filed in Daily Life
How To Be Surprising: A Contest
I love Twitter. One of its pleasures is reading the hilarious, daily musings of Lizz Winstead, a social critic and comedian, who co-created The Daily Show, and helped give Rachel Maddow her start. I’m so excited about this contest, which features LIZZ FREE OR DIE, a collection of Winstead’s autobiographical essays. As a woman in comedy, Lizz broke so many rules. And in her honor, this contest is about defying expectations. Tell us one thing you did that surprised your family. It can be when you were a kid, or just the other day. It can be trivial or profound. Define family however you choose. As a super bonus, Lizz will select the winner.
Submit your entry using the Comments section. Include your first name. (If you win, we’ll get in touch by email for your U.S. shipping address, and telephone number.) Enter as often as you like. Deadline: May 17, 2012.
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I came out.
Bravo! I love reading this today, of all days, as our country takes a giant step forward.
I bought a condo without help from a significant other, or anyone else!
You rock!
I forgave a parent that had been very hurtful to me as a child. Everyone in my circle of family and friends never thought I would ever be capable of such a thing (I can hold a grudge like a pit bull), and most did not believe that the parent deserved the forgiveness. They don’t all realize that forgiving isn’t the same as saying that bad behavior is OK – it’s saying that the bad behavior no longer holds me hostage.
Thank you Stacey, for sharing your story. It’s beautiful.
With two weeks left of my last semester at Bennington College, I decided to move to Los Angeles, without ever having visited and knowing few people who lived there. I just thought at that moment it was time for something new… and dramatic. In all honesty, I was convinced it would only be for two years tops. Looking back, twelve years on, I can’t imagine living anywhere else or what my life would’ve been like had I not taken that wonderful chance.
LA is indeed full of surprises.
That is brave, Matty. Was it the movies that sparked it? Why specifically L.A.?
I surprised my family at age 3 by reading the mayonnaise label out loud while we were making lunch.
Then I surprised my family again when I went for a master’s degree at 30 and a few years later tried out for (and got on) a very well-known and difficult game show.
I love that, Kate! I just looked at the mayonnaise label, and wondered if there was calcium disodium edta on the label when you were 3.
I moved 15,000 miles from the town that birthed 5 generations of my father’s family and 3 of my mother’s. My parents and siblings still reside there. I’m a roaming sheep…
15,000 miles. That’s amazing. Where to?
At age 45 and after working at a secure federal government job for 15 years, I quit to travel 3,000 miles to attend acupuncture school. I’ve been a licensed acupuncturist for 17 years now and it was the very best decision I ever made. But, it was sooo scary at the time. My friends thought I was brave. My family thought I was nuts.
That is brave, and it sounds like it has worked out beautifully!
I am 15 years old, not a gregarious person, and am usually rather reticent. My family and everyone else I knew were very surprised to hear that I was going to do stand-up comedy; especially surprised at the parts where I appear on stage, and gather up the guts and audacity to convey my own feelings/opinions in front of other human beings.
That takes such courage. You inspire me!
I come from a long line of in-doorsy people (you know the type – for them, camping is a Super8 instead of a Marriott). In my early 20s I impulsively signed up for an Outward Bound trip. My entire extended family thought I was some strange species of “other.” (You’re going to sleep where? Where will you shower?) Now in my 40s, I’ve done three trips – one for each decade of adulthood. They’re still surprised. (p.s. thanks for your blog. I love it)
Thanks, Sandy. I am definitely of urban stock, and Outward Bound would thoroughly intimidate me. I’m very impressed.