really hate Wednesday mornings... they are so damn early & all the rest of the week I don't get up anywhere close to this early, so it always seems like torture. Nice thing is come January I drop this horrid Wednesday morning thing. I'll only be keeping the Tuesday afternoon/evening shift at T&C. Can't come a moment too soon... don't get me wrong, the paycheck is helpful (especially while I'm trying to figure out clients and what not) and so is the discount, but 10 + hour day that starts at 7 is just terrible.

Now that I've completed that whining... I've decided against the position at Skin Sense. I hate to turn it down since it is *a job* and it would be good experience, but that one year contract is just way over the top. I would definitely hire on if it weren't for that contract :( I have to call Katie today about it... This means more job hunting for me because I really do want a part-time position doing massage at another company for the experience. I've already put in an app at one of the Massage Envy's. Who knows if I'll get a call back or if they are hiring right now. Need to check the BTI website again and maybe peruse craig's list or something.

Was supposed to do a community service thing tomorrow in Raleigh, giving away free chair massage in exchange for "networking" and giving out cards... but the guy hasn't returned me call. So, not sure if that will happen or not.

I need to get on track with some of the animal events now... I'm licensed for people and certified for critter, so nothing stopping me there. Ya know, for as little work as I'm doing, I sure feel like I'm running all over the place.

At Thanksgiving this year, I had much to be thankful for - wonderful friends, a good job, a fine home, dear family, and many good things in my life. There are still things missing, still gaping holes to be filled in to find true happiness, but with the exception of the lack of true love in my life, I've got to admit that I've got it pretty good.

So, while I was sad to not be with my family this year for Thanksgiving, I was delighted to cook up a small feast for Nancy and Maya and share the day with them. We spent hours laughing and talking over the juiciest turkey ever, and all in all it was a lovely day. TheLibrarian joined us late in the evening after his other commitments to family and other-girlfriend, and that was nice too, and he and I spent the rest of the weekend together - another thing for which to be thankful. I had a great weekend with him. Granted, like the rest of my life it still had that missing piece of a true, deep, romantic, loving connection with a partner, but it was a very enjoyable time nonetheless.

( Read on for the story of my sexy Thanksgiving weekend! )

If my social calendar is to be believed, Sunday was Date a Foreigner Day. After some noodling around on PayVanilla last week, I ended up with both lunch and dinner dates with expatriates for Sunday. The lunch date was with a Brazilian computer geek, and the dinner date was with a Russian theoretical physics professor.

( Read on to see how they went )

Today's Unintentionally Hilarious Online Dating Profile of the Week comes to us from FreeVanilla. I think it needs no introduction or explanation.

-Vixen

BustMyBalls

I'm really into ballbusting. I enjoy being kicked in the balls by women. No men, that's gross. I've been into it for about 8 years now. Yes, Im serious. I live on campus at the university. If you'd like to kick me, or knee, or punch, or any kind of strike, drop me a line, and maybe we can meet. I offer this as a service for stress relief, completely free. No money charged or paid. If you're a college student, I expect you're stressed out over final exams and papers. You can vent that frustration on me. I'll let you.

What I’m doing with my life: Just going to college, English major. After that, maybe be a teacher. I've written a fantasy novel, and I love poetry and fiction.

The six things I could never do without: Horses, lions, poetry, fiction, nature, friends.

You should message me if: you consider it interesting to kick a guy in the balls and watch him writhe on the ground at your feet. I'll let you do it to me, as hard as you want, as many times as you want. Or if you're overwhelmed with stress, It's a great way to vent.