I Like Me Some Me, And You Should Like Some Me

For the longest time, I've been afraid of admitting to liking a lot of the stuff that honestly has a special place in my heart... or life... or just plain personal nostalgia library. I was afraid of what others would think of me. Somehow I just knew they would laugh at me; ridicule me; endlessly tease me and perhaps call me names behind my back. What I have since realized is that many of them also secretly held dear much of the same things. Why are we so often afraid to admit the things we love? Campy... cheesy... bubblegum things... Why is it so horrible to still embrace the things we grew up with? Why is it so "childish" to continue to enjoy the things that let us escape to our youth, if even only for a moment? I could never stand that look people give me now and then, as if to say with their eyes, "You like THAT?!?". I can't live that way any longer.

I love a lot of things that society says a straight, 36-year-old male is not supposed to like. Like ABBA. (Their "Gold" (greatest hits) album is insanely good!!) NKOTB's "Step By Step" is a song I will never get tired of. I still giggle every time someone says the word "nards". I play video games. I love everything Ninja Turtles. When I drive to work, sometimes I crank up A Taste Of Honey and sing along while I'm wearing my purple work shirt and driving my Prius. This is me. I do these things. And I'm becoming much more comfortable with the person I've become. I'm actually learning to even like me a little, and the extreme weirdness I can be at times. In fact, I secretly wouldn't have it any other way. Of course, I will always want people to like me, and to think I'm a good person... but what's most important of all is for ME to like me. Because if I don't like me, why should I expect anyone else to?

(ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: Uninteresting rant completed!)

Today's Thought

If my name was Barry, and I ever moved to Hawaii, I would totally enjoy having the locals nickname me "Haole Barry".

The Bee's Sneeze

You know when people sneeze really, really loud for no reason...... and usually without any kind of warning? I'm always like, "Hey. Stop that. That's so annoying. Nobody likes that and you just scared the complete shit out of me." But I never say that out loud, I just think it. I don't want to seem mean.

The Calm

Sometimes I feel like I'm in the calm-before-the-storm phase of life. I can't figure out if there's a non-threatening tropical downpour on the horizon, or a catastrophic Category 5 looking to blow apart the foundations I've struggled for decades to build. Whatever comes, I will continue to embrace change for the better. Without change, we cannot grow.