Be careful if you’re playing a joke on people you don’t know well. They might not get it.

I love to joke around, but sometimes you have to err on the side of caution. Take Borat for example. If you don’t know the character and understand the kind of humor he’s portraying, you might get offended (which a lot of people were).

The same goes for Stephen Colbert. His character got a lot of publicity when he tried to run for President. However, many people didn’t know that his character is a parody of certain TV news personalities, not his real self… so it wasn’t that funny.

I think I tend to assume things are a joke, first. I guess you’re less likely to get offended that way

Sometimes if you make a mistake in front of someone, the best thing you can do is laugh.

I touched on this before, but this time I have a story A while ago, I was dancing with this woman (we’ll call her Beth) at a swing event. The song being played had a rhythm that was difficult to match with the footwork. At first, we wondered if we should wait until the next song. I told her, “Well, shall we?”. Bethy said, “Sure, why not? The worst that can happen is we’ll laugh“.

That’s awesome advice. You can’t imagine the number of times I laugh while I swing dance. Rather than get annoyed about every mistake you make, laugh and have a good time. It’s a lot more fun that way

Did you ever realize you start singing the lyrics to a song without actually thinking about what it is you’re saying?

That sort of thing used to happen to me all the time. I’d be listening to music, tapping my feet, enjoying the rhythm, yet I had no idea what they were actually singing I never really thought about it until someone mentioned it to me several years ago.

A lot of musicians are really storytellers. Their rhythm is great, but at the same time, the story they’re telling needs to be good too. I now try to listen to the lyrics as well as enjoy the beat whenever I hear a song.

If you’re in a bar or other social place and meeting someone for the first time, don’t talk about work.

Random topics are, by far, the best conversation icebreaker when meeting someone. Don’t talk about work, the weather, where you’re from, or any of that basic stuff. That’s boring conversation that usually goes nowhere.

For example, a while ago someone next to me in a restaurant was eating salad. I turned to her and asked, “What do you think? Is it alright for a guy to order a salad when he’s out with other guys?” I had a story about how I got slammed for doing just that. It’s a funny topic, but it’s a great icebreaker and skips over the boring stuff!

Did you know Josh Groban was born in California? That would have been my very last guess.

We all know Josh for his amazing baritone voice of which few can match. However, I always thought the guy was Italian! So many of his songs are Italian so I kind of inferred a connection there between his language and his homeland. Not that it changes how I think about him, but wow!

I never thought I’d see the day when I started listening to radio again. But a few months ago, just that happened.

I’ve been an XM user for almost 2 years now. However, when I moved to Boston, I found a radio station that trumped both every radio station I had ever listened to and satellite radio. What’s so different about 93.7 Mike FM? Well, as their motto goes, they “play everything”.

I’ve always gotten bored of radio stations because they play the same kind of music (and even the same music) repeatedly throughout the day. With Mike FM, they play almost every type of music and you’ll only hear the same song twice in one day if you listen to it all day and night. For the time being, I can deal with the commercials because I love the music. Now I’m just waiting for XM to get a clue and come up with something similar.

Update: I was asked why I can’t just switch the XM station. The difference is that with Mike FM, I don’t have to keep changing the station. To get the same effect on XM, I’d have to change the station after every song.

Trust me, guys. It’s easy and fun.

I don’t consider myself a good dancer at all. I used to feel really uncomfortable and stiff on the dance floor. A few swing dancing lessons later and I’m a changed man! Dancing is a great way to not only have fun and get exercise, but to meet new people as well. If you’ve ever been to a swing dance event, the great thing is that you can walk up to anyone and ask them to dance. No questions asked!

Really, no matter what you think, nobody cares how silly you look. We all look silly So get up, get out, and go dance!