Pablo is Gay, I Have Brown Hair

Ok, this is definitely going to be a random stream of consciousness-style blog. Those who know me (and I suppose that's both of you who are reading this) know that I can be really random, but I think this will take the cake. I came up with this blog while I was biking home last night from work.

So, I have basically 3 methods I use to get to and from the office. It's about a 10 mile jaunt, and if I disregard the 6 weeks my hand was broken, I have commuted by non-motorized means the majority of the time. My 3 preferred commuting options are: 1) Biking, 2) Running and 3) Driving. I have also used public transit and carpooled, but only very rarely. I prefer biking when possible to the other options because it's pretty quick (35-40 minutes), allows me to do other errands, and helps me reduce my carbon footprint. Running is slower and more inconvenient to coordinate getting food/clothes to the office, but when I'm busy and still need to get my runs in, it's a good alternative. Obviously driving is my least-preferred option.

The one thing I dislike about biking is that I don't get a chance to listen to MPR. When I'm driving I do, and when I run for commuting purposes, I listen to MPR since the route is so boring. But when I'm on the bike it's just me and my thoughts. Which is actually really relaxing and a wonderful benefit to the biking, but sometimes my mind wanders...

So last night I'm biking home and crossing 35W on the 73rd Street pedestrian bridge in Richfield, something I've done hundreds of times. There's a lot of graffiti on the bridge, and one prominent piece says, "Pablo is Gay". This is my resulting internal monologue:

Me #1: "Pablo is Gay, that sucks for him."
Me #2: "Why does that suck for him, are you homophobic Nathan?"
Me #1: "No, it's just that through this piece of graffiti Pablo's entire identity has been reduced to this one fact about him. Perhaps he is a great musician or has interesting opinions on politics. All of that is lost to the world. We only know about Pablo's sexual orientation."
Me #2: "I'd never thought of it that way, interesting point Nathan. It'd be as if someone said, 'Nathan has brown hair.' While that is true, it says very little about the entire person you are. You are always saying you don't want to be just called a runner because that doesn't define who you are."
Me #1: "Exactly."

At this point I decided I was crazy and started wondering whether I had a couple personalities. Then I realized I had at least 3. The first Nathan who noticed that Pablo is Gay. The second Nathan who accused the first of being homophobic, and the third Nathan who critiqued the whole crazy conversation. And perhaps a 4th who then thought this would be a great thing to blog about.

And now you all have way too much insight into the inner workings of my head.