Shouting into the deep

I'm defying the shame I feel at the failure of this project. I'm defying it, and trying to decide what to do next. The things that led me to begin this project have found residence in my life once again. I still crave social interaction, but I'm pleased to keep that interaction shallow and fatuous. I often lack curiosity in my fellow human beings. That has left me truly ashamed.

A lot has happened since I last posted. Goes without saying given the dizzying gap in between. My oldest is in 2nd grade. I got the counseling job I wanted, and was subsequently let go. My wife's a librarian now. We bought a house. I'm being paid to perform and teach percussion. I'm the proud recipient of a brother-in-law, and two sisters-in-law. My dearest friends have experienced terrible loss and pain. We've walked through a series of tragedies on a level I couldn't have imagined 5 years ago. 5 YEARS AGO! Five... years... ago...

I don't know where to go from here, but I know one thing: while this project was going, it was helpful. It was challenging, and helpful, and good. ('that's three things, chimp-boy.' 'SILENCE, HEAD VOICE!') I'm going to continue the ridiculously-named salutation project, though I don't know how at the moment. Stay tuned, if you can forgive my prolonged absence. Stay tuned. I'm going to spend the next couple of days working out how to make this thing functional. Wish me luck!

Day 113

I recently made it back outside. The days and nights since my daughter was born have run together. The past week may have been one day, I'm not sure. Some interesting math occurs when you have a second child. I reckoned that we had added a child to our family with Charis. In actuality, we've experienced exponential growth. Those of you with multiple children know what I mean. I'm busier than I've ever been in my life. I've also never been happier.


I've met a few folks since my last post. First was Matt. I sold him a couple of my old video games. Matt and I have something in common; we're both crazy fans of Mega Man. Our commonality ends at the interest, though. Matt is a true fanatic. He's got a massive collection of memorabilia as well as signatures from the creator. I'm kind of a fan of Matt, now.


I met Judy while doing some Christmas shopping. We talked about the size of our children, oddly enough. Both of my kids have been fairly average sized. Judy, however, shot the spectrum. Her first child was born premature at 4 lbs. which is light by anyone's standards. Her second was a whopping 11 pounder. To put that into perspective, Charis will likely be 3 months old before she weighs that much. That's what you call an over-achiever.


I met Don when we went to the Christmas tree farm. He helped me tie our tree to the car. Don asked me how difficult it was to raise two kids. He was curious because he'd just found out that he was going to be the father of twins. If, for some reason I'd been curious as to the creation of children, I'd not have been curious after this conversation. Don informed me. In gross detail. I'll let you fill in the details. He didn't give me that luxury. That was a short, strange, awkward conversation. 

Day 100. My favorite post so far.

(Post originally intended for 11/22)
I won't be posting for the next few days because I'm in the hospital. Everything's fine and everyone's healthy. I just wanted to give you guys the heads up. This setting will also explain why the majority of the people I met today were medical personnel. So here we go.


I met Janice. She worked the main nursing station and was wearing Dora the Explorer scrubs. As this is my least favorite of my daughter's favorite shows it took a great force of will to think kindly about her. That being said, she was a very nice lady. She told me about how she always wanted a daughter, but only had sons. "Finally," she said, "one of my sons gave me a granddaughter. Now I finally have a reason to spend all my money." if this granddaughter got half the treatment that Janice reported, she's very nearly royalty.


Next I met Chary, another nurse who just moved to a new department of the hospital. She was the type of person that talks to people as though she's known them for years. At least, that's the impression I got. I thought we'd get along like a house on fire until I realized something; she had a Dora lanyard around her neck. What the WHAT!?! I don't understand why that little Latina was shadowing me today, but she was. I'm happy to say that the lanyard was her final appearance at the hospital... for now.


I met Nicole by complimenting her fantastic, metallic,  patent leather shoes. These things were fabulous. She works in Labor and Delivery, and talked about how hilarious it was when women showed up to give birth looking like a prom queen. She talked about one girl who was dressed to the nines with freshly done hair and makeup. "By the time her baby was born she looked like the incredible Hulk." I laughed my face off when she told me that.


Finally, I met a little girl. A very, very precious baby girl. Her name is Charis. She looks just like her mom. I know this, because Charis is my new daughter. She was born today. Up until now I wondered how I could possibly love anyone as much as I love my 3 year old. I'm not wondering anymore. The love was there just waiting to come out. She's perfect. Absolutely beautiful. I know this is a pretty cheesy post for me, but I don't mind. I began writing this blog to write about people who have changed the way I look at the world. Charis has done exactly that. I'm sure I'll have more to say about her as this blog continues. Thank you to everyone who was praying for us today, and for all the well wishes from friends and family. I love you all. Thank you for being a part of this amazing day.

Yes. Math.

So, I've done a bit of figuring, and it would appear that I've met and blogged about 68 people in the 99 days since I began this blog. I've set the goal back a bit due to my recent hiatus. However, I think there's a way to salvage some semblance of my original intention of meeting 365 people in one year. First, I'll write about a few people I've met while I was on my blogging break. Secondly, I'm going to retire the Bisiwig for the time being. This means that when I meet multiple people, I'll blog about each. This means that the posts for at least the next few weeks will be a bit longer than usual. Sorry, guys. I know, I know. I'll try to keep it as short and interesting as possible. So, let's get to it, shall we?


Among the people I met while on break was Allison. She lives close to our church and has visited there a few times. I felt miserable because I'd forgotten meeting her back in the Spring. So, when she visited a few weeks ago, I introduced myself only to hear the worst thing you can hear upon meeting someone; "Hi, yeah. I've already met you." Doh! What's interesting is that the week after I did this, she'd forgotten my name as well. I figure we're even.


I also met Evelyn and Francis. They were shopping together with, "volunteer," badges on. I asked what they volunteered for, and they informed me that they host Bible studies at retirement homes and have for years. The trick is, these volunteers were AT LEAST 80 years old apiece. This put them as older than most of the people they volunteered for. I'm not making assumptions, here. They told me so. That's hilarious and inspiring, which I think is a great combination. An ultra combo, for my Killer Instinct people out there.


The combo breaker, I suppose, is that this post is getting long. I've got more people to write about, but I'll save them for another day. Thanks to everyone who stuck it out through the drought. I'll have more for you soon.

Numbering system... fail

I'm still unsure as to how I should be numbering these posts since I've messed up my days. I'll figure something out, though. Don't you worry.


I met Sam today. He told me he had two kids, so I asked if he had any advice for me, as I am soon to be a father of two. I do that a lot these days. His response surprised me. He said, "I don't really have any advice. I'm not sure I did a good job." Then he quit talking. Not just about his kids. He shut up altogether. He just sat there looking depressed. His honesty shocked me, especially since he was clearly so shaken by whatever he revealed to me.

....glub, glub...

PHCHHDSGAAAAAWWWWWW!


...That was supposed to be the sound of a person emerging from water, gasping for air. I realize now that wasn't as implied as I'd originally planned. Oh well, I think the point's been made in the explanation.


In case it hasn't, I'm trying to describe the hectic, fast-paced, rigorous and non-stop past month I've had. I can only say that I'm sorry for those of you who still bother to check this blog. You are the reason I came back.


I'll spare you the details and just tell you that I should be a lot less busy in the coming weeks, and my wife is due to have a baby during that time. This blogless time hasn't been worthless, either. I've still been meeting people and have come up with a new method of introducing myself to people. I compliment them first. I call it the complimeet method. "Sir, that hat is fantastic," is actually the one I use most. Men who wear hats, especially ones with full brims, really like to be recognized for their bravery and taste. Fact.


I don't have anyone specific to write about tonight. I know, I know. Why even bother writing? The answer is, I wanted to apologize; I'm sorry. I also want to let you know that I'm deciding how I should fix this mess I've created by my absence. I've thrown my goal of meeting a new person a day from day 1 to day 365. I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do instead. I'll let you know what I come up with.


Thanks for your patience, guys.

Day 70. A kick in the teeth.

I know I've left 4 days out. I've been poor at blogging again, which would usually mean that this post would be an apologetic run-through of previous meetings. That will have to wait. I need to talk about the meeting I had today. It really left my head spinning.

I met Kathleen, or Kathy. She said either was fine. That was the first of many indications that Kathy is a lady who sets other people before her own preferences. We started talking about her job as a nurse. Then about Justin Beiber (yeh... I'm not sure how that happened). Suddenly, she starts tearing my heart out telling me about an ongoing family tragedy. I don't want to get into the details, but her sister is in a terrible situation, and Kathy is trying to help her maneuver it. I didn't just hear about the current situation. She told me about the history leading up to it as well. I just thought my heart had been torn out before. I didn't know what to say. I felt split by my desire to hear more, and a desperate urge to get lost in some mindless distraction. All the while, even though she wasn't saying it, I kept getting clues that she's highly involved in trying to fix the situation.

I've been in a daze since we talked. I'm just at a loss. In an earlier post I mentioned how judgmental I am. Kathy helped me see that I'm also guilty of viewing people as 1 dimensional. Some of my posts display that tendency. If I hadn't sat and talked with her for as long as I did, this post would've been: "Hur hur! Hey, guys! Today I met Kathy. She's a phlebotomist. Isn't that a hilarious sounding word!?" As it stands, I'm left pondering this impossibly difficult situation. As soon as I meet someone, my initial thought is that they are whoever they sound like in the 5 minutes or so that I talk to them. The truth is that many people are hurting much more than I'm willing to admit. Sometimes that becomes evident to me. It should always be on my mind, though.

Sorry if this post was confusing. I'm still trying to work through this funk.