Yoink! Stealing Lauren's great style

I can’t stand the smell of baby powder.
I once nearly fell off a ropes course.
As a kid, I broke my ring finger waterskiing. That finger was never the same.
A little later, I broke my wrist rollerblading. My wrist is the same as it was before.
I prefer merino wool socks over any other.
Cheese sandwiches are my comfort food.
As a kid, I was once mistaken for a girl.
My favorite family car was a red Ford Explorer.
My favorite female Food Network TV chef is Rachael Ray.
My favorite male Food Network TV chef is Mario Batali.
When I was younger, I had a pet guinea pig named Blacky.
I used to have dreams of returning to my childhood home to discover cereal bowls full of cereal, just as we left them when we moved.
I was only asked to draw a maze for our 5th grade newspaper once.
My eyesight has deteriorated every time I visit the optometrist.
Ghostbusters and Ski Patrol were my favorite movies growing up.
I’ve always wanted to be a Navy Seal.
Once, I saw a neighbor walking down the street, apparently just after being kicked out of the house.
I have laughed when I was sad and should have cried.
I used to practice setting up a top-rope rock climbing system in the house.
My body doesn’t react well to peanut butter.
The last time I ice skated was 5 years ago.
I hate being watched when I eat.
I was written up the first time I drank underage.
I hate contact lenses, and I hate wearing glasses.
I enjoy cooking seafood.
I am very tedious when it comes to making my bed.
I became an Eagle Scout when I was 16.

There was this girl...

...who used to eat during the same time as our group in Butler University's Atherton dining hall. I have no idea who she was. I don't even know her first name.
But, I had a terrible crush on her. Perhaps, because I am writing this today, I still do.

What I do know is this: She is extremely beautiful. She had shoulder-length black hair.

I saw her once, last year, in Broadripple. Unfortunately, I was too timid to go say Hi. My friends knew I had a crush on her, and would always comfirm her presence in the dining hall before we entered. They would refer to her as "Scott's girl".

I was only able to gather such minimal knowledge of her. She would sit towards the front of the dining hall, near either the tray return area, or nearer to the salad bar. She sat with a few other female friends. I assumed she was a year younger than we were, because she wasn't around my freshman year.

Although I have a deep desire to, I may never learn who she is. She'll be that person you run across at the airport. The person that hops onto the flight to L.A., when you're going to Seattle. You know you'll never see them again, no matter how much you want to. Maybe it's a good thing that you never will. Or, maybe it's a good thing that you never know until it's over, or until you do.

I met the President!

My brother and I were visiting Asheville, North Carolina. We just finished eating at a greasy spoon restaurant, when we hopped into our black SUV. We were both wearing suits, because we were at a friend's wedding earlier that day.
We pulled out of the parking lot, and noticed there were hundreds of people lining both sides of the street. My brother merged in behind a black Suburban with its warning lights flashing. There was a black limo behind us, also with its lights flashing, so my brother instinctively turned on his as well. We had inadvertantly slipped into a Presidential parade.
Looking foreward, I saw Secret Service men running along side the Suburban, and others directing the crowd to put down their umbrellas. It had been raining all day.
Not knowing what to do, my brother and I decided to stay with the parade, until we were told to leave. Feeling adventurous, I jumped out of our Explorer, and began running along side. I quickly ran out of breath, so I jumped back in.
The parade went on for about 7 miles, until it reached a tunnel running underneath a hotel. The crowd thinned out by then, and police barracaded off the last 100 yards before the parking garage. We followed the Suburban in, and parked beside it. The limo then pulled up next to us. We stayed in the car, until the President got out of his. Then, we got out and I approached him. I asked him how the parade went, and he said it went well. He then thanked me for my efforts all day. When everyone left, my brother and I started laughing frantically. I knew I had to post this experience in my blog.
You're probably wondering what the President was doing in Asheville, NC? I'm not sure. This was a dream I had last night. Because, in my dream, I wanted to post that experience, I decided this morning I would post my dream.

no title

Company just left. Last week at family friends' house, my parents decided that I was going to cook dinner tonight. These family friends aren't typical suburbanites. They own and run a restaurant in St. Louis. Justifiably, they are amazing chefs and entertainers. They seem to know everything about food, as well as every possible way of preparing it. They were our neighbors when I was growing up, and I was always eating over at their house. The table was turned tonight. I fixed dinner for them.
For the past week, my menu changed repeatidly. Finally, I asked someone for advice this morning. Thankfully, I took her advice, and produced something that I think even surprised my parents. I sure was.
A completely unrelated subject.
Tuesday night I ran an experiment. Earlier in the day, I heard that if one eats sugar just before bedtime, his dreams will be more vivid. Naturally, I tried it. During the night, I woke up and wrote my dreams down. Later the next morning, I emailed them to Lauren as I promised. She ran an analysis on them, and emailed me back. She says I need a vacation to Cancun, parallel to one of my dreams. Ironically, I recieved an email right after hers offering discount airfare to Cancun. My initial assumption was that of pure coincidence. Thinking more, my paranoia took over, and I now feel someone read that email. So, I will write an email to myself saying I would like a way to gain a free BMW M3. Paranoia is spelled correctly. I checked.

I don't get it...

This is an uncomprehensive list of things I just don't understand.

Cordless phones

There is 6 miles of DNA in a human cell. That boggles my mind. Knowing that a scientist was able to figure that out, boggles it more.

The Chinese language

The affect cat nip has on cats

What causes a heart to continously pump

Wind

Women

Speeches by President Bush

Black energy

Mike Martz

Why I find it increasingly harder to get out of bed, the later I sleep in

Like I said, this is not comprehensive. There are millions of more topics I can't grasp fully. If you have any insight into one of these, please let me know.

Ok, I'm impressed. But where are my winning lotto numbers?

Some time back, I made a habbit of checking my horoscope on aol.com, whenever I check my email. Typically, my horoscope is vague, and wide ranging. "You will meet an old friend this month, or will think of them, or will call them, or you will stub your toe on a chair." Well, yeah. But today's was different. It is about a specific topic. Here it is, in its entirety:
"If you've been considering going back to school, this might be the right time to take your dream a step foreward. This doesn't mean that you must actually enroll today. A better use of the energy would be to fine tune your learning objectives and narrow your possible course of study."
Now, this isn't an incredibly good horoscope (I don't think any are), but it was remarkably accurate. I haven't yet narrowed my possible course of study, and I haven't even decided which standardized test to take. I think I'll do that tonight, and comically prove my horoscope true. Any suggestions of what I should study? I'm at a loss.

Good luck, Mr. Gorsky.

On July 20, 1969, as Commander of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module, Neil Armstrong was the first person to set foot on the Moon. His first words after stepping on the Moon, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”, were televised to earth, and heard by millions. Just before he reentered the Lander, he made the enigmatic remark “Good luck, Mr. Gorsky.”

Many at NASA thought it was a casual remark directed to a rival Soviet Cosmonaut.

However, upon checking, there was no Gorsky in either the Russian or American space programs.

Over the years, many people questioned Armstrong as to what the “Good luck, Mr. Gorsky” statement meant. Armstrong never answered and always just smiled.

In Tampa Florida, on July 5, 1995, while answering questions following a speech, a reporter brought up the 26 year old question to Armstrong. This time, he finally responded.

Mr. Gorsky died, so Armstrong felt he could answer the question.

In 1938, when he was a kid in a small Midwest town, he was playing baseball with a friend in his backyard. His friend hit a ball which landed in his neighbor’s (the Gorskys') yard by the bedroom window.

As he leaned down to pick up the ball, young Armstrong heard Mrs. Gorsky shouting at Mr. Gorsky: “Sex!, You want sex? You’ll get sex when the kid next door WALKS ON THE MOON!”

Another email from my dad. This one, apparently a true story. I don’t know the real source, however.

more random trivia; some bland, some questionable

Lower back pain is the most commonly reported physical complaint in the U.S.

The largest sex orgy in recorded history, involving 7,000 participants, took place in the year 200 B.C. in Rome.

Almost every cell in your body contains six feet of DNA.

The hyoid bone, in your throat, is the only bone in the body not attached to another bone.

A group of foxes is known as a "leash."

The Sun is about 4.6 billion years old.

"Alektorophobia" is the fear of chickens.

The southernmost city in the United States is Na'alehu, Hawaii.

Davy Crockett was a Congessman.

In poker, a combination of 4 and 5 is called a "Jesse James," presumably because the notorious outlaw was killed by a Colt .45.

The real name of Dorothy's dog Toto in The Wizard of Oz was Terry.

In San Salvador, drunk drivers can be sentenced to death by firing squad.

Proportionately, houseflies are faster than jets. A fly moves 300 times its body length in one second. A jet, at the speed of sound, travels 100 times its body length in one second.

The "f" word is used 246 times in Goodfellas.

Lina Medina from Peru became the youngest mother at the age of five, when she delivered a baby boy in 1936.

Two books in the Bible are named after women. Ruth and Esther.

A grizzly affair

One year, while camping up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, I ran across a couple bears on Grand Island. Because this wasn’t the first time I found myself upon a black bear, I wasn’t terribly frightened. I was, however, extremely nervous.
When I went to Butler, the school offered a program which took college freshmen on a ten day adventure trip. On this occasion, I was a leader of several kids. Because most of the campers never really camped in bear country, they were a little unacquainted with the techniques used to prevent bear encounters in camp.
One afternoon, after we returned from a hike, we found a couple visitors snooping around the outskirts of our campsite. After taking a quick glance, I realized the bears were yet to enter. Nothing was missing, save the wits of a couple campers. The others immediately brandished their cameras, and immediately transformed into National Geographic photographers.
A few brave ones began an attempt to sneak up on a mother bear, Steve Irwin style. My previous experience with this shot to the front of my memory, and I quickly realized the bear spray was no where in site. My heart was racing. I didn’t want to step in between excited outdoor novices and a memory they could share for a lifetime. I also didn’t want them to be hurt. So, I yelled at them to back off, and take their pictures from a distance. Thankfully, they did.
Looking back, I realize I probably was a little harsh and overprotective. I maybe even overreacted. But, I’ve seen video they may not have, and know first hand how unpredictable nature can be.
Moral of the story: there is none.

A poker player to hold you over

I realize I haven't contributed anything to this thing lately. So, to tie you over, here is a pretty good joke/story my dad sent me tonight.

Two couples were playing poker one evening. Jim accidentally dropped some cards on the floor. When he bent down under the table >to pick them up, he noticed Bobs wife Sue wasn't wearing any underwear under her dress!
Shocked by this, Jim upon trying to sit back up again, hit his head on the table and emerged red-faced.
Later, Jim went to the kitchen to get some refreshments.
Bob's wife followed and asked, "Did you see anything that you liked under there?" Surprised by her boldness, Jim courageously admitted that, well indeed he did.
She said, " Well, you can have it but it will cost you $500."
After taking a minute or two to assess the financial and moral costs of this offer, Jim confirms that he is interested.
She tells him that since her husband Bob works Friday afternoons and Jim doesn't, Jim should be at her house around 2 p.m. Friday afternoon.
When Friday rolled around, Jim showed up at Bob's house at 2 p.m. sharp and after paying Sue the agreed sum of $500 they went to the bedroom and closed their transaction, as agreed.
Jim quickly dressed and left. As usual, Bob came home from work at 6 p.m. and upon entering the house, asked his wife abruptly.
"Did Jim come by the house this afternoon?" With a lump in her throat Sue answered "Why yes, he did stop by for a few minutes this afternoon."
Her heart nearly skipped a beat when her husband curtly asked, "And did he give you $500?" In terror she assumed that somehow he had found out and after mustering her best poker face, replied, "Well,yes, in fact he did give me $500." Bob, with a satisfied look on his face, surprised his wife by saying, "Good, I was hoping he did. Jim came by the office this morning and borrowed $500 from me. He promised me he'd stop by our house this afternoon on his way home and pay me back."
Now that my friends, is a poker player!

"You would look good without hair"

I once attempted to compliment a girl's hair. She was complaining that the woman who cut it for her did an aweful job. Apperently it was aweful, almost enough to make her wish she lived in another time period.
This was years ago, when I was shy around girls, and often had difficulties forming complete, accurate sentences. If I managed to do that, my voice would no doubt decide to rapidly fluctuate between Superman and Mikey Mouse. Remember, years ago. Right.
In an attempt to make her feel better, I told her that she would look good without hair. I didn't suggest she shave it off, but I may well have. She didn't fully grasp my clever compliment, and perhaps thought it was an awkward insult. Or, maybe she just saw through my skiddishness, and wrote it off as another random kid learning how to flirt.
I never did learn.
What are some of your lesser known pick-up lines and/or embarrassing talking moments?

Social Discorsion (not the band that began in Cali in 1978)

Why do we do this? Why do we write blogs? Is it an attempt to change public opinion? In my case, it is not. Do we merely want to influence others' perspective of our personality? Perhaps that's something we need to look at. Seemingly, everything we do will have an impact on someone else, and someone else's perception of us. If we merely write to inflate our own egos, we are in the wrong. If our intention is to influence people, or let off steam, or provide information, the cause is justifiable.
Take into account, NPR discussed something similar to this as I drove home from work, so this was the first thing on my mind tonight. I had to get it off of my chest, because it's a topic I have been pondering for a while. It is possible that a more in-depth look into this phenomenon will come later. Don't count on it.