A couple of weeks ago, I bought a digital audio recorder needed to conduct an interview five minutes after the purchase. After the interview—the audio for which I initially thought was mistakenly erased but was in fact in a strangely named folder on the recorder—will be posted soon, and I'm not sure how to deal with the fact that it sounds like I'm nervously reading from a script. At least it would be an accurate portrayal, since I was indeed nervous and indeed reading from a script. After the interview, I showed the recorder to a colleague, and we talked briefly about that when purchasing, I made sure to ask if it had an external microphone jack and a PC cable to transfer the audio. I made a joke that I could use the recorder to take notes, and mockingly brought the recorder close to my mouth and said, "Note to self: be awesome."

It got the laugh I expected, but after thinking about it for a while, I wondered: instead of this inferiority complex—which I gather is the reason people read my weblog, some of whom with schadenfreude—why not just be funny, confident and all the other things I know I'm capable of? Why not, in short, not only be awesome but catalog some of my awesomeness? What is stopping me from enjoying what life throws at me? The answer is not only nothing, but forces—like an improved financial situation, more diverse sources of entertainment and relaxation, and increased happiness and better attitude of my friends towards me and a better attitude on my part towards them, the increased likelihood of my wearing a cowboy shirt, a sunny disposition in response to the sunny weather—are pushing me in that direction.

Being lame had its moments, but the break's over. Time to be awesome.