It was all an Unemployed Dream.: The Arsonist had oddly shaped feet

I was in the city this morning with some friends having lunch after a game of kickball (0-4 loss, 2/3 in my first call up to the big league) when we had a pretty ludicrous conversation about our favorite vegetables and meats (For me, anything grilled vegetable wise, and anything smoked meat wise).

Now I expect nothing less from my friends then choosing to engage in what I would consider a normal lunchtime conversations. Thus, I was satisfied with them that they had no problem discussing why a bell pepper would be a stronger vegetable candidate than a tomato in developing a top three vegetable tier.

It's worth noting I referred to the vegetable conversation as being ludicrous, but in the grand scheme of things I've hotly contested (best and worst Seagal films comes to mind), this was probably one of the more relatively normal moments of my day. It did lead me to thinking back to one of the dumber conversations I've ever had though, which took place about a year and a half ago, if you allow me to set the scene.

I am a first semester senior at U of I. I'm taking 12 hours, so needless to say, I have free time to watch TV. My roomates and I had gotten in the habit of watching "Beauty and Geek," despite the conflict of interest with Ashton Kutcher being a producer. The odd thing was I think all of us watched for very different reasons. One roomate for the sociological aspect. A few for the eye candy. And one of my roomates was impressed with the "Buff Geek."

One particular week, only me and my roommate David were able to watch. About halfway through the episode, being the inquisitive little bug that I am, I said to David, "Hey, what do you think you'd say to Brian McFayden (host of Beauty and the Geek) if you saw him on the street?"

Now for a number of reasons this was a dumb question. Living in Champaign and Deerfield, I know David would never see Brian McFayden. In addition to the fact that Brian McFayden is only a fringe celebrity, I also knew that David could care less about him, all reasons why I felt this was a perfectly acceptable question to ask David that would probably irritate him.

Predictably, I was correct.

David sharply responded "I don't have anything to say to McFayden," without even looking at me, as if to let me know he didn't have time for such trivial concerns such as pondering what he might say if he were to casually bump into Brian McFayden. Perhaps it is no coincidence David will be starting his 2nd year of med school in the fall, and I am still debating what I'd say to Brian McFayden if I saw him.

Anyhow, his response put me in hysterics. I don't know if it was his tone, or the fact that I was so successfully able to irritate him by asking him a beyond idiotic question, but it was too much for me to handle at the time. It also led to a great series of intoxicated moments that ended with one of us barging into the others room, shouting "I've got nothing to say to you McFayden!" and slamming the door.

While the tendency to talk about the inane and irreverent doesn't ingratiate me to everyone, I can't hide the fact talking about such nonsense is part of what makes me who I am. But I also feel like it's important to talk about the absurd every once in a while to make sure you don't go crazy. Malcolm Gladwell calls this having a "fertile mind."

As an (unemployed) creative, I try to absorb and immerse myself in as much news as possible. On the flip side of that, I also to try to read and catch up on as much bizarre and obscure information as possible because I feel it helps foster creativity, and just keeps my mind thinking outside of the norm. This is how I can justify sending some of my friends a video of a squirrel with a yogurt cup on his head without any sarcasm involved. Or why I continuously ask my 25 year old brother if he thinks he'd be good if he were allowed to play 7th grade basketball at his current size and intelligence level (For the record, he thinks he'd be like Shaq; I think he'd be a good 6th man and locker room presence).

I really believe inspiration comes from the weirdest places. That's not to say any of the bizarre conversations I make my friends engage in will ever lead to something more profound than what I learned in my history courses in college, but I think far too often people limit themselves to what they think is the norm, both in conversations and in life.

I suppose it's good to play by the rules in most situations in life, but you have to put yourself out there once in a while. If you play by the rules, you only guarantee you can accomplish what's been done before. Creativity, and greatness for that matter, comes from changing the game (with the exception being Kobe Bryant, who has managed to manifest his greatness by completely copying Michael Jordan and yes, I am a Kobe hater). I think it's important to have a plan and goals in life, but how you achieve those goals should ultimately be defined by and on your own terms (for me, part of this is creating a blog discussing my unemployed thoughts, only some of which involve Brian McFayden). It's important to honor, learn and respect the past (for most people I know, this came when at the age of 16 they exclusively listened to classic rock music) in any profession, but if your not putting your own spin into your work, creating your own style (which I will hopefully at some point accomplish, with this blog as a starting point), and taking a few risks along the way, then it doesn't really seem like your doing anything at all. Maybe that explains why I hated coloring in between the lines as a kid.

I don't know what the end goal for me right now in advertising, or writing is, but I'm gonna make sure I enjoy the ride.

And as one of my favorite fictitious musicians, Vic Savage, once said,

"Have a good time, all the time."