Character Observations Introduction

I interact on a regular basis with all kinds of interesting characters, whether just out and about, on the bus, on my walks, at church or on the diverse college campus in which I work. I love observing life – watching, interacting and listening to people be who they are really fascinates and entertains me. I know that this is something that not everyone does, or at least doesn’t do to the extent that I find myself doing. Character based content is not everyone’s cup of tea – but my entertainment tastes definitely fall under character driven comedies like Arrested Development, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Office, and all the Christopher Guest movies ever made. So this is my version of this kind of character driven entertainment, the sharing of observations of these real life characters that cross my path. Some of them are just too good to be true; I couldn’t make them up if I tried.
My goal is clear: to entertain, enlighten and educate you not only in my interactions and observations with people but also about the diversity that surrounds us all on a regular basis. After all, aren’t we all just real life characters in this production called life? If any of you have ever coined that cliché parallelism in your own daily living, then perhaps you will also enjoy the thoughts of what this writer sees in the people around him.

FYI: I love to write, don’t get me wrong – but the nature of this “hobby” can be really annoying. It is 4:30 a.m, I am out of my warm, relaxing and comfortable bed and in front of this blindingly white computer screen typing this. After waking up from an odd dream in what seems like hours ago, tossing and turning and thinking about these characters I’ve met lately, I finally decided to get up and write it out. Here I was, enjoying the pleasures of sleep in the warm cozy embrace of my amazing Select Comfort bed, when my creative juices suddenly erupted – and began this persistent mind torture until I had no choice but to deal with it all in writing. So, with that said, I present to you my first installment of what I shall simply call “Character Essays” for now. This is dedicated to my “heroes” – the writers and creative personalities I’ve come to know through my constant viewing of their work: Mitch Hurwitz, Larry David, Christopher Guest, Ricky Gervais, Neil Corcoran and my mom. Their genius motivates me to get back to what I love: writing (even if it is at 4:30 in the morning…)