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Wednesday, July 7, 2010

To discuss turning me into a tiny dancer

So I'm kinda sorta becoming a dancer.

I suppose it was inevitable. I watch "So You Think You Can Dance" with a thoroughly furrowed brow. I enjoy dancing at the club.*

* Which is sooooo easy for a straight guy. A) Step behind girl B) Bend her over a little bit if you're a gentleman, or a lot if you have mommy issues C) Shake her booty into your crotch while raising one hand in the air, possibly fist pumping if you are in Jersey, possibly smacking her butt if you're a douche.

I took dancing classes when I was a kid, and by dancing, I mean I dressed up like a flaming Indian. I watched Bing Crosby dance with Danny F****** Kaye in "White Christmas."** I even started dating a dancer recently.

** Quote attributed to Clark W. Griswold

Now I have to be, like, a real dancer. In "Music Man," I have to be one of the featured dancers in all the group numbers, and since my "Macarena" training in middle school gym class has done me as much good as pre-algebra in the aforementioned school, I have to work a lot harder just to get basic steps.

I've been spending weekends and many weeknights learning choreography (that word always makes me think of Danny Kaye's really random "Choreography" dance number in White Christmas, speaking of which).

I've had to do a chassé. I had to learn what a chassé is. And mostly, I've had to figure out how to get my feet and hands to do what I'm telling them to do, an accomplishment you'd think God would have made easier for humans, but evidently God didn't enjoy "Center Stage"*** or "Flashdance." God did, however, enjoy "You Got Served." Of this, I am certain.

*** Very underrated movie. It's also the major film debut, I believe, of a certain actress who later starred in the biggest blockbuster of all time.

So I'd like to hear from you, dear online friend, about any embarrassing dance-related experiences. Please make me feel better.

Friday, July 2, 2010

To discuss 50 (more) things about me

There have been some new readers in recent weeks, even as I've had to slow down blogging a bit. For them, and for people who have been reading for months but only because their browser is frozen and they can't get the hell out of here, I offer you 50 Things About Me. Consider it a follow-up to the 100 Things About Me post I did in November 2008 as part of "Get to Know Me" week, although much has changed since then.

1. I recently started introducing myself as Andrew instead of Andy
2. It's to make me sound more mature and older.
3. Actually, why aren't I introducing myself as "Zeus"?
4. In the past 8 years, I have been in two relationships that lasted a combined 6 years.
5. Good God.
6. I now live alone with my chiweenie, Bailey
7. Bailey has never paid rent or paid me back for his medical bills, as he is holding out hope Obama's health care plan eventually will extend to toy dogs.
8. Last time I did this 100 Things list, I thought Natalie Portman, Lacey Chabert and Helen Hunt were some of the prettiest actresses around. Still are.
9. But I'd like to add Emmanuelle Chriqui and Kate Beckinsale to that list.
10. Not Megan Fox. She's the girl in high school that knew she was hot and flirted with the geeks to get them to do stuff for her.
11. I was a geek.
12. Am.
13. Was.
14. Fine, am. Happy?
15. Speaking of which, I still do musicals, even though logic would say it's not smart to do a full-time job and a show at the same time.
16. But when you love to perform in front of people and are not currently a stripper, your options are limited.
17. So I'm doing a two-month run of "1776," followed by a two-month run of "Music Man," followed by a two-month run of "Sleep Deprivation."
18. At some point, I've promised myself I'd do at least one open mic night at a comedy club.
19. I have no idea how to do stand-up comedy, but I am often standing up when telling jokes, so that must be a head start.
20. I have a feeling that I'd either do fantastic at stand-up comedy, or bomb horrifically, with no middle ground.
21. But if I bomb, I'd just strip naked, as everything is funnier naked when you're a guy.
22. The male body is very funny looking, really. God gave women all the good parts.
23. Hence the reason there aren't male models in the Victoria's Secret fashion show.
24. Although I have a fierce walk from watching tons of "Top Model" and would probably do well.
25. ... that was the gayest thing I've said in some time.
26. I recently won a statewide award for journalism
27. I recently won a merit award at work
28. But let's be honest. My Participation Ribbon at my Boy Scouts Pinewood Derby in third grade is what needs to be included in my obituary.
29. I hope the Boy Scouts have since become more environmentally friendly and made their derby cars hybrid models.
30. I have both a clear idea and no clue whatsoever what I'll be doing at this point in five years.
31. I think that comes with being 27.
32. When life expectency was, say, 50 in the 1600s, did 14-year-old boys worry about their 401k's, too?
33. Did 20-year-old boys hit on 13-year-old girls because the 14-year-old girls were too old? How did that work?
34. What did those same people in the 1600s do to pass the time when they were waiting in line for something? They couldn't check their Facebook page, text or Google anything. But their cell phone bills must have been so cheap. It evens out, I suppose.
35. These are the thoughts I have on an almost daily basis.
36. At some point, I will give "Glee" another try. Not yet, though.
37. But if I do, then you need to give one of the following a try: "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"; "Treme"; or "Modern Family." Deal?
38. Shows that have jumped the shark: "American Idol"; "Real Housewives of NYC and of OC"; "The Office" (somewhat); "Real World"
39. When Christina Aguilera was preparing for her MTV Movie Awards performance, who on her crew said, "You know what this performance is missing? A glow heart on her vagina."?
40. Did Jennifer Love Hewitt see Christina's light-up hoo-hoo, look down at her own vajazzled ladypart, and think, "What's a girl gotta do to keep her private parts up on the trends these days?"
41. These are other thoughts I have on an almost daily basis.
42. I believe God designed men and women. But what was the purpose of making us have to use the bathroom all the time? He couldn't have invented a more time-efficient method?
43. Things I do every day: Snack. Check my e-mail. Read about Pittsburgh sports teams. Think about something sexual at an inappropriate moment and then reassure myself it's only natural. Sing. Walk my dog.
44. At no point during the pet adoption process do they tell you that you will become intimately involved with the mannerisms of your dog's sphincter as a method of forecasting bowel movements. But it's true.
45. Oops, did I kill the mood?
46. You know what's a good reality show that VH1 should bring back? The Pickup Artist.
47. I wish I got outraged more. It's hard to get a good rage going about anything, even if there are oil spills, shootings and bombings all the time.
48. I do get outraged at, say, the cable company, but I am worried that's not what people mean when they ask for outrage at social injustices.
49. Even when I don't get to post all the time, I still love that you guys keep coming back.
50. But please let me know if my blog jumps the shark ... Actually, don't. Sharks are awesome.

Now please do your own list, so I can catch up with what you've doing.
I'll link you here. Pinky swear.
Natballs put hers up. Gold star for you, Natballs. Just don't get her started on "True Blood."
Spleeness did a mini-15 things list, and it includes things you may never want to know.
Awesome things. Here it is.
SamIAm, my former college classmate, did a 50 Things list, too.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

To discuss text messaging: Serious conversations need not apply

I've been hanging around a younger crowd lately, the result of wearing a trenchcoat and driving a windowless van doing musicals.

I don't think I've ever texted so much in my life.

According to Verizon, in the past month, I have sent and received about 1,000 texts each (I have unlimited in-network texting plus 500 extra so it's all good). That's about 10 times as many as usual, although I am a far cry from how many I'm sure 13-year-old girls send back and forth about how dreamy Justin Bieber is.*

* The dreamiest of the dreamiestes.

Not that I really mind, as it means people are actually interested in hearing from me, and smartly know I am not a talk-on-the-phone person, an irony not lost on me considering my journalism job requires me to constantly be on the phone.

True story: When I was in 8th or 9th grade and a girl would call my house, I'd be so against talking on the phone that I had my mom tell them I wasn't there.

Another true story: I was a loser.

But text messaging wasn't invented back then. That's right, kids. INVENTED. We had AOL Instant Messenger by the time I was in high school, and that was the cat's meow for a bit- we'd all spend hours doing epic conversations about nothing at all. If you were lucky, the person you were messaging with didn't use an obnoxious dark background/light font combination that I'm sure caused early onset cataracts.

With texting, there is instant gratification, and no one expects you to say much, because you only have so many characters. But I draw the line at texting about anything of gravitas. Or using the word "Gravitas" in a texting conversation, actually. And that's why even with my increased texting, I still won't have serious conversations that involve me twiddling my thumbs.

Far too many arguments have begun from texting because you can't figure out the tone. That's led to a gross overuse of LOL, haha and ;) to diffuse a comment.

Consider:
  • I'm totally going to kill my mom lol :)
  • I'm totally going to kill my mom
In the former, the texter is joking. In the latter, they provided Exhibit A for the prosecution. See? Another:
  • U r such a dirty whore :) Im gonna screw ur bf to get back at u LOL
  • U r such a dirty whore. Im gonna screw ur bf to get back at u.
In this, the first texter, who assuredly will screw her friend's bf because she's a slut like that, is just kinda joking. In the second, she is outlining the plot of "The Hills."

One last example:
  • 2 hell w/ Team Jakob n Team Edward haha. What about Team Harry Potter? LOL!!!
  • 2 hell w/ Team Jakob n Team Edward. What about Team Harry Potter?
Both texters are giant dorks and possibly pedophiles. Bad example.

Please provide your own examples. We need to expose this problem for what it is. LOL.

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