Evan!!!!!! (Plus or Minus an Exclamation Point)

LklAjf;ldskajflkjdsf!!! I think it is only fair to start off this post with some spirit fingers since, well, that pretty much epitomizes Evan's and my friendship. Well, so does the term "hugfest", but you can't exactly relay THAT concept via a computer keyboard... wait, can you?

Anyway! Let's back up. So, why, all of a sudden, a post about only one of my Favorite (understatement) people alive? Well, when Evan mentioned that he was stopping by Chicago en route to New York this weekend, you KNOW that my mind instantly toyed with the idea of... what else? A tribute, of course. A tribute to one of my Favorites, if you will. I don't know why I didn't think of this grand gem of an idea when he came to visit earlier in the year, but whatever. Better late than never, right? Right.

Yeah, the tribute idea was pretty much signed, sealed and delivered as soon as we reunited on Saturday. I mean, what do you get when two of the happiest people to ever grace this fine planet we call Mother Earth (deep, I know) reunite?


That's right. Pearly whites GALORE!!! (Just disregard that minor face invasion I call a godawful cold sore... darn drastic weather changes. TMI? Eh, oh well. Hahah.)

Anyway! Evan and I used to work together at my first job ever, out in San Francisco. No joke, two of the greatest highlights of my career were when:

1) I had to write Evan's project evaluation. Considering it was my first project as a senior, I knew I was supposed to be all professional and whatnot, but... well, screw it! I couldn't hold back the exclamation points!! Whatever, at least I refrained from incorporating smiley faces into that official document/permanent record. Sigh. Oh well. I tried. Kind of.

2. Evan requested that I be his mentor!!! lkjfsadlkjdsflk! lkafdsjlkj! I remember the day I got Emily's email coordinating this request as if it were yesterday. Hahahah- seriously! As a select few people know (read: Jenna), one of my FAVORITE things about my job was mentoring people... and by mentoring people, I really just mean... well, instilling the general Christie-ridiculousness (but that I like to spin as "words of wisdom", if you will) upon those lucky individuals who were my mentees. Sigh. Good times.

Sadly, I decided to peace outta Triage about a month after Evan became one of my mentees. While my adoration for dear Evan was totally OBVI from the first day I met him, I suck at keeping in touch with people so I figured that he would just be "another person that I knew at Triage". But no, no. It turns out that Evan, himself, is actually quite phenom at keeping in touch with people (and by "phenom", I just mean that he's better than me). And thank GOD! I mean, Gchat at work just wouldn't be the same without Evan on my little contact list! Hahaha. Lord, I'm divulging way too much information at this point, but I don't care! I get so excited when I pay tribute to a Favorite!!

Seriously, the few times that Evan and I actually get to reunite are such happy little hugfests, I can't stand it. (It certainly doesn't hurt that he totally has all this faith and confidence in me "making it big" with that TV show I am SO ASPIRING TO GET!!! Omg, can you imagine? He would obviously be the manager and... well, how could you NOT want to work for either of us?!!? Hahaha just kidding. Just KIDDING!) But seriously. He's just one of those genuinely good-hearted, genuinely happy people. Even when he's having a bad day, his reactions come across as more entertaining than anything else (well, at least on Gchat. And at least to me. So I find everything to be funny... so sue me).

No, but seriously. You know how you can just tell "good people" when you chat with them for a few minutes? That pretty much defines Evan. Sigh. While I do proclaim a lot of people to be my favorites, it takes a LOT to make "Favorite" (note the capital F) status. And for Evan, I can honestly say "Favorite" is a total understatement.

Lkjfdslkajfdljdslkfjlkj! TOTAL HUGFESTLKjdsflkajfdslkj! I'm already so excited for our next reunion!!

I’m on Twitter… now what?

Alright, so here’s the thing. I’m all about social networking, making the world a smaller, place, befriending all the world, etc. That’s why I am a firm advocate of Facebook. Granted, I used to be unhealthily obsessed with it (is it normal to start twitching if one doesn’t check Facebook once every couple of hours? Oh well.), but once you realize your limitations and the healthy boundaries of social networking, you’ll realize just how powerful that tool is.

Okay, Facebook is one thing- it’s so versatile and dynamic and oh how I heart thee. I could write an ode to it. But then there’s Twitter, right? So you know how it’s like all the rage right now? I was firmly against Twitter because I never understood the point of it. After all, the implementation of Facebook’s “status updates” is one of the most annoying things ever to me (well, not EVER, who are we kidding here? I always briefly scroll through the status updates anyway! But still. You know what I mean.)… and that’s pretty much ALL Twitter is, right?

Anyway, power of persuasion and all that. I’m now on Twitter. That took about five minutes of discussion. Haha. I’m telling you, if you ever need to convince anyone of anything, you should hire Evan Fleming (no worries about that whole Internet security business… I already confirmed that he is comfortable with me using his whole name because, as he so eloquently put it, “ohhhh…. No I don’t mind… I’m all over the internet”… hahah KNEE SLAPPER). Granted, Evan is one of my favorite people alive (I heavily advertise him to all the world), so that helped in the whole persuasive component, but still.

Okay, so Evan was all about me getting on Twitter to continue to brand myself and just have another wider ranging audience to whom I can advertise my blog. This all sounded so amazing and monumental and like, wow, this is really going to be my big break in the blog/entertainment world. So, there I went, getting on Twitter.

And then… well, I just got lost and confused. I mean, how in the world do you USE this thing? Like, how in heaven’s name am I supposed to know who to follow? And how am I supposed to self-advertise that people should follow me? And then the whole use of symbols to “tag” people, etc. GOD, it is like the most confusing thing ever.

So, there I was… kind of forgetting that I even HAD a Twitter account… when I posted another blog entry (and advertised it on Facebook and Gchat, as per usual). What was I thinking? Dutiful, dear Evan made sure to get right on his follow up with me to ENSURE that I was planning to post my latest blog entry on Twitter. I mean, who does that? Haha.

So, now that I realize big brother of the Twitter world (aka: Evan Fleming) is totally all up on Twitter, I’m MUCH better about making sure I post my latest blog on Twitter as well… with all my four followers or whatever. Whatever makes him happy, I guess. Haha. It only totally motivates me more that Evan totally tweets me out from time to time. His last tweet about me? “pumped that my girl Christie @Maliyacular is going to be gracing #sf with her presence in a couple weeks. let the #tourdechristie begin!”

A #tourdechristie?!?!?! Alsdkfj;laskdjflkdsjf!!! THIS IS WHY EVAN IS TOTALLY THE PUBLICITY DIRECTOR OF MY SHOW!!!!!!!flkdajslfkdjsla! Who THINKS of something like that?!?!?!?

Anyway, so long story short, sure I STILL don’t really understand the point of Twitter (and if YOU do, please, by all means, do enlighten me), but clearly, CLEARLY, it doesn’t take all that much to get me to love it. God, I’m such a sucker. #hearttwitter! Haha or something like that…