The funny thing here is that when I turned the story in, perhaps early Fall, I was single–but, by the time it ran, I had a new girlfriend. I kind of had a gut feeling that would happen, which was why I agreed to write the story (and make fun of myself quite a bit).

I enjoyed writing this story a lot because I was allowed to go first person and showcase some of my humor a bit more–although my editor did cut my favorite joke, which was about me wearing my Chewie Is My Co-Pilot t-shirt while trying to pick up geeky girls.

Or something.

The shirt was designed by R Stevens, creator of one of my favorite webcomics, Diesel Sweeties.

I did manage to wear my Threadless, A Simple Plan shirt for the photo shoot however.

I kind of regret not wearing my Chewie shirt, but since the photos were being taken at Pinball Pete’s Arcade in East Lansing, the Space Invader referencing shirt won out (another option I considered was my Yooper Steez shirt, designed by all-around-awesome Lansing dude, Justin “Bugsy” Sailor).

I caught some (friendly) flack from those who knew I had a new girlfriend, yet was writing about being single.  The girlfriend in question was fine with it, as I told her about the story way before it ran.

But the story isn’t so much about my being single, but more how I went about meeting people, expanding my circle of friends and places to go on dates around Lansing.

#

Speaking of Lansing Capital Gains, I was brought on to be a weekly contributor recently.  Starting on February 17th, I’ll be writing four development stories a week.  These are very, very short–only 200 words at the most–so it equals out to less than a feature article (1,000 words) a week.

There will be a bit of a learning curve for me, as I have to find leads and such, but I’m getting a lot of help from my editor and fellow contributors.

I consider myself the furthest thing from a journalist, but I am very happy to have this opportunity to see if I can handle the rigors of a regular writing gig. So far, so good.

And if you live in Lansing and have any leads for me, drop me a line.

The conversation that followed could only best be described as “random.”

*RING RING*
Dad picks up:
Dad: One-Eyed Willy.
Me: …Excuse me?
Dad: The pirate from Goonies.
Me: Yes, One-Eyed Willy, you got it.
Dad: That’s all I needed know.
Me: …Why?
Dad: I was trying to think of it and I couldn’t and it was driving me nuts. So I called you, but right after I did, I remembered.
Me: Glad I could…help?
Dad: Thanks, have a good day, son–and May the Force Be With You. *CLICK*

Those who know my dad, will confirm that a conversation like this is not that surprising. Random, yes. But not surprising.  His whole attitude since crossing 50 a few years ago has been “I’m over 50, now I’m eccentric and I’ll do whatever I want.”

Why he was thinking of The Goonies, let alone pirates, at 8:40 on a Monday morning, I may never know.

The other funny part of this is that I was enthusiastically quoting The Goonies Friday night while playing Bang! with friends.  I was sticking to some of my favorite Mouth, Data and Chunk lines, and the always classic “Slick Shoes?! Are you crazy?!“

Hilarious.