#987 Picking the perfect nacho off someone else’s plate

Neil Pasricha

No two nachos are created equally.

When somebody offers you a nacho from their appetizer plate at a restaurant or while on the couch at home in front of a movie, you need to move fast:

  1. First up, quickly scan their entire plate. What stage is this offer being made? Are you in the game when the plate is hot and full, or are we dealing with mostly crumbs and surplus jalapenos at this point? Size up the prize and give a quick yes or no.
  2. Now if you’re going in, don’t wait too long to make your move. If it’s obvious you’re putting too much thought into it, you’ll come across as selfish. Definitely don’t move any toppings around to build yourself a massive All-In Salad Nacho, but there’s no need to pull out that bland, naked chip at the bottom of the Jenga stack either. You weren’t offered crumbs and you don’t deserve crumbs. Remember that.
  3. Next up, locate your prey and dive in. Everyone has their personal preferences, though I’m a big fan of 90 – 100% melted cheese coverage and about 25-50% salsa coverage. Any less cheese coverage, and it’s just taco shell to me. Any more salsa coverage and I feel like I’m drinking the stuff. And hey, if I grab an olive, green onion, or jalapeno, that’s great too, but I don’t push my luck. Lastly, for my money, you can keep that shredded lettuce. That’s just grated water in my books.

Bottom line: know your tastes, size up the game, and dig in quickly. Mastering that perfect pick is a valuable life skill.

Now go grab life by the nachos.

AWESOME!

It\'s in there somewhere

Just before The Book of Awesome came out two years ago I got a great email from a guy named Collin who told me he wrote a song based on 1000 Awesome Things to tell his girlfriend Abigail he loved her. I loved the song and we turned it into the trailer for the new book.

Well, here we are two years later and The Book of Awesome is still on the bestseller list (!!!) and Collin’s song is still awesome itself. Here’s an update from the happy couple with a link to the original video below. Click here to download the song on iTunes!

— The Awesome Email of the Week —

“It has been over two years since post #530 Listening to Couples tell you how they met. That post, the blog, and the song “1000 Awesome Things” have been such a fun part of our relationship, and such a great story to tell. You can be sure the blog kept us up and running those early college mornings. And though our time at Indiana University is over, Abigail and I are just starting our lives together– we’re getting married in September! If you couldn’t tell from the song, I am crazy in love with her and that has done nothing but grow stronger as time has gone on. We can’t wait for life together and all the awesome things married life will bring (the good and bad): Sunday morning church/brunch, grocery shopping, hogging the covers in winter, arguments over who-knows-what, welcome-home-from-work nerf gun fights, money stress, trips with the in-laws, and somewhere along the line a dog named Clive (for C.S. Lewis). Currently, she has an amazing internship with a children’s hospital, and I am happily employed as a barista, though still looking for full-time marketing/writing work. God has blessed us tremendously, and it has been a true joy to share that with the world through a simple, little song. Thank you so much to all who sent kind words our way. It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance, even for a little bit. Thank you to Neil for your awesome movement that has forever given us a wonderful story.” – Collin and Abigail

18 thoughts to “#987 Picking the perfect nacho off someone else’s plate”

  2. :O I knew it! I had a feeling they’d get married :D Congratulations to you both!! Funnily enough, I just rediscovered the song a couple weeks ago and played it over and over :D But I couldn’t figure out the lyrics for the verses :/ oh well. But yes! May you have an Awesome marriage ahead of you!

  3. I remember playing that song over and over again last time you shared it. It is absolutely beautiful — and AWESOME!

    Congrats on the engagement, Collin and Abigail!

  5. AWWW!! So great to see you guys still going strong. Life does have plenty of ups and downs, but as long as you have each other, you’ll make it through anything.
    Now, down to nacho business. I love nachos, but unfortunally they are not a part of my diet. Good thing is my daughter loves them too, so I can always steal her nachos. Last times, I made sure to get the perfet 2 nachos off her plate. They were a bit soggy but plenty crunch and covered in lots of melty cheese. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!

    1. Bekah! I just saw a smiley face that popped up underneath a beaker I picked up. I want to send you the pick for your blog. Although I fear that it’s more of a frownny face.

      1. I do frowns too! I used to post frowns every Friday, but now I only post them every once in while. Frowns are welcome!

        1. How do I send it to you? We saw it as a bad omen for the lab. I was hoping one would look like the Virgin Mary so I could charge people to come see it.

  6. Ok, so I didn’t get to listen to the song this morning. I had listened to it when it was first posted on here, but now that I watch it, it just feels my heart with so much joy. And putting “Wordless Apologies” at the end with the two kids hugging just made melt. That picture was one of my top 5 favorite pictures on this blog.

  8. That was a nice email. I want welcome-home-from-work nerf gun fights. Sounds like great fun and an awesome way to end the day. I ain’t much of a nacho fan. I once got my brother to eat a jalapeño pepper for $10. I need to think more about the value of money. Anyway, I took forever to pay him back because I kept “forgetting” about it. I ended up giving him the $10 as a Christmas gift.

    1. LOL! “I need to think more about the value of money.” I dunno, but I’m thinking that watching your bro choke down a hot pepper would be worth the $10…I’d definitely pay that to see my bro do it, and he’s 62! I think your priorities are completely fine! :) ~Kathy

  9. Sounds like I’d be Neil’s nacho twin-opposite (what’s that called again?! like the wing buddy?): I prefer the lettuce, veggies, and salsa and very little cheese…in fact, if it’s that melted yellow goop like they put on nachos or fries, ewwww, I’d just prefer dry chips then. ~Kathy

  10. The song is so incredible! I love it! Also, if I’m picking a nacho off of someone’s plate, I try to get as much cheese as I can and some bean dip :)

  11. I think this is *THE* best way to tell a friend from a foe!

    Laughs, loves, hugs and blessings always~ Congratulations Abigail and Colin<3

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