Notes from JB

NOTES FROM JB

Write to JB: jb@jbonair.com

Rushing it

I'm always interested to hear how people's relationships start. It's more fun to know the when and other details about it. Last weekend I got a call from a friend just devastated that the relationship was over. I was even more shocked because I didn't even know there was one. Apparently it was "true love" and it "hurt so bad." Like the good friend that I am I listened to the crying and all the other emotional stuff behind it. But when I asked how long they'd been together I was told "about a month." Well, "how long did you know each other?" "Um, about a month." OK, there's a red flag right there (that's also the time I go into laughing and lecture mode). I've never understood why people rush into something serious so quickly with a total stranger. This totally relates to the webpoll question because I think if you don't know a person very well there's no basis of any sort of committed relationship. In my opinion, and we know I have a lot of those, I've always thought it means that a person is desperate for any sort of companionship when he or she quickly jumps into a relationship. After digging a bit more into the situation with my friend I found out the two got together initially only for a sexual encounter but then one developed feelings for the other after a few rendezvous. The reason this "relationship" caught me offguard was because this friend previously told me that that's all that was desired was a fooling-around-type of thing and didn't want anything serious. For me, I stuck to my line of questioning, "So then what's the problem? You got what you wanted and there are no strings attached. What's so devastating?" Maybe it was me being a little insensitive but people need to do some serious thinking before including another person in the picture. It's much like getting a pet- if you don't have the time and desire to stick it out, don't bother. Better yet, take time to figure out if it's a good match.

Happy Birthday, Crazy Fuzz!

I can't believe I've had the dog for almost a year. He was born this week in 2008 and, wow, has life (and even my house) changed. From the door frames to the kitchen floor, to the jetted tub and my bed -- Ernie has taken over my place. Mostly it's good, but as with all puppies, sometimes it's been bad. Take a look at the different moments caught on camera.

Feel free to share your pet pics. I love seeing 'em! jb@jbonair.com

Starbucks virgin

Am I the only one in the world that had never been to a Starbucks before? OK, the embarrassment happened this weekend when I called my friend to wish her Happy Birthday. I was at the mall when I remembered (we are exactly six months apart in age). I called her and mentioned I was there. She said to stop in and visit her brother working at Starbucks. I did. Said hi to him, made the small talk -- my friend is getting married, etc. so we talked about that and got caught up -- and then he asked what I ordered. I said I didn't order anything and then made the terrible mistake of telling him I'd never been to a Starbucks before, and worse yet, had never had a sip of coffee in my life.

I thought the people around me were going to attack. I said I was open to having a cold drink so he made me this fruit smoothie kind of thing. But I didn't realize there's a whole order-and-step-to-the-side-and-wait thing so I was in people's way. I had to come back to the counter and embarrassing ask, "What's mine called again?"

All in all it was a good drink. Looking at the prices I couldn't believe how people would have these things several times a day. My last trip to California was strange enough, seeing people walking around with coffee drinks all day.

So will I go back to Starbucks? I had nothing against it, but I just don't get that craving for drinks like that.

I don't get the Twitter fascination

Going by today's standards, I am really uncool. I'm not glued to Facebook 16 hours a day and I'm not rushing to Twitter to report on every detail of my life like when I cut my toenails or how often I sneeze. To me, there's just no appeal. I'm not a spotlight whore that I need to feel wanted all the time.

OK, so now that I've got about three-quarters of you ready to send me nasty mail about bashing your hobbies, let's get into the real story here!

Miley Cyrus quit Twitter. Yay. That's tragic for her million or so viewers that need to be updated on her status at all times. Even her dad -- who claims he's not exploiting his teenage daughter -- wants his teenage daughter to exploit herself.

I wrote about it in my newspaper column a couple months ago when Twitter went offline for a few hours. People were going nuts. Literally there were thousands of people in shock and not knowing what to do. Let's think about it for a second: a website in which you can't post about the kind of cereal you're eating right now crashes and you feel like your day is ruined. How seriously are you taking life at this point?

Lots of stuff happens in my day. Lots of cool stuff, again, if we're going by today's standards. Cool stuff like talking to celebs, hanging out with celebs. We travel a lot for the show. The only times I've used Twitter (three times since the beginning of this year) were when I was on the road somewhere and absolutely bored out of my mind because I was in a taxi or on a bus or going somewhere when I had nothing else better to do. So, if my life was entirely boring and I wanted the world to think I was happier and having a better time than I really was, then I might be glued to Twitter and have that on my cellphone's speed dial. But, I'm one of the few people who still values privacy and doesn't need to put my life out there. Sorry! I'll do the shameless self promotion for the show, but it stops there. Don't get me wrong, I'm flattered people want to know where I am and what I'm doing, but you'll just have to keep tuning into the show to hear my whereabouts!

Olympic Observations

Greetings from Vancouver. I was going to send a postcard, but I can fit a lot more into this column. I am on the West Coast right now and there's a lot of stuff I've noticed. Allow me to enlighten you about my Olympics observations.

One thing I'm sure you've seen is images of red everywhere. Whether it's Canadian flags, those infamous Olympic mittens (that people are still wearing when it's +10 outside), hockey jerseys - almost everything is red. What's even cooler is that some people aren't even from Canada and they're sporting our red.

Is it because there's so many of us that we could easily take a foreigner in a brawl? That might be it. Or is it that people here are in a carefree mood and just ready to party? I'm sure that's what it is. Let's face it, people like Canada.

While in competition there's a rivalry between countries, but on the street Vancouver's visitors feel a sense of community. It's like we're all friends here.

Sure, when Canada wins a medal the city gets a lot louder. But even if there isn't a Canuck competing - although, that's a rarity from what I understand - there is still people spontaneously singing the national anthem down the street with a beer, showing the ultimate Canadian pride.

I've been chatting with lots of people from all over the place. (They're wearing their Vancouver 2010 attire, of course) I'm amazed at how many people are here to experience the Olympics yet not take in any events. That's right, people came all the way to Vancouver just to enjoy the sights and sounds of the city during the Games. That's pretty cool.

Another observation: I did a quick crowd scan and in the 62 people I counted at a street celebration, 59 of them were wearing red and 54 of them had a camera with them. That's a pretty good ratio. I can only imagine how many beer-drinking after-party pics will turn up on the Internet!