The Tournament of Awkwardness
I think that 99% of all people go through at least one extremely awkward phase in their life. For most of us, it’s a bell curve: You start off really cute as a little kid, you accelerate into full-on awkwardness in middle school, and then you grow into your body and your style in high [...]
High School Jamey
A few months ago, the alumni coordinators of my high school senior class came up with the idea of compiling life updates from a few Class of ’99ers every few months and sending them out to the whole class so we can see what everyone is up to. My turn in the rotation came up [...]
How Did You Originally Choose Your Favorite Sports Teams?
I always find it fascinating to learn how people choose the teams they root for. There’s a wide spectrum of answers, from lineage (you root for the team your dad roots for) to location (whether it’s where you’re from or where you were when you started caring about the sport) to pure coincidence (the underdog [...]
The Oddest Job I’ve Ever Had
Yesterday you read about how Eric quit his career as a lawyer and opened his own food truck. We all have dreams like that. But we also have a history of random jobs, even careers–I read today that the new length for a career is 4 years. So it got me thinking about the oddest [...]
The Comments Challenge
I’d like to throw the gauntlet to people who read this blog. (Wait, do I throw the gauntlet? Do I lay it down? Is it a glove I throw? Like one of those white lady gloves, but for Southern gentlemen?) Regardless of the nomenclature, I have a challenge for everyone who reads this blog on [...]
Living Forever for One Year
I’m thinking about writing a book that will require me to live forever…for a year. A few years ago there were a rash of books about people who tried to do something to the extreme for one year. I found the concept fascinating, and I read a few of them, most notably The Year of Living [...]
How to Give a Memory for Christmas
Last night’s blog entry is one of those for which I’m particularly thankful: It’s one of those blog entries where the comments are way more interesting and insightful than the original blog entry. The goal of this blog is to generate some form of conversation, so even a single comment goes a long way in [...]
The Generosity Paradox
The other day I read an article that should have been very moving. At least, that should have been my reaction based on the reactions of people who were sharing the article on Facebook. The article is about a growing number of anonymous donors at Kmart stores across the country who are paying off bills [...]
Do You Check the Weather?
The other day I was reading a report about what people do online. It’s a pretty cool infographic if you have the chance to check it out. A lot of the results are to be expected. But one statistic caught my eye: 81% of people check the weather online. The “online” part of that statement [...]
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 [...]
Happy Birthday, Dad
November 13th is my dad’s birthday, so today’s blog post is about him. There are a lot of cool things about my dad, but I want to focus on a specific aspect of our relationship: sports. When it came to sports, my dad was pretty much invincible when I was growing up. I’m guessing this [...]
My 7 Most Quirky Eating Habits
People often come up to me and ask, “What are your 7 most quirky eating habits?” I usually respond, “That’s an odd, random question. But sure, here they are:” I’m the slowest eater ever. Seriously. Sometimes it takes me so long to eat my breakfast at work that by the time I finish, it’s lunchtime. [...]
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 [...]
Things I Learned About Myself by Traveling Abroad Alone
This past week I’ve discussed my Ireland trip in detail, and I’d like to end the week with a reflection on what I learned from going on this trip solo. I wanted to stretch myself on this trip, to step outside of my comfort zone. I’m a planner at heart, and thus I didn’t plan [...]
By the Time You Read This…
…I’ll be a stranger in a strange land. That’s right, I’m in Ireland. I’m writing this post on Wednesday, but I’ve scheduled it to publish at exactly the time that my plane sets down in Dublin. This trip is unlike any other I’ve ever taken. The only planning I’ve done is buying a plane ticket [...]
In Which I’m Scared and Then Greedy and Then Slightly Altruistic and Then Both Scared and Greedy
This is about donating bone marrow. I’ve been really passionate about giving blood for a while, until I gave too often and got minor anemia (it wasn’t the sweet tea after all). I hope to get back into it someday. For a while I thought that the next step in anatomical altruism was either donating [...]
Your Temporal Cloak
On Friday, I read about a fascinating discovery by some British quantum physicists. Apparently they’ve discovered a temporal cloak, a way to mask a singular event in time. The science is beyond me, but from what I can gather, it involves speeding up the front of light waves and slowing down the back. So the [...]
Steve Jobs
I just got on my computer a few minutes ago and learned, as many of you probably just did, that Steve Jobs has died. I find myself deeply affected by this news, somehow brought to tears about the passing of a man I’ve never met. I’m struggling to find words for this post. I’ve already [...]
Why Wouldn’t You Give? Part 3
Okay, one more post about this, then I’ll go back to talking about cats, pet peeves, and how oxygen masks should be available in every workplace. How does reciprocation affect your decision to give or not to give? When you give to someone’s 5k for the cure, do you expect for them to return the favor in [...]
Why Wouldn’t You Give? Part 2
In an age when we’re often solicited by our friends to support their causes through social media and e-mail, not to mention all the random charities that solicit us by snail mail, we have to pick and choose if and how we engage in philanthropy. That’s why I’m a strong advocate of creating personal guidelines [...]
Why Wouldn’t You Give? Part 1
I’ve been thinking a lot about charitable giving lately. Partially because I’m just a few days away from a fundraiser that I’ve spent the last 5 months working on. And partially because I think about random things at random times. Actually, think it started with a few people who asked me to contribute to their [...]
Annie and the Prostitute
This is a story about how I learned about prostitutes. My first kiss happened in kindergarten. I was standing in line (single-file, of course) after recess, and the girl I had a crush on was in front of me. I blew an air kiss at her (she wasn’t looking) and wondered if it counted as my first kiss. I [...]
Oh, the Irony
Today is not my birthday. Let me explain. A few years ago, I started temporarily changing the date of my birthday on Facebook a few years before the actual day (the real day is January 9) so that people didn’t know my birthday was coming up. The reason was that I’m really not very fond [...]
