Woop Woop!  Here’s a quick video to thank those that allowed my entry to win Nick’s Xanga commercial contest:

(I included people that voted for me along with someone else and people that voted for me after the deadline, even though they technically weren't counted towards the tally =P)

Thanks again everyone!  In return, I’m planning on stopping by the pages of everyone I listed above so I can drop a comment and a mini (it’s the least I can do).  Expect a visit from me sometime soon (such a great way to procrastinate from finals, no?).  Hope everyone else is doing alright as we wind down to a much needed winter break!

P.S. I'm trying to think up a good video idea to do when I meet up with people at the Bay Area Xanga meet later this month.  Last time at the San Diego meet, I did a silly relationship skit which worked out pretty well.  Any suggestions?

P.P.S. While I'm on the topic and asking for suggestions, I'm currently collaborating with TheCheshireGrins to figure out where to meet and what to do for the third DC Xanga meet happening on January 10th.  If you're going or are familiar with the DC area, is there anything you would recommend?  Since a good amount of people that are planning on going are from Maryland, should we make the meet up in Maryland instead?

Mall security does not have the best reputation, which was only made worse after that Paul Blart movie came out.  I'm sure a lot of people have negative impressions of them, but I can't help but have some respect for them despite it all.  How come?  Well, I will forever remember two memories I've had while at my local mall that involved mall security being badasses.  The stories I'm about to tell you may sound unbelievable, but I promise you I am not making this up.

The first memory took place when I was about 15 years old.  At the time, I was working at my mall's Dairy Queen/Orange Julius and it was a rather slow weekday night.  As I am standing there waiting for a customer to come up, I start hearing some commotion around the corner.  Right as I lean over the counter to see what was going on, a teenage girl comes sprinting past, carrying a couple shirts.  Right behind her were two (admittingly overweight) mall security guys chasing after her.  It was looking like she might get away, and she must have thought so too since she turned her head to guage how far they were.  What she didn't notice was the security guard directly in her upcoming path, about 10 feet away.

Guess what that security guard does?  He stuck out his arm right in front of her, essentially clotheslining her down to the floor.  I think everyone around that saw this, including me, gave a collective "OH!" (amongst other words).  The last thing I saw was the three security guards dragging this dazed girl back to the store where she stole from. 

The second memory happened a couple years later.  Now, at the mall there was this small, middle aged, female security guard that would patrol the place in an electric wheelchair.  At first glance, it looked like she was very handicapped and made me wonder what she would be able to do if forced to take some action. 

I most certainly discovered how one day, while I was window shopping with a friend.  Once again, I heard some commotion going on near by and as I turned that direction I see this man sprinting towards my general direction.  That woman security guard happened to be nearby as well.  Here's where it got kind of crazy.  As the man came flying past us, I suddenly saw this lady straighten hereself up and leap out of her wheelchair onto her (apparently working) legs.  "Holy crap, did she just pull a Keyser Söze?!", I thought. 

Before my brain could process it fully, she sprinted off.  Not only did she catch up to that guy (who had a healthy head start) she actually tackled him down and held him on the floor until her reinforcements came.  I'm pretty sure my mouth was still wide open as she casually got back into her wheelchair afterward and went about her business as if nothing happened. 

These two events, my friends, are why I will never underestimate mall security ever again.

I was just discovering the community here around this time last year.  Ever since I joined back in 2003, I thought everybody that had a blog here was written with the intent of it being seen by only a few IRL friends and themselves.  I had no idea strangers would actually comment on other people's posts on a regular basis, so I didn't do it because I thought people would think I was weird or something.  In fact, I wasnt aware of so many features on here, such as the front page, top blogs, footprints, pulses and recommendations.  Shoot, I was still using the old private home page set-up.  So naive huh?

Funny enough, it was Datingish that kind of brought me in.  I saw a plug for it on my homepage one day, so I decided to click on it to see what it was all about.  I was surprised to see posts that people from here would comment on in large numbers, so I figure I'll join in as well out of boredom.  After a while, I started noticing people were coming to my page through my comments and I eventually started getting friend requests from these same people.  It was cool getting to know new people here and to have more reading material in my inbox, but that also meant I was opening myself up to more viewers of my small, humble blog (I'm not kidding; before, I was quite happy whenever even one unique visitor came by my page!).  Oh no, I thought, people are going to be reading all my boring thoughts and feelings now! 

As life would have it, I was beginning to write in my blog a lot more due to some personal set backs, so I had some fairly interesting things to share.  I started noticing my writing style was changing too.  I was still genuinely writing down things that I wanted to write about, but I began writing it more coherently and structured.  Shortly afterward, I wrote up a post about things I missed in a relationship that somehow caught on and drew the largest viewership my way.  It's been a interesting journey ever since, and I'm so thankful for all the people that I have really gotten to connect with through this medium. 

Anyway, I thought it was pretty crazy how it's already been a year since my blog became so public.  I've written a lot more about my life than I ever thought I would before this past year, that's for sure!  Out of curiosity, how well do you think you know me based on the stuff I've written?  Is there anything in particular you wanted to know more about?