Was at a surprise party this past Sunday.  I enjoyed seeing Kevin from Chicago; an avid supporter of this blog.  He requested that I write a blog about the occasion.  Given his dedication it was the least I could do.   So whose party you ask?  My ten year old nephew?  A kindergartner maybe?  No Matt’s fiftieth.  I’m not really into birthdays but Matt is one of those guys who takes it to a new level:  Birthday week ski vacation in Colorado, then birthday dinner with family, then birthday dinner with friends, then surprise birthday brunch.  If you asked him what he did for his fiftieth birthday he would say, “not much”.  He puts the “hi” in high maintenance.

I started thinking about surprises in general.  Most people claim to enjoy surprises but I don’t think that’s really true.  Surprises can be a very bad idea.  I remember in college a girlfriend from home decided to pay me a surprise visit.  Well, I was surprised, the girl in my lap was really surprised my then ex-girlfriend was the most surprised of all.  On the other hand surprises can be the best defense.  I just bought a new surfboard.  Rather than ask permission I thought it best to leave it as a surprise.

We often say we are “surprised” but in reality most things really aren’t a surprise at all.  ”We were surprised when my wife got pregnant.”  Well it wasn’t an immaculate conception, what did you think was going to happen?  As my buddy Donovan Frankenreiter says, “They say things happen for a reason, you don’t do them they won’t”.  Every action has a reaction, it’s not magic, it’s not a surprise, it’s simple logic.

Lack of action also has consequences.  Obama did nothing the first four years he was in office.  Don’t be surprised when the next four remain wholly uneventful.  President Cheney lied to Congress about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction.  So why be surprised when President Cheney spent eight years lying to the American public on an hourly basis about the economy and pretty much everything else.

Notwithstanding the above the Lovely Old Lady (LOL) is almost in a constant state of bewilderment.  Was in Narragansett surfing for three days.  She was shocked (and not in a good way) that there was “sand in the car”.  Despite my expert analysis she is incredulous when either the Bachelor or Bachelorette don’t end in true love.  As an aside this years Bachelor was a “born again virgin”  So he banged everything that moved and then some but re-virginized just in time for the show.   Actually, I do believe you can have your virginity reinstated, it’s not called being “born again”, however, its called “getting married”.

What surprises me?  If my hat, keys, glasses, or gloves are where I left them.  Actually, I’m surprised at how much my breathing, chewing, and actually my whole existence seems to continually annoy the LOL.

KOKO