i have a dream. my current life dream is to have a mtv style battle of the sexes, inferno, gauntlet type challenge with everyone i know. one, it would be tremendously fun. two, what can you really know about your friends and the people around you until you've had the chance to compete, yell, scream, and vote each other off? there are a few things that stand in the way of my dream.

logistically this would be crazy impossible to pull off. maybe i could organize a super weekend for this type of thing, but it would involve a pretty huge budget. if i had a million dollars right now, this is what i would do. i would fly out forty people to some remote location (wyoming?) and then have two groups face off for fabulous prizes and a chance to get pissed off at each other. doesn't that sound absolutely great? alternately, i would settle for having twenty people i know facing off against twenty people that someone else brings. making for a truly epic battle.

the other problem with this dream is that the voting friends off thing is tricky. you don't want to offend anyone, but at the same time, you want to win. you really realize how absolutely ruthless and unfeeling you can be when faced with the decision to cut a friend, or to not cut them. nobody can really not be offended when they get cut, even if they understand. it sucks to feel like you're not wanted.

i think guys are better accustomed to being cut and rejected. i mean, for one, guys are constantly put in competitive environments where the best are kept around and the rest are swept aside. and two, guys just get rejected a lot in general. they make take it hard but really they're used to it. i don't know any guy who hasn't been rejected multiple times, be it athletically, romantically, or cosmically.

alternately, when you are voted off (hopefully somewhat fairly), you just have to realize that you weren't the (wo)man for the job. like when you're assembling your best five to play a really important game of pickup basketball and you know when you're not one of the best five. so you just stand down, sit, watch, and cheer. i always felt like in this situation, those who know they're not good enough should willingly step down. it's all about the team. if you want to win, you have to make sacrifices, even if it sometimes means your feelings get hurt.

wouldn't it would be so fun to figure out who would be the best leader for a particular mission, to see who can perform in the clutch, who surprises with their effort and initative, that kind of thing? and i feel like you'd learn things about yourself along the way. it wouldn't be just about stomping on the other team and backstabbing your friends, it would also be a journey of self exploration. sort of.

anyway, i'm working on sponsors for this project. if you know anyone with some spare cash to invest (give away) in a potential clash of the titans, send them my way.