The Almost Unbearable Lightness of Nice...and tired too.

Zoey would want a thoughtful and kind Dad, I'm certain, and so we're interviewing people.

"When I was young I used to admire intelligent people; as I grow older, I admire kind people."

I'm a pretty big fan of falling in love with people, or at least the idea of people. It's one of my favorite things. It probably should be yours too, everyone's in fact, but I'll settle for making it my own and leave the rest of you to fend for yourselves.

I've always had this nasty little habit of finding the best qualities of a person and shining my own little light of affection on them. Sometimes those observations can be pretty shallow -- I'm still a guy, right? -- and sometimes not. Sometimes I find a familiar kind of captivation with the way a person fills a room, or maybe how they hide beneath their desk, the way someone's hair looks or the always rumpled but perfect clothes they wear the hell out of. Some people just have a little more something than others...let's be honest...and I notice it. You do too. I know that you do. Of course, some people don't and I notice that too, and I still find a way to somehow think, "Oh, I love that thing about so-and-so..." or, "Yeah, but there's that thing that they do..." and in the end I must seem like an overly optimistic (or blind and stupid) person of questionable taste. Well, I think that my taste is just fine, thank you very much. In fact, I think that my taste is firmly intact, and if anything, it's been proven beyond a reasonable doubt to be eclectic, sweeping, and if not entirely forgiving, completely inclusive. I like liking people. So what?

Ever since I was small I've been helplessly attracted to kindness. Bravado, strength, influence etc...didn't move me much. Kindness sent me on errands of interest, and kindness pulled me in. It was kindness, I think, that dented me and kindness that then defined the very things I wanted to be. Today, I see no value in the wasted breath of indifference, or the vanity of self-importance. Just be, and while you're at it, just be nice. We might not be here for very long so if I like your haircut I'm probably going to tell you as much, and if you ask a favor of me I'm probably going to consider it, and will be even more likely to just do it. Someday I just might need one back. I might also get a really bad haircut one day and need the encouragement. Worse yet, I might need to talk. Just the idea of that favor sends shivers down the spines of brave men...putzes. They're just words.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said that, "The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be,” so I decide to be kind.

How 'bout you?

Rather than just slapping up a silly logo that says nice person of the week (a few days late...again) it makes perfect sense to slip a little acknowledgement in here. Thanks Barb...for the ubiquitous kindness...hands down winner. Honourable mention goes to Dustin Wellman for finding enough sweetness in your Joe Average "every man" persona to type a birthday message to Zo in your own Facebook status line rather than just drop something on our walls. You represent every single one of us fellas just fine, just fine indeed. Further honorable mention goes to Nikki who I walk past in the hallway all week and is just quietly and sweetly kind almost always. An seemingly random observation, sure, but it strikes me that not everyone is as consitent and not necessarily everyone inspires me to smile and say hi as often as you do. Done.

What friggin' time is it? I feel like I'm living on Chinese time lately. It's 5 am for God's sake...Jesus H. Granderson, This is crazy.