Lies, Lies, Lies, yeah!

I think I like this guy:

I told a co-worker last night that my middle name was O'Malley, and that I was named after the cat Tom O'Malley in The Aristocats. Since it made such an impact on my parents. And I think she believed me.

I also told her that my life story was made into the movie Gremlins. I think (I hope) she was a little more dubious about that claim.

There are few things in life as delightful as persuading someone to believe an outlandish (yet harmless lie.) My greatest triumph in this realm was convincing a girlfriend that my then roommate had six toes on this left foot. But, I told her, you must never ask him about it or mention it, or even look it. He is very sensitive about this deformity.

Hilarity ensued over the next few weeks as I would catch her surreptitiously trying to observe and count his toes.

Unfortunately this sort of thing can backfire. After the toe scam was revealed to her, she became much more disinclined to believe me. When I told her that Cal Ripken's brother Billy used to play for the Orioles as well, she told me I was a liar and that she was going to fall for my nonsense again.