My Favorite Unmanly Thing: My Tweezerman Tweezers
I write this as if it’s the only favorite unmanly thing I own or do. Honestly, though, I rarely care about what’s manly or not manly–I just do what I like. I’m confident in my masculinity. If there’s a drink called “Georgia Peach” on the menu, I’m going to order it. If there’s a catchy [...]
Leadership Tactic #81: Passion
This entry could double as a Confessions entry, so I’m going to tag it as such. Here’s my confession: I’m 32 years old, and I just learned the true meaning of passion about an hour ago. It’s not what you’re thinking (I’m assuming that you were thinking that I was referring to my hipster mermaid [...]
Movember Confession
I have a confession. I shaved my mustache before November 30. I know, I know–I’m a disgrace. Here’s what happened. It’s not a good excuse, but there is a reason. Basically, the mustache was the first thing people noticed about me, and not in a good way. It wasn’t a strong enough mustache that people [...]
Confession #18: The 11 Horcruxes of Jamey Stegmaier
In the Harry Potter mythos, Voldemort broke his own soul into 7 different pieces and ensnared them in various objects that were dear to his heart so that he could live forever. Put all the horcruxes together and you complete Voldemort. Destroy them and you destroy Voldemort forever. In a similar vein, I’ve decided that [...]
Confession #17: The Clothing Spreadsheet
There are some ugly rumors floating around in the comments section regarding an alleged “spreadsheet” I used to maintain to keep track of my “outfits.” I’m here to confirm those rumors. When I was in high school, I ran into a daily decision of epic proportions: What to wear. Perhaps you had the same decision [...]
The Weirdest Thing I Did as a Kid
I did a LOT of weird things as a kid. I was overly fascinated with smells emitted by my body (still am), I took baths until I was WAY too old to be taking baths (I simply couldn’t fathom that a sprinkle of water could be better than sitting in a pool of water), and [...]
Why You Should Go to a Therapist at Least Once Before You Turn 30
I’ve thought about this entry for a while now, and partially thanks to a good conversation I had the other day with a friend, I think it’s ready. Below are a few reasons why I think it’s a good idea for everyone to go see a therapist at least once before turning 30. You can [...]
The Great Mullet of 2011
Confession: I had a rat tail when I was a kid. The year was 1988. I was in second grade central Virginia; needless to say, I wasn’t the only kid with a rat tail. But there was something special about having that stringy patch of hair snaking down my back. I think it was about [...]
Confession #16: A Loaded Question
Today I experienced a first on Match.com: A 62-year-old woman from Montana e-mailed me with the following message: I just sent a reply to a gentleman in LasVegas and when I hit the send button, your profile was displayed in the “others like so & so”….and I just had to make a comment. WHAT on [...]
The 3 Things You’d Change About Your College Experience If You Had a Time Machine
Knowing what you know now about the real world and college and yourself, what are three things you would do differently if you could redo your undergraduate years of college? My three: I would take only the classes that really interested me. I’m glad I went to Wash U. It’s a great school, the quality [...]
18 First Dates
After dating two women back to back for a total of 5 years, I needed a break. I was intentionally single for about 5 months (for the most part), and I stayed single for a while after that. But I wanted to be more open to meeting women again, and I felt that my heart [...]
Confession #15: Whining About Wine
I love the idea of drinking wine. I love swishing it around in the glass (I’m a stemless kind of guy). I love smelling it, listening to it, tasting it. I love all the pretense around wine. It’s like a prop for overacting. The more you pretend to know about wine, the more fun it [...]
Confession #14: The Least Spontaneous Person
Sometimes I think I’m the least spontaneous person in the world. I’ve already written about how I use Outlook to plan my life. I plan ahead for meals, for friendships, for alone time and social time. Time is the key–I’m incredibly intentional about my time. Because of this intentionality, I miss out on things. If [...]
One-Way Streets
Note to anyone who might possibly think I’m talking about you: I’m not talking about you. Tonight I was on my way to a publishing company meeting when I turned onto a one-way street and realized I was driving in the wrong direction. At first I froze, but then I was like, “What’s the worst [...]
A Brief History of Breakups
I’ve had an idea for a blog entry for a while called, “The Break Up: How to Get Out of Concerts and Relationships.” This item has sat on my blog idea list for months now and I haven’t written it, so that says to me that I’m not all that interested in writing about it. [...]
Confession #13: The Freeze
Over the last six months, I’ve done some typical single guy things like going to bars and Vegas. Not a lot, but a few times. In doing so, I’ve learned something about myself: I freeze up at bars. I should say that my ideal bar experience is one where I go with a group of [...]
Confession #12: My Time Is My Heaven
I had a unique weekend. I got home from work (followed by a trip to the grocery store) around 7:00 on Friday. I didn’t leave my condo for the next 44 hours. It was lovely. No, I’m not turning into a hermit. I just have some busy weekends coming up, so I committed to a [...]
Vegas #4: The Things I Shouldn’t Tell You
I went to Vegas this past weekend expecting a relatively calm weekend. I’m not a partier; I like to drink, but I generally avoid the crowds at clubs and crazy bars. I guess strip clubs are an option in Vegas, but again, not really my thing. I did, however, discover something that I didn’t know [...]
What I Want…the Little Things
A while back, I posted my most commented and controversial post ever, What Men Want…Rather, What I Want (the play adaption is coming to Broadway in May 2011). The post involved very specific dealbreaker-type requirements for the type of woman I want. On occasion since that fateful day, I’ve thought of little attributes for a [...]
Oprah Isn’t Always Right
Traditionally, Catholics give up something for Lent. I work at a Newman Center, so I’m privy to the various sacrifices people make. Most involve something like candy; something that’s somewhat hard to give up and that can be gorged on as soon as Lent is over. My personal take on Lent is that I like [...]
Confession #11: The Missed Kiss
My senior year at Wash U, I started to get to know a girl who had a long-distance boyfriend. Let’s call her Marsha. Marsha had been dating this guy for many years. He was her first and only everything. That had long been planning to finally live in the same city after college and get [...]
Confession #10: The Smelling Circle
Okay, this is going to be a little weird. I have a fairly sensitive nose. Good smells (popcorn, Angel perfume, campfires, etc.) have a powerful effect on me. Bad smells (body odor, mildew, other people’s farts, Cheetos, etc.) have a profoundly negative impact on me. I love how women smell. You all are delicious. I’m [...]
Confession #9: The Wandering Eye
(Warning: This confession will make me look like a huge jerk. If you currently don’t think I’m a jerk and would like to continue to think that, stop reading this.) One of the biggest struggles I’ve had while dating is the persistent wonder that there’s someone better for me out there. “Better for me” is [...]
The Brothers Stegmaier
As a birthday treat, I asked my brother and sister to roast me on this blog. I knew their words would make me laugh, but I didn’t expect they’d move me the way they did. Thanks, Emily and Andrew. You’re the best. As a birthday “gift” to Jamey, Emily and I (Andrew) have agreed to [...]
