We’re going to be called Discretion and Judgment. What do you think?
Archives for February 2008
A Public Service Announcement
Here is a short synopsis of this audio post. It contains a short announcement about interactive opportunities on the blog, comments about what a beach is and somehow a snort.
And for those who haven’t been paying attention here is a short list of some recent posts here:
Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman
Jimmy Kimmel’s Blanking Ben Affleck
Making a Man- Raising A Boy or Is He Raising Me
How I Deal With Pain
HH #155- The Falling Asleep At My Computer Edition
Chasing Cars- I like These Lyrics
She Needs To Know About Boys
Young Workers- Are They Spoiled or Just Confused
Have you Ever Owned a Waterbed?
Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman
I was reading an interview that Natalie Portman did with the Times Online and came across a few things that caught my eye.
“It’s hard to imagine that in 2002, she co-hosted a new-year party with Britney Spears. What on earth did the two have in common? “We both had the same first job. We both understudied for an off-Broadway musical called Ruthless. I never met her, but I took over from her when she left to join the Mickey Mouse Club. So we connected over that. She invited me to a few things and my guy friends at college said, ‘We have to go.’ I’m sad to see how everyone’s treating her now.”
and
“And, of course, while Portman is famously Jewish, Johansson is a lesser-known Jew (because of her Scandinavian father, she’s called “the kosher Danishâ€).”
Ok, not that I care of make myself the arbiter of all that is hip, cool or interesting, but I have never heard her called The Kosher Danish. Not that any of this really out matters, but part of the joy of the blog is being able to document these random thoughts.
Jimmy Kimmel’s Blanking Ben Affleck
Some of the loyal readership may not be familiar with talk show host Jimmy Kimmel and his girlfriend Sarah Silverman. Without going into a ton of details last month Sarah decided to serenade Jimmy with a video entitled “I’m F*cking Matt Damon.”
Last night Kimmel responded with his own video called “I’m F*cking Ben Affleck” music video. It has an all star cast including Brad Pitt, Robin Williams, Huey Lewis, Cameron Diaz and Harrison Ford.
Enjoy.
Making a Man- Raising A Boy or Is He Raising Me
(This is one of many posts in which I recount stories about things my children and I did. I try hard to be a good parent. As I read through some of the older stories I have to ask whether I am raising him or if he is raising me. Perhaps I’ll blog about that later.)
This afternoon I proved that a really old man can still beat a young child in a footrace. Ok, there was never a moment of doubt that this 38.75 year old boy could beat the seven year-old in a sprint. The day will come when that kid can take his old man, but for now I am going to enjoy these moments of triumph.
And then I thought that my heart was going to burst. My head swam. My throat constricted and for a moment the world spun and it was all his fault. We had just finished our race and were standing in the driveway laughing about it. That kid looked up at me and asked me if I could teach him to be cool.
I was in shock. I am not cool, I want to be cool. There are moments when I feel cool. There are moments when I feel more like Cary Grant and less like Ralph Kramden, but…
Really, who hasn’t had a moment where they wished they were cool. I won’t lie and say that it hasn’t happened. Of course it has. But that is not who I am. I am not that guy. People don’t naturally gravitate to me and try to do what I do. I am just a big goofy guy. I am 230 or is it 240 pounds of happy-go-lucky boy pretending to be a man.
Fortunately I had to take a moment to catch my breath so it gave me a chance to consider how to answer him. My answer wasn’t profound or unusual, but it was something that I try to do so it was easy to sell.
I said “Little Jack, the coolest thing that you can do is be yourself, whoever that person is.”
Of course he asked me to explain it. I tried, but I can’t say that I am certain that he got it. All I want is for him to be happy. Part of being happy is being happy with yourself, so that is what I am trying to do. I want to teach/help him be comfortable with himself. Learn to be in the moment and appreciate what he has.
Whatever I said must have satisfied him, at least for the moment. From my perspective it was one of many conversations we have had and will continue to have in which I try to help make him into a man of character and integrity.
That is the goal. That is the objective. Time will tell.
How I Deal With Pain
(This is a small insert in Fragments of Fiction)
I don’t like change. Never have. My mother used to tell me that I shouldn’t be so rigid, that I should just let go and roll with things. It is a nice sentiment, but it is not me. I am more like the Oak tree from my parent’s backyard. Solid, stable, unyielding and somewhat forbidding.
Ok, the forbidding part might be a bit of an exaggeration. I like to think that I have a look that can make your heart stop, but as of yet I am not so sure that it is true. But the rest is true. I am solid. I am stable and somewhat unyielding…in a good way.
If you could see inside my head, if you could peer inside my mind and see how and what I see you might understand. Long stretches of desert punctuated by distant mountaintops. The desert is a symbol of the lonely guy that lives inside. He is not empty or shallow, there a depth to him.
Days are filled with exceptional heat and the nights with deep cold. The place looks a bit dead but if you look hard enough you can see signs of life. There may not be a single road to the mountain, but there are any number of trails that can be taken.
I know, it is an overly dramatic image, but what can I do. We all want to be understood. We all want someone to be able to look at us and understand who we are. So I cannot help but try to show her. She took my heart, or did I give it away. I can’t quite remember anymore.
What I know is that when she smiles at me I feel the warmth of the sun on my back and my load is lightened. For a long time there was nothing but sunshine between us. In my heart I knew that the dark moments would come but I never believed how hard they would be. It never occurred to me to think that the highs would be matched by such lows.
I suppose that it makes sense for this to be, but it has been a challenge. At times the pain has been…exceptional. Angst filled moments of anguish interspersed with cries of rage and the occasional tear.
But because I am a dreamer I always retreat into my imagination. I seek solace there. I picture myself as a sailor whose lost his way at sea. The compass is gone and the cloud filled skies make it impossible to rely upon the stars for guidance.
So I do what all sailors must…I sail. Each day I go through the regular routine and attempt to handle my chores without exception. It is not always easy. Sometimes I find myself wishing for a rogue wave, but those are few and far between.
One day the sun will break through the clouds and I’ll see signs of land. That is the hope and the dream. Until then I bow my head and pray to whomever and whatever will accept my wishes. This storm will end and life will change…again.