Five-ish Truths

I had seen this come through @kaitlyndennihy's blog a week or two ago and was tagged in her post to try my own version of the "Five Truths Challenge." Through some thorough research (which comprised of me clicking no more than three or for backlinks) I noticed that I may be the only guy to participate in this challenge. That doesn't bother me a bit...there was a time when I decided Pinterest was a fun idea before most guys did.

This was a bit harder than I thought it would be. Actually kept a list in my Evernote moleskin for a week or so to think about five truths. Here's what I came up with. I know I'll probably hit publish on this post and think of something I could've used instead. Oh well, here we go.

Truth One: A hot mug of coffee is my "security blanket"

Like how Linus carries around his blanket everywhere in every Peanuts cartoon, I have a hard time working or sitting in a meeting without a hot cup of coffee. Most people I work with probably think I have a mild caffeine addiction but it's honestly not why I drink coffee (though I do enjoy it thoroughly). I used to hate coffee.

When I was working at Imagewest, we had a coffee pot in the office. I made my coffee with about 75% creamer and a small splash of coffee. From time to time, we would have a client meeting or would make a pitch for new business. I had this nervous tick that I had to have something in my hands at all times, namely a cup. Since I made my coffee taste very good with so much creamer, I would finish my coffee about ten minutes into the meeting and end up tearing my styrofoam cup into little pieces and having a small pile at my seat as a nervous habit. So I started drinking it black to slow down my consumption. I hated black coffee but knew the bitter taste would slow me down and keep my hands occupied.

A few years later, whether it's a meeting with a client, coworker or working on a project (especially writing), I almost always need a hot cup of joe in my hands to keep me focused on the task at hand. Yeah, it's weird. But true.

Truth Two: I wanted to work in movies growing up

When I was younger, I acted in several local theater plays and was in every speech contest that I could enter. I loved acting on stage in some form or fashion. Eventually, I loved creating my own scripts. My cousin Bryan and I would snag grandaddy's camcorder - the big ones that used VHS tapes - and would write, direct and film our own short movies in their basement. My parents eventually got me a camcorder and video editing software for our computer to let me make higher-quality productions in high school for several different projects. I worked on our school news because that was the only place that I knew I could film and act in stuff on a regular basis for class.

As I looked at colleges, I picked WKU because they had a killer broadcast program. Their film editing labs for some of the best in the country. It was also cheaper and I could run cross country/track there. I had a hard time deciding on a track for my major, since there were a lot of different paths I could go down. Talking to my dad, he noted that I really seemed to enjoy making short 30-second promotional videos. So naturally, I picked the Broadcast track in Advertising thinking I would make Super Bowl ads instead of movies. One thing led to another and I went digital and left broadcast completely (you learn a lot about yourself in college). However, my cousin Bryan (mentioned earlier) stuck with the filmmaking and is currently directing his first full-length feature that he wrote, Hindsight 2020. It comes out to Redbox and Netflix later this fall.

Truth Three: I could eat pizza every day of the week and be completely happy

I love pizza. I think I initially moved to Chicago just because I wanted to live near high quality pizza. Seriously. There was one morning my senior year of college where a friend of mine and I woke up at 4:45am and drove from Bowling Green, Kentucky to Chicago, had lunch at Giordano's and drove back home on the same day. Sometimes if you have the same food over and over, you get sick of it. Before I married my chef of a wife, I had a lot of frozen pizza dinners. Now, thanks to Megan, I eat a much more balanced diet but always make a point to have a pizza of some sort every day of the week. I have similar feelings toward macaroni and cheese.

Truth Four: I can't sleep without listening to headphones

Actually, given enough time, I probably could. I have a bedtime ritual of listening to either a podcast or some sort of stand-up comedy to help me relax and sleep. It's not that I listen to boring content but for some reason it helps my brain unwind just enough to get to sleep. Living in a downstairs apartment, the headphones serve a dual purpose muffling our noisy upstairs neighbor. Right now I'm rotating between some BBC podcasts and This American Life.

Truth Five: I love Kentucky.

I love Atlanta. This city is awesome and will most likely be where Megan and I stay for the long-haul. It's a bigger city that offers lots of opportunities but also isn't overwhelming. You could be on a quiet neighborhood street just two blocks over from a row of skyscrapers. The food here is great and the weather here beats Chicago's substantially. However, I love Megan and I's original home Kentucky. There's so much tradition there. We have the oldest sporting tradition in history thanks to the Derby. Two of the best basketball programs in the country are less than 100 miles apart. It's where I learned to run. Where I learned to drive. Where most of Megan and I's family stil lives. I've written other endearing thoughts about my home state here. Other people have made one of the best campaigns touting the awesomeness of my home state.  While we will always love our city, part of our hearts will always stay in Kentucky.

Other runner-up truths (with no additional context) include:

• I am not a morning person
• I think freaking out or blowing up over any situation is a completely inefficient use of energy. Rarely improves any situation.
• I hate most seafood but worked at a Bubba Gump Shrimp Company for two summers despite that.

Those are my five truths. What are some of yours?

Megan,  Jeff, and Josh, ya'll are next.