celebrity overnight

So I got compared to Michael Phelps again the other day.

By "again" I mean that this happens every so often. I mentioned before that I work a "part-time" (39 hours a week instead of 40?) job at a grocery store, frequently as a cashier. Yes, I know, it's as exciting as you might think...applications are available at the customer service desk.

Anyway, obviously means I have to interact with the customers and keep them entertained while I'm scanning items. Sometimes they're pretty quiet and the conversation goes nowhere. Others, they're enthusiastic to answer my boilerplate questions but it really doesn't go beyond that. Some piss me off, haha. But some actually keep me entertained.

This was one of those cases. This particular customer, a woman probably in her 30s or 40s (I'm a terrible judge of age), stops me before I'm even able to say "How are you today?" with "Has anyone ever said you kinda look like Michael Phelps?"

"Well, actually, yeah, that's happened at least a couple of times before."

"I don't know what it is, you just do. Do you swim?"

"No, not really."

(pause)

"Oh, well, thank you, I guess."

I wasn't sure what to think of it at first. I've done some research since then (which was a horrible task of course, haha) and maybe could see what she means. She was probably looking at the smile, nose/ears, eyebrows. Maybe the hair, a little bit. But I'm in no way going to have the problem of people stopping me on the street, yelling "Hey man, where are your gold medals?"

It definitely wasn't the body, which I thought was the part that most people actually find so damn hot about him. So I wasn't sure if it was a compliment...not that I necessarily want middle-aged women to hit on me. But I'll go with it anyway.

Now to work on making me looking like that...right. Should be easy?

(p.s. copyright owners, don't kill me! just ask and I'll remove whatever you want...honest!)

i'm back i'm back

I wonder if anyone exists that (might) read this anymore. I know I had to delete several blogs off the list on the right...oh well.

So it's been 11 months and I suppose a lot has happened. I'll give you a quick update in terms of relative importance:

I graduated from college!

Not that there was much concern that I'd finish, but it's actually over. Even though I might have earlier said I was ready to be done and over with it, I probably would have taken that back in May. Due to a series of events (including a couple of keggers hosted by me and my roommates), I got really close with a lot of people during Senior year. So, naturally, it was tough to face the reality that I probably won't see a lot of them again. College ended up being pretty awesome, but I'm still not sure if the time where I was actually away at school was better than the times I was at home during the last four years. Either way, I'm happy with it.

Now, about putting that degree to good use...hm. There are some complicating factors (see bold line no. 2 below), but I hope to actually achieve that someday. It might be tough to break into the biz, though...tough economic times are bad for television, too, and media companies large and small are trimming staff. A somewhat hilarious example job posting I saw recently: A part-time on-camera meteorologist who would be paid a non-negotiable $8.50 an hour. That's basically what I make as a cashier at a grocery store! In the end, it's nothing for me to worry about for a little while, because...

I got braces!

Awesome, right? What more appropriate way to celebrate really, truly being an adult than by getting some metal glued to your teeth? To make a long story short...I've needed to fix something wrong with my mouth for a long time, and this was actually the best time to do it. The problem was probably less debilitating than the braces themselves (and def less noticeable), so I had some second thoughts shortly after getting them. But, things are going well and ideally everything will be completely done by New Years 2010.

But, man, how do kids put up with these things? Maybe I just like to complain...but they're pretty annoying. The last few months of adjustments haven't been too bad in the braces-rubbing-up-against-mouth-causing-pain-department, but it still makes eating much slower. And the amount of food that gets stuck in them is actually pretty hilarious. Again, it's really not bad, just a little frustrating sometimes...but I've more or less gotten used to them.

I got some action!

Haha. Oh man. I had a pretty good run going during late Summer. I'll go into more detail about them in another post, but basically I messed around with a cheerleader and a track athlete (with different results) and was this close to getting with a guy who I later discovered is in videos from Corbin Fisher. Oh, and then there was the short med student, the guy with awesome abs, the really closeted frat boy, the dude from NYC...well, those weren't hookups but interesting interactions anyhow.

Well, I think those are the three major points that are relevant to this blog. I haven't made any further progress on coming out, and it kind of took a backseat thus far in 2008 in spite of the urging of some online friends. So that's somewhat a disappointment, but I'll get there. Maybe soon...otherwise, the Hawks turned out to be pretty awesome in football, my job is kind of boring but gets the bills payed, my social life is also kind of boring but miles ahead of what some of my friends who are still in college are doing, and it's really fucking cold here and I hate it.

So yeah, I teased about the action and I'll get to that. Maybe later in the day after I've slept some. I'm going to actually try and blog at this thing some more. Again, does anybody still read? I get occasional random hits on here...let's take a roll call.

To reiterate a long-ago post, ways to contact me more directly are...

E-mail: cpt40522@gmail.com
Yahoo: cpt40522
AIM: I have it...but you'll have to ask for it ;)

Catch you later!

-T

clean slate

First off, thanks to those of you who wished me a happy new year (same to you!). My New Year's Eve (why does everyone abbreviate it as NYE all of a sudden?) was fun but not extremely out of the ordinary. Since I still like to be sparse on the details of my personal life here, I'll leave it at that.

2007 was, overall, a pretty good year. 2008 will likely be a pretty good year, if everything goes to plan. I'll finally be done with school, which is something I've been looking forward to for years. A lot of people don't want to let go of their life in college, but I was ready to even before I got here. I'm ready to move on and get on with my life. I don't like being in this state of pseudo-flux where I live in two places (home and school) in a year, so it'll be nice to land somewhere for a while. Where and when that will happen is to be determined.

I'm not going to make any sort of resolutions for the year, because I think they're pointless. No offense to those who attempt them, but it's really just a good way to set yourself up for failure. If you don't succeed, then you can just try it again next year (see: diets). I'm not sure what I'd even resolve to do...obviously promising to blog consistently won't work (hasn't yet!), and I wouldn't overreach so far as to say "I resolve to be out this year." Not that I'm against setting and reaching goals, but it seems like most resolutions end up being about improving your character. You shouldn't need an excuse or a timeline to be a better person, you should just do it.

I'm really not usually this bitter, just a little bit tonight, not even for a particular reason.