Bad Idea Bears

From Avenue Q:

Bear 1: "Hey Princeton, what are you doing tonight?"
Princeton: "Probably just watching tv."
Bear 2: "You know what goes great with tv? Beer!"
Princeton: "I'm unemployed, I can't afford beer."
Bear 1: "You can afford a six-pack."
Princeton: "Well, maybe a six-pack."
Bear 2: "You know what's better than a six-pack? A whole case!"
Princeton: "A case of beers? No, I can't get a whole case."
Bear 1: "But you're on a budget! You're wasting money in the long run if you don't buy in bulk!"
Princeton: "Well I guess that makes sense."
Bears 1 and 2: "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY!"

I was a Bad Idea Bear this weekend...

Never mind that my friend's sister was coming home from Iraq for the first time in five months.

Never mind that the last time she and I went out wine tasting together, she sat on the ground for 2 hours puking her guts out.

Never mind that we already had plans to go out drinking later that night.

I wanted to go wine tasting, and I wasn't taking no for an answer. So wine tasting we went. I sort of wish I could say something catastrophic happened, but no. Just a day of fun in the Virginia wine country, followed by a further night of drinking for someone's birthday.

But ever since this weekend, I've been thinking about being the bear. The power. The persuasion. It's fun to convince people to do things they're not sure they want to.

When I was unemployed for so long, I had people trying to convince me to get out of the house, take a chance, have some fun. More often than not, I shot them down.

Was it responsible? Perhaps... but was I miserable and depressed? Quite certainly.

So in 2008, I think I want to be a little less boring. I want to be a little more impulsive, and stop playing it safe. It is time for me to listen to my Bad Idea Bears, and to start being one for other people too. After all, what could go wrong?

Last Night's Dream

I rarely remember my dreams, even this one has a few gaps, so bear with me. I thought it might be worth sharing for your entertainment though...

Apparently I was the star of a romantic comedy with Drew Barrymore. The plot seemingly followed Never Been Kissed, with me in the Michael Vartan role (and yes, I know that's quite a stretch).

Basically I was a high school English teacher (my real-life fallback if this PR thing doesn't work out), and Drew was another teacher in school (NOT a high school student!) who I slowly found myself falling for. Judy Greer was the quirky librarian best friend, whose best scene was when she fell into the boys locker room, only to have the entire soccer team break into song while she was in there.

I'm pretty sure they were singing "My Boyfriend's Back". It was one of those great scenes where somehow the entire high school group all knows the same dance, and no one thinks it the slightest bit odd they're breaking into song.

So anyway, the next big scene involved me chasing Drew around the school grounds, while she drove inside in the building on the athletic department's lawnmower. Naturally, she ends up chasing me back out of the building while still driving. I'm not really sure why I was chasing her.

And as all good dreams do, I sadly was woken by my alarm long before we could reach the climatic speech in which I say something witty that women will be dreaming about for the rest of their lives.

I watch too many cheesy high school movies...