Unbridled Enthusiasm

Have you ever had to sit there and listen to someone who's REALLY intensely excited about something that would never interest you ever ever ever?  You can see the excitement on their face.  You know this is their thing.  The passion this person has for the thing their word flap is flapping about is respectable.  But man, you don't get it.  It's not that you're dumb.  You UNDERSTAND what they're talking about.  You just can't figure out why this person cares.

I was bored fairly often in school.  And, being a stupid kid, I sometimes thought that my teachers were intentionally imposing this boredom upon the class.  You know, just to be jerks.  It never occurred to me that they were human beings who, dedicated educators though they were, weren't always thrilled about the lessons.  I'd bet there were even days when they didn't feel like being there.  School is probably frustrating and boring for teachers as often as it is for students.  Kids, after all, talk about a lot of strange stuff.  Regular adults can just nod their heads and say, "That's nice" and walk away.  But teachers, well, they don't usually have that luxury.  Like Ms. Stiffel, here:

My favorite part about this panel is the crazed expression on Crystal's face.  She's just crazy excited about her unicorn, Sparkle Pickles.


The other night I was down at the bar having a beer.  I was sitting next to a fella who seemed to be sitting by himself.  He struck up a conversation with another guy sitting nearby (by "conversation", I mean one-sided word hose sprayed directly into the face of the unassuming victim).  Talky guy started explaining at a rapid pace all about protein combinations and deficiencies and genetic abnormalities that lead to common diseases and conditions.  This stuff would have made just about anyone glaze over.  It was technical.  It was long-winded.  It was boring, boring stuff.

I felt bad for the guy who had to listen.  But I felt worse for the guy who was talking because he didn't have the self awareness to realize the guy wasn't interested.


Not like this blog.  Not at all.  I mean, it's something I'm really excited about, sure.  And it's something I'm foisting on to you on a regular basis, true.  But this is INTERESTING.  Right?  It's not like I've let my own enthusiasm for "Saturday" and illustration allow me to blather on about...uh...


Hm.


Cheers.