Wednesday, August 17, 2005

I broke down and accepted a meme again

Because I'm all about embarrassing myself. First seen on Lulu, and expounded upon by Cowboy Matty: 5 of my idiosyncrasies.

1. I believe that I can control the outcome of sporting events with my sitting position or how I arrange my hands or feet. I think this particular trait began with Michael Chang's French Open victory over Stefan Edberg in the 1989 French Open men's finals. Since then I KNOW that what I do while watching a game is responsible for good or bad things happening. While my wife won't admit to its truth, she has seen the effect of it during the last Super Bowl, when I changed my position and the Eagles scored a touchdown (which was a bad thing). It's particularly dramatic during Boston Bruins playoff games.

2. I don't like getting food on my hands. If given the choice between food eaten with my hands or with utensils, I will choose the utensils, even if I love the hand food. I never order ribs and shy away from chicken on the bone. When forced to eat something with my hands, like chips or rolls, and crumbs get on my fingers, I hold my hand over a plate and rub my fingers together to get them off; a maneuver my wife describes as “feminine”. When I get sauce or grease on my fingers, though, I relish the opportunity to lick and suck it off.

3. I can't find things, even if they're right in front of me. This is mostly a problem when someone else asks me to get something, not when I'm looking for myself. It really drives my wife crazy. I swear I'm not just pretending so I can avoid doing things, I really do not see them.

4. I play several air instruments while driving in my car. It's much worse than John Candy in Planes, Trains and Automobiles (although that is a hilarious scene). The most involved instrument is the drums. I've learned to do the kick drum pretty well with my left foot, because I can’t do it with my right while pressing the gas. I hit several different things in my car depending on what sound the song calls for. The sound of my wedding ring hitting my steering wheel is very useful for wood block or rimshot sounds. Since I don't have any cymbals I do the index-finger-slapping-against-middle-finger move that people do with Skoal cans. I also sing out loud in my car, I don't just lip-synch, but I suppose that's not very unusual.

5. I find things like this video funny (courtesy of Gorilla Mask). Okay, that’s kind of cheap. Let me think of another one. I have a law degree and over $100K in outstanding student loans, but one of my ambitions is to own and operate a sub shop. I've worked in food service a lot during my life, and loved working in sub shops. The product is great, simple, and it's easy to make. You also don't need a lot of overhead or much of an image like a full-service restaurant does. On the other hand, you're not going to see your family much or come close to paying off your loans if you own and operate a sub shop.

iPod: "Time Turned Fragile" by Motion City Soundtrack, "I Hope You're Happy Now" by Elvis Costello, "Fall Down" by Toad the Wet Sprocket, “Death and Destruction” by Weezer, "Between the Bars" by Elliott Smith, “Out of its Misery” by Michael Penn, Weird Noisy Song at the End of Nirvana's Nevermind hidden in the "Something in the Way" track, and "Another Girl, Another Planet (live)" by The Replacements.