I wanted to blog tonight but I couldn’t come up with something. I’m not back, but I’m not gone for good yet. It’s a shame because I miss this. As I stared at my dashboard in hope for some random inspiration, I saw this:
I couldn’t help but laugh. So, if you want me to pants you, I can do it for $25 a year. Until next time. 
P.S. I’m an equal opportunity pantser.
Down the hall from me during my junior year of college, was a dorm room known to everyone as the quad. For many years, it was occupied by the leftovers. To be more precise, those who failed to find a roommate, late applicants and those who didn’t care where they lived. Four people in a pre-suite style suite. Nothing became much of that Room 436 until the four moved in and made it the Quad.
There was the civil engineer who was both beyond smart and was cool long before hipsters were a thing. The programmer that took the world by storm with the game called Farmville. The NASA scientist whose mind was as brilliant as the country of Ireland. And then, there was the sacristan; the socialite of the group. He was well admired, respected and hilariously loud. Those four transformed that suite into what the whole dorm new as “the Quad.”
They made dorm parties look cool and house parties pathetic. Everyone wanted to check out & be part of the Quad. From the living room lounge couches with the projector, to the space station living quarters, the brain station of desks and the glowing bar. The Quad was the epitome of what people dreamed dorm rooms to be; and the best part, it was real. It could be argued that the room brought everyone together; whether it was the parties, the gaming or the blaring techno music. But the underlying truth was that the four brought us all together. People of all different backgrounds, majors, personalities and lifestyles uniting under one room. The Quad united us.
It was again this weekend that the Quad united us once more. It’s been many years (or exactly a year for others), that I have seen so many friends and acquaintances of old in one room again. We all gathered to celebrate, as we often have those years ago, in honor of the four. This particular time, the honoree was the sacristan. Except, he is no longer a sacristan. On this day, he was a newly ordained priest.
So the NASA engineer flew in. The programmer flew in. And the civil engineer drove in. They assembled, arm in arm with their fourth brother, the now priest. The Quad reunited. And with them, we were all united again. We all drove and flew in from many miles away. We gathered to celebrate with them, for them and in honor of them.
Yes, we came to congratulate and celebrate with the priest. But there is no doubt that it was the Quad that united us all those years ago, and again on this Sunday afternoon. To the Quad, Room 436 will never ever be the same again. Thank you for uniting us.
I caught myself smelling myself the other day when I was talking to my supervisor. To be completely truthful, I willingly lowered my head and sniffed my left arm pit in front of him. He blinked at me and then continued to speak without acknowledging what I was doing.
Most people would probably react with, “Oh, my! I stink today!” My actual reaction was, “Hmm, not bad.”
What you may not know is that, I do not wear deodorant. I’ve stopped wearing it about 8 years ago. It’s been one of the most pleasant changes I’ve made in my life. I got tired of smelling fake and chemically modified. I want to smell like me versus the same streamlined product that is designed to mask our natural body odor and falsely trigger our sexual instincts.
Now before you go “pew pew” on me, I would like to say that there are times when I do stink and outright reek. Catch me after a long run or a night of soccer, I’m the last person you want to be around. Heck, my cat knows my stench that he stays away from me until I shower. But all other times, I just smell like a human being.*
As an adult, I never understood the need to hide one’s natural scent. At least not in today’s time when hygiene isn’t as much of an issue as in ancient times. Though, one can make an exception for teenagers, but then I’m reminded by the cloud of Axe Body Spray in the hallways. That’s a tossup.
Humans are beautiful. And I mean that in all aspects of the word. But we spend so much time hiding who we really are and often create this persona that is far from our true selves. I’m in the same boat as the next person. When I decided to stop wearing deodorant, I started to feel comfortable in my own skin. I began to stop being ashamed of who I am and what I smelled like.
We all have issues of self esteem and doubt. But when I decided to stop wearing deodorant, I felt like it was my first real act of defiance against cultural expectations. I decided to not only smell myself, but smell people for who they are, not the mask they wear. It has come to the point that I prefer the scent of someone after they sweat & work out than someone who is cleaned and dolled up. Because after a workout, we’re the most vulnerable and the most physically human; we’re undoctored.
What I’m trying to say is that as I grow older, I aim to no longer desire what culture and society dictates. I want to be undoctored. I have a long way to go, but not wearing deodorant is the beginning.
* I do own a stick of deodorant just in case I am unable to shower and/or clean up each day.
Hey, I miss you.
It’s been a long time. Yeah, I have migrated to video but it doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten about you. Truth is, there are things I’m certain that I could voice better here than on video.
I want to be back. I hope to be back. But in reality, I don’t know.
I’m torn that this would either be a step backwards or perhaps a start of something new. We’ll see what happens. I hope you’re well. Maybe we’ll see each other again.
