A half-court shot should count for 5 points... Just sayin'

"Hey Man! Are you coming to that predestination conference next weekend?"

------"Can I say no?"

"What?"

------"We'll see"

"When will you know?"

------"Right now it's a no... but I'll let you know if have a change of heart."

The slow one now will later be fast...

I sold a guitar this week; It made me a little sick to do it. It doesn't matter which one, just that it was a good one. I have another one, a better one; I'm spoiled in that way, in most ways really. Will says I'll regret it, but I probably won't. This is different for me because I keep most everything that I might need again, not like a hoarder but more like a guy that gets a little too nostalgic, or rather like a guy that thinks he might feel nostalgia for things like this one day. I don't want to miss something. Truth be told though, it feels really good. I never played it and I just sat there as a really expensive piece of wall art for years.

When I got my other acoustic in 2007 it immediately became the only guitar I ever wanted to play. I used to go into shops all the time, since I was young, playing everything I could, even the one's way out of my price range. I haven't done this in the last 4 years. I can't imagine wanting to do this again... and that's because I can't imagine one I'm going to enjoy more completely.

It's freeing when you can't fathom a more pleasing shade of green and you finally get to stop looking, and I'm blessed to have many things in my life about which this is true. A career is not one of these things for me. I'm not unique in this. I've talked to a lot of people with similar backgrounds that have the very same problem. Between a comfortable upbringing, the constant encouragement to "be whatever you want to be," a liberal-arts education that promotes well-rounded individuals with lots of options, and teachers that tell you how, "you'd be good at anything," we're forced to sift through quite the perfect storm of options and second-guessing. I realize that the above description refers to the majority of my peers, but many of them either didn't believe what they were told and became content the their "fate"or did believe it and felt confident enough to set off doing that "anything" that they were able to do.

I know there's no one perfect or holy system of discovery in this, and truth be told I let on that I'm a little more stressed about it than I actually am. God seems to have a way of waiting until I throw helpless, frustrated hands in the air to give me anything that I perceive as help. I can only imagine that this is because someone who believes they can do "anything" can tend to have trouble citing outside sources. Asking for help early and often however, along with forcing a bit more patience than I'd prefer, has actually made for a very enjoyable (though of course still stressful) search.

So I sold my guitar because I found something better... something perfect for me. It just took me awhile to realize I didn't need to try anything else. Now I can stop the search and focus on other things. Now I can really enjoy what I'm doing.

...As the present now will later be past.

picture credit: benjamin evans

another door changes everything

Walking out of a restroom is fine...

Walking out of a restroom to see a door across the hall clearly marked "Men's"...

worst moment of my week....

...

and apparently her's too.

Next Stop

What is the average amount of time that passes between...

"I'm glad I shaved my head, now you can barely even tell that I was going bald"

and...

"I think I might look good with a goatee."

Meanest gift ever

Getting Rosetta Stone as a gift is like receiving a two-year-long errand to run.

And for the next few years when they ask how it's going, you get to remind them of how much you hated their gift.

-----

"Hey Jim! Merry Christmas! Ever wear that sweater I got you last year?"

"Hey Aunt Doris! Yeah I actually wear it all the time."

"Prove it. Say something in sweater."

-----

no ring!

So I'll have to write here. Being unmarried and in my mid-20's, I find myself saying more than every once in a while, "Well... there's probably a reason she's still not married." And even worse, if I find out that she isn't currently seeing anyone, I assume the worst and she moves to the very bottom of my very short list of potential girlfriends. Are you hearing this? Maybe its my thought process... lets say the girl looks interesting...

she's cute. she has a boyfriend.

she's looking at her phone. she's busy.

is that a bookbag? she's probably too young.

...stop...

she's cute. and probably a little crazy.

are those khakis? she's too old.

is that a DMB sticker on her car? no comment.

is she babysitting her niece? It's probably her kid.

...Stop...

she's cute. and she knows it.

why is she not at work? she's unemployed.

Is that an ID badge? She probably hates her job. I don't always want to be dealing with that conversation.

Apple laptop? trying to fit in.

Dell? lame

Sony? Is sony the new apple?

...wow STOP...

Are you hearing this? As I told a friend of mine this week. The plan is to attempt to flirt with enough girls that one finally pulls the trigger and asks ME out.

she's asking if I'd like to hang out sometime...

...

...

I could never be with someone that liberal in her stance on gender roles.

-----

I should have this all figured out by the time I'm 26 though, so no worries.

Davy had it right

Well the inevitable has happened. I am moving back to Texas. The house was on the market for 5 days and a couple was nice enough to buy it. They were also nice enough to want to close in 4 weeks... effectively sending my life into a turmoil and making myself and everyone around me a little crazy.

Tennessee and I had a good run though, two and a half years, 3 jobs, zero dates, a few good friends, zero dates, maybe 3 celebrity spottings, 12 months of an eye-illness probably brought on by nashville dust, zero dates, I threw up twice, a healthier life outlook, stress over being 25 and single, probably lost 5-6 friends simply due to location and time, too much coffee/vitamins/beer, a half-ironman, a marathon, two HBW+L family reunions, 2 trips to Maine, zero dates, 18 months of school, 12 Wheaton people moving to mid-TN, tons of cute girls(TN cute not TX cute, had to clarify per Nick's request), talked to maybe 3 of them, probably a me problem, 20 or so games of Catan, quit eating pork, zero dates, accidentally ate pork like a week ago, just saw a girl across the coffee shop, I'm gonna talk to her, What if she's the one? What do I have to loose? What if I talk to her and its an instant connection? Would I stay in TN if she's the one? Probably so. Time to make it 4. Ok here goes...

....

....

chickened out. Davy Crockett had it right. zero dates

First things first

Cause who reads a post without a picture, apologies for the language.

Ok so the first thing you should do is jump to my brother's blog and read the entire thing. It's generally better than mine and is certainly worth this "unofficial" endorsement.

After that you're gonna want to check out this "unofficial" promo for a new samples app for your iphone. Cause... it's amazing. If your an American that speaks french and he's saying something horrible... I apologize. If you're a Frenchman that speaks french... I'm just sorry in general.

Next on the list... quit watching LOST. There I said it. The current season has quickly become the most embarrassing thing I watch. I know its sacrilege to say such a thing and to all of those whom I've gotten hooked... Im sorry. (No, I don't know when to properly use "whom" but I went for it) I'm not saying Ill never watch it, I'm simply gonna wait to hear some buzz about the final 8? episodes before I stress over DVRs and completely silent viewing environments. Why isn't Ben cool anymore? Why is Richard as confused as everyone else? And why oh why is Hurley not dead yet???

Stare blankly at everyone that tells you they would watch the tour without Tiger. These are the same people that told you they would still watch "The City."

Watch the few good shows still on TV. For me this is "Modern Family," Phil is the only reason you need. "parenthood" actually pretty good, "Parks and Rec" yeah it's now better than 30 rock, and "Southland" when you can find it. I try to watch The Office, but when there's Always Sunny and Arrested Development reruns on the DVR... you gotta go with your heart.

Finally, ask yourself "Why does this bring me so much joy." I'm not even gonna ask if you think this makes me a horrible person.

Sure you could get all of this info somewhere else... but I condense it for you.

There's no protocol for this...

As a waiter at a coffee shop asks two gentlemen if they wouldn't mind combining each other's private coffee experience into a single table (essentially... bunking up), they give each other the exact same look.

"We need room for the other patrons," she says, "there's 4 of them and you're sitting in a booth."

You really have no options here. People who sit in cafes for awhile tend to sprawl. They don't exactly treat the booth/table like Southwestern's coach class. I think the idea is to keep the widest base possible, for, of course stability, and more importantly... aura : computer in front, book at my left, phone on my right, and a plate holding a half-eaten sandwich behind the computer to falsely but effectively answer the" "is that seat taken" question.

Whichever guy she looks at last is forced to give a response. Why would you approach me? Why not ask him to combine his newly furnished booth apartment with my established nook of comfort? What If I was doing something important. Why didn't I set further from the front of this place? That might have saved me. These are the final thoughts before you oblige the rules of protocol.

(spoken aloud) "I was actually just leaving anyway"
(internal monologue) "I was just leaving anyway; leaving a quarter of a sandwich that amounts to maybe $1.50 that I have to now throw away while taking my walk of shame to the front door, holding a paper cup that is worth... well like a million dollars cause its free refills, leaving an half-written email that I pray google auto-saved before I shut my computer because I saw the new renters staring at me. At my eyes no less! That's what I was just leaving, because that's the protocol.

----

I watched this happen only only moments ago. I watched this happen because twenty minutes ago I walked past the booth from which the man was thrown. I walked past it because the last words I spoke in this place yesterday were, "I was actually just leaving."