Flash in the Pan
A couple years ago when Chris and I first moved to Connecticut from Florida, we had to go shopping for cold weather clothes. Being from Florida, all we had were socks. We thought that would be sufficient. Until September rolled around and we suddenly found ourselves shivering in our socks.
Chris found this one little jacket that he loved. It was one of those fleece zip-up hoodies. He wore it every single day. Every day. It was his thing. And when it got colder and he was forced to wear something warmer and heavier, he still wore his hoodie. It was just underneath his winter coat. It drove me crazy. He was always wearing the same thing everywhere we went.
Whenever I complained about this, he would compromise and buy another hoodie. A different hoodie. In a different color. He felt like that changed things up. That’s why we have a collection of 6,000 different shades of dark, fleece, zip-up hoodies in our front closet.
But the one day, he stopped wearing them. He just stopped. Altogether. He bought a heavier raincoat/winter coat that is actually really nice and that was the end of the hoodies. He never wore them again.
When Chris was in college, he lived with a guy named Tray. Tray was the kind of guy who instantly made you cooler. And not just cause he is black. Although he insists that’s what it was. He was just a cool guy. He was a painter and a wonderful artist. And he was funny as hell. One year Chris and Tray went as each other for Halloween. It was pretty much the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.
But more than his artistic abilities and his side-splitting sense of humor, Tray was a music man. He loved all music. And he sang it. Not well. But loud. Whenever he was home, there was music playing in their house. So it wasn’t surprising that Chris’ love of music blossomed while he and Tray were roommates.
In the years since college, Chris’ love of music has become an obsession. There isn’t anything he won’t listen to – classical, rock, pop, indy, country, opera, R&B, reggae, and the list goes on. He is just a music person. So much so that he has started collecting music like baseball cards. In fact, our computer tonight shows that we can play music for 108 days straight without repeating a single song.
But one day a couple weeks ago, Chris decided that his music collection was just too much. He had quantity, but it wasn’t all quality. And so he began to scour though his music, getting rid of anything that he didn’t deem worthy of owning. Just like that. It was the day the music died.
He went through something similar with movies before he started on music. He collected movies like they were going out of style. And, like with his music, he didn’t discriminate. He bought them all. Romance. Drama. Thrillers. Action. Documentaries. He needed them all. And so they sit in our basement, largely unwatched, because the movie phase, too, has passed.
This year, Chris’ new phase is hockey. He’s always been a hockey lover. He played street hockey when we lived in Florida and he’s always sort of kept an eye on the NHL. We’ve been to a few games (remember my cab ride to Madison Square Gardens last year?). But this year, Chris has decided its going to be his sport. He’s watched games every night. He’s picked his teams and he follows them religiously. He reads about them online. He talks about them on sports chat communities. He is THE hockey fan this year.
Yeah, Chris is a bit of a serial fanatic. He picks his cause – jackets, music, movies, hockey – and he throws himself into it 110%. For a little while. And then he finds something else that catches his attention and he moves on.
So that’s why I’m trying not to get too frustrated that Beanie hasn’t rolled over in weeks. He went through this one weekend where he was rolling himself over like a champ. You’d put him down, turn for a split second, and he’d flip himself on his back. He was obsessed with it.
But, like his father, Beanie has moved on. He threw himself into his new hobby for two days straight. It was all he did. And then, suddenly, it stopped. It was over. He shall ne’er roll again.
Of course, I blame Chris. CLEARLY, he has already taught our son that you can just give up on things whenever you feel like it. CLEARLY, in Bean’s four long months on this earth he has already observed, comprehended, and repeated his father’s behavioral patterns. I intend to take this up with Chris as soon as possible. I intend to have a conversation with him about the example he is setting for our son.
But I’ll probably have to wait until after hockey season…
13 Comments
Ashley and Ben Stark (YSD for Life)
Katie–This post was hilarious! I always read your blog but I’ve never commented. Sorry! The picture of Chris and Tray is priceless. BTW–Bean is the cutest baby (as if you didn’t already know). Ben and I miss the East Coast but we’re really enjoying Kansas State. But Ben will always be a Yalie at heart!
P.S. Ben also thinks your blog is hilarious.
Eileen
Definitely Chris’ child. He’s just a Been-There-Done-That kid. No need to beat the dead (rolling) horse 🙂
Jordan
My husband is very similar with being ALLLL about something, then just stop.
In fact just a few months ago he was downloading music like crazy- anything and everything. He had to buy his first ipod (how much of a music lover could he have really been before if he didn’t even have an ipod before 2009?)The other day he decided he had too much, and started deleting tons of the music. Except that he accidentally deleted way more than he wanted to. oops.
Casey
That’s funny… my Dad is just like that, and consequently so am I! He has like 6 or 7 go-to hobbies… he will really get into one for like 6 months and then switch to something else. The hobbies go in cycles for sure, and he REALLY gets into them. Like travels across the country for them. I do the same thing, just on a much smaller (and less expensive!) scale… like father like kid!
Jenn
Seriously? I think our husband must be long lost friends or something…..he has about 15 hoodies (which I HATE because they are like a load of laundry in and of themselves. then, much like chris, he went out and bought a very handsome peacoat, BUT insisted up on wearing his hoodie underneath of it with the hood hanging out! we were just talking last night, in fact, about how he thinks that it’s a fashion do and i think it’s a fashion DON’T 🙂
and hockey, oh the hockey. fantasy hockey league and all. my husband loves the caps. he just called me about 10 minutes ago super stoked because he was invited to the game tonight….i can’t even begin to tell you how much i am looking forward to the next 8 months of hockey season.
oh and when i showed him chris’ world domination “game” from the the man cave, he thought it was the best idea ever….
seriously, the similarities are endless!
Beth
Send Chris to Columbus, Ohio and I’ll get him Columbus Blue Jackets tickets.
Go Jackets!!
Shannon
I love that Halloween picture! And Hockey is a great sport, I hope he likes the Bruins!
Bridget
Katie,
HILARIOUS. Since we just got a DVR, my normally apathetic to the television boyfriend has now become obsessed with watching hockey. ALthough he played roller hockey as a kid and has always had a vague interest, he is now OBSESSED. He DVRS every game, and watches the pregame and the post game. It isn’t normal. I just wanted to DVR “Say Yes to the Dress”!!
Kelly
Your husband’s DVD collection looks like my husband’s DVD collection. We also have a huge music file on our computer and it’s mostly his (including the Kelly Clarkson songs).
Laura
I’m one of the hugest hockey fans…blame it on being a tomboy growing up and wanting to be just like my big brother. It’s a wonderful, fast sport to get into, but judging from Chris’s pattern, it will only be a phase. I hope you enjoy it too!
Bean is so cute, you should get him one of those little hockey outfits 🙂 I’m a dork.
Laura
I think that it is a man thing. My husband and dad do it all the time too!
Carole-Anne
Your Chris sounds like my Todd. One day it’s cameras, next it’s tools, another it’s computer. Today it’s stuff for his new truck. Bedliner. Step bars. Dual exhaust system. Wonder what it will be tomorrow.
Enjoy your weekend with the Bean. I’ll do the same with Peanut.
Sarah B.
Go Red Wings!