Different Strokes

Garrett and I have a lot of things in common. In fact, part of why I found myself so attracted to him when we first met was because it seemed like he enjoyed so many of my favorite things. We loved a lot of the type of music (including a borderline obsessive love for Radiohead), had very similarly aligned morals, we enjoyed the same types of nerdy activities (pub trivia anyone?), and most importantly we had (and still do have) the absolute same weird sense of humor and I can honestly say there is nothing as comforting than saying something off the wall that amuses you and having your partner absolutely know where you are coming from and laugh hysterically right along with you. He makes my life so much more enjoyable in a million different ways.

But even though we have alot in common, we have more than once compared our relationship to a venn diagram (of course we both agree that it's the Best Venn Diagram Ever!) but it is nonetheless quite amusing how we are absolute opposites in so many ways. This morning Jess's post got me thinking about some of the bigger ways that Garrett and I are nowhere near alike.

Thinking vs. Feeling Brains -- Garrett is a thinker. He was an Econ major in college, has a very analytical brain, and always approaches every situation first silently and with rational thought. I, on the other hand, was an English major in college, and was raised in a household where it was very important to articulate feelings and opinions. I am very in touch with my emotions, and can talk about them endlessly. Also, I make many of my decisions on how I feel at the moment. Garrett loves nothing more than marinating on an idea or decision -- He loves to turn things over and over in his head and think about every possible angle. I, however, am way too impatient for that.

Friends/Socializing Philosophies -- I definitely need my alone time, but I also LOVE LOVE LOVE meeting new people, talking to strangers, throwing parties, and having people over. I could probably do it 3 or 4 nights a week. Garrett doesn't necessarily socialize regularly. He loves all of our friends and hanging out with them, but he is far more likely to want to have a quiet night and home and less likely to be a social organizer. Interestingly though, Garrett has the same core group of close friends that he had in high school. Those boys are tight, and I find it very admirable. I'm kind of the opposite though -- I keep in touch with a few close friends from high school (and even some not so close friends on Facebook, of course), but my social network is wide and I enjoy acquaintences from all facets of my life -- work, hometown, high school, Junior League, the internet, etc. As a result I have fewer "best friends" than Garrett (actually I would really only call members of my family best friends), but oddly enough I end up doing more socializing.

Household Disagreements -- Both Garrett and I enjoy a very tidy house. Our house is very modern, minimalist, and everything has a place. I'm not going to say we're anal, but, well...ok we're anal. (Reason #572 why I love him -- when I first saw his "bachelor pad" you could practically eat off the floor). HOWEVER, Garrett has a tendency to open cabinet doors (ours slide left to right, they don't open like a door) and then just walk away, which OMG drives me bananas! It doesn't seem to bother him when random doors are open in the kitchen, in the laundry, wherever. What does bother Garrett though, is that he has a practically origami-like formula for all the trash bags in our house, and I clearly do not have the understanding nor the dexterity to ever do it "correctly." Our disagreements in these areas, though a total non-issue, do offer lots of pot-calling-kettle debates about anal retentiveness and who is right in our house -- which almost always end up in mutual hysterics over how ridiculous our preferences are so I don't really mind that we disagree about these things.

Computer Usage -- Both of us are avid computer users, but the similarity really ends there. Garrett has this behemoth gaming computer which he uses primarily for the purposes of..uh, gaming (obvs). My computer, on the other hand, is a bit smaller and most notably, a Mac. We don't have a lot of Mac vs. PC disagreements (we are fans of both depending on the application) though the fact that mine doesn't have a mouse prompted Garrett to go out and purchase one solely for the times when he uses it. But it is more in the way we use computers. Garrett uses his computer for alone time (games, usually) whereas I generally use it to connect. If I bother to get on the computer it is basically for a steady stream of twittering, facebooking, blogging, shopping etc. Garrett is pretty much uninterested in social media in general and I'm pretty much uninterested in games, so we are happy with our two computer office arrangement which allows us the simultaneous ability to tune-in/tune-out.

Movie Preferences -- So yes, we both like movies. However, I like going to the movies, and really, to get Garrett to go to the theater to see something, takes like months of planning and coercing and usually by the time I get an affirmative, the movie I wanted to see has gone straight to DVD. Which I'm sure says more about my movie taste than it does about Garrett's preferences regarding entertainment. Mostly, I'm not discriminating. I'll see just about anything, although my preference is usually for small indie flicks, typical chick flicks, or awful Nicolas Cage type blockbusters. (Your respect for me just diminished right there, I know, but what can I say, I'm just being honest). I enjoy the experience of going to the theater more than I really care about the movie. I like to pack a lunch and hit an early show, and just relax. Garrett really likes watching movies at home though, and we can rarely can find something we both want to watch that makes me want to sit on the couch for 2 hours. I usually get restless and end up doing something else or falling asleep. Not to mention, whenever Garrett picks a movie those movies are usually of the TCM variety, which means he and my grandma have a lot in common when it comes to movie stuff, but me...um, not so much. Also he really loves classic horror films, which are fine and all, but just not really my cup of tea.

Handling Stress -- Last but not least, might I remind you that Garrett is one who stress eats a salad???? I think that one item alone really just says it all -- we have so much in common, which is what makes me love him so much, but holy moly when we differ, we reeeeeeeeeally differ.