I'm a cypher, wrapped in an enigma, smothered in secret sauce. Also, my name is Kev and I own this here website.

Alright, I'm just a guy (though an admittedly awesome one at that -- oh, and humble) who likes to blog. Sarcasm, quick wit and gorilla dust are my tools of the trade. Feel free to browse my blog and follow me. It's okay. I won't call the cops. Click here if you'd like to write a guest blog for SKOS.


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Are you human?
(Hint: Type "yes" without quotes)

My apologies for the absence here lately. You see, I was hiking the Appalachian Trail with my buddy, Governor Mark Sanford of good ol’ South Carolina. Yeah, me and Mark go back a long ways. When you have stressful jobs like we do, sometimes you just have to get away. And neither he or I can think of a better way to “get away” than hiking and camping and all that entails.

You know, apropos of nothing, but Mark tells the scariest camping stories. The other day, he told this one story about this young, handsome guy who thought he was hiking the Appalachian Trail with the governor of some southern state when he was REALLY hiking with a deranged serial killer. I don’t know how the story ends — there was an emergency at work so I had run back home — but I’m sure it was spine tingling.

What’s that? Mark wasn’t hiking the Appalachian Trail the past few days? He was in Argentina??

Huh.

Anyway, the other reason I haven’t blogged lately is I’ve had a lot of things on my mind.

Wonderful, exciting, beautiful things.

Is that reason too teasingly vague? My bad.

Do not despair, my dear reader. (Yes, I said “reader.” I’m assuming, after all this time, there is only one of you left.) I’m here now. And I shall entertain you with a blog post that has absolutely nothing to do with anything. Ready? Okay, here we go.

“Boxer Briefs” is more than simply an answer to a question no one in the universe has ever wondered about yours truly. Lately, it is is also a topic that is bringing out the former, superstitious baseball player in me. (All baseball players are superstitious, you see.)

What do I mean?

Two weeks ago, I wore one particular pair of boxer briefs. They are blue, in case you were wondering. That evening, I became ill and had to call in sick to work the following morning.

This past Thursday evening, after having showered after the gym, I put on the same blue boxer briefs. I went to bed, only to wake up a few hours later deathly ill. It was awful. Once again, I had to call in sick to work.

Since I was sick and not going anywhere that day (and also because I had showered the night before), I sported those boxer briefs all day Friday. It wasn’t until Saturday morning, when I showered, did they leave my presence. Evidently, the fact I wore them at all Saturday meant that day would be doomed for me as well. That afternoon, I went to get my haircut. I’ve been getting haircuts all my life without incident. But not that day.

The lady, spawn of Lucifer, whomever or whatever it was cutting my hair mistook my saying “I want to keep my sideburns, but trim them” to mean “cut off my sideburns completely and, if possible, salt the earth so the hair can never grow back.”

That’s right. I am writing this blog post sans sideburns. It is not a good look for me. I look like someone who has watched Forrest Gump way, way, way too many times.

Clearly, these blue boxer briefs are cursed.

I’d burn them, but somehow my house would end up on fire I’m sure.

I’d bury them, but then the curse would get into the soil of the earth and spread like wildfire.

I’d sell them, but I don’t want anyone crazy or weird enough to buy used underwear (!) to know my name or mailing address.

So, in my dresser they will remain.

They will stay there until I gather the courage to tempt fate once again. Or until I run out of boxer briefs. Whichever comes first.

The Origin of Boo Boos
June 10, 2009
Blog
6

Have you ever been minding your own business, doing your own thing, when you suddenly glance down and notice a scratch on your finger, hand or arm?

“How did that happen,” you will think to yourself.

For a moment, you’ll retrace your steps in your mind to see if you can figure out how the scratch came about, but inevitably you’ll give up and brush it off as no big deal.

Silly people.

It IS a big deal.

Would you be so quick to dismiss $5 disappearing from your wallet every so often? Would you be so “meh” to figure out why your co-workers kept asking if you liked the coffee and then walked away giggling? Would you shrug your shoulders at the mystery as to why you woke up every so often to find one of your organs removed?

Scratches without known origins are ciphers, wrapped in enigmas, smothered in a wide variety of secret sauces. They demand to be solved. And just so none of you think I’m all talk, allow me to walk the walk.

To the left is poor-quality photo of a scratch I noticed on my thumb when I sat down at my desk at work this morning. No, it didn’t hurt. I’m a tough, manly man. But thanks for asking.

How did this happen? Let’s retrace my steps:

Maybe I got it while getting out of bed in the morning. The good Lord knows getting out of bed is an arduous task for me, so perhaps in the fight to get my butt in gear I picked up a battle scar?

No, that couldn’t be it. Arduous task or not, the scratch wouldn’t have still been bleeding when I noticed it at work if I had gotten it two hours earlier. I have awesome blood-clotting skills, just so you know.

For that same reason, I can rule out the possibility of getting the scratch while at the gym. Besides, I would have noticed if one of those awkward body-building guys or scantily-clad “ladies” walked up to me and scratched my thumb. And I know my precious elliptical machine would never scratch me.

Could I have gotten the scratch while showering? I do love my Old Spice “Game Day” Body Wash, so I suppose it’s possible I got carried away and scrubbed too hard. But if that’s the case, wouldn’t I have multiple scars on various body parts?

Maybe I got it while preparing my morning cup of coffee. Could the scratch be a byproduct of opening up one too many packets of Splenda? Could pouring in a little “half and half” have caused a drop of piping-hot coffee to splatter onto my thumb and eat away at my precious (though manly) skin?

Since I know the scratch didn’t happen while grasping my barbed-wire steering wheel during my drive to work, I am left when only one possible conclusion:

Aliens, or possibly Obama, are stealing samples of my DNA and leaving behind scratches in the process. I can only assume the aliens, or Obama, are trying to clone a race of super-awesome humans. Yes, that must be it. It’s so obvious.

I just hope a race of cloned aliens (or cloned Obama — oooh, scary thought) don’t someday try to steal DNA samples from my clones. As the Michael Keaton movie Multiplicity clearly proved, a clone of a clone is not as sharp as…well…the original.

Naked Baby Wallpaper
June 3, 2009
Blog
10

(Sorry for being MIA, everyone. I’ve been busy. When you’re incredibly awesome, you’re usually spread pretty thin. Everyone wants a piece.)

So, in the end, I picked House C.

What’s that, you say? There wasn’t a “C” option when I talked about the possible rentals I was considering last time?

You know, you’re right. I decided to pass on both houses I told you all about in my last blog post. I just wasn’t feeling it with either one of them. House A had carpet in the kitchen, a “master bath” barely big enough for an infant, and noisy neighbors. House B had landlords I liked, but I just wasn’t enamored with the place. The kitchen was small and the layout was odd.

So, I decided to keep looking.

And I did.

And then I found it.

House C. Also known as the house with the pool. Also known as the house with the “naked baby wallpaper.” I’ll get to that in a moment.

This place is in a great location for me. I have a short commute to work, I’m very close to my gym, and I’m very close to my family. The rent is the same as the other two homes I was considering. It’s larger than the other homes. It’s nicer than the other homes. It has a front porch and a screened-in porch — something neither of the other homes possessed. It has a bigger and nicer yard than the other homes. It has room for both my pool table and my dining table. It has hardwood floors in half the house.

And it has a pool.

I’ve never owned a pool and I’m going to have to learn how to maintain one, but I plan on using this thing quite a bit. Swimming is excellent exercise. Plus, Lord knows I could use a little sun. If I had fangs, I’m fairly certain people would mistake me for a vampire if I was walking around at night in a graveyard (as I often do).

There were only two tangible downsides. One, there are some stains on the bedroom carpets. Two, there is the aforementioned naked baby wallpaper. It’s located in the guest bathroom in the main hallway. The first time I saw the house, I somehow didn’t notice it. I looked at the flooring. I looked at the sink. I looked in the closet. I looked at the tub. I even looked at the ceiling. But somehow I overlooked the walls.

On my second viewing, I noticed the wallpaper. My reaction was obvious and twofold:

“How on earth did I miss this before? Was I blind? I think I’d remember if I was blind. Oh no, maybe I have amnesia!”

“What kind of sick person puts up wallpaper of naked babies?”

As inexplicable as the wallpaper was/is, it’s not enough for me to pass on the house.

So, I got it. I signed the lease. Half my stuff is already moved in.

The tricky part now is what to do about the wallpaper. If I owned this place, getting rid of it would be a no brainer. But I’m renting. I’m not a fan of putting money into a rental — except for things I can easily take with me when I move. So, the question is, “can I live with the naked baby wallpaper?”

On the one hand, it IS in the guest bathroom. I never have to look at it if I don’t want to.

Also, for my guests, the wallpaper would make an excellent conversation piece:

Guest: “Um, Kevin? Are those naked babies on your bathroom wall?”

Me: “Why yes. Yes it is. You should see the guest bedroom with the wallpaper of senior citizens. It’s very classy.”

Of course, on the other hand, keeping the place female friendly was a goal of mine when looking for a new place. I even wrote a blog post asking all of you for tips. I could be mistaken, but I don’t recall any of you suggesting I get a home with naked baby wallpaper in the bathroom.

So, what would a female guest think of it?

What say you, my dear readers?