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the beetle and the window

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Jess and I were sitting on the second floor of the library when a big green beetle appeared. It was buzzing outside the window and trying to get in. Thud, thud, thud. For five minutes straight it kept flying into the glass, not once learning its lesson.

These particular windows cannot be opened (and it’s not like we can talk the beetle out of its misery) so Jess and I could do nothing but watch.

Jess: “I feel like that beetle sometimes.”

Me, too.

a great mystery, one out of many

Peripheral vision works wonders. Like last Thursday when I saw Colleen (my boss!) approach me at the lab computer. It looks like she is about to ask something, and now I get two extra seconds to think of something goofy to greet her with.

She goes first. “I have a question for you. Work-critical.”

“Which animal cracker is this?”

Colleen thought it was a squirrel, or a monkey. Maybe, I said. They both have big tails and chubby cheeks. But the face on the cracker looked like it had a big growl (and I swear I can imagine some whiskers around that nose), so my vote was for a big cat.

Perhaps the sticker on the animal cracker jar can provide a better clue.

my brother graduated from high school today

I wasn’t able to attend the ceremony, but Mom sent me some photos over text and my brother Jeremy sent me some funny snapchats. I asked him over the phone if he was getting sentimental about it. Nah, not really, he said.

I wonder how I felt about high school graduation three years ago. Like him, I was ready to move on. But when I look back, I actually had a great high school experience. I try not to speak for other people, but it looks like he did, too.

Many of the teachers he had, I once had. And some of the activities and teams I joined (cross-country running, badminton), he also joined.  So it was fun to ask him throughout the years what he thought of the same teachers and the same experiences. Even funnier when we notice the same quirks about the folks who dared to teach and coach rowdy teenagers for a living. We are brothers, after all.

So those are the phone conversations I will miss. No more juicy gossip from a place I once knew.

who will you put on that emergency contact form?

Family Name: _________________
First Name: ___________________
Phone Number: (___) ___-____

Here’s an interesting way to see who you are closest to. When you’re foaming at the mouth, who would you like to know about it first? Easy when you’re a child and can just write down your parents. But what happens when they aren’t around, and the closest friends you’ve made have all gone their separate ways?

Even more fascinating is who would put you on their form.

Airports and familiar faces

When you’re flying back home for the holiday season, chances are you’ll bump into someone you know while waiting at the gate. Yesterday, it was an old high school friend I haven’t seen in over four years. He was two years above me (a huge difference back then) and would give me all sorts of juicy gossip about the school that only an upperclassman could give. I’m not sure what I offered in return — maybe a chance for him to play the mentor or sensei or something — much like how teachers and coaches find meaning in their careers.

——-

“I’ve lost contact with almost everyone [back in high school],” I told him.

“Me, too! Except for a few.”

——–

For a brief moment I romanticized the idea of hanging around the airport more often. Grocery store lines, bus stations, convention centers, and so on.

Then I realized I’d rather carry on with life.