Alex, I'll take "What's Behind Door #1?" for $800, please

As of this morning, I am officially employed! Thank you to everyone who gave their insights and advice...it's amazing that the overwhelming majority of people really value the work environment over anything else. I guess it shows that, when you boil it down, it's more about the people you work with than about what you do.

I've decided to go with the first firm I listed in the last post. I, like most people I talked to, just couldn't walk away from the great work environment and the wonderful people. And I think the work will be interesting, too. I also had my very first salary negotiation, which was nerve-racking, but successful!

So now that the job search is officially over, what am I going to do with all this free time?

Decisions, Decisions

Not too many weeks ago, I was complaining about how slow the job search was going. Well, I now have four job offers and need a little help in deciding which one to take:

Behind Door #1: Is a small firm (40 peeps) with a main office in Atlanta and one in Durham. The culture is awesome - wear jeans to work, bring your dog to work - and the people are truly awesome. I would get to do a lot of international traveling (which I love!) and the salary is great. I would be doing market research, which is something I wasn't exactly looking for, although it could be interesting to try out. I would basically be a niche consultant, working with a broad spectrum of clients.

Behind Door #2: Is a much larger firm (25,000 peeps) that specializes in doing lab testing. I would be working in their IT area, acting as a liason between the IT people and the lab people, discovering needs and concerns and coming up with strategies to solve them. Sort of like an internal consultant. Corporate culture with very nice people. I would have about a 50 minute commute each way.

Behind Door #3: Is an insurance company (4,000 peeps) where I would be doing segmentation marketing and figuring out which segments are profitable and how to target and communicate with that segment. Corporate culture with nice people.

Behind Door #4: Is a small company that specializes in all-natural cosmetics (I won't say the name of the company as it might bias you to pick this company). Cool culture with laid-back attitude and a focus on the environment (it's one of America's most socially-responsible brands). The marketing job would be mostly tactical, implementing marketing programs and working closely with the brand managers.

All great companies, and each has it's own pros and cons. So I need your help! Which door would you pick, if you had to choose?

Costa Rica!

It's been hard to adjust back to school after a two-and-a-half-week spring break. So this past week, I've found myself daydreaming in classes and what better thing to dream about than our upcoming trip to Costa Rica!

From May 2-May 9, the hubby and I (and our friends Abby and Nathan from Chi-town) will be traveling to Costa Rica. It's kind of a pre-graduation graduation gift since I don't graduate until that following weekend, May 12. Plus, it'll just be fun to have a relaxing vacation.

We'll fly into San Jose the afternoon of May 2 and spend the night there. The next morning, we'll be shipped off to Tortuguero, which is on the Carribbean side of the country. The Tortugero area is primarily all rainforest and hopefully not very touristy. I'm hoping to get a ride on the zip-line and see lots of monkeys (of course!). We're staying at the Laguna Lodge, and I think it's going to be too cute!

After several days, we're flying to Corcovado area (in the lower pennisula) and staying at Bosque del Cabo, with the adorable thatched huts! Here, I think we'll get a lot of beach time. And hopefully see lots of monkeys!

I'm so excited...I've even been eyeing some new swimsuits at J Crew. Just six more weeks...

The Spunk is Back

I was a little crazy in high school. Imagine how a highly-caffeinated, neurotic person would act, and that was me...all the time. In college, I mellowed out a bit. But I was still a bit neurotic (blamed partly on my mother) and still a touch crazy.

But in the years after graduation, I think I lost some of that "spunk." Maybe it was because I got busy with work. Or maybe because I lost some of that as I matured. I used to be "that person" who would start talking with you in the grocery line for no reason and I was happy all the time, but some of that went away.

That continued even last year during grad school. I noticed I was less outgoing, a little more shy, a little less comfortable in my own skin.

But over the last several months, and especially during this second year at grad school, the "spunk" is returning. Without consciously thinking about it, I'm randomly talking to people at the Krispy Kreme. I feel happier and am really comfortable with who I am. Maybe it's a bit of confidence with graduating from school. Maybe it's the weather. Maybe it's the fact that I know my hard work is paying off (did I mention I have some offers to choose from??).

In any case, I'm excited to be back. I feel that I've regained a part of me that was silent for awhile. I don't think I'll quite regain my high school nickname of "Crazy Laura" anytime soon (which is probably a good thing for all involved), but I'm the happiest I've been in a long time. And I hope that spunk is here to stay!

Free the Duke 3? Puhlease.

If you've been following the Duke Lacrosse scandal lately, you know that the rape charges against the Duke Lacrosse players have been dropped. The only charge that remains in a kidnapping charge, which is anticipated to also be dismissed.

Sales of Duke Lacrosse t-shirts have increased by over 8,000% at the Duke bookstore (that's not an exaggeration) and students are wearing blue bracelets that read "Free the Duke 3. 6 13 45" (the numbers being their jersey numbers.) I saw a bumper sticker on a car the other day, which had the same slogan, along with the website www.disbarnifong.com.

I can't help but think this is a little like dancing on a grave. Sure, evidence overwhelming supports the case that the girl in question was lying. And Nifong probably acting unethically in presenting his case. But while these boys may not have done anything illegal, they are far from innocent. Here's what probably happened: during a night of drunken debauchery, the team hired strippers to perform. Specifically, they hired white strippers. Two black strippers arrived and the guys yelled racial and derogatory slurs at them. One of the girls got mad and decided to get even. Heck, one player has even been convicted in DC for assaulting a homosexual man. One way or another, bigotry runs in this crowd.

The real victims in this case are the future rape and assault victims. What girl, white or black, is going to be taken seriously now if she comes forward with a rape charge? Through this "Free the Duke 3" campaign, proponents are essentially intimidating rape victims and throwing a healthy dose of skepticism the way of any girl that may come forward in the future. And I can't help but feel that this campaign legitimizes the Duke Lacrosse team's actions, however legal they were. Rape, bigotry, and assault are not things to be taken lightly, but this campaign somehow makes them the punchline and diminishes their seriousness.

The victims are not Collin, Dave or Reade. The victims are anyone they have hurt through their words. And those who do not yet know they are victims.

You've come a long way, baby...maybe

Two of these Tab commercials are from the 70s, one if from the 80s. My first thought when I saw these was "Wow." It's hard to imagine that, at one point in time, this type of advertising was acceptable. In one sense, we (women) really have come a long way in changing what is acceptable and what is important to us.

But have we? Or is this type of sexism just hidden under the guise of political correctness? And what have we traded to get here? Do we as women still fantasize about being a mindsticker? Sure, many of us exercise and diet to be healthier and feel better, but how many do that purely for the health factor? Deep down many of us do it to be noticed by the opposite sex. It's all around us - we see women shaking their booties in rap videos and even drunken girls in bars doing things to get male attention. And just look at how "shape" obsessed we are...these commercial models in the 70s and 80s were considered sexy and shapely. Today, they would be characterized as "plus-size" models.

While these may at first seem a bit appalling (as they should), perhaps, under the surface, not much has really changed since then.

TaB cola ad 1982

1960's Tab Commercial

Hotlanta

I took a little road trip down to Atlanta this weekend to see my friend, Chris. He just moved down there this past summer, and I wanted to see his new digs...he bought his first house!

While there, we went to the Fox to see Spamalot, which was hysterical. I've never seen Monty Python's The Holy Grail (I know, I know...I lead a sheltered life), so I wasn't sure if I was going to totally get the humor in Spamalot. But I did - so funny and so well done. Well worth going to see if you get the chance!

While there's lots of great places to eat and fun bars and hangouts, Atlanta is expensive! Not only is the cost of food more, but everything there is valet parking. Plus, with all the cute boutiques around, you can't help but drop a few "dubs."

We ate at Varsity's (apparently, a Hotlanta establishment), where I had two chili cheese dogs. And in the afternoon, we went to the Coke museum, where we tasted Coke products from different countries and I discovered how ethnocentric I really am ("I can't believe they like this stuff in Italy! Gross!"...in my defense, it is disgusting).

A fun, fun weekend! (in the picture, L to R, Chris' friend, Brett, Chris' g-friend, Anne, me and Chris)

Sugar and Spice and Puppy Dog Tails

I was milling around Target last week, having already found the items that I needed but looking for items that I wanted (but didn't yet know that I wanted), when I wandered into the greeting cards area.

There was a special card section, announing "New! from Target." They were birthday cards, some for girls, some for boys. All the "For Girls" cards had My Little Ponies and rainbows on them. All the "For Boys" cards were Garbage Pail Kids' versions of balls (baseballs, footballs, soccerballs) with eyes popping out and green stuff oozing from their stitches.

What is wrong with this picture? I'd be fine if Target just displayed an array of birthday cards, without specifying if they were for boys or girls. But by labeling them, isn't Target just continuing the stereotype of boys and girls? Surely there are some girls that like gross balls, just like there are some boys that may love ponies and rainbows.

It's a little issue, I know. But my favorite mass merchant retailer rubbed me the wrong way. No more stereotypes, no more pigeonholes. Let's just offer the choices and let people make their own selection.

Lions and Tigers and...Monkeys?

CISARUA, Indonesia (AP) -- Call them the odd couples.

A pair of month-old Sumatran tiger twins have become inseparable playmates with a set of young orangutans, an unthinkable match in their natural jungle habitat in Indonesia's tropical rainforests.

The friendship between 5-month-old female baby primates Nia and Irma, and cubs Dema and Manis, has blossomed at the Taman Safari zoo where they share a room in the nursery.
After being abandoned by their mothers shortly after birth, the four play fight, nipping and teasing each other, and cuddling up for a shared nap when they are worn out.

"This is unusual and would never happen in the wild," said zoo keeper Sri Suwarni, bottle-feeding a baby chimp on Wednesday. "Like human babies, they only want to play."
The four have lived side-by-side for a month without a single act of hostility, she said.
Indonesian tigers and orangutans are both endangered species, threatened by rapidly shrinking habitats.

Conservationists estimate there are fewer than 700 Sumatran tigers still alive, while fewer than 60,000 orangutans remain in the wild. Around 90 percent of the jungle has been destroyed by illegal logging, poaching and cut-and-burn farming practices on Borneo and Sumatra islands.
The exceptional friendship will likely be short-lived, said veterinarian Retno Sudarwati, because as the animals grow up their natural survival instincts will kick in.

"When the time comes, they will have to be separated. It's sad, but we can't change their natural behavior," she said. "Tigers start eating meat when they are three months old."