n i c k y n a x . c o m

This is week thirteen in my personal “If… Project” in which I answer questions from the book “If… (Questions for the Game of Life)”

There are 125 pages of this book, each with four questions. I plan to take one page each week and answer the questions as thoroughly and honestly as I am able. In addition, I invite you to answer the questions along with me, whether it be in the comments section, your own personal blog, or just within your own thoughts.

Perhaps in doing so, we will get to know each other better, but even more importantly, get to know ourselves better.

This week’s questions:

If you had to name the most terrifying moment of your life so far, what would it be?

I guess it’s appropriate this question comes on the same day as Pride in New York as my answer would have to be when I came out to my mother. I still remember it vividly and looking back it was a big turning point in my life. Definitely the scariest thing I’ve ever done.

Runner up: moving away from home to NYC fresh out of high school and all alone.

If you had to be homeless for one year, where would you want to be?

Yikes. Is there ever a good place to be homeless? I can’t imagine it being any easier in one location than another. I can definitely imagine it being a terrifying world to be homeless in NYC. I imagine there’s a lot of violence amongst each other in the NYC homeless community. I think a city would be better than a smaller town as it might afford more chances of survival, so maybe a city in the midwest. Possibly a bit friendly there and could find more goodwill from the citizens there than in a place like Manhattan. I really have no idea though.

If you could have one street or square or park in any city or town renamed after you, which one would you select and exactly what would the name be?

I kind of already do! There’s a street in Manhattan called St. Nicholas and up in the Washington Heights area of the city there is a park called Mitchel park that sits along St. Nicholas. So, if you stand at just the right spot, the street signs together will read “St Nicholas Mitchel” So, while the sign is missing an L, it’s still my name! I really should get a picture of that sometime. I used to live right there next to it for about a year and never got around to getting that picture.

While it would be fun to have something famous like Broadway or Central Park or Times Sqaure renamed in my honor, at this point I think it would mean more to me to have something in my hometown named for me instead. And since my mother IS currently the mayor, maybe I can get her to pull some strings and make that happen.

Yes, I like that idea quite a bit, I do believe.

If you could be guaranteed one thing in life besides money, what would you ask for?

Love

Those are my answers to this week’s questions. What are yours?

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It’s time for the second episode of Field Trips, y’all!

Join Kevin and myself as we venture to Ohio for more wedding frivolity and amusement park mayhem!

Get yourself a beverage of choice and settle in, because this one clocks in at just under 45 minutes.

You’re Welcome!

This is week twelve in my personal “If… Project” in which I answer questions from the book “If… (Questions for the Game of Life)”

There are 125 pages of this book, each with four questions. I plan to take one page each week and answer the questions as thoroughly and honestly as I am able. In addition, I invite you to answer the questions along with me, whether it be in the comments section, your own personal blog, or just within your own thoughts.

Perhaps in doing so, we will get to know each other better, but even more importantly, get to know ourselves better.

This week’s questions:

If you had to choose one color that describes you most accurately, which color would it be?

I’d hate to limit myself to just one color, but I would think I would have to pick green. Not only is it my favorite color, but it’s also the color of my eyes and therefore the first color I think of when I think of “my color.” Plus. there are so many different shades of green that can represent all the different shades of my personality. Bright and cheery. Dark and brooding. Calm and soothing. Kermit had it right: while it may not be easy bein’ green, “It’s beautiful! And it’s what I want to be…”

If you had to convert to a different religion, which would you choose?

Well, this implies that I currently associate myself with a religion, which I’m not sure that I do. Ironic considering I am an ordained minister, dontcha think. I’m certainly no theologian and know very little about religion in general, much less the details and ideals of various religions from around the world. But based on the very little knowledge, I would say that Buddhism seems to hold some similar beliefs to those of my own. So, after doing some more research on the subject and seeing if that were true, I would probably pick Buddhism. Though, quite honestly, I don’t see the need to associate myself with a religion in order to be a spiritual person, so were I never to find a religion to pledge my allegiance to, I wouldn’t feel too badly about it.

If you were to drown in a liquid other than water, which would you want it to be?

I have spent a few days trying to come up with one, and have been having a hard time. There are a few things I like quite a bit, though none that I really think I love enough in which to warrant drowning. I love hummus, but since it’s not really a liquid, it doesn’t quite fit the bill. There’s a salad dressing called Goddess Dressing that’s really good, but a bit too tangy that drowning in it might be too much. There really isn’t anything that I officially decided upon, but an answer that I am somewhat content with is a delicious beverage. During the holiday season, Silk makes a delicious and dairy-free Nog, that is one of the best things on the planet. I buy tons of it during the holiday season and am always a bit sad to see it go once the holidays are over.

If you could reverse one sports call in history, which one would it be?

Yikes. You’re asking the wrong guy.

Those are my answers to this week’s questions. What are yours?

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When you go on a mini-vacation, it’s tough to get back into the blogging habit. Not that my one or two posts per week could ever really be considered a “habit,” but you know what I mean.

Kevin and I arrived home safely from Ohio last Sunday afternoon, and while there are several things I could mention about the trip, part of me doesn’t want to until after the next episode of Field Trips is released. I’d hate to drop any spoilers until after you’ve had the chance to watch the shenanigans. And I anticipate this episode will be twice as entertaining (and possibly twice as long) as the last one. For the last episode (which came in at about 23 minutes) we filmed about fifty minutes of footage. For this one, we filmed well over two and a half hours.

In other news, the Invisalign is going well. I’m on day ten now and have yet to experience any pain. Just minor, and very temporary discomfort when removing the trays from my mouth (which is a task that took a few days to figure out how to do in a timely manner with as few curse words as possible). I’m glad to say that I now have it down to a science. I’m thrilled about not experiencing any pain or major discomfort so far as that seems to be very rare from what I’ve read online. So I am definitely counting my blessings.

However, there is a small part of me that does wish I would at least have a little bit of discomfort. Not for masochistic reasons, but just to serve as evidence that something IS happening and things are moving around in there.

I guess a good test of that will come on Tuesday when I graduate to my second set of trays. I should definitely feel some difference then. Hopefully not to the point of pain, but just enough to keep me positive that things are going the way they should.

I emailed the orthodontist about getting a copy of the computer animation that shows the starting and ending points of my smile and all the steps along the way. Hopefully, I’ll be getting that from him and I’ll be able to share it with you here.

Because that’s what strangers want to see; animated videos of my teeth. Right?

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This is week eleven in my personal “If… Project” in which I answer questions from the book “If… (Questions for the Game of Life)”

There are 125 pages of this book, each with four questions. I plan to take one page each week and answer the questions as thoroughly and honestly as I am able. In addition, I invite you to answer the questions along with me, whether it be in the comments section, your own personal blog, or just within your own thoughts.

Perhaps in doing so, we will get to know each other better, but even more importantly, get to know ourselves better.

This week’s questions:

If you were to have one famous person alive or from history stranded with you on a desert island forevermore, who would you want it to be?

Uh oh. Are we treading back down the territory of making as many different (yet so very similar) celebrity questions to the point where all of the answers are becoming the same because, in essence, it’s the same question. And we were doing so well lately. So, in picking one celebrity to be marooned on an island with me, I choose Ellen DeGeneres.

If you could kill the pet of anybody you know, whose pet would it be?

I wouldn’t. Ever.

If you were to be recognized by posterity for one thing, what would like to be known for?

I would like to be known for making the world laugh.

If you could have said one sentence to Hitler while he was alive, what would you have said?

You were picked last in gym class, weren’t you?

Those are my answers to this week’s questions. What are yours?

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Just a quick update to let everyone know I am leaving later today to go to Ohio for the weekend with Kevin for another wedding. In a plane this time. Thank Jeebus!

In addition to the wedding, he and I are also making a side trip to Cedar Point, which quite frankly is the most exciting part of the whole weekend. Seriously. Coaster capital of the universe. It’s Christmas in June!

We are taking the Flip Cam on this trip as well, so you can expect another Field Trip in the coming week or two.

I’ll be back on Sunday, but just in case there’s a delay, I’m writing this week’s IF entry in advance so that it can publish early Sunday afternoon.

Ohio is the Buckeye State, right?

Does that make this upcoming wedding a Buck-I Do?

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I finally received my Invisalign today. And after a couple hours, I’m doing alright. I think.

I was a little discouraged to find that I was going to be receiving the bracket attachments to every tooth except for the front four on my top row of teeth. I knew I would have to get some, but I was hoping for only a few. Instead, only a few teeth were spared.

I know they are tooth-colored and therefore a bit camouflaged, but not totally invisible to the eye. But mostly I will miss the feel of my teeth. It will be quite some time before I can run my tongue along the front of my teeth and have it be a nice smooth ride. Now there are rough bumps on each tooth as I go. Which also just makes me feel like my teeth are dirty and have a filmy coat on them.

Ew.

I had my first meal with the attachments on as well. And that was an experience. The food got caught on and around them, and I spent most of my meal trying to clean them up with my tongue while trying not to be obvious that I was trying to clean my teeth with my tongue after every bite. I can see how eating in public will take a lot of extra tact now.

The biggest problem I’ve encountered so far comes when it is time to take the aligners out of my mouth though. I had a practice run at the doctor’s office, and it didn’t go to tell. The damn buggers are so freaking tight that I couldn’t get a grip on them enough to pull them off, and even had I been able to get that grip, they are on so tight that it would be like trying to open the jar of apple butter spread that is sitting in my fridge. It just won’t budge.

Finally the doctor gave me some weird medical instrument to see if I could get it off by prying them off. So there I was with this long sharp piece of metal in my mouth like a crowbar trying to get these damn aligners out of my mouth.

No such luck.

So finally with their help, I got them off, but not without popping one of the attachments off in the process. They assured it’s ok if that happens and I can just get one put on in its place in a subsequent visit.

Gee, great. Can’t wait to get that put back on.

While on my way home and feeling a bit bummed because it wasn’t the rainbows and unicorns experience I was hoping for, I saw a lady on the train that had about four teeth in her mouth and all pointing in different directions like a compass.

“This isn’t so bad, Nick. This isn’t so bad”

And so far, the pain isn’t all that bad. I’m told when I wake up tomorrow is when I will start to feel it though. So, I have a bottle of Tylenol at the ready and plan on overdosing if I need to. the last thing I want to do is become so irritable from discomfort that I piss off everyone around me.

Perhaps it was bad timing that Kevin and I are leaving for another wedding in a couple days. First few days with Invisalign and I’m going halfway across the country to a formal event where I’m going to be digging around in my mouth pulling out aligners and trying not to lisp at everyone I meet.

Well, lisp more than my norm, that is.

The doctor gave me all of my aligners to hold on to, and I took a sneak peek at the final set (which I won’t actually use for about a year yet) and saw what my teeth will look like once this process is over.

It was a gorgeous site to behold.

This will definitely be worth it.

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This is week ten in my personal “If… Project” in which I answer questions from the book “If… (Questions for the Game of Life)”

There are 125 pages of this book, each with four questions. I plan to take one page each week and answer the questions as thoroughly and honestly as I am able. In addition, I invite you to answer the questions along with me, whether it be in the comments section, your own personal blog, or just within your own thoughts.

Perhaps in doing so, we will get to know each other better, but even more importantly, get to know ourselves better.

This week’s questions:

If you were to be stranded forever on a desert island with one platonic friend only, in whose company would you want to spend the rest of your days?

Yikes. Just one friend? Forever? That’s a bit harsh, don’t ya think? I hope I don’t offend anyone with my choice, but I guess a little bit of seniority is also playing into my decision. I think I would choose my friend Erin. We’ve known each other almost nine years now, and she is pretty much the only person from college who I actually keep in touch with. We’ve each been through a lot in the time we’ve known each other, and with each other’s friendship, we’ve come out the other side as better and stronger people each time. She continues to open my eyes to new things/ideas. She’s one of a very few people to whom I honestly feel I could say anything. I stood up with her at her wedding as one of her bride’s maids, and if I ever have a wedding of my own, I would want her to be involved as well. Even though we don’t physically see each other very often, our relationship hasn’t strained in the least bit. She’s definitely someone I can consider a true friend and I know she would even be able to make being stranded on a desert island a lot less sucky.

If you had to live the rest of your life in a place that you have never lived in before, where would you live?

Los Angeles could be nice, but I fear that after about nine years of living in NYC I’ve become too “east coast” to live somewhere like LA. There’s always Orlando, but even I’m getting sick of all of my Orlando/Disney themed answers lately, so I refuse to pick that one this time. Maybe somewhere in Europe. London might be nice.

If you could keep only one article of clothing you currently own and the rest were to be thrown out, what would you keep?

I am not the least bit interested in fashion or style, and one look into my closet would leave you with no doubts about that. It’s pretty much just tshirts, a couple polos, and jeans. I really don’t put much energy in keeping up with the latest styles or trends. I’ve just always preferred to spend my time and money on other things. So, I can’t really pick out any one article of clothing that I would never be able to part with. It’s clothes. It’s fabric. Nothing more.

If you had to lose one of your five senses, which would you give up?

Well, my first choice would be to lose none of them, obviously. But by being friends with Garrett, I’ve been introduced to the life of a deaf person and seen with my own two eyes a little bit of how that does and doesn’t impact your daily life. He’s been a personal example that living as a deaf person doesn’t stop you from living at all. The thing that would make me devastated to lose my hearing would be the loss of hearing music. Music is something that has been a huge part of my life since young childhood. It started with learning the love of Motown and Oldies from my mother. Grew into discovering movie musicals and musical theatre. Then it expanded into the love of instrumental music when I joined the band in middle school. So, music has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. I’d hate to lose those melodies and harmonies.

Losing my eyesight would probably be even more devastating to me, as I imagine it would be easier to live as a deaf person than as a blind person. And as someone who loves food and eating as much as I do, I can’t imagine losing the ability to taste. And just trying to imagine what life would be like if you couldn’t feel anything is so bizarre to me. You couldn’t feel the chair you were sitting on, the floor you were standing on, the bed you were laying in. You’d constantly feel as if you were floating on air. I imagine it would also leave you feeling virtually paralyzed.

So, I guess by process of elimination, I’d have to pick my sense of smell. Yeah, the loss of some of my favorite scents would be saddening. No longer being able to smell vanilla or pumpkin pie again. No longer being able to smell my favorite cologne, Geir, again. No longer being able to smell the citizens of NYC who refuse to shower and then pack themselves like sardines onto the subway on scortching hot summer days again.

Maybe losing the sense of smell wouldn’t be so bad.

Those are my answers to this week’s questions. What are yours?

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Finally!

A couple days ago the orthodontist called to let me know that my Invisalign case had finally be finalized and that my first batch of aligners had arrived in their offices and I was able to set up an appointment to come in and start this whole process.

The day before they called me, I had called them. It had been ten weeks, and I was finally at my wit’s end. I was at the breaking point. And even during that phone call I was getting no answers as to what the ridiculously long delay was about, and I started to get very upset toward the receptionist by the end of that call. In fact, I started to lose my cool and turned just a bit bitchy.

Which, from her point of view, probably sounded about as threatening as a flamboyant drag queen wagging her finger in the air, flipping her weave to and fro and saying “Oh no you di’nt!”

Yeah, I’m about that threatening sometimes.

Regardless if that phone call had anything to do with them getting their act in gear and finally finishing things up or not, the main point is that the next day I had a phone call back from them saying that things were done and my aligners were being shipped to them. Finally.

On Tuesday I’m leaving work a bit early and heading over to the ortho to get the final preparations on teeth and my first set of aligners fitted. I’m excited to finally start this process and get the ball rolling. A bit nervous as well. Hoping the discomfort that can come along with wearing the aligners remains nothing more than just discomfort and never actually becomes painful.

I’m remaining optimistic that all will be well though. And hopefully within a couple months I’ll be able to notice some slight changes to keep me encouraged that this was a good decision.

I think this will be fascinating to watch this transformation happen inside my mouth.

(That’s what she said)

I’ve lived with this smile my whole life. It’s weird to imagine seeing something new when I smile in the future. But I’m so excited for it to happen. I’ve waited a long time to have my physical smile match my emotional smile. And that time has come.

And once my entire Invisalign treatment is over with and my smile is exactly the way I’ve always wanted it, I’m going to be walking around smiling at anyone and anything I can find. My mouth is gonna be open from morning to night.

(That’s what she said)

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