Mild Amusement

Sometime in college, my brother and I decided to get earrings. I don't even really remember why I agreed to the idea, but I do remember thinking, "at worst, I'll just let the hole close up." I didn't hate it, so I still wear one to this day. Funnily enough, my brother has since given his up, even though the whole thing was originally his idea. Still, that one little item has caused more than a few funny stories. First off, I now know a little bit of the pain women feel when they lose one. I managed to lose the original one when I was at the gym a while back, and I remember it bugging me. You know how paper cuts tend to sting? They're not excruciatingly painful, but those teeny little cuts are constantly reminding you that you cut yourself. It was like that. I think my OCD was more to blame than anything else, but it kept bugging me (stupid faulty clasp). I've since learned to take the darn thing off before exercising, but not before this little episode l...

In case you haven't noticed yet, I have a bit of a smart aleck streak. It's never meant with malice, but I tend to be very whimsical and I've never had a problem with poking fun at people. My friends are no exception to this rule, so they're very used to my jokes. Given that, it's no surprise to them if I give them a gag gift for their birthdays. Mind you, it's always paired with an actual, hopefully thoughtful, gift, but they understand. If all goes well, they will laugh, too. The latest entry in the annals of gag gifts, however, had some very amusing side effects. Before we get to the gift, though, let me describe my friend just a tad. She is very much a grounded, down-to-earth person, but she still appreciates some of the finer things in life. She's the kind of person who likes wine, has a nice collection of shoes, and appreciates elegance. We've all got our preferences, and hers just tend to run in that direction. So be it. Of course, that do...

I recently realized that I use some variation of "my friend" quite a bit when writing. I don't refer to people by name, even when the whole point of the post is to describe that particular person. Sure, I refer to my brother and sister plenty of times, but unless you've actually met them, you don't know their names. Most of the time, the names themselves don't really matter, anyway. The humor of the stories is always in the situation or in the words that were said. I'm not going to lie, there are times when including the name would add some juicy bit of gossip to the mix. If a particular story involves a woman I'm romantically interested in or a person I don't particularly care for, it suddenly takes on a little  je ne sais quois . I'll bet it would add an extra bit of humor here and there, but it's not worth it. I'm not trying to feed the rumor mill, and I'm giving you permission to hit me upside the head if I start that. Besid...

A while back, I mentioned that certain songs remind me of people . I don't just mean women I've dated, though there are certainly some amusing options to choose from there. No, most of the time, there are funny stories surrounding that particular person/song combination. And given my wacky memory, I remember these things when the song plays on the radio or on a playlist. Since it's been a little over six months since I wrote about this the first time, I've certainly had a few more of these come to mind: Talib Kweli's " Never Been in Love " reminds me of a coworker. We were sitting around talking about music during a van ride once, and this song came up. He was not a fan of this song. To roughly paraphrase his objection to this track, he didn't "want none of this pansy nonsense." A rap love song largely dedicated to telling a woman she is your first love? Aw, heck no. He wanted to hear about flashy cars and riches, all combined with that...