After a long spring/summer layoff I'm ready to dust off the keyboard to give you guys another glimpse into what makes me... me!
Before we start, I have a confession to make.
I write in journals.
And I write a lot.
But only in sporadic spurts.
It's weird...
I have to have about 10 or 11 of them lying around, each with pages half full of rambles, scribbles and horrible penmenship... the other half of each journal is almost always categorized as "white space".
I have a really bad habit of starting up a journal, getting bored, and then moving on to the new one. In all actuality, I've probably got about five "full" journals worth of material with the rest being blank loose leaf paper.
So I confess, I'm causing Global Warming by not fully using my notebooks.
Wow! That feels so good to get off my chest.
As for what I really want to talk about today...
Originially I had wanted to make my return blog a look into the past with a journal entry from one of my many journals lying around the house. I had planned to post an entry that I had wrote while sitting in class during the fourth grade. This particular entry is special to me because its the first time I ever remember touching on multiple subjects all in one entry. On that page held the following topics:
- Complaints about having to go shoe shopping on a Friday.
- The virtues of red power ranger vs. green ranger.
- Why this girl named Casey was taking such an interest in me... and how much at the time that scared me (girls...cooties...yuck!).
- Did the soundtrack to the Lion King really win over all girls hearts?
- And last but not least, I wrote a brief, albeit, very descriptive summary of a recess football game we had just played. I remember writing that I caught the winning touchdown and was mobbed by all my friends. You could tell I was excited by how my writing style changed... all of the previous topics are a jumbled mess until you reach the football recap which is written with extreme caution and attention to detail. I must of wanted to make sure that memory would be one that I could look back on 14 years later and still remember it as clearly as the day it actually occured.
Unfortunately, as cool as all of that sounds, I can't seem to find that journal at the moment... but as luck would have it, I found something else that I thought would make a cool little blog post.
I found photos...
Lots of them.
And the neat this is, there were tons of them, all spread out across the timeline of my life. Baby photos, elementary school photos, awkward teenage year photos, high school/college photos, and yes, even more recent modern photos.
With all that being said, I decided to pull four photo from the stack I found and want to put them online as a sort of visual representation of how "I" became "me".
Enjoy!
The Birthday
This first photo is a good 17 to 18 years old. It was taken at a birthday party for (at the time) my best friend Johnathan Hall. He's the one in the middle with the toy gun. I love this photo, and I actually think it makes a pretty good artsy photo as well.
You've got me looking all model-ish by not looking directly at the camera (and sporting some nice threads as well! Sea green polo... badass!)
You've got the sun positioned just right to catch that golden hue in my hair and you've got awesome props! The theme of Johnathan's birthday that year was Ghostbusters! As you can see there are two seperate guns in the shot... and one awesome fire fighter plastic hat! If you look real close, you can see a very young Michael trying to make his way into the photo... but really... no one tops my uber-sexiness in this photo. Admit it. Baby Gap would kill for a model with my playful looks at the time.
*Sigh* What could have been.
Mall Santa
This photo was taken a few years after the birthday photo, and I happen to think this one is also by far the funniest photo out of the bunch... Take a glimpse and I think you'll agree... Here's why:
First, look at Mall Santa, could the guy be any less excited to be there? I'm sure he was hungover, or something, but man, do some method acting! You're Mall Santa! Wear that badge proudly!
Second, look at me! I am pumped to be sitting with Santa! Notice the goofy facial expression and the tiny index finger pointing at Mall Santa. Obviously I was in awe of Mall Santa and his coolness. Ironically, I still am in awe of Mall Santa's... but for a totally different reason. Heh.
Friends for life?
This third photo comes about 10 to 11 years ago as I was just starting to enter my awkward tween years. To the left of me in this photo was my good friend Ben Moore. I'm kind of creeped out by how skinny I am in this photo, but I'm also extrememly envious of my former self. I was so naive, so happy, so skinny! I hadn't yet met the heartless she-devil known as metabolism... What a sad day that must of been when we first came in contact.
I'm not really sure what Ben is doing anymore... even with Facebook and Myspace its pretty much impossible to track him down as his name is so common, I could search for days and never find the right Ben.
The Party
The last photo that I'm going to share today comes all the way back from sophomore year in college. This photo was taken on Halloween night at a JMU frat party. Looking my best in my nerd costume (which I pulled off amazingly btw!) my friend David O'Brien and I were set to conquer the party and find us some girls! Sadly, David ended up making out with three girls at the party, I kissed none...
BUT, BUT, I did come up with "The Nerd Dance". I don't claim to be a genius very often, but "The Nerd Dance" is just that. Genius!
Pointing my fingers to the sky, I would slowly rock my torso back and forth with my arms pumping like a madman. The desired effect of course was to look like a total geek on the dance floor, and from all accounts I totally succeeded.
But once again... aren't I just the coolest/sexiest/hipest nerd you've ever seen?!?
Well that's it for this blog... I'll be sure to post one of my journal pages in the coming days... especially if I can find the one from that fourth grade class.
Have a good one.