23 March 2007

Happy Willaversary!

Today marks the one-year anniversary of Rachel and I meeting Will. The only reason I really remember that this was the day last year we met is because we met him at Shield’s birthday last year and today is Shield’s birthday again (Happy Birthday, Shields!) So anyway, we’re drinking at Brickskeller and Tristan introduces us to Mike’s friend Will, this new guy from Wisconsin (who spent 11 months in Seattle). I don’t think either of us admitted it to each other at the time (Rachel and I were sort of new buddies then too), but in retrospect, at that time we both thought that Will was hot. Come to think of it, Rachel and I have been trying to figure out a guy we can both agree is hot (on a completely superficial level, no “personality” getting in the way) and we’ve been at a stand still. Has Will been the solution to our riddle all this time?

Anyway, personality did eventually get in the way because we started hanging out with Will more and more. And I think I can safely say that it didn’t take long for both Rachel and I to lose our completely superficial attraction to Will* (see end of post). I’m confident the feeling is mutual on Will’s end as well (that he not attracted to us. He probably is, indeed, attracted to himself.)

It actually worked out for the best because Will is one of the most fun people to hang out with if you love Will Ferrell movies, excessive body hair, latin music, water volleyball, mayhem in general, or the song “Walking in Memphis.”

Which brings me to my story today. Loyal readers of my blog and blog buddies (Rachel) will know that Will knows (almost) every word to the Mark Cohn song “Walking in Memphis.” He’s not shy about singing it either (or loudly mumbling the line he doesn’t know). The first time I discovered his affinity for this tune was while riding through Georgetown in Will’s car on the way home from the bowling alley. The windows were rolled down, the song came on the radio, and NONE OF US SAW IT COMING. Will serenaded all of M Street Northwest that evening at the top of his lungs.

Well, once I knew this song was a trigger for AWESOMENESS, I made sure to have it downloaded on my computer for anytime Will was over and we needed a little bit of awesome. Unfortunately, Rachel hadn’t been in the car with us to experience the original rendition, so on President’s Day Sunday I played the song in my apartment and let nature take its course. Luckily, my camera has a video recorder on it.

Rachel posted that clip on her blog. I’m not going to repost it because Will wants to limit the public exposure of that video given his career in public service. I respect his wishes. (but here’s the link to Rachel’s post)

Then, two days ago, upon realizing that our anniversary was coming up, I conferred with Tristan and Rachel about getting Will to come out with us this evening for our anniversary, and how there should probably be some Mark Cohn involved. No less than 20 minutes later, I left my desk to walk to Subway for lunch. I waited patiently in line until it was my turn to order. And…as I approached the counter, all I could hear was the radio over the Subway loudspeaker…it was that unmistakable piano intro and… “Put on my blue suede shoes and I, I boarded the plane. Touched down in the middle of the Delta Blues, in the middle of the pourin’ rain…”

Here I am in the order spot getting ready to lose it, thanks to the permanently ingrained association I have to Will and that song. I had to speedtalk my order for fear that I was going to burst out laughing. The subway staff had to have thought I was a crazy person because I was just snickering and smirking to myself and as I approached the topping area, I pulled out my blackberry (or as Will would call it, “BB”) and texted Rachel that I was standing in Subway and “Walking in Memphis” had just come on. I didn’t care if I was being inattentive to the Subway fixins manager; I needed to share the moment with someone who’d understand.

So next time you see someone having a weird emotional reaction or spontaneous outburst of laughter in a public place, don’t judge. There’s probably a “Will” in their life that caused it.

*In closing, please don't get us wrong—we love Will. Just not in that way. I don't *think* he would be offended by the fact that our attraction to him turned to “just friendship” after getting to know him...since I'm pretty sure if your trying to "court" a "lady," you don't do things like:

1. Show them the "cyst"/spider bite on your back.
2. Walk around with an ice-pack strapped to your junk.
3. Download pornography to their computer for an "awesome treat" the next time they log on
4. "Teabag" them while passed out on the other's bed:
5. Ignore them when they're trying to stab you:

Happy Anniversary, Will!

2 comments:

Rachel said...

who doesnt like a little midnight forrest? seriously ;)

Anonymous said...

haha, he probably does love himself. Not that that's a bad thing,"To love one's self is the beginning of a lifelong romance."