How to Find Your Life Mate: Because it Takes Awesome to Find Awesome

Stan: I know many good men and women who are at an age where they want to start a relationship, especially one that leads to marriage, but they don’t know how to meet people. What are some good ideas they can do to meet that special someone?

Good question, Stan.

If you’re the type of person who saves orphaned puppies, re-posts thought-provoking memes, or prepares elaborate meals of obscure ethnic origins, you are awesome. If you spend hours playing World of Warcraft with someone else's grandmother or volunteer at the local Walmart, you are awesome. If you like to sing, write, dance, watch TV, listen to music, play music, sleep….etc. you are awesome. However, being awesome is not enough to find that special someone. It takes awesome to find awesome.

Below is a list of places you can go to search for awesome people like yourself because let’s be honest, chances are not great that you’re going to find the love of your life at your niece’s birthday party or the McDonald’s drive-thru. Just because you frequently spend time at the gas station does not mean you are destined to meet your match while pumping fuel into your 2003 Toyota that probably needs a bath, a vacuuming and some air fresheners. Check this list out, take that first step, and talk to strangers!

THE PRE-TECHNOLOGY METHOD

For those of you who still refuse to join the masses on Facebook, loathe texting and always hang up your phone as soon as you hear someone’s voicemail, you will benefit most by taking the pre-technology method. Search for your matches at these three places…

1.     The Park

Necessary items: Paper and pen (for writing your number or e-mail)

A dog (for providing a topic of conversation with that cute guy/gal)

Wallet with cash (for giving money to the local inhabitants)

Suggested conversation starter: My dog likes your ankles. Do you mind if she sniffs them?

2.     The Library

Necessary items: A bookmark and pen (for writing your number or e-mail)

library card (for "accidentally" dropping on the ground)

                       A hamster in a cage (because who wouldn’t talk to you when you’re holding that?)

Suggested conversation starter: Do you like “Choose Your Own Adventure” books? You do? Okay, then do you “A” ask me to coffee, “B” ask me to dinner, or “C” do both and then take me to a movie?

3.     Club/Bar/Lounge

Necessary Items: Napkin and Pen (for writing your number or e-mail)

Driver’s License (for comparing awkward DMV photos)

A wingman (because four eyes are better than two)

Suggested conversation starter: Where’s the bathroom?

THE ONLINE METHOD

For those of you hooked on WiFi like a patient hooked up to an IV, the online method is perhaps the best way to go. Maybe you enjoy expressing yourself with a vocabulary impossible for spontaneous speech, or talking and making eye contact requires too much energy and breath. If you would rather read than listen, prefer emoticons to facial expressions, or simply type faster than you speak, try these three social dating sites.

4.     eHarmony: Sounds a bit like “eat our money.” Costs a little, but you get to talk to strangers!

5.     LinkedIN: It’s like eHarmony, but for career oriented people. Good for like-minded workaholics. Update that work history, like all those “causes,” and fill up on “skills,” then the website suggests new connections based on similarities! It’s a free digital matchmaker.

6.     Facebook: Great for stalking, but really it’s for people who are face-to-face and phone-phobic. Best strategy is to set up an event and invite all your potential matches. Take care to comb over personal information, interests and hobbies before making an invite list.

Suggested conversation starter: LOL. Who knows how to do Tweeter?

THE PLACES OF FAITH METHOD

For those of you who are set on marrying a person of the same faith and are convinced it’s IMPOSSIBLE to find a good match outside of spiritual gatherings, this method is for you.

7.     Young Adults Group: Also known as a mixer for single people who aren’t married yet but aren’t supposed to act interested in finding a life mate because that would look desperate, and you shouldn’t show too much interest while searching for someone to love for the rest of your life, otherwise it might distract you from your spiritual journey...right?

8.     Mission Trips: A lot of people find their life mate on mission trips because that’s pretty much the only time you have a chance to get to know someone in a church setting, but you can’t act like you like each other until after the trip otherwise it takes away spirituality points.

9.     The Leadership Team: It’s the cream of the crop, the most well-balanced, spiritually stable people you’ll ever meet, but also the most unattainable. Unless your first name is “Mary” and last name is “Me,” your chances of matching up with someone from the “Core Group” are pretty small, but it doesn’t hurt to try.

Suggested conversation starter: Look into my eyes for two minutes, and I’ll pray God gives me a “word” for you.

In conclusion, there are many places to look for that special someone. There’s really no excuse NOT to go out and find them. Just remember, finding an awesome person is just step one, talking to him/her is still required…another topic for another day.

Stan—If all else fails, pay a matchmaker to pair you up and hope for the best.

MYZICA Review: Something Cool for a Hot Summer

photo by Andrea Behrends

Stan: “What’s a good album I should get for the summer season?”

Good question, Stan. First of all, most people love summer, but I am not most people. There is sweltering heat, out-of-town traffic, children running free on the sidewalk, people wearing thin layers of clothing that do nothing to hide bad hygiene, and it's the end of hot coffee season as we know it. 

Therefore, I turn to MYZICA, the brand new pop duo based out of Nashville, to save my summer.

What do I do when I’m stuck in traffic on my way to work and all my friends are partying at the beach? I turn on “Ready or Not?”—the first single released in December 2014 from MYZICA’s upcoming EP available later this summer. My freezer burned Scrooge-heart starts to thaw and pick up pulse, and I’m compelled to shed my winter coat. 

If I’m standing in line the shape of a pretzel waiting for my daily dose of caffeine, I play “Wait Just a Minute.”

Isaaca Byrd’s energetic voice gives me an extra boost that no double shot will, and I don’t mind so much waiting just thirty minutes for that iced latte. Pay attention to the production quality by Micah Tawlks of Peptalk Studio. At first glance the composition is carefree and fun, but there’s more. From the plucking baseline to the upbeat drums, the song pulls you into a good mood, like a friend trying to get you to dance. 

“Believer,” a contemplative ballad and my favorite song on the EP, starts out with Byrd and gradually adds layers of back-up vocals, each with their own unique part to play. A choir joins her, adding depth and emotion.

“The song is about someone who lost faith in love but meets someone new and there's hope again.”—Micah Tawlks.

I may have lost faith in a season known for sunburns and missing sunglasses, but where there is good music, there is good times, and let MYZICA share in those good times.

Now for some reason, I have this desire to take a group of friends to the drive-in movie theater and watch the latest Keanu Reeves romantic comedy. 

Stan’s Review: A great EP for the summer. Looking forward to more music for more seasons.

Nicholas Sparks is a Better Writer than Jane Austen: A Serious Review

by Krysta Tawlks

In a world full of breakups and divorces, dead ends and gluten intolerances, we really need something to cling to…hope. Nicholas Sparks gives us hope that out there, we’re going to find a manly man, good at outdoors things with the ability to grow a full beard. He has a chiseled chin and abs that turn pancakes into waffles. Two people of modest backgrounds and fantastic figures, dreams and hopes, insecurities and flaws, meet and spark. Sparks turn to flames, passion, kissing in the rain—the perfect ingredients for undying love to blossom.

As for Austen, we have a world of extravagance and elegance, and our dashing hero imbibes that world without flinching. He's not perfect, but he does have a perfect jawline, and the landscaping around his castle is well-kept by the most talented of Edward Scissorhands' apprentices. Austen gives us a task--fix that man, inspire him or woo him with our minds. The most famous of Austen's stories end in uniting unlikely couples against all odds--family disapproval, class differences, and scandal.

Both authors create a man who bestows his undying love on only one woman no matter the competition, time apart, or obstacles he faces. That's devotion, Stan. Loyalty. Sparks and Austen serve up a man with a wellspring of adoration for the beauty of his woman—body and mind.

However, there is a stark difference. While Austen ends her stories happily, Sparks is smarter than that. There is no such thing as a prince charming or a perfect world with a perfect ending. This is when Spark pulls the plug…and kills someone off in every one of his books. All those beautiful stories that he builds up larger than life are just dreams. Sparks knows this, his readers know this, and that’s why he aims his pen at the majestic unicorn of our romantic hopes and pierces it through the heart. Then, we watch those dreams flop on the lush grass and die a glorious death.

Austen does not have the nerve to shoot the dreams she creates, not even to maim it, but there's no way Darcy and Elizabeth's story ends happily. Not with Wickham's wickedness and Lady Catherine's big mouth. Sparks is clearly the better writer, presenting his beautiful story while having the maturity and presence of mind to share the moments Austen would shrink away from. He forces us to face the reality, that love can be sad, disappointing and short-lived. The death of our hopes is shocking, electrifying, and freeing as his reader knows the truth.

It’s just fiction.

Stan’s review—Jane Austen is way better than Nicholas Sparks.

Daredevil, Skittles and Jesus: A Serious Review

by Krysta Tawlks

April 17, 2015

If you have been described as happiness in a bottle, a bundle of joy, or eternally optimistic, then you should watch this show.

Why? Only a person unwaveringly upbeat and impervious to depression can watch this show without succumbing to dread, anxiety, or scary dreams.

Daredevil, or Dared(evil) as I like to say, is an original Netflix show that starts out dark literally and figuratively. Even daytime scenes look like you’re watching everything through sunglasses. The brooding lead actor—that British guy from Stardust—speaks in a calm voice about the devilish deeds he will commit. I did not know the devil was a Catholic. I sense a joke at the expense of the Catholic Church on the tip of my tongue…No, it’s gone. I lost it.

Our introduction to the main character is promising. Matt Murdock has a cute smile and visual impairment never looked so good. His assistant, Foggy, eked out a couple laughs.

You’ll see blood splatters, stalking, murdering, sharp objects in combat, blunt objects in combat, maniacal speeches…and that’s all from the good guys. Then, the bad guys have their turn. Avert your eyes! No, I’m eating pizza!

Isn’t this a superhero show? It’s nothing you haven’t seen before on TV, but for Marvel…yes, maybe it is the first time.

If you think Foggy, a character meant to lighten the mood, is going to help you through this, you’re wrong. He’s funny, but it’s like a cute little sister braiding your hair while you watch the Passion of the Christ. It doesn’t match and it feels weird.

For anyone with a tendency for brooding or pitiful sighing, I suggest balancing your viewing with some brightly colored foods like Skittles or a donut with sprinkles to help cheer you up…or holding a kitten is also a good idea.



Rating: 4.5/5 stars--For those who can handle darker themes and appreciate deeper characterization. A compelling look at the line between good and evil, and the necessary and/or questionable lengths a hero must go to make something good. Not for children.