Something New

     Finally, I've started working on a new project.  It's amazing how good a new project can make you feel.  It pulls me immediately out of whatever slump I had fallen into.  I start imaging the characters and I start spending a little bit of time with them.  I think about them all the time; I take the train with them and have conversations with them.  I invite them to the ball game and their enjoyment of said game tells me a lot about them.
     Often the characters are a version of myself.  As part of the character profile to get this project off the ground, my new writing partner and I decided to list out all of the things that make us awkward, or just the awkward things we do.  So, here's a start to that list:

• Finish most transactions by saying "unless you don't think I should."
• Leave sunglasses on head while at work.
• Trip over anything.
• Knock things off tables with backpack.
• Insist on carrying backpack everywhere.
• Announce when going to the bathroom.
• Hold the door for people who are actually pretty far away.
• Answer non-yes-or-no questions with "yes?"
• Throw silverware on the plate and shout "I win" when finished with meal.
• Over explain things to wait staff.
• Spill every thing.
• Don't notice when others stop talking.
• Wave at people who look familiar on the street.
• Barter for goods and services.
• Talk to yourself in public restrooms.
• Dance in the elevator.
• Push the alarm button in the elevator with backpack, then look around like "who's doing that?"
• Fall.  A lot.
• Answer the phone in unconventional ways.
• Pull the tablecloth off the table when leaving for the restroom.
• Splash water all over self when washing hands.
• Tuck pant leg into socks.
• Open an umbrella while in the doorway.  Get stuck.  
• Go around a revolving door more than it requires.
• Double up in a revolving door.

 This is by no means an exhaustive list.  I live my life in this awkward shell.  Even close friends are sometimes amazed by how I can continue to be this awkward and not fall into a crevasse. 
     I'm looking forward to this new project and all the ups and downs it will surely provide.  I'll laugh, I'll cry, I'll give it a soundtrack.