I was a little nervous going to a salsa night at the Century Ballroom last night, so I did something I learned from Weetabix and announced, immediately upon arriving, that I was the hottest girl in the room. I mainly announced it to my friend M who’d invited me for the evening, but I felt that it was an important small step in the process of my owning the room completely.
M and I work together. She is a big fancy psychologist and about a year ago I invited her to come to a bellydance class with me, and we had a great time there. It’s very important to have a good work friend, as everyone knows. When you begin to hate the very walls of your office and all the world seems bleak and overly academic, you need to be able to call your work friend and say “Dude, meet me at the gift shop because I totally need some chocolate right now and also to tell you all about my private business. Right now. Meet you there.” Yesterday she emailed me to ask if I wanted to go dancing that night. I was on the verge of writing back something along the lines of how I was supposed to go to the gym because Thursday is my gym night, but almost immediately I came to my senses and accepted her invitation with pleasure. Compare and contrast: one hour of furrowed-brow cardiovascular activity on a machine followed by grimacing vis-