Identity
I’m quickly learning that there are many great advantages to having your own blog. For a sports-minded dude such as myself, this space gives me a forum to talk baseball and football and share my opinions on the different aspects of each sport. That’s a wonderful thing for my friends and family in particular, because I probably talk their ears off less with trivial information they probably never cared about in the first place. But another plus of having a blog – especially for a young person – is that having a goal of writing something new five days a week A) Probably improves my writing skills and B) Allows me to discover what and how I write best.
To be honest with you, I didn’t have the slightest clue what I was going to write for today’s entry as of roughly two hours ago. In fact, I became so frustrated in trying to fix the carnage that is the Zack Greinke Article, I decided to suspend my topic-worrying by having a cheeseburger while listening to some good ol’ John Mayer music. I wasn’t at all surprised that the cheeseburger tasted good and that John plays "Why Georgia" flawlessly every time I pop Room For Squares into the CD player, but I was surprised that my plan actually worked.
To make a long story short, I came back to my computer totally refreshed and clear-minded, ready to write and armed with a new knowledge: I need to stop trying to be Aaron Gleeman. Don’t get me wrong; Aaron’s a freakish young writing talent in the way that Greinke’s a freakish young pitching talent, and I definitely admire both guys for their respective abilities. However, I usually don’t write decent articles when I have to interrupt the flow of a paragraph with some kind of a data table. I don’t know why, but I guess my mind just doesn’t work like that. So here I am, writing in a format I’m comfortable with: A more personal format. What I’ve learned is that there’s no one correct way to write, and that my writing voice is one that a lot of people would probably enjoy too.
With that said, I had a pretty good weekend, but with one moment mixed in that I wish I could go back and do over again. Unfortunately, this moment involved a girl who I’ve had a crush on for awhile who I saw at Southwest Missouri State’s first exhibition basketball game. It was just a night with the fellas for the first half of the game, until I ran into the girl at halftime. She eyed me at the worst possible moment, which is to say I was in the process of talking to one of my friends about the Bears’ new transition game and wolfing down a hot dog and chips. We’ll call the girl Abigail Smith. Our "conversation" went as follows:
Girl: Kevin! How are you?
Me: [With mouth full] Abigail freaking Smith! Oh, I’m okay. Just eatin’ some food. How are you?
Girl: Pretty good, pretty good.
---Awkward silence as she waits for me to respond---
Girl: [To friend] And how are you?
Friend: I’ve been doin’ well, thanks.
Girl: [To me] Well, it was good seeing you again.
Me: You too.
Me: [Panicking] Hey, you look good.
Girl: Thanks.
For a guy who’s been told he bears a slight resemblance to Justin Timberlake, I’m not very smooth. I talked with my mouth full. And Abigail freaking Smith? Are you freaking kidding me? And then if it wasn’t bad enough, I had to throw in that "You look good" remark, which means she probably thinks I’ve turned stupid since high school. We’ve all had those moments – especially us guys when caught off guard like that – but that’s one of the worst efforts of all time when it comes to a guy trying to convince a girl he’s dateable. Hopefully I’ll see her again, and this time not ruin an opportunity to ask her out.
On the bright side, things could be worse. I could’ve had one less cheeseburger, been without John Mayer’s high quality tunes, and not know what kind of a writer I am. At age 19, it doesn’t get any worse than that.
To be honest with you, I didn’t have the slightest clue what I was going to write for today’s entry as of roughly two hours ago. In fact, I became so frustrated in trying to fix the carnage that is the Zack Greinke Article, I decided to suspend my topic-worrying by having a cheeseburger while listening to some good ol’ John Mayer music. I wasn’t at all surprised that the cheeseburger tasted good and that John plays "Why Georgia" flawlessly every time I pop Room For Squares into the CD player, but I was surprised that my plan actually worked.
To make a long story short, I came back to my computer totally refreshed and clear-minded, ready to write and armed with a new knowledge: I need to stop trying to be Aaron Gleeman. Don’t get me wrong; Aaron’s a freakish young writing talent in the way that Greinke’s a freakish young pitching talent, and I definitely admire both guys for their respective abilities. However, I usually don’t write decent articles when I have to interrupt the flow of a paragraph with some kind of a data table. I don’t know why, but I guess my mind just doesn’t work like that. So here I am, writing in a format I’m comfortable with: A more personal format. What I’ve learned is that there’s no one correct way to write, and that my writing voice is one that a lot of people would probably enjoy too.
With that said, I had a pretty good weekend, but with one moment mixed in that I wish I could go back and do over again. Unfortunately, this moment involved a girl who I’ve had a crush on for awhile who I saw at Southwest Missouri State’s first exhibition basketball game. It was just a night with the fellas for the first half of the game, until I ran into the girl at halftime. She eyed me at the worst possible moment, which is to say I was in the process of talking to one of my friends about the Bears’ new transition game and wolfing down a hot dog and chips. We’ll call the girl Abigail Smith. Our "conversation" went as follows:
Girl: Kevin! How are you?
Me: [With mouth full] Abigail freaking Smith! Oh, I’m okay. Just eatin’ some food. How are you?
Girl: Pretty good, pretty good.
---Awkward silence as she waits for me to respond---
Girl: [To friend] And how are you?
Friend: I’ve been doin’ well, thanks.
Girl: [To me] Well, it was good seeing you again.
Me: You too.
Me: [Panicking] Hey, you look good.
Girl: Thanks.
For a guy who’s been told he bears a slight resemblance to Justin Timberlake, I’m not very smooth. I talked with my mouth full. And Abigail freaking Smith? Are you freaking kidding me? And then if it wasn’t bad enough, I had to throw in that "You look good" remark, which means she probably thinks I’ve turned stupid since high school. We’ve all had those moments – especially us guys when caught off guard like that – but that’s one of the worst efforts of all time when it comes to a guy trying to convince a girl he’s dateable. Hopefully I’ll see her again, and this time not ruin an opportunity to ask her out.
On the bright side, things could be worse. I could’ve had one less cheeseburger, been without John Mayer’s high quality tunes, and not know what kind of a writer I am. At age 19, it doesn’t get any worse than that.