Mid 90s Cultural Awkwardness

Before I was married, I would get mad crushes on practically any woman behind a counter in a coffee shop. My secret belief is that it is something about the coffee smell, but it may have to do with a fond memory I have of this tanned and exotic woman who would always smile and wave when I came into her coffee shop. She was very friendly and put me at ease, which, in retrospect I see as just providing great customer service, but at the time I interpreted as nothing short of love. Which was totally cool.

Every day I came by she would write a different drink on a chalkboard under "Barista's Special." Because it was the mid 90s and because I don't know anything, I thought her name was Barista.

Every day for over a year I would come in and go, "Hi Barista! What is the special of the day?" and then I would pay lots of money to buy it. I even gave a tip, which usually brought the total purchase amount to about an hour-and-a-half's worth of work at my old pay rate.

But that was ok with me because I thought it was so cool to know someone with an exotic name like Barista.

Then Starbucks happened. Only after seeing the word "Barista" plastered over every coffee shop in existence did I learn that "barista" was a job title, not a pretty Latin name. Sad but true.

I still think the word is kind of pretty and I think a coffee-scented perfume named "Barista" would make millions of dollars. Because, what guy can resist a woman who smells like coffee?

Me am Smart

Seeing this makes me love my wife even more.

The Best Excuse Ever

I try not to blog about consulting work, but this is too good. We are in the final stages of a project and are trying to determine who is going to be responsible for maintaining the deliverables after the project ends.

So we have a meeting about this and we go around the room listening to why everyone on our client’s side is completely unable to do this. And one person says, “I would love to take this on, but I might get promoted, and where would we be then?”

This is my new excuse for everything. “I’m afraid I can’t do that. I might get promoted.”

Why wasn’t this report filed?

I might get promoted.

Why did you miss that meeting?

I might get promoted.

Why are you wearing fuzzy bunny slippers and a bathrobe to the office?

I might get promoted.

Another great example of instructional design

From Boing Boing.

Seeing This Makes Me Proud I am an Instructional Designer

Overheard in the Cube Farm

50-something Consultant #1: Its hard when you're unemployed. Believe me, I'm an old, fat, black woman.
50-something Consultant #2: Well, I'm an old, fat, gay man.
30-something Consultant: Awwww... I'm just fat.

Overheard at Target

Woman #1, looking through greeting cards: What about this one? "You make the world a brighter place."
Woman #2: Are you kidding? She makes the world a darker place.

Aw, man... Mike Wieringo passed away...

Not that Monday mornings are an inherently happy time for me, but this one is worse than most because I read that Mike Wieringo passed away.

Frankly, I didn't believe it when I first read about it. But now, the tributes are hitting the internet.

They're all depressing and sad. And they all say the same thing, like if by chanting the magic words they will somehow prove this is all some sort of sick practical joke.

He was only 44. He was a vegetarian. He exercised regularly.

I first heard about Mike Wieringo on Fanboy Radio. He impressed me so much in his interview, I sought out his website. What a nice place!

He brought happiness and joy into the world. I'll miss him and his work.

The most heartfelt words I've read so far come from his good friend and collaborator, Todd Dezago.

From Todd Dezago

my best friend, mike wieringo, died yesterday.

he was a vegetarian.
he worked out everyday.
sometimes these things just happen.

he loved comics.
he loved drawing comics.
he felt very, very fortunate to have been working in
comics.
he was very good at it.

his comics, like him, were full of life.
full of energy. full of fun and hope.

he was my best friend.

we worked together on spider-man, the x-men, tellos,
and several other projects that will now never come to
pass.
we grew up together with comics, though we were
hundreds of miles away. we enjoyed all the same things
about comics; the action, the adventure, the fun. he
was a joy to work with. we laughed all the time. all
the time.

comics were his life and he worked very hard on them.
sometimes 16 or 18 hours a day.
he loved comics and loved the people who read them.
he loved you.

he was my best friend.
he was my brother.
i will miss him more than i can say.

todd

Photo of Me on the Job

Thanks to the power of this website, I now know what a Lego me would look like.

Another Vicarious Moment from San Diego Comic Convention 2007

This is the last thing I'll post from the 2007 San Diego Comic Convention. It encapsulates the pure awesomeness that can only be found in the annual Mecca of pop culture.