'Sounds Like Parades'

Here's a little known fact about me (or not so little known fact): I am a huge dork. As a child I watched Star Trek with my dad. Of my own accord. I love The Discovery Channel. I enjoy crossword puzzles. I once read an almanac, cover to cover. I was in 3rd grade. I know all the books of the Bible by heart (this is more because of a song we learned in Sunday School when I was little, and less because of some sort of awful compulsive disorder I have, and really only comes in handy when doing crosswords or while watching Jeopardy. Did I mention I love Jeopardy?) I love to learn. I'm sure many people assume my good grades were a result of some natural intelligence. Not so. I found most subjects in school to be interesting, so I paid attention, and retained the information. It was that simple. Add that to the fact that I'm highly competitive and you've got the recipe for a straight-A student.


To add to my dorkiness or perhaps because of it, in high school, while others were learning to drink, building their tolerance for college, my friends and I played charades. No, that's not some euphemism for something I don't want my family knowing I did, nor is it the name of an elaborate drinking game. We actually played charades. Intensely. We'd get together and split up into teams, boys versus girls and spend the night, sober, I might add, yelling at each other. GIVE US ANOTHER CLUE! WHAT DOES IT SOUND LIKE?? SOUNDS LIKE SWEEPING? WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING!!! were the screams you could hear on a typical charades night. Over time, we got better. It didn't hurt that my best friend and I knew each other so well that we were practically telepathic (here's a hint: never play us in Taboo. We'll kick your butts). Those nights, when we yelled until our voices gave out, and laughed until our stomachs hurt, are some of my fondest memories to date. We entered college with embarrassingly low tolerances for alcohol, but armed with the knowledge of charades sign: 'movie' 'tv' 'sounds like' and so on, because surely that would come in useful in college.


Much to Kurt's dismay (he hates charades. I KNOW, right?), I'm planning a charades night with some new friends. I can't wait. I am a little nervous about how they will react to my competitive streak. They've never seen it. I might have to tone it down. At least the first time.