Mild Amusement

I took about a week and a half off from work for the end of the year, and I knew that I'd be lax about working out in that time. So, I figured I'd give myself an extra incentive to work out. I made a bet. Well, to be honest, it started out as more of a dare. My friend was saying she's been lax about keeping up with her running lately, so I gave her an "aw, c'mon, you can at least go once per week." In the process of coaxing/goading her to agree to this, though, I promised to run twice per week if she did that. Shortly thereafter, this turned into a bet that I'd run twice as often as she did during the break. We didn't really set any terms to the bet at the time, though. It was more of a joke than anything else. Fast forward about a week, and a bunch of us were walking to lunch. The bet came up in conversation, so I figured it'd be fair to ask for a neutral third party to set the consequences for said bet. The only idea that came up was ...

(The title is a reference to a running gag my siblings & I have. Usually, that line is preceded by something like, "Whatever, you're the troublemaker in the family." This usually leads to a bout of calling each other "Chang" for a while. Should this happen in public, hilarity is likely to ensue) My siblings and I have known each other for over 20 years, so we've had some time to more or less figure each other out. That makes for all sorts of fun when we all hang out at family events, but it also makes gift-buying slightly problematic. We can usually figure out what the other person wants, but that also means that the person is likely to purchase it before receiving the gift. Take my sister's Christmas gift this year. She is a fan of Steve Nash, and as a result, she likes to watch the (Phoenix) Suns. So I figured I'd get her tickets to a Warriors game when the Suns are in town. Short of her actually going to Arizona, that's probably th...

I recently remarked to a friend that you need a sense of humor to run in my family. For example, I got a pack of beer & a weighted jump rope as part of my Secret Santa gift this year. My parents saw the beer, and said, "the gift-giver must think you're an alcoholic." My sister saw the jump rope and said, "the gift-giver must think you're fat." See, sense of humor. My cousin is about to find this out first-hand. See, she was over at our house on Monday while I was at work. My sister was wrapping my present at the time, and she invited my cousin to help out. I'm not sure who's idea it was, but they decided to have some fun with it. Specifically, they decided they wanted to make it harder to open my gift. I haven't opened it yet, but I'm told it has multiple layers of wrapping, and my cousin went to town on it. She even started writing things on the wrapping paper, as an extra taunt. But they told me about it, so I had time to sche...

I was out celebrating my college roommate's birthday last night, and a friend of a friend told me, "I wish you were gay." In its own way, it's flattering that the guy said that. Still, that's one of the oddest compliments I've ever received, and I wasn't quite sure what to say to the guy (if you must know, we all just laughed about it). Actually, I've noticed over the years that last night was no fluke. People don't tell me that I'm attractive or funny. No, instead, I hear things like: "Wow, you have nice eyelashes. They're really long." This one came from a female nurse that helped me out when I was first getting my contacts. Actually, she said the same thing to both my brother and I, so it must have been a genetic thing. I understand why the nurse would notice something like that, but I'm a guy, so it was almost like the compliment fell on deaf ears. "Your heart takes pretty pictures" Another one from the so...

If you've seen me in person anytime after high school, odds are that you've seen me with a shaved head. I started shaving it in college - I got lazy about going to a barber, and doing it myself saved me a few bucks every couple of weeks or so. I understand they weren't the best reasons to make the change, but make a change I did. No one made fun of me and it looked all right, so I ran with it for a while. Fast forward to last month, and I decided to let my hair grow out. No particular reason, I just figured I'd give it a go again. And then, I started hearing about it from a bunch of people I knew. That list includes: My brother, who thought I was trying to impress a girl. He commented that my hair was getting shaggy, I told him I needed to let it grow out before getting a legit haircut. He immediately asked who she was. Because apparently, if I'm trying to impress a girl, the first thing I'm going to lead with is my stylish hair. By the same logic, ...

I was walking into the office this morning, and I noticed this lady about four steps behind me as I walked in the door. My parents taught me to be fairly polite, so I held the door open for her (or as I once told a girlfriend, "Chivalry may be dead, but I'm bringing it back"). She thanked me, and I turned around to be on my way. Maybe it was early & I was tired, or maybe I have some karmic debts I don't remember. Either way, I walked right into an overhanging leaf from a nearby plant. Face-first, no less. It wasn't that embarrassing, but not my best moment. To top it off, we both took the stairs, and there was another door there. I was in front, so I held that door open, too. In return, she promised to bushwhack any offending plants for me. She didn't mean it maliciously, but I was an easy target at that point. So, the moral of today's story: don't hold doors open for people, or if you must, watch where you're going.