Ramshackle

Yesterday morning I participated in one of the most amazing instances of a family moving ever. This family with 3 kids lived down in the Marina district, 3 blocks from the Palace of Fine Arts, on the 3 story (4 flights up due to the lobby), with a small twisty staircase and no elevator. They had a good amount of stuff in their decently sized apartment. Two things made this move so amazing: (1) Everything that could be packed was packed, and (2) 18 guys were there to help move, almost entirely from the ward (included 4 missionaries). After several teams-o-four muscled the large furniture down the stairs, an assembly line formed and for 20 minutes we shuffled boxes and items down to the lobby and carport. In 20 minutes we had the apartment completely empty with no one stepping more than a couple steps. Then some guys slowly trickled away munching on the last of the donuts and waters as father and father-in-law played tetris in the moving van making sure it all fit. Amazingly it all fit, every last bit, just barely. So within 2 hours (only 40 minutes of actual lifting and hard labor) the moving truck, the largest they were able to rent, was full to the brim. Amazing.

Among the topics of conversation that came up were the fact that our son Leif, will now be the only Leif in the congregation and will no longer have to compete for rarity of his moniker. Also, that I looked like a certain celebrity. Before I reveal who that celebrity is, I'll share the history of which celebrities I've been compared to throughout my life. It doesn't happen often so it should be short.

First, I gotten this one a couple of times from very different people:



This kid in junior high used to tell me I had an "evil" smile, regularly. It would make me laugh. A sinisterly evil laugh. One of the people who told me I looked like the Grinch also wrote about me that I was "a sweet missionary with a gleam of mischief in his eye."

Then I got this one from multiple people as well:



That's the best-looking picture of Kevin Bacon I could find (not bad, I must say, for Kevin Bacon). For 4 months, this Chinese woman in Vancouver with an obnoxiously high pitched, heavily accented voice called me nothing but "Eldah Bacon!!!" "Hahaha, you so funny Elder Bacon!"

Somewhere in the mix one person told me I look like Toby Maguire and one other person told me I look like Matt Damon.




When I'd mention these one-time comparisons to others, no one was able to see the resemblance, and thus I was relegated to losing the only comparisons that I would have taken as compliments.

Then yesterday, the guy moving, Jared, says he and another church member decided that I resembled the grown-up version of this kid:



They were pretty adamant about the comparison, too. Good thing we all have senses of humor......