I might be creepy.

I might be creepy. I mean, I'm not creepy as in you wake up one rainy night and I'm staring in your window or anything, but I am creepy in the "I want to know everyone's business" kind of way. Maybe that's weird, or maybe I just really like people and want to know everything about them. Not that I necessarily care about every detail of their lives (though I usually do), but I just find it interesting to know peoples' relationships to eachother and why they do the things they do (obviously, since that is the basis of this blog). So, instead of saying I'm creepy, let's say that I'm doing scientific research into the lives of the people around me. Because I am.

Honestly, though, it drives me crazy when I don't understand people. Like that guy that is at Kaldi's every Wednesday. Yes, I'm there every Wednesday, too, but that is just because they have free internet and I can't figure out how to make the Mizzou wireless work on my laptop (you have to have secret code's and also have to know how to work technology; two things I know nothing about). Anyway, this is also the guy who I confused when I smiled at him, if you were wondering (because I would have been...). But, I just can't figure him out! I can't tell how old he is, what he's getting his degree in (I do know he is a TA, so I know he's in school), or if he has any friends. Why do I care? I DON'T KNOW! I took a strengths test the other day for my job so that we could see our leadership style or something, and my number one strength is:

Includer: People especially talented in the Includer theme are accepting of others. They show awareness of those who feel left out, and make an effort to include them.

This must be why I worry about people I have never even met and know nothing about. Anyway, like I said, Kaldi's Guy is there every Wednesday. He sits at the bar by the window and is always reading a small book and writing in a journal. He just sits there for hours, reading and laughing to himself. Last Wednesday, I was sitting at a table close to him (not on purpose...that would be especially creepy. It was just the only table near an outlet and I needed to plug in my computer) and all of a sudden, he jumped and spilled his water all over the window. He looked frantically around the coffee shop to see if anyone saw him, and since I obviously did see him, I just said:
Julie: It's ok, I'm the only one who saw.
Kaldi's Guy: (laugh) That's embarrassing. At least it was just water. I was reading and had a genius idea! I guess I just got too excited!
Julie: A genius idea!? Then it's totally worth the water spill!

Then he proceeded to thouroughly clean up his spill. And by thouroughly, I mean he got every last drop of water; it was pretty impressive/borderline OCD. He also gets up and walks around a lot and I have no idea where he is always going.

Things I want to know about Kaldi's Guy:
1) What was the genius idea??
2) Why was he so intent on cleaning so well? Was it because I was watching?
3) Where does he always go when he walks around?

Or that couple in my class that sometimes act like they're dating, but still seem like they are just friends. Girl is always touching Boy, like patting his arm or his hair (kind of weird) and always giggles at everything Boy says, but Boy doesn't act like he's dating her, which makes me think they're either:
a) just friends, or
b) Girl really likes Boy and Boy doesn't realize it.

Or, maybe Girl is just one of those people that touches a lot. You all know someone like that, I'm sure. Someone who just really likes to hug or hold hands or touch in some way. Kind of like Elmyra Duff from Tiny Toons. You know? That cartoon from the nineties with the young Looney Tunes characters? Well, Elmyra Duff was the girl who was always hugging animals (click on link for a compilation of some lady's favorite Elmyra clips accompanied by a ridiculously stupid song. Someone has too much time on their hands...): Elmyra, the animal hugger.

Honestly, I wasn't allowed to watch Tiny Toons as a child because my mom thought that Elmyra was abusing animals. Actually, we weren't allowed to watch any TV when we were little. I take that back. We were allowed to watch one show each week and it had to be educational and we had to highlight it in the TV guide. Thus, we always ended up watching Wishbone, the show about the dog that acts out classics like Don Quixote and Robin Hood, to name a few of my favorites (figure 6):

Figure 6: Wishbone portraying Robin Hood. He's about to shoot a bulls-eye.

Without Wishbone, we would have been that weird family that never ever got to watch TV. Oh my gosh. A terrible thought just popped into my mind...I think that Wishbone is probably dead! I mean, he's just a dog that can talk! He can't live forever! NOOOO! According to Wikipedia, he died on June 26, 2001.

I'd like to take a moment of silence to remember the life of a small dog named Wishbone. Wishbone was a valiant pooch with a vast imagination. He had a special way of teaching things to his owner, Joe, and also taught children across the nation about the wonderful world of books. From his wagging tail to the paw print spot on his ear, he will always be remembered in the Brunner house as the TV show that kept us connected to our fellow suburban children, and for that, we owe him a lot. Wishbone, you changed my life and I'll never forget the way you fought those windmills when you were pretending to be Don Quixote or how you slept for a hundred years when you were Rip Van Winkle. Thank you. You'll never know how much you meant to me.

Ok, back to Boy and Girl. Maybe they are dating, which would explain a lot. Like why I saw them walking around holding hands. Yeah, they're probably dating.

Things I want to know about Girl and Boy:
1) Are they dating?

I think finding the answer to that question would clear things up for me.

Speaking of people in my classes, I also want to be best friends with my statistics teacher, because he is awesome! And possibly the nicest person I've ever met, and I'm not even kidding. He's about 60 years old and he loves statistics and teaching and students. Perfect combo, right? It's like he's one of those teachers on a Lifetime Original Movie that comes in to teach a class of hopeless drop-outs and completely turns them around and, because of him, they all leave the class to win Nobel Peace Prizes or eliminate poverty or something equally wonderful. Sheesh, what an inspirational tear-jerker!