Of unlikely friendships and likely stories

Another year has gone by, and I can safely say – I’m glad 2010 is over! It wasn’t a great year for me from the start. And the hits just kept coming, one after the other, right until December. The low post-count in the blog, especially after June just goes to prove this.

I don’t mean to crib about having a bad year, though. I’m actually going to tell you about one of the many things that helped me survive a supremely bad year – an unlikely sort of friendship with an unlikely sort of person. (No, this is not a sappy post that describes how an unlikely friendship saved me from the brink of suicide, or something…) But, why do I use the word “unlikely”? Because this is one of those people who genuinely gets along really well with pretty much everyone, is always smiling and making the funniest jokes and generally carries an “aura” of positive energy about him! In short, the kind of person that’s likely to make me nauseous, if I had to be around him too much. And yet, I managed to get snared in this sticky web of a genuine friendship with this chap! How…? Gah! To answer that question would result in this post turning sappy – and we don’t want that!!

So what do I hate *cough*envy*cough* most about this friend of mine? Hah! That’s an easy one – it is how he tells his stories. Stories are his weapons of choice, when trying to disarm unsuspecting passers-by, lab mates and the likes; and my friend Mr. Story-teller has this despicable ability to know what details to hold back, when it’s acceptable to exaggerate and how to steal other peoples jokes and incorporate them into his story, without them realizing it!! He also knows exactly whom to cast as the butt of the jokes (A simple job, as it’s usually me, if I’m around – and probably still me when I’m not!). He has an intimate knowledge of the punchline-laughter curve – delivering the killing punchline at the exact point in time when it will result in maximum laughs from his audience.When he tells his story, you (or even I) won’t snort and say “likely story”. You won’t question how much of it is true . You just want to hear the story for the pleasure of hearing it!

I mean, I make the same voyages as Mr. Story-teller, tell of the same adventures and mis-adventures….Yet, my stories are more likely to be met by less awe/laughter or maybe the sound of crickets or worst of all – by the sound my my laughter, punctuated by my audience’s silence. Simply because I don’t use the same creative license parameters.

So, Whats the point of this post, you ask? It’s not nice to be jealous, that too of a friend, you say? It’s not like I can do anything about this man’s ability to tell stories, you say? Well, I’ll tell you what I’m going to do about all of this! I’m going to start writing more about my personal experiences in my blog; and here’s where the joke is on Mr. Story-teller – I’m going to use creative licenses in a manner very similar to his, to weave some impressive “likely stories” of my own. (I won’t steal his stories, mind you! He’s going to accuse me of just this, when I force him to read this entry). This is my blog-resolution for 2011. I think I might just start by dusting off those Antarctic Ocean journal entries and putting together a few “stories” about that voyage.

So watch out, my unsuspecting 5 person readership ……. (or you might miss it….?)