Demetri Martin. Person.

For what feels like the hundredth time, I have to apologize for abandoning the blog. I’m encouraged to see there are still people at least clicking through to see if something is there although I wonder if some of my readers are gone for good. I haven’t had access to the Internet anywhere but work or haven’t had a moment to myself in several weeks and unfortunately, both of those things are needed for regular posting. I’m in the process of shopping for Internet service and will probably end up buying a cable package so I can watch some of the shows people are raving about. My boss was concerned before I started this job that I wasn’t into pop culture (aka TV) enough, so I have to keep up with the references.

I’m not doing very well because I listened to an interview on NPR last night with Demetri Martin, who I’d never heard of. He’s a comedian who used to do a bit on Conan O'Brien – which I’ve seen but I still don’t know Demetri - and now has his own comedy special on DVD (see, what do I need cable for?) He was being interviewed on Fresh Air by Terry Gross who was so obviously charmed by Martin that I assumed must be very good looking or extremely hip – something that I couldn’t hear over the radio – to get that kind of reaction from her.

But as he spoke about his background and upbringing I noticed that there was something particularly disarming about him. Soft-spoken and serious, he didn’t sound like the typical comedian. He didn’t laugh much, didn’t do any voices and didn’t even tell that many jokes. He just sounded like a genuine person, a nice guy with a cool and funny view of the world. Then, he laughed and I could swear I was falling in love over the radio. You could hear him smiling, his eyes twinkling and once he said he was Greek, I was beyond hope. Call me crazy but I’m a sucker for a big nose.

So this morning I looked him up on the Internet. He looks as young as he sounds but turns out he’s only two years younger than me and although totally adorable, not the kind of face you'd expect to get Terry Gross giggling like a schoolgirl. The best part of the interview was when he told her how he got into comedy. He was studying law at NYU, having moved there with a girlfriend, planning to do the one thing he always thought he’d do, corporate law. For no particular reason he’d never questioned this decision, until he started school. He immediately hated it, the day-to-day wasn’t enjoyable to him at all, but stuck with it for two years before dropping out. Martin challenged himself to find something he liked doing with his day, and then to find a way to make money doing it.

He liked joking around with his friends, he said to himself, and so “comedian” became the answer. I wonder if it was really that simple. I’d like to think that it was, that life decisions can be that basic. Am I happy? What would make me happy? How can I make money being happy? Cute and funny Demetri has given me something to ponder as I start month two at the new job.