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Have you ever had this problem? A big group of people go out to dinner, you all sit down and conversation just dies. Maybe not right away, maybe not even obviously, but the fun spirit of eating out with people is totally gone. This wasn't a problem until a few years ago. In college, you can roll to dinners with twenty plus people and spirits remain high for hours. But that's college. Who has the energy nowadays? For years, my friend and I have undertaken a rigorous course of observation about what makes group dinners "work" and we've decided that seating arrangements are the key. Given the chance, I'd socially manipulate every dinner I attend. Oh what power! Oh what fun! Is there a job where I can just seat arrange people all the time? Like a supplementary service to a wedding planner? I'd do it for free. Let's come up with a scenario and work through it. A group of eight have reservations for a nice sit down meal. Most of them at leas

One day I'd like to design a board game that allows you to experience the ups and downs of a writer's life. It'd be super complicated and not straight up boring like Monopoly -- although I do love me some Monopoly. I'd pattern it after Settlers and the other German games , with their more advanced and involved mechanics. It not only has to be engaging but also informative and educational. Creating such a game would be quite the challenge but if done right, it would be amazingly fun! Luckily I know how to make it just right. There would be a general path you'd have to advance on of course, but it would also have some branching options where you can flex your powers of free will. Plus every player would have to accumulate cash and reputation points in order to buy things like equipment and good karma. Event cards would also dictate much of the action, similar to Community Chest and Chance. SAMPLE CARDS: Create a writing schedule and swear to stick to it: Spi

Listening to: Nelson, "Can't Live Without Your Love and Affection." If you don't know what the Nelson twins look like these days, some of the imagery in this video may disturb you. I don't recall anything about their music except that George was really into them. I didn't understand then and I sure as heck don't understand now. Since two of my favorite people have recently blogged about weddings and plus ones, I thought I'd have to leap in there just to join the virtual pajama party. Lilly's great post and very important Potential Wedding Date Questionnaire is the place to start. And then head over to where Reena talks about the injustice of never receiving a plus one on her invite, and presents us with a sample Checklist of Singles card to be filled out alongside food preferences. As for me, I'd like to start by rethinking the idea of a plus one. Currently the system is used to give your guests the familiarity and comfort of having

Talking with a friend the other day, she lamented the fact that she seemed to be getting an extra earful of other people's problems recently. She requested that we analyze what she was doing to be the target of such rants, diatribes, and egocentric repetitive problem venting with no discernible positive actions or solutions. I said I didn't even have to analyze anything. I already knew her problem: her friend PR was all wrong. Let's look at what an actual public relations firm does . Actually no, that's pretty obvious, instead let's dive right into what friend PR should do. Control access: A good firm manages what you are willing to do and sets boundaries about what is acceptable -- and when exceptions can be made. Think of it as crowd control and preventing yourself from being overwhelmed. When you are celebulous (as you most certainly are), people need you for a variety of things. The problem is, you only have a life to live, one world to turn. Friend

During a dinner conversation last week, I commented to someone that he's always got friendship rivalries going on. I noted that there's usually some pair of friends in his life that are either subtly or overtly trying to secure or win a higher place on his friend totem. This got me thinking about how to create your own friend rivalry. But before we get into that, let's talk a few basic types of friend rivalries. (1) First, there's the equitable friend rivalry. Two really great friends, two equally valuable people who might even play similar roles in your life. The more the merrier you'd think, but for some reason, these two people just can't get along. You've tried to bring them together and to plan some trio brunches but at the end of the day, "any friend of yours is a friend of mine" just gets proved false once again. The niche these two occupy in the context of your life is too small for them to ever get along. Or they're just w