Quirks

For some scholarship or program or something-or-other I applied to at some point in the not too distant past, I had to submit a resume of "quirks". It was thoroughly amusing. And to make it even more fun, I tied each "quirk" to a lyric. (Just another quirk, I guess!) I’m well aware there are oddities about me, and today — as I settled deeper into my summer routine — I discovered yet another.

The ladies at Dunkin Donuts already know me; they see me approach and ready the complicated drink. Normally I drink black coffee, but in the summer I stick to a “medium iced with just a little ice and extra extra sugar.”

Because I love the feeling crunching sugar in the morning.

Tiny granules of coffee-soaked sweetness find their way into the crevices of my teeth, and as I chomp down, they explode with delicious refreshness (in an oddly relaxing way). Some say it feels like eating sand. “Fine,” I say, “then it reminds me of the beach.” Some prefer their sugar melted (which D&D will do!). “Not me,” I say, “Give it us raw!” (Lord of the Rings, anybody?) Some say sugar’s unhealthy and Splenda’s better. “But it doesn’t crunch the same way,” I instist. It’s hopeless. In some things, I’m really set in my ways.

I'd like to think it makes me cuter... ; )

The other quirks? I’ll mention a few…

“So much to do, so much to see; so what's wrong with taking the back streets? You'll never know if you don't go”
— SmashMouth, All Star
I never walk back the same way I came... You see more of the world when you find a new route. That’s important.

“Tryin' to fit the world inside a picture frame”
— John Mayer, 3x5
I love pictures... I’m always armed with a camera, and I think it’s sacrilegious to throw out photographs. Those are memories, frozen in time, and if you throw them away, will you ever get them back?

“I love my dog as much as I love you. But you may fade, and my dog will always come through.”
— Cat Stevens, I Love My Dog
I really adore my dog... My 4-year-old golden retriever fills an important place in my heart, so much so that I am offended when people say they don’t like her. After all, her only goal in life to is love (and eat and shed). She’s my (almost) constant companion.

“I know it's only rock 'n roll but I like it”
— Rolling Stones, It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll
I read the world into lyrics… Classic rock songs found the very basis of some of my deepest philosophical beliefs. For example, Billy Joel (with “Should I try to be a straight A student? If you are then you think too much.”) ensured my college days were not devoted solely to academia...