Overcoming stereotypes

Alex and I had our @$$es handed to us at Trivia the other night. This was only partly because we were a team of two--due to a miscommunication, our two would-be teammates didn't realize that they needed to pre-register individually, that I didn't do so for them when I registered myself. They were missed, and I initially felt guilty--I could have been more clear--but they also could have actually clicked on the link and/or asked, as Alex did. I learned many years ago that if I waited around for people to get back to me, I'd never go to anything, and my MO ever since has been to buy myself a ticket, tell people who might be interested when I'm going, and, if applicable, where I'm sitting, and hope they can make it. Most of the time it works out, and when it doesn't, I go by myself, which is fine, because I'm not one of those jackasses that talks during plays, movies, or concerts anyway. But I digress.

So, trivia. There was a question about what baseball player had the most consecutive runs, or something.

A.: We have to put down something.
Alex: Well, let's see. Can we name a baseball player?

In our defense, there were questions we got right. I told him that if we were wrong about the one about which continent boasts the most countries with UN membership, we may as well return our masters' degrees. But I continue to digress.

I had, at poolside trivia--it was a beautiful night--two glasses of champagne. I was buzzed after one and a half. And I was *hungover* the following morning. I talked about this to a friend--she experienced the same thing a few weeks ago: when you don't drink a lot, it doesn't take much to give you a hangover. It's not just me.

I bring this up not because I think you care about my drinking habits, hangovers, and lack of basic sports literacy. I'm guessing you read this blog because you're at least somewhat intrigued by issues of ethnic identity. And, since my mother has recently harped on how Russian I'm not, I'm here to remind you that not being able to hold my liquor is just one of the many ways in which I'm an embarrassment to my people. Let's review the other things at which I suck, but at which one expects Russians to excel:

-chess
-dancing
-music
-engineering
-did I mention drinking?

This may be why I have a hard time being attracted to Russian men. It's like, 'oh, you're good at all that stuff? how uncreative--could you be any more of a stereotype?' It takes personality to deviate from the masses.