The Stone Mountain Challenge

This blog thing is getting real agitating. I’m layin in bed, trying to sleep, and all of the sudden, the perfect topic for my next post comes to me. Now I am unable to goto sleep, and I sit here writing this, when I should be sleeping.

In any case, the writing must go on. First, some background. This is a picture of Stone Mountain:

Stone Mountain is a Georgia/Atlanta landmark, and is basically a huge slab of rock. There’s very little vegetation on it and it has a trail on the less steep side that takes you up to a beautiful view of Atlanta. The trail is alittle over a mile long (guessing), that can be a very steep grade at times. On the backside of it, is a carving of the leaders of the Confederacy. There’s a laser show each night, projected onto the side with the carving.

So anyway, a friend of mine, Josh, was sitting eatting lunch with the wife and I. Out of nowhere and completely unprovoked, he does the unthinkable and says, “I could beat you in a race up Stone Mountain,” as if it was the most obvious thing he’s ever thought to say.

Now, some of you may not know me very well. I don’t respond well to challenges/trash talk, and when I say I don’t respond well, I mean I usually will take up any contest, even when it doesn’t make sense. That day was no exception.

We argued abit, and finally decided that an actual race would be the only way to determine the victor (us guys, we’re pretty smart critters.) Being a complete and total buffoon, I decided it would be August 6th, 2005, which would be one of the hottest days of the year.

Over the course of the next few months, much trash talk was spewed in both camps (more out of mine.) A prize for the winner/penalty for the loser was discussed. One day, I received an email from dear Josh. The subject line was “Things to come…”, and for a brief moment in time, I thought my intense resolve to talk him into the ground had broken the pitiful man, and this was his heartfelt plea for me to relent… if only I could be so lucky. The email contained no words, only this simple image:

Josh had won that day. His intentionally crappy integration of the faces into the mountain, and selection of a horrible picture of me made this image one of the better I’ve seen in a while.

In any case, August rolled around, and oddly, neither of us did much to actually bring the race to a reality. September came and went, October has come and gone, and November is currently here. Someone asked us recently about the race, and Josh said something like, “It was a tie.” I completely agree.

Oh, and I guess I owe you a link. Hrm… how about… this! If you find this one entertaining, make sure to check the questions and answers section about the pants, as he goes on and on, replying to 21 questions about the pants.