i pity the fool

It’s been a week (and some…) since an entry?

Some sleet and snow fell last night and is supposed to return later this evening and into tomorrow AM. Isn’t that a great update on life?

X and her mother spent six days gallivanting around Catalonia Spain and returned safely on Tuesday afternoon. I fetched the weary travelers from Dulles Airport and shepherded them home for a day or two or recovery rest.

There was an interview that occurred somewhere, at some time, last week that involved a very close version of this question-and-answer session:

Panel: So, what kind of hobbies do you enjoy?
Interviewee: I like golf.
Panel: Anything else that interests you?
[pause]
Interviewee: I’m really into UFC, the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Now, let’s just say that I was a part of the panel for the purposes of reviewing this little nugget of joy. If I was there, and I may or may not have been, the first thing I’m wondering – and asking shortly after my brain stops – is this, “Oh, so you participate in mixed martial arts?” When I define hobby I think about something that is participatory, at a minimum an idea that involves some thought of bodily movement. After the first interview question and answer I would have believed that the interviewee, someone I’ve now dubbed Rampage Jackson, as a member of the great golf-playing segment of our population. Maybe he’s a 15-handicap that enjoys spending his weekend perfecting his short game. After the second question I’d really be impressed because the answer addressed another active and newly interesting hobby – mixed martial arts. Dang! Ol’ Rampage Jackson plays golf on Saturday and then steps into the octagon on Sunday in preparation for his upcoming tussle with Chuck Liddell at UFC 96. That is someone I want in my workplace: golfer and ass kicker. Let’s continue…

Panel: We don’t know much about Ultimate Fighting…sounds interesting.
“Rampage”: Man. I’ll tell you something, I love cable TV.

What? He loves cable TV? That’s a hobby? I can’t believe two things: first, we would fall for the golf and UFC inputs and not think it was actually based on watching those events on TV. Second, who the hell tells an interview panel that they love cable TV (and, apparently, digital video recorders)? I’m keeping that technique in my pocket for any future interviews.

I’m heading into the District this evening for a Steven Breyer get together at the Sixth and I Synagogue. He’s being interviewed by a legal correspondent for The National Review. And let me tell you something, that’s a hobby to pass along during an interview, “I enjoy attending events that peg me as a dork….”

I can live with that.

T.