Closets & Doors

Swept up in the weight loss goal that is tantalizingly close, I gathered up Hannah in her stroller after church and loaded the under-seat sling with old library books. I set out to the city library (maybe 1.5 or 2 miles away?) on a slightly breezy, pleasant afternoon. EXERCISE!

I made it down there and Hannah was a good as gold all the way. She (I believe) enjoyed the sun, the breezy wind, the fresh air, and the occasional bird that we might hear in between the swhooosh! of the passing cars. (And really, that swooosh! was almost constant throughout our walk. It probably took 30 to 45 minutes to walk from my house down to Walnut and then west along Walnut toward the library. The passing of cars was a constant variable throughout.)

Once there I let Hannah out to stroll around with her sippy cup of water while I pushed her empty stroller. We headed back to the kids section so I could pick up some more Reader books for Grace. I also grabbed John Green's Looking for Alaska for myself--a direct result of all of the Brotherhood 2.0 watching that I've been doing over the last few weeks. I started reading the first few pages tonight while I was playing with Hannah post-bath. It is reminiscent of his vlogging personality, but it is his professional self, so I am looking forward to continuing later tonight. 

(I took on a new book for my bedside table since I finished Stephanie Meyer's New Moon last night. In the continuing saga of Bella Swan and her platonic relationship with her vampire boyfriend and werewolf third wheel . . . oh! I should have said SPOILER ALERT!!! . . . my annoyance with Bella continued to grow. As I Twittered/Fbooked earlier in the week, I much rather my girls take on Hermione Granger--or even Lavendar Brown--as a role model than Ms. Swan any day. So, my bias is established as we continue into the second half of the Twilight saga. Why am I continuing to read them? Well, I guess it's a completist compulsion as much as anything else. And because I can't stand to not know what all the fuss is about. I guess that speaks badly about my ability to be an individual.)

(Oh, I should also note that I didn't walk back home on the return trip. Lynda was out with the girls dropping off registration fees for a summer Girl Scout camp and she swung by to pick me up. So, I didn't get the full round-trip effect of my walk. But it was a good endeavor nonetheless.)

Because I've decided to read tonight, I am NOT going to do the small bit of work that I brought home with me. And that is probably a good thing overall. As the saying goes, one never reaches their deathbed and laments that they didn't spend enough time completing a technology spreadsheet.

As I contemplate an end-point to this blog entry, I note that I didn't finish one of the other tasks I set for myself this weekend--cleaning up my contact information in my computer. You see, now that I have an iPhone that can carry around all of the contact info from my laptop, I find that said contact info is hopelessly snarled and disorganized. And since technology is forcing me to be more efficient, more in-touch, more connected, and more informed, I find that I can't be lackadaisical about it. Which is good for all of the neat-freaks out there in the world and all of the consumer products created to appeal to those types of people. But it is simultaneously challenging for me to step up to the task and make it all seamless and fluid and beyond reproach.

I made a start on Saturday, making my way into the M's where I inevitably get bogged down with family information--the place where I have the most information and the most variations on phone numbers/emails/etcetera. And the more you dig into the Contacts program on the computer, the more customization you realize is available. This allows you to be more precise with your information--adding spouses, children's names, birthdays, anniversaries, and the like. But once you do it to one, you must do it to all for which you have available information. And maybe you can find the information for the one's where it is not readily at hand. So, out come the church directories, out come the elementary school directories, out come the things you never even use anymore, all in the name of completeness.

It's a sickness, you see?

Maybe I'll finish someday. But will Nirvana await?

Last night's date

I can't think of a better, more appropriate title than this. Perhaps at the end of the post, we'll see where I've landed and then maybe I can come up with something different. (And just in case I do, the original post title was "Saturday." Now, assuming I did come up with something better, aren't you glad I did. And . . . if I didn't, well . . . sorry.)

So, um, we've established that it is Saturday. So, step one accomplished.

Yesterday was Friday, and checking back to the content of that post, I see that I promised a mention of the movie that Lynda and I watched during our date.

It was, "I Love You, Man" starring Paul Rudd and Jason Segal. We both enjoyed it. We had previously liked "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" also starring Segal. And we are fans of "How I Met Your Mother." So, we knew we were in safe hands with at least half of the main cast. But, what about Paul Rudd?

All the magazines have been telling me that I need to appreciate Rudd now that he is headlining his own film. He's been everybody's boyfriend or male best friend for a decade or more but now he's only a few hits and several million dollars south of . . . um . . . lets say Mark Ruffalo territory? Is that right? Is Rudd bigger than Ruffalo now? Maybe its safer to say Rudd is shooting to be a more Ruffalo-flavored Jake Gyllenhaal?

Well . . .

Now that we've lost all of my readers that simply gave up and went on to something more entertaining, I'll continue by saying that we liked the movie in part because it wasn't too raunchy. So many of the movies that branch off of the Apatow tree (of which Segal is prime fruit and Rudd is a hybrid variety) tend to be funny, yes, but too reliant on being off color--or what the kids say is "authentic." There are some authentic cuss words within this movie, but it shies away from the body jokes and actually does a nice job of being realistic, funny, and appealing to adults.

Oh, and did I mention the significant role played by Canadian power rock trio Rush?! Indeed, Rush is a major character in the film, something that I was only too gleeful to remember and quick to apologize to Lynda for. You see, I grew up a Rush fan. (I attended the Power Windows tour back in the mid 1980s with my brothers.) But Lynda has never liked them and never fails to groan when she hears the particular voice of bassist and lead vocalist Geddy Lee coming from the iPod.

But I try not to take it personally. I don't have nearly the Rush discography that I did back in middle and high school. I shifted my allegiance to R.E.M. and other bands as I went into college. But Rush is part of my musical DNA, so I was glad to see them celebrated in this movie.

And I will say that Paul Rudd did a fine job acting as a "too nice" guy searching for a male friend before he gets married. Rudd was excellent portraying a guy that is aware of how to act "cool" but never, ever pulls it off correctly. And trust me when I tell you that only a trained actor call say "slappin' da bass" so badly in so many ways and be convincing. Rudd was appropriately cringe-worthy throughout, so much so that he could get a full time job on The Office if "Jim" ever wanted to leave the show.

So, it was a good night--noteworthy in the fact that we didn't really have a plan when we left the house and still we found a restaurant and a movie without arguments, confusion, or disappointment. There have been similar dates without initial direction that never ended so nicely.

I hope we have the chance to do it again soon, but adding up babysitting costs (well worth it, especially since AMB prodded us into the date in the first place), restaurant expense, movie tickets, and pizza for the kids . . . well, you know it adds up.

Thank goodness we can still afford it.

But we shouldn't push it or be greedy.

Until next time.

And I didn't know what I was going to write about . . .

. . . when I got home from work tonight.

(BTW, sorry for the late post. Lynda and I had a rare date tonight and so I am not getting to it until later in the evening. But, as I said . . . it provided a topic.)

So, when I got home from work, Lynda informs me that Sarah got a note as school today. That, itself, didn't perplex me. But then I got to read the note--which I am reproducing here:



In case you can't read it, the text says:

Dear Sarah:

I think that you are pretty and nice.

Would you like to be my girlfriend?

Your friend,

C---

How's about that, huh?

Lynda seemed a bit more concerned about this than I was. I think its nice and I am definitely impressed with C's quality penmanship (did he get help, because . . . dude!) and the excellent drawing of the flower and vase is seriously quality work.

And Sarah was interested in C. before now. In fact, she asked me about him and her other long-time interest N. a few nights ago. She told me that she liked C., who makes her laugh (a definite plus in my opinion).

So, its an interesting development. Sarah received the note late in the day, so I guess she's got the weekend to think it over. Hopefully I can prevent Lynda from talking her out of it.

*****

I'll discuss my impressions of the movie Lynda and I saw in tomorrow's post and some other stuff besides.

Good night all!

LOST Untangled: "Whatever Happened, Happened"

The title says it all:

Improving

I'm feeling better today and much more myself. It doesn't cause severe pain to cough anymore and I can swallow much more normally now as well. I ate a normal breakfast and plan on eating a regular lunch as well--though I am cognizant that not eating yesterday did help me with my weight loss goal, but that certainly isn't a healthy way to go about it . . . nor does it make you feel good to be listless and without energy all day.

ANYWAY . . .

Today is more normal, as I said. It's Wednesday, so I'm wearing the DHARMA t-shirt and I'm awaiting tonight's new episode of LOST. I am staying away from work once more, but I am in fact working from home with emails and questions and reviewing documents and whatever else. I'm being productive in other words, even if I'm not there.

Thanks for the comments and phone callers about my post of a few days ago. I am chagrined about what I wrote, but I recognize the need in me to write it. Hopefully it is a way to move on from it and learn from it and become better about it the next time the situation arises. Hopefully I can make more intelligent decisions and everyone can come out of it in a better head space.

Off to get some more work done, eat a bit of lunch, and stuff like that. I might update more later tonight.

*****

Non-update UPDATE @ 9:54 pm:

Got home from Hilliard "Bible"study, where putting Bible in quotes is okay because we don't actually read the Bible.

Now I'm going to watch LOST on tape--provided the VCR doesn't fail me somehow.

Then off to bed and back to the office tomorrow for the first time in days.