A Letter To Odey

Dear Odey,

I’m about to do something that I’ve wanted to do ever since you requested this letter on July 27 of last year. But before I do, I need to pick myself up off the ground because I didn’t realize how long it’s actually been since then. Sorry.

Are you ready? I’m from Canada; you’re from the Philippines. I’m about to blend our two countries together, using your name.

Odey! Odey Odey Odey! Odey! Odey!

That’s a popular cheer in Canada, except we say “Ole!” (there is an accent on the ‘e’) pronounced “Oh lay”. I’m sure I’m over explaining myself and you might’ve already heard the chant yourself.

Oleeee! Ole Ole Ole! Oooole! Oooole!

Bam. Canada and the Philippines have never been tighter!

First things first, or should I say second things second?

I want to commend you on the name of your blog – Crazy Colorful Turtle – and the logo associated with it. Whenever I see it on my Reader, or in my notifications, it puts a smile on my face. The fact that the turtle is wearing a hat is a cherry on top.

You listed off a number of things that you like, so I’m going to address them one by one.

Pizza: Ew. Who likes pizza? That crusty crust with saucy sauce and cheesy cheese with toppings on top and dip to dip. WHO WHO HOO HOO (I turned into an owl halfway through) would like pizza? Not me. Not this guy. Nope. Never.

I LOVE PIZZA. 

Arts & Crafts: Ew. Who likes arts and crafts? I’m kidding. I’m not going to do the same schtick for all of these. 

I loved doing arts and crafts at school when we weren’t getting marked on it. The first craft I ever did was at my kitchen table, I was 3 or 4 years old (maybe 5?). My mom was on the phone and I was sitting there cutting up green construction paper. 

I cut it into the shape of a dinosaur. Rawr! 

Anyways, that was cool. I think I gave it a blue tail, though I might be making that up. Maybe the dinosaur’s body was blue. Ahh I can’t remember. But it was a masterpiece, trust me. We kept it for many years and I don’t know what happened to it. 

Numbers: I have loved numbers ever since I starting learning them at school.

In Grade 2, the teacher would have one student stand up, go stand beside someone at their desk, while they showed a flash card that would say: 8 + 9, or 15 – 3, etc. The game was called “Around The World”. Whoever screamed out the right answer first, would go on. 

I always went on a pretty long streak in that game. I knew the answers almost immediately. Until I got to the same guy’s desk every time. The class would go “Ohhhhh” whenever we would face off because they knew it would be a showdown. He always beat me. I psyched myself out too much.

People: Can’t help you here. People suck. 

I don’t really mean that. People are nice. 

Difference in Personalities: If there is one thing I can’t stand, it’s people who don’t understand that others are going to be different than them. You can’t force your personality on someone and expect them to act the same way.

You can’t just tell an introverted person to start talking more. They don’t want to talk more. They want you to talk less.

Sorry, I’m ranting.

Travel: I always hated long drives when I was a kid. And I still do. But I love long road trips. It doesn’t make sense, I know.

Anything between 1-2 hours in a car, drives me nuts. Anything over 2 hours, wooooo road trip!

I’m a very contradictory person. 

You asked me what the alternate universe is like and I’m so glad that you knew I had the answer. It’s simple, really, the alternate universe has everything we have, but everything is done differently. 

For instance, in the alternate universe if you want a bowl of cereal, you’ll pour it onto a plate and eat it with a fork. To us, that sounds weird. To them, it’s normal. They think we’re weird for putting it in a bowl and eating it with a shovel. 

They call spoons, shovels. 

That’s all there is to it. Oh, and they actually elect respectable human beings to run their country. But hey, who am I to comment on politics? I was only voted most likely to be Prime Minister of Canada back in Grade 8. WHAT WOULD I KNOW?

As I close out this letter to you, Odey, I’d like to answer your final question. You asked me what is one accomplishment that would make me say that I’ve lived my life well and to the fullest.

Quite frankly, I’m not sure how to answer that question because I’m not sure there is one thing. I think if I can reach the home stretch of my life and be able to look back on all my years, I just want to be proud of what I did and the people’s lives I impacted.

I think living life to the fullest can be done in many ways. Some people like to travel all over the world, jump out of airplanes, go to concerts, or do once in a lifetime things so they can cross it off an imaginary bucket.

Well, jumping out of a plane doesn’t interest me and neither does backpacking through a country who’s city I can’t pronounce. I guess this is where we can loop back to “different personalities” from earlier. 

But if I can live my life and help put a smile on someone else’s face, I think I’ll have accomplished a lot. Because at the end of the day, all we have are each other.

No one goes home to their job. They go home to their family and friends. So if I can be a good son, brother, and friend then that will be as big of an accomplishment to me, as jumping out of a plane is for someone else. 

I think that’s it. This letter was a lot of fun and made me think a lot more than I thought I would. That’s a good thing. 

I hope you enjoyed this letter and have a wonderful day, Odey!

Yes, I put the word day right before your name for linguistically appealing reasons.

I have no clue if “linguistically appealing reasons” is a thing, but it is now!

Without a clue, 

Paul