This has been a busy month. I'm working late on different projects and going out with friends more often too. Other than work and friends, not much going on really.

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One of the things I love about a kayaking trip is the long drive to and from the water. I often pick a single real-life incident and slowly generalize the matter, as if back-tracking to its source. On my drive to the Oscar Scherer Park in Osprey, Florida to kayak earlier today, I wondered why a close friend of mine gets offended whenever I ask her how some plan will work out. It was irritating me because she loves to answer why something happened yet doesn't like it when I ask how something will function. It occurred to me that depending on your personality, you fit into one or maybe two of the following types:

• Why Personality: The Why people want to know the reason for every incident and everyone's action. These are the psychologists and philosophers. They love to delve deep into the root cause of events to determine whether there exist logical bases for the same. Generally smart and inquisitive by nature.
• How Personality: The How's are the engineers, the scientists, the mechanics of the world. They could care less WHY the Universe exists, all they want to know is how did the Big Bang happen? And how does white light break into the colors of rainbow when it passes through a prism. You may think that many of the scientific questions are Why's, like "Why does an apple fall down and not up?" instead of How's. However, for a scientist, "Why" doesn't really say anything unless you can describe "How." We know "Why" the apple falls down: Due to Gravity. But till date, we don't know "How" gravity works and hence this area of Physics still has ample room for discovery. The How's are just as smart as the Why's and much more practical in nature.
• What/Where/When Personality: These are the folks that are living it up. They don't care Why or How, and instead just want to know what's going on, where's it going on, and when do they show up with a 6-pack of beer. The world is full of them and it's a good thing - they live in the moment and get things done. Most of the people you know fit into this personality. Next time you hang out with them, don't try to talk philosophy or calculus. Just raise the glass and have a drink.
• Who Personality: Of all the people I despise, I'd say the one thing most of them have in common is that they are always looking to put the blame on someone else. Who ate my cake? Who stole my ideas? Who told you that you can use my computer? If you know someone that begins half of their questions with "Who," I'd advice you to stay away from them. "Who" knows how they'll get you in trouble some day.

I'm mostly "How" and a little bit of "Why." I become the "What/Where/When" type every now and then though I do my best to never become a "Who." I'm pretty certain my friend is "Why" and hence loves to explain "Why" something happened. However, she just doesn't understand that other people may want to know specifically "How" she intends to make her plans work. I think that now that I've realized this, it will be easier now for me to deal with persons of different types.

So which one are you?

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Yet another cold weekend approaching. I doubt I can go kayaking. Though I hope to go out and hike in a pretty nature trail.

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Unfinished chores make me more uneasy than food stains on my shirt before some big meeting. Right now, I have broken kitchen tiles that need to be replaced, four website-related emails that need to be dealt with, two loads of laundry that have to be washed, and some minor chores around the house that I started but haven't finished yet. I guess I'll address each of these one at a time. I'd rather be kayaking.

The problem isn't that I hate doing chores or that I'm lazy. It's that during the entire time something is half-done, the uneasy feeling I have is very annoying. I want to do something fun but I have a nagging feeling at the back of my mind that before I can "play", I gotta finish up with the "work." Even though I have perfectly good reasons for not getting to all the chores just yet. I'm waiting for a friend to come check out the tiles, I need some more documents before I can get on with the website updates, and I'd rather do the cleaning and washing after the tile-situation is solved in case there's dust and flying monkeys around the house during repair-work.

So till that is done, I sit here feeling uncomfortable for no major reason whatsoever. I need a Long Island or two.

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Today must be opposite day. I just called up the phone company and had a great helpful conversation with their billing department.

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If debauchery was illegal, the cast members of Thee Vaude Villians would be serving life sentences. Last night my buddy Nathaniel from Tampa came over and we drove to see the Burlesque Company perform at Chiq. Vaudeville is "a style of multi-act theater which flourished in North America from the 1880s through the 1920s. An evening's schedule of performances (or 'bill') could run the gamut from acrobats to mathematicians, from song-and-dance duos to trick high divers." In the early twentieth century, burlesque theater, with its "origins in nineteenth century music hall entertainments and vaudeville, emerged as a populist blend of satire, performance art, and adult entertainment, that featured strip tease and broad comedy acts that derived their name from the low comedy aspects of the literary genre also known as burlesque."

Knowing the show would be quite different from the Broadway musicals and strip-joint tricks, I walked in with expectations of being mildly entertained and pleasantly amused. Boy, was I wrong! Here's part of a mission statement of sorts from the group itself:

"Throughout the history of theater, many revolutionary ideas have made their impact and become mainstays of modern entertainment. More often than not, the origins of these ideas have been diluted and forgotten as the entertainment industry drones forward. Among these casualties lies the lost art of burlesque. In these first years of the new millennium, only a relatively small number of people endeavor to keep this genre of entertainment from falling into oblivion unsung. Only these few strive to ensure that the word “burlesque” is not easily associated with stripping or the fetish scene. In fact, Thee VaudeVillains Burlesque Company’s main goal is to snatch burlesque out of the jaws of fetishists and bring back all the forgotten elements that once made this genre great. We feel it is our duty to restore the original ideals of the art form and make it shine once more. "

I say bring back vaudeville! I want to leave work at 5pm and taunt the bearded women by 6pm. I want to a see a man eat his own jaw and a woman who can crush coconuts with her bare chest. I'm tired of the puritan and the sleaze fighting over zoning law establishments and what I can or cannot see within 50 feet of a school bus stop that's less than 100 feet of a liquor store on 3rd weekends of months that end with a "Y." I say bring back the innocent burle-laden maidens! Fortunately for me, Thee Vaude Villans are right on track.

In classical vaudeville style, the show consisted of a variety of acts from story-telling and singing to contortion and satire. Saying that I was entertained is putting is mildly. A more appropriate word would be enchanted. The show lasted for over two hours not including the intermission. Nathaniel introduced me to a few cast members before their acts. It's not everyday that I'm introduced to a pretty software engineer that works on digital imaging by day and prances around on stage with feathers at night.

In a society where beautiful girls often starve themselves to become skinnier because the magazine says so, it was refreshing and in a way comforting, to see women not ashamed of their own bodies. Tall and skinny or short and curvy, as long as you can shake those legs for hours on end, you're beautiful.

Having seen the bottom of three Long Island glasses within two hours last night, I have but vague recollections of specific performances. Additionally, smoke-filled cramped rooms, which I guess were the prime seats of such shows once, are really not my thing and often give me headaches. We were too tired by the time the show ended so we parted ways. I got home, consumed lots of bread and orange juice, and went to bed. Here's to a good night out.

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