Love at First Sight Means Walking Into a Wall (and other news)

It’s been a long time since I’ve suffered an immediate, overwhelming attraction to someone. Well, no sooner do I get back in the game, then I wind up on the DL.

Sitcoms and romantic comedies beat the painful introduction gag into the ground. They call them meet-cutes. Generally, a meet-cute involves a male becoming so enraptured with a woman that he opens himself to bodily injury -- a door to the face, a clunk on the head, etc. I didn’t experience a meet-cute in the traditional sense, only because my unfortunate foible did not occur in sight of my new crush.

To say I have a weakness for brunettes is like saying Krytonite makes Superman a tad itchy. It's pretty ridiculous, this thing I have for the dark-haired lot, and after seeing this girl, I can also say it is potentially harmful to my person. This girl is a knock-out, but there was something accessible about her that allowed me to manage a half-hour or so of conversation without making a complete ass out of myself. At least, I don't remember making a complete ass out of myself. It was sort of an out-of-body experience. I could have been speaking latin and not noticed, especially once she was close enough that I noticed the most amazing green eyes I've ever seen.

Eventually we went our separate ways (we met on a story), but I kept my eye on her, hoping I might find a window for some more conversation after things had wrapped up. And it was this stalker eye that nearly resulted in a cracked sternum.

As I was making the rounds through Clinton's first habitat house, I saw her doing an interview outside when I was suddenly and abruptly introduced to a doorframe, hitting it in such a way that I could not save either my body or my ego from intense bruising. No spin move. No deceleration. Just a hard, blunt, thump. A sound like “HNN!” escaped me before I slid to the ground,a pulsing stripe of pain stamped from my right collar bone, down my ribcage, and just past my groin.

This kind of thing plays so much better in the movies. In real life, there’s no charm involved. It just fucking hurts.

However, even with the loss of breath and the whiplash, I’m actually pleased that I’ve developed an interest in another human being after a long spell of dormancy. I’ve suffered from career myopia for most of this past year, and with my full attention devoted to those exploits, it didn’t leave much room for anything else. However, now that I’m getting into a groove in a job that I finally enjoy, I’m in a place where I can start to enjoy the beautiful things in life. Not only that, I don’t think my own self-worth has ever been higher, so I may actually have the courage to act on my attractions once in a while.

Sorry Julia, I’m determined to kill our favorite inside joke.

Dreams Come True

All my life I’ve always dreamed big. Blockbuster movies, book series, and the like. Up until recently I didn’t realize that I had much more modest dreams in amongst the epics, and to my surprise those smaller wishes are proving just as fulfilling.

During my sophomore year in high school, I set out to challenge a giant (or a giant in my eyes). A staple of the Rock Island High School football banquet was the varsity highlight film put together by Dan Pearson of KWQC. As much as I would come to revere Dan and all his hard work, as a cocky 16 year-old I thought I could do better. So, I put together a Sophomore highlight film with the full intention of shaming Pearson’s effort. Well, naturally Pearson’s highlight film was the hit of banquet, and despite the underground acclaim mine garnered, it did not even get played at that night.

Ten years later, Dan Pearson and I are coworkers at KWQC and co-conspirators on the Highlight Zone. Because of that working relationship, I’ve realized that Dan doesn’t have a whole lot of free time. This guy does everything. The Highlight Zone by itself is a monumental undertaking, but he’s also one of KWQC’s most community conscious employees. He’s all over the place. And when you have that many commitments, it’s a struggle to meet all the demands placed on you. So, this week I decided to take one of those commitments off his hands.

I am now the producer of the Rock Island High School Football Highlight Film.

For those who don’t know, this has been a tragic season for the Rocks. During the Alleman game, a young man named Travis Hearn broke his neck on a fluke play. He is now paralyzed from the armpits down and is rehabilitating in a hospital in Chicago. While this injury has been devastating to Hearn’s family, and a to a lesser degree, the Rocks, it brought to life a wondrous generosity in the towns and communities around the area. The fundraisers and benefits have been frequent and highly productive. It has been a remarkable thing to see, and it makes me very proud to live where I do.

This is part of the reason I wanted to be involved in the Highlight Film. This year it’s significance is a little bigger than usual. It’s a tribute to a team, a player, and a community, and I have very big plans for it.

I just hope that my talents live up to my lofty ambitions.