Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Dexter: Leaping Legend

Last summer at the Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens, Greece, my brother, Dexter, executed one of the most brilliant freestyle walking moves I have ever seen. Unfortunately, I was watching through my camera's viewfinder, so I didn't get to take in the full glory of the breathtaking jump. The upside is that I captured it forever.

A couple of fun things to note in this photo:

  • The unbelievable air Dexter is able to get.
  • The dramatic posture that he takes (arms up, knees bent, head turned).
  • The look of sheer disbelief on the face of the girl who's watching the jump unfold before her.
  • The Sellier family in the background preparing to board a minibus.

Consider this: Freestyle walking is not an Olympic sport... yet. But if it was, I believe Dexter would be the man to beat.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Dropped Calls

This past Friday, I was catching up with Sten—my west coast brother from the very same mother—on the phone. After about seven minutes of conversation, the call was dropped. Now, I’m not going to point fingers as to whose fault it was (AT&T or T-Mobile), but the bottom-line is someone’s network failed (T-Mobile’s). I sat there and waited for him to call me back. Nothing. After a few minutes I called him back and he immediately answered saying, “You know, someone really needs to come up with a convention as to whose responsibility it is to make the reconnection after a call is dropped.” And you know what? He’s right.

We began brainstorming.

Should it be the person who is responsible for the call being dropped? No. There may be some confusion as to whose fault it was.
Should it be the person who made the initial call? No. Again, there may be some confusion.
Should it be the oldest person? No. This may not be known.
So what did we decide?

It shall be he whose first name comes first in alphabetical order who is responsible for forging a new connection.

In our case, for example, it would have been Sten (since his name comes alphabetically before “Tobias”).

I encourage everyone who reads this message to embrace this protocol and disseminate it amongst your respective social circles. No longer will you struggle to reconnect with the people from whom you’ve been cut off. No longer will you try and call someone back while they are simultaneously trying to call you—casting both of you into an endless cycle of immediate voicemail greetings (not unlike when you’re trying to get into a locked car and you’re pulling the handle at the same time that the person in the car is hitting the power unlock switch).

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Natalie and I Are Engaged!


That's right.

On Saturday night, I asked the lovely Natalie May Beesley to marry me.

After a lovely dinner at Dr. Granville Moore's, we took a cab to the National Mall for a walk amongst the monuments. Walking along the Reflecting Pool en route to the Lincoln Memorial (with a great view of the Washington Monument and the Capitol right behind us), I stopped (when there were no people around), said some special things, and presented her with a ring. She enthusiastically accepted. We then took a cab to the Old Ebbitt Grill where we celebrated with some champagne.



She is now officially my fiancé, which sounds weird to say/write. For the time being, we are affectionately referring to each other as "Beyoncé." It doesn't make any sense, but it comes very easily off the tongue.

We are very, very happy and excited.