How Did I Get Here?

(I'm going to see how much cliched mileage I can get with this movie)

I should have known that someday a Charging Interests title would resemble any Tyler Perry movie.

It's been nearly a month since my last post about letting go, and while there are plenty of things that I needed to let go in order to move on with my life, I never intended to make this blog one of them.  Let me explain: After college, most of my friends' futures already looked promising.  They all either had obtained jobs or were going to grad school (my friend Alya even decided that she should finish grad school up and begin law school.  I am surrounded by geniuses).  In a self-imposed state that was straight from The Graduate, I was worried about my future.  I needed a job, but had no idea where to look.  Now, who wouldn't wish they could write all day or at least drive across the country on their parents' dime?  That would be the life.  Instead, I decided to stress myself out.  Then, in an M. Night Shyamalan-like twist (and what I have to consider to be a little help from above)...

I got a job!  I am in the Human Resources department at EOG Resources, an oil and gas company with headquarters located in downtown Houston.  I am absolutely loving it.  But how did I get here?  Here are 23 mostly asinine things, based on the 23 years of my life (August 5th is close enough), that have shaped me.  For entertainments sake, I'm excluding family, friends and, most importantly, God.

23. Jack in the Box
   I was born and raised in Houston.  From a very early age, my dad has worked with the fast food chain (in the real estate department, mind you), allowing our family to stay in town.  No, we don't eat free Jack in the Box.  And good thing because I have an incredible physique to keep up.  (Kidding, we still eat there frequently.)

22. Hakeem Olajuwon/1994 NBA Finals
   I've mentioned before that I can pinpoint the moment I became a basketball fan.  Seeing Hakeem take out Patrick Chewing was that moment; I began playing NBA Live 95 in between long bouts with Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

21. Amy Jo Johnson
   Everyone remembers their first crush.  I think I speak for countless guys my age when I say that the Pink Ranger was everybody's first dream girl.  I can still remember being devastated when Tommy kissed her in an episode.  She was mine (well...maybe tomorrow night.)

20. Doug
   I've been lucky enough to be blessed with episodic cases of unrequited love.  In that respect, my obsession with Doug at any early age might have been before its time.  Forget Olde English poems, watching Doug fawn over Patti Mayonnaise was all I needed to learn about chasing the unattainable.

19. Halloween
   When I was six, my sister made me watch Halloween.  I was absolutely terrified.  However, it opened Pandora's box.  My childhood best friend Reid and I would search like ravenous dogs for showings of Halloween and Child's Play 2, changing the channels whenever it got too scary (to more age appropriate things like GLOBAL Guts).  After watching Scream in 2nd grade, I became emotionally numb to horror movies (after a respectable few months of being afraid every time the phone rang at night).  I now watch them with friends for fun.

18. Animorphs
   In 3rd grade, I won the Avid Reader award in my classroom.  I know, it was a huge moment in my life.  What the award meant was that any moment I had free time, I was reading one of my two favorite book series (the other being Goosebumps).  If you can't tell, I was a pretty popular kid.  The Animorphs was my favorite book series growing up and I always wished I could be the leader (Jake's hair alone should have discredited him from leader contention).  And FYI, reflecting on the series, Tobias was pretty indie (and definitely before it was cool).

17. Board Races
   While I never was one of the most popular kids in the school, I could always get by relatively unscathed because I was pretty good at basketball.  That being said, I think every "loser" in middle school can point out a moment when they were completely humiliated.  Mine was in my 5th grade class during a math game called Board Races.  Basically, we would solve math problems on the chalkboard and whoever finished first won a prize.  This would go on daily and I would win at least three days a week.  That already alienated me, but what really killed me was how competitively ungracious I was.  I'm pretty sure even my teacher despised me, and when a new kid moved in town that routinely beat me, my classmates were quick to gloat.  I am the worst.

16. Smallville
   Continuing my lameness, I was pretty obsessed with this show when I was younger.  So much so that, when I talk to a few girls nowadays that I liked during junior high, they always tell me that the show reminds them of me.  If that information doesn't make me Charging Interests' most eligible bachelor, then I'm at a loss.

15. Lost
   I'm still pretty disappointed with how it ended, but if there was ever a group of obsessed Lost fans (and I think there were a few), my friends and I were at the very top.

14. My high school basketball coach
   My coach was nothing if not polarizing.  My junior year he trusted me to lead our team to the promised land....we were 6-25.  That being said, I was honored to be co-MVP and make the All-County team despite our horrid record.  I've mentioned this all before, but I found myself being replaced by the younger players senior year in order to give them experience for the future. (Which wasn't a horrible idea...my problem was that the coach suddenly treated me like I was the Sasha Vujacic of the team).  I quit before my senior season.  While I doubt anything would have happened, I always wonder if I would have turned down a big university in order to play ball at a small college.  But, since I couldn't stand my coach, I'll live with the memories of the eternally more fulfilling Road House intramural team.

13. First Baptist - The Woodlands
   I might be breaking the rules on this one by mentioning friends and God, but my hometown church was never more important to me than my final years of high school.  When some of my friends started going in different directions than me and I felt lost, I turned here.  Our youth associate, Brock, ended up living in my house for a while until he got his feet on the ground and became a brother to me.  He, along with some incredible friends, proved that you didn't have to be going crazy on weekends to have fun.  FAITH is rewarded.

12. Coaching the Bucks
   I played in my community basketball league, the WCBL, since I was in 2nd grade.  Many times my dad was my coach.  My final semester of high school I decided I wanted to coach a team of 7th-8th graders (along with my friends Tim and Janisch...a power trio).  After losing a lot of love for my favorite sport my senior year, coaching the Bucks helped mend the wounds of the lost season. 

11. The Hydra
   If you don't already know what my lake house on Lake Travis means to me, you should check this out.

10. Exxon Mobil Aviation
   My mom has worked here next to the airport for as long as I can remember.  Secretly, I always wanted to fly planes.  I loved getting to explore the hangar as a child and have pictures of me sitting in the cockpit of private jets when I was four.  That heavily weighed in my brash decision to skip my acceptance to UT and head to OU for an aviation degree.  What a hilariously flawed decision that turned out to be.

9. Guestroom Records
   My roommate and I frequented this fantastic record store on Main Street in Norman.  I always half-expected to see John Cusack and Jack Black working the front counter.  I found a lot of my favorite music there, including The Black Keys and My Morning Jacket.  Now that I sold out and own a record player, I wish I could go back and actually buy something.

8. Sophomore Communication Class
   My most embarrassing moment in a college class.  We had to give 3 minute persuasive speeches on joining a nonprofit organization.  I was as interested in giving the speech as you are reading about it.  I bombed so terribly that some people couldn't watch; I didn't go back to class for two weeks.  I've vowed to not get so embarrassed with public speaking since.  (We'll see how long that holds true).

7. My first aviation teacher
   I didn't stick with aviation very long.  After one semester, my teacher was so terrible and disinterested in teaching that I once again rethought myself and bailed.  Who knows what would have happened if I had a teacher that challenged his students (actually, I probably would have bounced anyways).  Alas, I reverted back to my first love, which was English.  Looking back now, I'm almost grateful for the dude.

6. As I Lay Dying
    This was one of the first stories we read in class when I became an English major and it immediately reaffirmed why I changed to it.  William Faulkner, while unreasonably difficult to read at times, inspired me to want to write something of worth.  (If that will happen is still a little murky).

5. Central Baptist
   When I changed to an English degree, I knew I would have to come back to Texas so my family could pay in-state tuition.  I was never a huge Texas A&M fan, even turning down my acceptance offer in high school, but it was the only place I applied to when I wanted to come back home.  The reason being that my brother-in-law got a job as the University minister at Central Baptist in College Station.  It was amazing being so close to my sister and her family.  While I never got involved with the church as much as I should have (some stubbornness comes into play there...long story), Central's hire was honestly the primary reason for me attending A&M initially.  It turned out to be the best decision I could have made.

4. Bon Iver
   I've listened to some soulful stuff for a while (Iron & Wine, Ray LaMontagne, Sufjan Stevens, etc.), but none of them have hit home with me as much as Bon Iver has (pronounced 'Bone Evehr', although since neither he nor I are French, I'll continue refusing to pronounce it like that).  The guy makes great music, even if you can barely hear what he's singing at times.

3. Born to Run
   I don't read a lot of nonfiction.  However, running has always interested me so this book by Christopher McDougall was at the top of my Christmas list.  I finished it in about a day or two and can trace my motivation for running to this book.  Check it out; in the very least you might start saving money by not purchasing expensive shoes. 

2. Senior Seminar Class
   I took many good English classes in college, but none that were more influential and inspiring as my senior seminar class.  If you didn't notice, Charging Interests was heavy on the pop culture references and light on the personal reflections from its inception till about Christmas break 2010.  (10 of the 12 people reading this blog are thinking to themselves right now "Yeah, the site was actually bearable back then."  I apologize.)  This class made me feel more confident in sharing things that were a little more personal.  My short story, along with many of the posts I've written these past few months, would have stayed hidden in between my couch cushions if it weren't for the confidence I gained from all the amazing people I met in that class.  (Misguided confidence, I might add.)

1. Copper Sage - The Original Neighborhood
   So we've come this far and there is still no hint at what got me started with such a terrific company as EOG.  The truth is, it all starts with Copper Sage, the street I grew up on until 4th grade.  The father of my childhood best friend was able to get me in the door with his company, and I was lucky enough to catch on.  I remember vividly the first time I met him; I was seven years old.  Now I work twenty feet away from him.  Irony aside, I know that I am unbelievably blessed.
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My pal Ken and I stood in the doorway of my house on the last night before he left to work in Dallas.  "Here we go," he said.  I don't mean to support the Bud Light slogan aspect to the statement, but it kind of summed everything up that I've been feeling lately. I never pictured myself working in a skyscraper downtown, yet I couldn't be happier right now.  Life is full of parity.  No one knows what's happening next, but here we go.

-PB (also, check out my friend Kollin Baer's new album "The Woods" on iTunes...it's great!)