I have a hard time pinpointing a specific scenario that sums up why Tim is a great guy. It mostly has to do with him being such friendly person. I've been told there's a sort of roguish charm to the way he interacts with people and I think that's why he's such a likable guy. He is what happens when someone with charisma also happens to be nice and down-to-earth; you find yourself drawn to him without feeling like you're in his shadow.
Tim also doesn't seem like he takes life too seriously. And that's not to say that he's incapable of taking things seriously; rather, it's like he is capable of contemplating an important/serious decision or situation without losing sight of its relative impact on his life as a whole. At least, that's the impression I get from him.
At the end of the day, though, Tim is just... a good person. I've known him for some years now and I guess we've never been close close friends - but I've always enjoyed hanging out with him and being in his company. He's always happy to see you, always interested to hear about your life, and is always willing to see the good traits in you and be happy for your successes.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Suzy
A few years ago, on my birthday, I returned from class to find a note on my door that said, "Happy Birthday Jon Wong." It was signed, "your front-door neighbor." It took me a few seconds to figure out that Suzy had derived "front-door neighbor" from "next-door neighbor" to mean "neighbor from across the hall." It was one of those moments that always makes me chuckle every time I think about Suzy.
If I were to think of the definitive example of how living in residence brings people together, I would think of the year I spent living across the hall from Suzy. Under any other circumstance, Suzy and I probably would probably never have spoken to each other because we are simply such different people who lead such different lives. She was in a different program than I was; she's interested in different things; the people she hangs out with are not the kind of people I hang out with (and vice versa); our personalities don't mesh... you get the picture.
However, one of craziest things about residence is that it sometimes throws people together who might never otherwise have spoken to one another. By some strange coincidence, I ended up living across the hall from someone who had no idea what university would be like and the simple fact that I did meant that we suddenly had something to bond over. Suzy liked talking about "the-first-year-experience," as I called it, and I was interested in listening.
Suzy's friendly and sociable. She makes the effort to talk to people and she isn't someone who will pretend not to notice you if the two of you cross paths. She always seemed happy to see me and this is not something to take lightly considering how often we saw one another over the course of an 8-month period. This was true even when she had not social obligation to do so. I remember returning to residence a number of times and... well, it's not like I was trying to sneak into my room without her seeing me... but it hadn't crossed my mind to chat. Nonetheless, as soon as she heard my lock click, Suzy would always call out and say hi. And that's nice, you know?
Suzy will also take the initiative to point out some of your nice traits if she notices them. I remember helping someone with an essay once and left my door open during the process. After I finished going over said essay and sent this girl on her merry way, I had just turned to my computer when I heard Suzy yell across the hall, "You're gonna be a great teacher, Jon!"
Suzy's intense and full of the life she tries to enjoy. That's one thing I'll always remember about her - her intensity. She was a competitive gymnast before she started university so I guess that's where some of it comes from. Even though I still think that she and I might not have bonded had we met elsewhere, I guess the biggest point here is that we didn't. We met in a situation that did allow us to bond and I got a chance to know someone whose wonderful traits might not have jumped out at me had our situation differed as slightly as one of us living in a different section of the floor.
If I were to think of the definitive example of how living in residence brings people together, I would think of the year I spent living across the hall from Suzy. Under any other circumstance, Suzy and I probably would probably never have spoken to each other because we are simply such different people who lead such different lives. She was in a different program than I was; she's interested in different things; the people she hangs out with are not the kind of people I hang out with (and vice versa); our personalities don't mesh... you get the picture.
However, one of craziest things about residence is that it sometimes throws people together who might never otherwise have spoken to one another. By some strange coincidence, I ended up living across the hall from someone who had no idea what university would be like and the simple fact that I did meant that we suddenly had something to bond over. Suzy liked talking about "the-first-year-experience," as I called it, and I was interested in listening.
Suzy's friendly and sociable. She makes the effort to talk to people and she isn't someone who will pretend not to notice you if the two of you cross paths. She always seemed happy to see me and this is not something to take lightly considering how often we saw one another over the course of an 8-month period. This was true even when she had not social obligation to do so. I remember returning to residence a number of times and... well, it's not like I was trying to sneak into my room without her seeing me... but it hadn't crossed my mind to chat. Nonetheless, as soon as she heard my lock click, Suzy would always call out and say hi. And that's nice, you know?
Suzy will also take the initiative to point out some of your nice traits if she notices them. I remember helping someone with an essay once and left my door open during the process. After I finished going over said essay and sent this girl on her merry way, I had just turned to my computer when I heard Suzy yell across the hall, "You're gonna be a great teacher, Jon!"
Suzy's intense and full of the life she tries to enjoy. That's one thing I'll always remember about her - her intensity. She was a competitive gymnast before she started university so I guess that's where some of it comes from. Even though I still think that she and I might not have bonded had we met elsewhere, I guess the biggest point here is that we didn't. We met in a situation that did allow us to bond and I got a chance to know someone whose wonderful traits might not have jumped out at me had our situation differed as slightly as one of us living in a different section of the floor.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Brett
Way back at the turn of the millennium, my grade 7 teacher gave us an assignment that required us to research and write a paper on someone we considered a hero. I had led a sheltered and rather unexciting life up until then (minus the 3 suspensions I received in grades 3, 3 (again) and 6) and wasn't exactly surrounded by a bevy of people I considered "heroes". Not in its traditional sense anyway. I remember classmates selecting people like Wayne Gretzky (Grant), The Moffats (<-- I don't know if Samantha actually chose this boy band but I assume she did), or Tiger Woods (<-- at the time, Michael was under the impression that Tiger Woods was considerably less sleazy than he actually turned out to be) and I was at a loss at who to choose.
I can't remember the logic or reasoning behind the following decision (apathy as likely as not) but I ended up writing my hero project on a then 10 year old Brett, who I had only known for something like a month due to a recently initiated friendship with his brother, Grant. For the next week, Grant and Brett detailed a biography of the latter's life while I took notes and turned it into my "hero" project. I got an 18/20 on that project so, you know, not too shabby for an academically disinterested young punk.
Brett is a funny guy. He really is. He sees the humor in life and will gladly inform you of why you ought to be laughing at something if you're not already doing so. He has a GREAT memory and is always good for one of those "Remember when..." moments that people love. He's also pretty awesome because he is an avid fan of the Toronto Blue Jays. As Canada's only baseball team (and the only MLB franchise outside the U.S.) it surprises me sometimes how rarely I meet people who enjoyed the sport. This is a pity because I am a huge baseball fan and people rarely care about the things that I find interested and/or exciting about the sport - it's one of the things that are a big part of my life that I rarely get a chance to talk about (badminton and yo-yos being some other examples). Brett, however, IS a baseball fan and the only other person I know who actively follows the Toronto Blue Jays and it's just nice to be able to talk to someone about how the Jays are doing and why "HOLY CRAP THE JAYS TRADED VERNON WELLS" is worthy of being written in capital letters.
Brett also subscribes to my awesome theory that when you recount stories, you should wave your hands in frenzied manner to signify that people are emotional and/or excited.
One thing you have to admire about Brett is the bond he shares with his brother. As someone who's never been particularly close to his own brother, I always respect and admire people whose best friends are their siblings because it just shows a kind of solidarity that perhaps you don't see as often these days. You can choose your friends but you can't choose your family - and because of that, the amount of understanding and support you have to have for a sibling in order to share a bond goes beyond what you can reasonably expect from your friends. Brett has this in abundance and it really is amazing.
I can't remember the logic or reasoning behind the following decision (apathy as likely as not) but I ended up writing my hero project on a then 10 year old Brett, who I had only known for something like a month due to a recently initiated friendship with his brother, Grant. For the next week, Grant and Brett detailed a biography of the latter's life while I took notes and turned it into my "hero" project. I got an 18/20 on that project so, you know, not too shabby for an academically disinterested young punk.
Brett is a funny guy. He really is. He sees the humor in life and will gladly inform you of why you ought to be laughing at something if you're not already doing so. He has a GREAT memory and is always good for one of those "Remember when..." moments that people love. He's also pretty awesome because he is an avid fan of the Toronto Blue Jays. As Canada's only baseball team (and the only MLB franchise outside the U.S.) it surprises me sometimes how rarely I meet people who enjoyed the sport. This is a pity because I am a huge baseball fan and people rarely care about the things that I find interested and/or exciting about the sport - it's one of the things that are a big part of my life that I rarely get a chance to talk about (badminton and yo-yos being some other examples). Brett, however, IS a baseball fan and the only other person I know who actively follows the Toronto Blue Jays and it's just nice to be able to talk to someone about how the Jays are doing and why "HOLY CRAP THE JAYS TRADED VERNON WELLS" is worthy of being written in capital letters.
Brett also subscribes to my awesome theory that when you recount stories, you should wave your hands in frenzied manner to signify that people are emotional and/or excited.
One thing you have to admire about Brett is the bond he shares with his brother. As someone who's never been particularly close to his own brother, I always respect and admire people whose best friends are their siblings because it just shows a kind of solidarity that perhaps you don't see as often these days. You can choose your friends but you can't choose your family - and because of that, the amount of understanding and support you have to have for a sibling in order to share a bond goes beyond what you can reasonably expect from your friends. Brett has this in abundance and it really is amazing.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Courtney
Courtney being the first awesome person is about as appropriate as having Frou Frou's "Let Go" on the Garden State soundtrack. It's funny - about a year ago, I remember having a conversation with her after English class about how it's simply not a social norm to go around telling all the people you care about why they're awesome. I do remember saying something like, "Well, in case you need to actually hear me say this, I do think you're pretty awesome." I stopped short of actually saying why so I guess I'll do that now.
I once decided to spend an entire summer working at a summer camp down in New York. The only catch to this was that I had to miss almost the entire orientation period of the job because of a wedding and didn't arrive at the campsite until something like 2 or 3 days before the actual start date of camp. I've always had a terrible history of making friends and missing orientation was actually a terrible idea (hindsight being 20/20 and all). To make a long story short, I spent a lot of my downtime on my own (my co-counselor was off gallivanting around with a girl on the waiting staff) and were it not for Courtney, I feel like I might have been very unhappy (I remember being unhappy at any rate but I think it would have been worse).
Courtney, you see, was temporarily living in the States at the time and we spent most of the summer corresponding through letters (and occasionally facebook/MSN when the clouds at my camp weren't blocking the signal from the satellite dish that represented our only source of internet). She even made a few mix CDs and sent them through the mail. It was one of the most memorable gestures of friendship I can remember from the years we've known one another.
I always bring up this anecdote when I want to encapsulate how great of a person Courtney is. It's just a good example of how she is a fundamentally kind person and how it manifests itself in funny ways sometimes. I remember her sending care packages to a soldier in Afghanistan (or some such place) with whom she had become pen-pals back when we were in undergrad. It's just one of things, you know?
She also uses exclamation points when she types. That's pretty cool, I think. The difference between using exclamation points when you type and not using them is akin to the difference between being greeted by someone flying into your arms and someone waving and saying "Hey." I mean, I'm sure the same greeting sentiment is there but it's nice to emphasize the point sometimes; especially if it's positive.
Courtney's also gifted at seeing and understanding inter-personal relationships in ways that run parallel to my own. It's nice because I spend a lot of time thinking about the ways that we establish and maintain connections to other people and Courtney's always been someone who's interested in hearing what I have to say about them. Not only that, but she often has her own interesting perspective to add to the whole idea and I usually walk away from those conversations feeling like I've made progress on my understanding of the particular issue at hand. And that's always a nice feeling.
She's good at making you feel like you matter. In some ways, it's a combination of good conversation skills and the aforementioned demonstrations of excitement. Courtney won't just tell you that something you've said or done is cool or interesting, she'll also tell you why she thinks it's cool or interesting. And this is something that you really have to appreciate about someone like her. Not only can you feel good about the fact that someone appreciates what you've said or done, but the fact that she's taken the time to explain her reasoning to you makes you feel like she's appreciated it in the right way. Furthermore, she empathizes well, I think, and she isn't too proud to recognize her own flaws. She's got great taste in films and literature and is probably going to end up as a lot of students' favorite teacher. I don't know what she lauds my teaching "skills". Given the choice, I'd send my kids to her school over mine. She was also kind enough to befriend me in first year and considering how few reasons I usually provide to complete strangers to do this, I think it speaks to her ability to make something out of very little.
I once decided to spend an entire summer working at a summer camp down in New York. The only catch to this was that I had to miss almost the entire orientation period of the job because of a wedding and didn't arrive at the campsite until something like 2 or 3 days before the actual start date of camp. I've always had a terrible history of making friends and missing orientation was actually a terrible idea (hindsight being 20/20 and all). To make a long story short, I spent a lot of my downtime on my own (my co-counselor was off gallivanting around with a girl on the waiting staff) and were it not for Courtney, I feel like I might have been very unhappy (I remember being unhappy at any rate but I think it would have been worse).
Courtney, you see, was temporarily living in the States at the time and we spent most of the summer corresponding through letters (and occasionally facebook/MSN when the clouds at my camp weren't blocking the signal from the satellite dish that represented our only source of internet). She even made a few mix CDs and sent them through the mail. It was one of the most memorable gestures of friendship I can remember from the years we've known one another.
I always bring up this anecdote when I want to encapsulate how great of a person Courtney is. It's just a good example of how she is a fundamentally kind person and how it manifests itself in funny ways sometimes. I remember her sending care packages to a soldier in Afghanistan (or some such place) with whom she had become pen-pals back when we were in undergrad. It's just one of things, you know?
She also uses exclamation points when she types. That's pretty cool, I think. The difference between using exclamation points when you type and not using them is akin to the difference between being greeted by someone flying into your arms and someone waving and saying "Hey." I mean, I'm sure the same greeting sentiment is there but it's nice to emphasize the point sometimes; especially if it's positive.
Courtney's also gifted at seeing and understanding inter-personal relationships in ways that run parallel to my own. It's nice because I spend a lot of time thinking about the ways that we establish and maintain connections to other people and Courtney's always been someone who's interested in hearing what I have to say about them. Not only that, but she often has her own interesting perspective to add to the whole idea and I usually walk away from those conversations feeling like I've made progress on my understanding of the particular issue at hand. And that's always a nice feeling.
She's good at making you feel like you matter. In some ways, it's a combination of good conversation skills and the aforementioned demonstrations of excitement. Courtney won't just tell you that something you've said or done is cool or interesting, she'll also tell you why she thinks it's cool or interesting. And this is something that you really have to appreciate about someone like her. Not only can you feel good about the fact that someone appreciates what you've said or done, but the fact that she's taken the time to explain her reasoning to you makes you feel like she's appreciated it in the right way. Furthermore, she empathizes well, I think, and she isn't too proud to recognize her own flaws. She's got great taste in films and literature and is probably going to end up as a lot of students' favorite teacher. I don't know what she lauds my teaching "skills". Given the choice, I'd send my kids to her school over mine. She was also kind enough to befriend me in first year and considering how few reasons I usually provide to complete strangers to do this, I think it speaks to her ability to make something out of very little.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Introduction
I suppose I ought to provide some back story. It's relatively simple. Today was terrible. As I drove home earlier this evening, I was practically seething and for some reason, I thought of something that someone once told me about being angry at the world. I forgot the exact content of what she said but the end result was a recommendation that when you feel like crap, doing something nice for someone is generally a good way of putting you back into a better mood. With that in mind, I decided to create this blog so I could write nice things about people in my life and why they are awesome.
I've always thought that we don't tell people how much they mean to us as often as we should. I guess there's a sort of implicit understanding that the mere fact that we are friends signifies that there is something about you that I value. Generally, we are more inclined to vocalize the things about other people that irk or bother us rather than vocalize the things about them that we like. Personally, I think that's kind of arse backwards but what do I know? Still, I think perhaps it's worth taking the time, every so often (and especially if I am, for some arbitrary reason, angry at the world) to write about the best in others. Hopefully, I can gain some perspective in doing this and hopefully, you will see in yourself all the wonderful things I see in you.
I've always thought that we don't tell people how much they mean to us as often as we should. I guess there's a sort of implicit understanding that the mere fact that we are friends signifies that there is something about you that I value. Generally, we are more inclined to vocalize the things about other people that irk or bother us rather than vocalize the things about them that we like. Personally, I think that's kind of arse backwards but what do I know? Still, I think perhaps it's worth taking the time, every so often (and especially if I am, for some arbitrary reason, angry at the world) to write about the best in others. Hopefully, I can gain some perspective in doing this and hopefully, you will see in yourself all the wonderful things I see in you.
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