My friend and I were on vacation recently, and she suggested that we go to a nudist beach. My initial reaction was, "Help! I've traveled halfway around the world with a closet exhibitionist, and I don't know my way back without her! What am I going to do?!"

She obviously guessed my thoughts, and explained that going to a nudist beach is the ultimate way to say that you're comfortable with your body. I mulled it over. I thought about the time I was showering at my friend's house, and she simply walked in and started brushing her teeth. I squealed for five minutes before she reassured me that she wasn't looking at me. I had shampoo in my eyes -- I took her word for it. A few minutes later, she asked if I had been working on my abs.

I was not amused, but she said the same thing my friend was saying now, "Why are you so uncomfortable in your own skin?"

I guess I'm not comfortable with my body, or not comfortable enough with my body to walk around in my birthday suit. And who hasn't had the dream where they go to school naked? Actually, I haven't had that dream, but it's embarrassing nevertheless! I opted out of the beach suggestion, but now I sort of regret it. It's rare that you can do something so liberating and daring.

So, would you bare all at a clothing optional beach? What is the ultimate statement you made/wish you had made to say that you're comfortable with your body? 

Hello lovers,
 
I need moral support. Bloomingdale's rejected me from their copywriting position. Will you believe that? How qualified do you have to be to write about plush pillows? What's that -- I just naturally alliterated? Do you know who doesn't care? Bloomingdales! I bet they don't water their plants and sometimes forget to feed the cat! I mean don't take it out on the cat, you know?
 
A friend of the family's explained how if i were to go for a pizza delivery position, I would be rejected because I'm overqualified. I keep applying to proverbial pizza delivery jobs. That's great, except where are all the other jobs? I feel there's this tiny treasure trove (there i go -- alliterating again) of cool jobs, but i don't have the key or the treasure map. 
 
My friend Maggie responded that her ex-boyfriend who's in a jazz band is a literal pizza delivery boy, and how she doesn't remember one great artist who didn't at some point have a crappy job. It's almost a rite of passage. Translation: How many great artists can you think of who led crappy LIVES? Henry James, one of the most well-read writers in America, lived in New York when Herman Melville was still alive, and had never heard of Moby Dick or Herman Melville.

Now, the prerequisite of insignificance has already been met -- because of my rejection from Bloomingdale's, no one has ever heard of me, but I am not talented/noble/persevering enough to lead a crappy life and think, "I leave my greatness for posterity." Who cares about posterity? I bet they don't water their plants and sometimes forget to feed the cat! (They should really network with Bloomingdale's). I just want a 9-5 and health insurance. Where are they?

Hush. I think girls have it much tougher than boys, and whatever you say, we still get 70 cents to your dollar, gentlemen. However, finance is the one realm where there is an unfair double standard for men. A guy friend recently suggested that girls look for the three 6's in the opposite sex: 6 feet, 6-figure salary, and as I am a lady, the last six will be left to your imagination.

You will notice that only one of those factors can actually be changed, one's salary. I feel that whenever girls start talking about the opposite sex, "Can he provide for you?" is the question that inevitably pops up. I think I speak for all of us when I say, we can provide for ourselves. Then what makes a guy being established so important and attractive?

We can turn to Jane Austen:  "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

We can turn to T.I. in "Whatever You Like": "You want it, I got it, go get it, I buy it / Tell them other broke joker, 'be quiet.' "

We can turn to TLC: "Want to get with me with no money? / Oh no, I don't want no scrub."

So what is going on here? I would hope that the idea of the man being the sole breadwinner of the family is outdated and has been proven wrong countless times. Yet again and again, I hear my friends say, "He has a terrible job; he's going nowhere fast," and the like. My best friend's mother has a whole theory on dating pools, where she insists we "study" at the law school library or, if worse comes to worse, the business school library dressed to impress (I brought this up to my mom to say it's ridiculous, but she agreed! Woe to the cosmetic nature of the off-the-boat Russian culture).

Gentlemen, do you feel you become more attractive if you make a lucrative living, whether or not you like your job? Ladies, do you really go by the three 6s? What's going on here?