This week we’ll read how too many compliments can be an issue of debate between people who have nothing to do with it. Then we have someone who interprets and invests new meaning in old traditions, a friend who actually cares and a case of cross dating. Welcome on board…

It seems too much of a good thing isn’t good for you either! It’s accepted that compliments are always welcome and much appreciated by everyone. But like all good things, when you pack in too much emphasis, there’s an overkill and your compliments are lost in doubt. That’s exactly what happened to Irina. Readers of my newsletters are no doubt aware that Irina goes through all these wild fashion phases, getting new hairdos, coloring her hair ever so often. Her boyfriend, Alex is always complimenting her on whatever Irina gets done. And that comes as hypocritical to a couple of my friends!

Megan and Adrian spent quite some time at my pad the other evening battling over this issue. Adrian, being the sort of cynical guy that he is, feels Alex just wants to get brownie points. Megan countered him saying that maybe he actually likes Irina in all forms and color! When they could get nowhere, they fell back on me to make a comment. I tried to avoid getting caught in this and spend the evening arguing about some guy, who was not even our friend. Finally I said, “If Irina doesn’t see anything wrong, I don’t see why we should!” My diplomatic tact was lost on them and last heard Megan and Adrian were not talking to each other! When will they grow up?

Times have changed and so has expectations. You can’t really go around looking for groundhogs, even if you had time to spare! So what do we do with these dates which stir up nostalgia and looks like a redundant custom, hanging on the branches of time, prostrate and vestigial? We inject new meaning in them and customize them to suit us and make them part of our daily lives. Groundhog Day was an event lost on Eleanor’s grandson, Andrew, before Eleanor ushered the day in a new light.

Mike and Lisa, parents to little Andrew, were tired explaining to the toddler that they certainly couldn’t arrange a groundhog hunt for him! Eleanor explained to Andrew that groundhogs are nothing but little happy moments that life offers us. It’s all those unexpected blissful moments when joy erupted from a seemingly gloomy situation and left you flush with happiness. I don’t know how much sense all these made to Andrew, but it’s certainly something that makes sense to us all. We can surely learn from her understanding and see things in a different light.

Whoever says friendship is all about going out and painting the town red on weekends? Well, it may be that for my gang, but that’s certainly not what Rachael thinks. Remember she decided to go veg on her last birthday? Rachael has firmly stuck to her resolve. And now Rachael has decided to get her friends to go veg. Armed with sufficient amount of data that she downloaded from the internet, Rachael is now on a drive to convert friends into vegans. Rachael has collected data from the Cochrane Collaboration to fall back on.

Rachael is insisting her friends to understand the importance of health and how it has no alternative. Rachael was alarmed that some of her friends were resorting to vitamin tablets to keep their nutrient levels from sagging. She’s learned that such methods do not make you strong, rather it decreases life expectancy. Her friends are divided. Some support her, some are skeptical. But you know how determined Rachael is! I’m sure she’ll do a world of good to her gang in a very different and more practical way.

You know that Kate’s boyfriend Henry lives in Iowa. He was down for Christmas. What you don’t know is that while he was in New York, he introduced Kate to a guy, Mac, who happens to be his best friend. Mac seems to have taken a liking for Kate! Kate told Irina that Mac bumped into her on a couple of occasions and Kate has reasons to believe that it was not a coincidence. Kate is also worried that Mac maybe stalking her. When Irina suggested that Kate talks to Henry about it, Kate was hesitant.

“What if I’m imagining things?” Kate told Irina, “I don’t want to rip open their long association on some whim that I have!” Kate does have a point there. But in these times, it’s more important to be safe than good. Mac has been sending some text messages as well which are a little more than what casual acquaintances write. Kate says that the messages are certainly not what a ‘clean’ guy would write to his best friend’s significant other. Kate is biding time before confronting Henry with this. Stay tuned on this one.

Let’s take a dating quote this time around. This is Mae West at her best: “Save a boyfriend for a rainy day – and another, in case it doesn’t rain.” Don’t think Kate would agree, though!