We’ve all been there before.

We’ve all been stuck with someone (or maybe many someones) whom we don’t know very well (or maybe we know them too well) and we’ve all experienced The Lull in conversation (or maybe several The Lulls). The Lull is a normal pause between sentences that just lasts half a second too long. Your brain freezes, along with your throat and mouth. The Lull has trapped your conversation skills in a vise and simply won’t let go. I have nothing to say! you think frantically, I’m boring and forever alone and no wonder I don’t have any friends! Oh yes, we’ve all been there before. We’ve all experienced the where-the-heck-do-I-take-this-conversation heart palpitations in attempt to speed you away to a happy place. Oh and everyone has a happy place. What’s yours?

My happy place is Yamadaya Tonkontsu. But I call it the “Ramen Restaurant” or just “Ramen”. In fact, one of my friends was texting me pictures of his ramen bowl yesterday just to make me jealous. What, stop your judgmental thoughts, because I can’t help it if the broth is perfectly seasoned, piping hot, and garnished with such spices as to lift my soul to a new dimension of pure bliss. Ah, Ramen. It has my complete and unwavering love. You know what else has my complete and unwavering love? Digressing from my main topic. I think it would be best if you, dear reader, view my weekly articles as a stroll through the Central Park of my brain. And when you stroll, you are allowed to digress to whatever flower or tree or Ramen establishment that your heart desires.

So now let us return to what this article is really all about and what I was detailing in the beginning as a beautifully awkward situation from which you have no escape. Recall the heart palpitations. Are we back? Good. Because it is between these heart palpitations that The Weather always makes its entrance. It’s a neutral topic, everyone can join in, and it doesn’t require any higher-level cognitive thinking. So while you jabber about how it is supposed to be in the 70’s tomorrow, you can also be scrounging the depths of your mind for an interesting topic.

Today, as I was sitting at my computer getting ready to write this article, I felt The Lull and The Lull was real. It tightened its hands around my fingers so that they were paralyzed on the keys. I have nothing to write about! I thought desperately, I’m boring and forever alone and no wonder nobody reads these articles! Just as I was reaching hysteria, The Weather presented itself at the threshold of my mind. Ah, yes, I will write about The Weather! I will write about how I have got into the habit of changing my clothes multiple times a day based on the hourly fluctuations in temperature. It really has been so bipolar recently: freezing in the morning, warm in the afternoon, and of an Artic persuasion at night. Maybe I will think of a funny story. I will probably digress about something…I’m hungry. RAMEN! And then my article was started.

And look at that. The Weather can serve as a strong foundation, a cornerstone if you will, to new heights of conversation. I mean, look at the instructive couple of minutes we have just spent together. We talked about happy places, Ramen (my love), and The Weather.  A very productive and enlightening conversation, wouldn’t you say?

Go out into the world, dear readers, and take The Weather with you. The Weather will always have your back. It seems to me that the more you talk about it, the moodier it will get, thus offering more aspects of its complex character to discuss with people.

Don’t be afraid of The Lull. Defeat The Lull. The Weather is your weapon, use it often and use it well. I wish you the best of luck. Ayo waves.