I like to follow the podcast This American Life. Each week they pick a theme, and then get stories that somehow fit that theme from ordinary people like you and me. They're usually quite fascinating. An episode from a while ago was called "Superpowers," and one segment of the show was devoted to the author John Hodgeman.
Hodgeman talked about how he has always been interested in the question of "Flight Vs. Invisibility," and every person he meets, he asks them which one they would prefer. I liked his idea, so I decided to copy it and write my newspaper article this week on what I found out.
I ended up interviewing 30 people in all -- 17 women and 13 men (which I thought was fitting, because UNCG's student body has way more females than males). Some of the people I knew, but many of them were complete strangers. Twenty people chose flying, and only ten chose invisibility.
My results were the same as Hodgeman's, in that all but 2 guys chose flying. However, Hodgeman said that most of the women he interviewed chose invisibility, and my results were evenly divided. It was particularly interesting to me how fast people decided which superpower they wanted--it was almost immediate--like they'd already given the question some serious thought.
When I asked each person why they chose flight, most of the answers were along the lines of: "I would only like invisibility for the the theft potential" or "Because I'm not a creeper." For those who wanted invisibility, some of the answers were: "So I could rob a bank" and "So I could hear what people say and find out what they're really like."
Flight seemed to be the choice for those who wanted to be in the public eye, and invisibility was for people who prefered to be hidden. Which would you choose?
I'm so indubitably excited right now. Yes, the situation is one that calls for words like "indubitably."
I had my interview for the Peace Corps today, and I think it went REALLY well! Now all I have to do is wait for a packet from my placement officer to come in the mail, telling me what my job description will be, and what country I'll be placed in. My recruiter said that she's going to recommend me for a position teaching English, and the areas I will most likely be placed in (in order of my preference) are 1. Eastern Europe 2. Africa 3. Central Asia.
I'm so excited I could scream. I actually did a little dance in my car on the way home from my interview.
I'm taking a class this semester called the History of Rock'n'Roll Music (which is awesome, by the way), and in order to get to the Beatles, Rolling Stones, etc., we had to cover the origins of the music first. One of the roots that rock'n'roll comes from is the Blues, and two influential, old school blues artists are Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters.
This revived my interest in a fabulous modern blues band known as The Black Keys.
Above all else, I would like it to be known that I hate my boss.
The woman is about four feet tall but has a chip on her shoulder that's as big as the earth itself. She always makes loud, indirect comments like "Someone needs to stop leaving the sauces uncovered," but she never speaks to that "someone" directly. Instead, the whole restaurant has to hear her bitching, and of course, we know exactly who she's talking about. Plus, she's severly OCD, has a terrible temper, exaggerates to no end, and you can never tell if she's lying or telling the truth because she's just as likely to do one as she is the other.
To further exasperate this situation that is my job, Ashley told me something very disturbing the other day.
First of all, I'm turning 21 next month (yay).
Secondly, I like to keep my private life and my professional life VERY separate.
Thirdly, I hate surprises.
HOWEVER, my boss told Ashley that she is planning to go on my facebook (which is set to private), find my friends, and throw me a surprise party for my 21st! What the fuck!? I'm so pissed.
I used to be under the impression that I was a perfectly normal human being.
I mean, everyone gets a rush from submerging their hand under water--right?--even if it's just in the bathroom sink. And don't you love getting in the elevator with a total stranger and asking them what they had for breakfast that morning or what kind of superpower they would like to have? How about breaking into song when you're walking down a silent hallway?
