O

For my "O" entry under the encyclopedia of me, I've been able to come up with only one word that I feel strongly about.

Ocean. Growing up in Minnesota, and not having much opportunity to travel as a kid, I didn't experience an ocean until a spring break trip to Daytona Beach when I was 15 (unless you count Lake Superior, which is quite ocean-like but colder than a witch's tit). When I first moved to San Diego in 1996, my home was 192 steps from the sand in Mission Beach. I soon came to love the sound of the surf and the extra zing of energy in the ocean air. I moved inland for awhile, hated it, and moved back to the beach as soon as I could. My third home in San Diego was in the southern end of Mission Beach, and the night I moved in I hauled all my boxes into my dinky apartment, ran the 138 steps to the beach, and kept right on running into the surf - fully clothed. I was happy to be back.My original LA home was an apartment 244 steps from the sand in Venice Beach. I lived there for five years, and despite the landlord, I loved that place. One important thing it taught me is that when you live on the beach, it's easy to take it for granted when you have it as your neighbor every day. But go visit somewhere that isn't graced by a beach and that awesome ocean air, and then come back home; it's impossible to not feel blessed. I remember returning home after a visit to Arizona that gave me crazy goosebumps the moment I got a good whiff of the beach (and for you skeptics, no, I didn't live close to the Venice Beach drum circle and its "enhanced" air).

Home nowadays is just a little less than three miles from the beach. Close enough to get there via an easy bike ride, but not close enough. Someday, I'll get back to the beach.

Since I have no more "O" entries for my encyclopedia, I've compiled a list of words that most certainly do not describe me in any possible way whatsoever. *ahem*

obfuscate
verb
render obscure, unclear, or unintelligible

obstinate
adjective
stubbornly refusing to change one's opinion or chosen course of action, despite attempts to persuade one to do so.

obstreperous
adjective
noisy and difficult to control

obtrusive
adjective
noticeable or prominent in an unwelcome or intrusive way

ocker
noun
a boorish or aggressive person

odious
adjective
extremely unpleasant; repulsive

odoriferous
adjective
having or giving off a smell, esp. an unpleasant or distinctive one