If you think women don’t need to wear makeup, ask yourself one question: where would Oprah Winfrey be today without makeup?

A Harvard study came out last year showing that makeup made a woman appear more competent at work. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/13/fashion/makeup-makes-women-appear-more-competent-study.html

I decided to throw on some cherry red lipstick before work two days ago, mostly to balance out my nerdy brown glasses, and I was pleasantly rewarded with lots of smiles from the event’s patrons and the largest tip payout of the year so far. I hadn’t made the link until a fellow female valet pointed out a study that showed waitresses received higher tips when wearing red lipstick.

So I thought i’d keep it up another night. Studies have also shown that women in clubs wear more makeup during ovulation, presumably due to its attractive properties (come hither and multiply!). So being past ovulation for the month, I put on the lipstick anyway and some eyeliner/mascara for good measure and went to work.

I did get an extra long stare from the company owner, who I smiled at upon arrival. I interpreted his look as saying “I’m not sure red lipstick is the professional look I want for my valets, but fuck it I’m too busy to deal with that right now.”

I was greeted by the manager, who gave me additional responsibilities upon arrival: “you know how to work a walkie-talkie, right?” Yes, sir! And was given a cushy garage attendant job. Later, another manager indicated that I would be one of three valets (out of 30) responsible for returning the highest-luxury cars to the patrons at the end of the night, and would I have any problems with those responsibilities? “No, sir. I’m a very safe driver, sir.” And later, “how long have you worked at this company?” I was hired a year ago in June. “I thought you’d been around much longer than that. “Thank you, sir.”

Lipstick, baby.

Can’t move my legs but I can type
Memes swimming around me
We were together again
Two souls, humming, kept apart by clothing and bones
We will always have eternity
The illusion of the temporal is so strong
We think things are just now happening
This is why we must always meditate on the infinite
Or we hold too tightly to a moment
Thinking wrongly
Acting foolishly
It is what it always was
Keep receiving
Keep letting go
Always with a smile

I love swimming in your ocean
Bumping up against your shores
Being tossed in your waves
Thirsting for your salts

I asked God for a clue
He gave me all the answers
Like someone calling to you in a dream
His voice bounced off all the walls
Echoing what I’ve been preaching:
Don’t worry, kid, be happy
It’s compassion once again
It’s letting go of duty
And in poured my salvation
In his timing, not my own
God has never let me down
It was faith I needed foremost

Anger and trust
And lust and power
Envy and want
Fear and need
Hiding by doing
Lost in my freedom
Anxious, directionless
Pockets of bliss
Flashes of clarity
Appear in the smog
Wrestling the demons
Formless and strong
Appetite endless
Energy scattered
Homeless
Not building
No plan to stay put

Noticing
How good
Stories of abundance
Glory
Attraction
Feel to me
Noticing
How real
Anything I desire becomes
Observing
How far I feel from
Awesome
Minute by minute
Except when I remember to
Breaking patterns
Noticing the lattice
The web around me
And making it disappear
By changing my mind
Walking in a new direction
MIX IT UP!!!

Let’s stop walking down the street
Pretending we don’t know one another
It’s much more fun
Welcoming each other to the party!

Sitting with this moment
Grateful for the face of love you’ve shown me
Surrender, fully present
Two hearts pressing against each other
Dancing to a silent song
We’re the kind of sensitive,
Passionate lovers of life
Whose gifts are first expressed in the bedroom
If only we could make love
To our work, to our families
To our cities, our neighbors
To our countries
The whole earth would glow

Remembering
That boys want a life full of art too
Don’t be so predictable
Leave a little to the imagination
Stoke the fires of competition
Make them rise to the occasion
Who wants a day just like the last?
Make it better
Sweeter
Funnier
Sexier
More playful, delightful, alluring
Resist the routine that hides your passion

“the word LOVE was created to try to encapsulate an indescribable connection and communication of respect, adoration, sensuality and peace, which in turn brings a feeling, ‘Love’.” David H.

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