Have you ever read the book "Who Moved My Cheese?" Yeah don't bother. I remember someone telling me years ago to read it. Definitely a half an hour I'd love to get back. The thing is, I'm a real cheese lover and I was under the impression that it was a suspense thriller about somebody actually trying to locate their missing cheese. Turns out it's some sort of a parable about how to deal with change in your life. Needless to say it was pretty disappointing. I really felt the author failed to scratch the surface with his analysis of the central query. I thought the question begging to be asked was "What kind of cheese was it exactly that was moved?" Because if we're talking about something along the lines of Velveeta then it's really not even worth asking the question. Now if we're talking about mascarpone or a nice aged cheddar then please get to the bottom of this immediately. I will say however that the one good thing about this book is that it's a testament to the fact that just about anybody out there could be a best selling author.
Speaking of cheese and deep meaning.... I tend to spend a lot of time in deep contemplative reflection about life's big questions. Like just a little while ago I had an extensive discussion with my sister about what our favourite cheeses were. Yeah, these are the questions that keep me up at night. For a lot of people this would seem like a frivolous question but the great thing about my sister is that she'll actually engage in a thoughtful discussion about them. The discussion got off to a rocky start when my sister stated that mozzarella was her cheese of choice. I think blindsided would be the best way to describe my feelings at the time. Are you kidding me? Mozzarella?? B-O-R-I-N-G! I strongly believe that Gruyère is unequivocally THE greatest cheese ever. Hands frigging down! It's just so versatile. Not only can you eat a block of it on its own (tasty but not recommended) but you can throw it in macaroni & cheese, on a salad, in a quiche or use it to make the world's greatest grilled cheese sandwich. Plus, it's named after a beautiful little town in Switzerland. Seriously, what's not to love about this cheese?
Anyway, she insisted that mozzarella was her choice which initially I didn't understand. I think the main reason I didn't share her opinion was because she has a lot more access to top quality fresh mozzarella than I do. If there's one thing I've learned about mozzarella it's that not all mozzarella cheeses are created equal. First of all, the dried up crap you buy in most north American supermarkets is a distant third cousin, twice removed from "real" mozzarella. So in that context I sort of had a bit more appreciation for her choice. Plus, the whole point I guess of these types of discussions is to open your mind to the possibilities outside of your own frame of reference. Oh and it's also important to make sure people know that under no circumstances is it okay to move your cheese. In fact, it's best to just not move things people are planning on eating. At least that was the sobering lesson I took away from the book "Who Moved My Hummus?: The Origins of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict". Trust me, it's some scary stuff.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
He's Cuckoo & Not for Cocoa Puffs
Have you seen that video of Tom Cruise talking about scientology that's been circulating around the interwebs? I actually didn't really have much desire to see it since I was already pretty sure he was crazy and I didn't need anymore proof. Well yesterday I saw a spoof of the original that was pretty funny. They basically interject clips of Will Smith into the original and make it look like Tom is trying to convert Will to scientology. You can see the video below.
After I saw the spoof, I was kind of curious to see the original. I've never really understood scientology but I just figured it was because I'm not really a science fiction fan. The thing is, I don't like to mock or judge people based on their religious beliefs. Well technically, I actually don't mind doing that but I just try not to do it in a public forum. The thing is, there are a lot of kooky "religions" out there but it just seems like scientology really takes the cake. After watching Tom wax eloquent, my intial thoughts were confirmed. Here are a few of my favourite excerpts followed by what I was thinking in my head when he said them:
A "scientologist has the ability to create new and better realities and improve conditions"
How's about you just start by making new and better movies. You haven't had a decent movie in like three years.
"Being a scientologist, when you drive by an accident it's not like anyone else. You drive past and you know you have to do something about it because you're the only one who can help"
Unless you have the jaws of life in your car, I'm not so sure you're the only person I'd want on the scene if I'm mangled in a car wreck. That's just me though.
"We are the authorities on the mind. We can bring peace and unite cultures."
Tom, I don't want to bring up what I can only imagine is a sensitive subject but if you can actually bring peace and unity how comes you got deevorced? At the very least, you must have read Nicole's mind and seen it coming right? And not to put too fine a point on this but if you are able to bring peace and unity, why don't you g'head and put those invaluable skills to work. There's a little place called the middle east that could probably use a hand if you've got the market cornered on peacemaking.
After I saw the spoof, I was kind of curious to see the original. I've never really understood scientology but I just figured it was because I'm not really a science fiction fan. The thing is, I don't like to mock or judge people based on their religious beliefs. Well technically, I actually don't mind doing that but I just try not to do it in a public forum. The thing is, there are a lot of kooky "religions" out there but it just seems like scientology really takes the cake. After watching Tom wax eloquent, my intial thoughts were confirmed. Here are a few of my favourite excerpts followed by what I was thinking in my head when he said them:
A "scientologist has the ability to create new and better realities and improve conditions"
How's about you just start by making new and better movies. You haven't had a decent movie in like three years.
"Being a scientologist, when you drive by an accident it's not like anyone else. You drive past and you know you have to do something about it because you're the only one who can help"
Unless you have the jaws of life in your car, I'm not so sure you're the only person I'd want on the scene if I'm mangled in a car wreck. That's just me though.
"We are the authorities on the mind. We can bring peace and unite cultures."
Tom, I don't want to bring up what I can only imagine is a sensitive subject but if you can actually bring peace and unity how comes you got deevorced? At the very least, you must have read Nicole's mind and seen it coming right? And not to put too fine a point on this but if you are able to bring peace and unity, why don't you g'head and put those invaluable skills to work. There's a little place called the middle east that could probably use a hand if you've got the market cornered on peacemaking.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Best Music of 2007
I was thinking the other day that 2007 was a pretty good year for new music. I spend a lot of time looking for new music to add to my collection but it seems like every year I'm discovering more old music than new stuff. 2007 was the first year where I felt like there was actually a lot of good new music released. It was actually the first year in a while that I actually bought albums that were great, not just songs. I realize that music is very subjective so this of course is just my opinion. As a way of commemorating the music of 2007 I decided to put together a compilation of what were my favourite songs of the year. This was no easy task. It was actually, a close second to when I put together a compilation of the greatest love songs of all time. That my friends was my Everest. So I've put together a playlist below of the songs that were my favourites from the past year. Although I came across a lot of great music, I stuck to only including music that was released in 2007 .
As far as major highlights go I have to make special mention of my favourite album of the year which was Josh Ritter's "The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter". If you have some time, check out the album which you can listen to in its entirety here. I believe this actually was his fourth major release and although I had heard of him before I really hadn't listened to much of his music. After I heard some songs off of this album I started going through the rest of his stuff and was pretty blown away. If you're into singer/songwriter stuff you'd probably like a lot of his stuff. One of my personal favourites is a song called "Kathleen" from one of his earlier albums. It's a pretty great love song. Kind of makes me wish my name was Kathleen. It also includes some great lyrics including my favourite, "Every heart is a package tangled up in knots someone else tied." Ain't it though? You can hear the whole song on his myspace page.
So aside from Josh there was a lot of other great stuff and I hope you enjoy the sampling I've put together. Also feel free to chime in on what your favourites were from the year.
Enjoy!
As far as major highlights go I have to make special mention of my favourite album of the year which was Josh Ritter's "The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter". If you have some time, check out the album which you can listen to in its entirety here. I believe this actually was his fourth major release and although I had heard of him before I really hadn't listened to much of his music. After I heard some songs off of this album I started going through the rest of his stuff and was pretty blown away. If you're into singer/songwriter stuff you'd probably like a lot of his stuff. One of my personal favourites is a song called "Kathleen" from one of his earlier albums. It's a pretty great love song. Kind of makes me wish my name was Kathleen. It also includes some great lyrics including my favourite, "Every heart is a package tangled up in knots someone else tied." Ain't it though? You can hear the whole song on his myspace page.
So aside from Josh there was a lot of other great stuff and I hope you enjoy the sampling I've put together. Also feel free to chime in on what your favourites were from the year.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Nice Mitts
So I'm sitting here watching the New Hampshire primary results roll in and I'm thinking a few things:
First, I need to get a life and I'm definitely going to do that after the primaries.
Second, what kind of a name is "Mitt"? I had a friend once who had a cat named Mittens because the cat was black with white front paws. I wonder if one of Mitt's hands was abnormally large and that's how his parents came up with his name. I think that could be a really great story. I could see him on the campaign trail telling a crowd of supporters, "Listen people, if I can overcome the kind of adversity that comes with having one big banana hand, just think of what we can do together as a country!"
Third, I'm getting tired of the way that these candidates end all of their speeches. It seems like the only way to end a political campaign speech is to yell something along the lines of, "From here we go to Michigan, South Carolina and then THE WHITE HOUSE!!!!!" Cue uproarious applause. I think it would be really cool if somebody ended their speech by saying in a hushed tone "The end."
First, I need to get a life and I'm definitely going to do that after the primaries.
Second, what kind of a name is "Mitt"? I had a friend once who had a cat named Mittens because the cat was black with white front paws. I wonder if one of Mitt's hands was abnormally large and that's how his parents came up with his name. I think that could be a really great story. I could see him on the campaign trail telling a crowd of supporters, "Listen people, if I can overcome the kind of adversity that comes with having one big banana hand, just think of what we can do together as a country!"
Third, I'm getting tired of the way that these candidates end all of their speeches. It seems like the only way to end a political campaign speech is to yell something along the lines of, "From here we go to Michigan, South Carolina and then THE WHITE HOUSE!!!!!" Cue uproarious applause. I think it would be really cool if somebody ended their speech by saying in a hushed tone "The end."
Monday, January 07, 2008
I Promised Myself I Wasn't Going to Do This
The kindergarten teacher at my primary school used to do this presentation at graduation ceremonies at the end of each school year to the most improved student in her class. Invariably it would involve her saying at some point, "I promised myself I wasn't going to do this..." which was shortly followed by her choking back tears and getting emotional as she talked about this student who much to her chagrin had apparently caused her to break her promise. The first year this happened it was quite touching but by year six I was like, "Why do you keep making that stupid promise to yourself when everybody knows you have no intention of keeping it. Plus, the kid you're crying about is five years old which means there's plenty of time for him or her to become a total screw up and then you'll really have something to cry about." The truth is that the main reason the whole charade really got to me was because the award was a train made out of chocolate and all of these stupid underachievers kept winning it and I'm like, "How much more do I need to underachieve around here to get some respect (or at least a chocolate train)?"
The reason I was reminded of this was because today the big political headline was about how Hillary Clinton got slightly emotional at a campaign stop and it was spun in a few different ways. The first was that it was some form of a last ditch effort to garner support by showing that she's not a robot and the second was that this was evidence of why a woman couldn't handle the upper echelons of power because she'd be busy crying in her coffee anytime she was under pressure.
First of all, I can pretty much guarantee that Hillary would not be crying as a way of garnering support. Besides the fact that it's just not her style, she knows better than anyone that it will only be perceived as weakness. Secondly, I get so annoyed with people who assume that women cry because we're weak. I just want to set the record straight for anyone that thinks a woman getting slightly emotional proves she's weak. From personal experience I can tell you that women cry for a number of reasons. We cry when we're frustrated, we cry when we're angry, and of course we cry when we're sad. Plus, any one of these reasons could be triggered without good reason by a lack of sleep. I just never understood how this was any different then someone who gets frustrated and blows their top. Both involve someone losing control but somehow losing your cool is an acceptable way to go about it.
As you can probably tell, I have some very strong feelings on this issue. About a year ago I was in a meeting with my boss where I got so frustrated that tears started welling up in my eyes and I had to go to "my happy place" in my head just to prevent the floodgates from opening. I managed to hold back the tide but he knew that I was on the verge. The next day, he came by my office to have a "heart to heart" with me. He proceeded to tell me that as I progress in my career I needed to do a better job of controlling my emotions. First of all, I know this and the last thing I wanted to do was put any of my emotions on display for him or anyone else. Then I thought to myself, "I'm sorry but aren't you the guy that loses his cool pretty much on the daily and has verbally abused everyone who works for you at some point?" Fortunately I knew the answer so I didn't bother asking the question but it really got my dander up. I pretended to accept his feedback graciously which I really should have earned a Best Actress Award for.
So that's my two cents on the matter so I say lay off Hillary already. She's operating on like two hours sleep and since she's sleeping next to Bill you know that's two hours with one eye open.
The reason I was reminded of this was because today the big political headline was about how Hillary Clinton got slightly emotional at a campaign stop and it was spun in a few different ways. The first was that it was some form of a last ditch effort to garner support by showing that she's not a robot and the second was that this was evidence of why a woman couldn't handle the upper echelons of power because she'd be busy crying in her coffee anytime she was under pressure.
First of all, I can pretty much guarantee that Hillary would not be crying as a way of garnering support. Besides the fact that it's just not her style, she knows better than anyone that it will only be perceived as weakness. Secondly, I get so annoyed with people who assume that women cry because we're weak. I just want to set the record straight for anyone that thinks a woman getting slightly emotional proves she's weak. From personal experience I can tell you that women cry for a number of reasons. We cry when we're frustrated, we cry when we're angry, and of course we cry when we're sad. Plus, any one of these reasons could be triggered without good reason by a lack of sleep. I just never understood how this was any different then someone who gets frustrated and blows their top. Both involve someone losing control but somehow losing your cool is an acceptable way to go about it.
As you can probably tell, I have some very strong feelings on this issue. About a year ago I was in a meeting with my boss where I got so frustrated that tears started welling up in my eyes and I had to go to "my happy place" in my head just to prevent the floodgates from opening. I managed to hold back the tide but he knew that I was on the verge. The next day, he came by my office to have a "heart to heart" with me. He proceeded to tell me that as I progress in my career I needed to do a better job of controlling my emotions. First of all, I know this and the last thing I wanted to do was put any of my emotions on display for him or anyone else. Then I thought to myself, "I'm sorry but aren't you the guy that loses his cool pretty much on the daily and has verbally abused everyone who works for you at some point?" Fortunately I knew the answer so I didn't bother asking the question but it really got my dander up. I pretended to accept his feedback graciously which I really should have earned a Best Actress Award for.
So that's my two cents on the matter so I say lay off Hillary already. She's operating on like two hours sleep and since she's sleeping next to Bill you know that's two hours with one eye open.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Between Barack and a Hard Place
Up to this point I haven't really discussed politics since there's no better way to alienate people than to talk politics. But with primary season upon us I've got political fever and since it's my blog I'm going to talk about it. I have to admit that I'm a bit of a political junkie. Well I should clarify, I'm a political junkie when it comes to American politics. I realize this is a bit odd with me being Canadian and all but if national elections were a sport, American presidential elections would be the Superbowl of political events. Canadian elections on the other hand would be like the world series of tetherball. Sure it's sort of still a sport but could there be a more banal exercise. I mean, I'll still watch it for a couple of minutes if nothing else is on but eventually I'll come to the realization that staring at a blank screen would be more interesting.
There are a few reasons why I've always been pretty intrigued with politics and one of them is the fact that I have a bit of political pedigree. Okay maybe pedigree isn't the best word for it but my dad was quite a political maverick in his day and as his kids we were forced into action in many of his landmark crusades. The thing was, my dad had a real penchant for choosing slightly extreme and some may say futile causes. For example, one of my earliest political memories was when my dad got very involved with a group called the Alliance for the Preservation of English in Canada (or APEC as it was known to insiders like me and my six year old brother). Anyway, the main goal of this "political lobby group" was to end Canada's policy of official bilingualism and go back to just one official language which I believe they were hoping would be English. I actually did an internet search for APEC recently just to see what came up and found out some pretty interesting things. Apparently, in their prime they held a lot of Quebec flag stomping ceremonies which ended up sort of backfiring because it fueled up the Quebec sovereignty movement. Well that's certainly annoying. I can't believe I wasted an entire summer going door to door with all those stupid flyers while my sister typed letters to the prime minister only to end up furthering the very movement I was supposed to be ending when I was nine. I'm not sure whether I believe that though because I'm pretty sure if there had been some flag stomping going on my dad would have had us all there front and center in our Sunday best. My research also found that in addition to their opposition to the horror that is the French language they apparently also fought some other noteworthy battles against things like immigration and homosexuality. See now that makes a little more sense as I do recall a very memorable gay immigrant themed pinata party we attended one beautiful summer's eve when I was ten. I remember sort of thinking that the pinatas seemed rather lifelike. I should clarify that my dad isn't actually an extremist. He just happened to have some unique and usually harmless passions.
Okay so that should give you a little idea about my political "pedigree". Although I'm not sure that totally explains why I'm so fascinated with American presidential politics. Truthfully I think in a lot of respects it has to do with the fact that it is very much like a sport. It has drama, intrigue, strategy, emotions, winners, losers, and of course the bragging rights that come with being on the winning side.
In particular, I think that primary season really is the most interesting part of the whole process because it's really not about issues at all. Essentially the candidates within each party have the same stance on the big issues whether it be health care, foreign policy, taxes, etc... They all talk about their different "plans" but since they fundamentally agree on most issues it comes down to perception and emotion and who comes up with the message that resonates the most with voters. Someone like Barack Obama is so intriguing because he's so engaging that I have the feeling that even if he was just a city councillor from Topeka people would still be falling all over themselves to vote for him for President. Whereas someone like Hillary Clinton who is probably the brightest and most experienced of all of the candidates just can't get people to vote for her because they don't "like" her. It's not that I'm a big fan of Hillary's (although I have to admit that she's sort of grown on me much like a fungus) but it does strike me as a bit strange that it's so important to people that their president be someone they'd feel comfortable having a beer with. Truth be told, I also sort of feel sorry for Hillary because she's as smart (if not smarter) than her husband and has definitely paid her dues both personally and politically but I just don't see her winning the nomination. I'm almost positive though that if Bill Clinton was able to run again he'd get elected for another two terms because he's such a top rate "politician".
Then there are the Republicans and I can't really get excited about any of these guys. You've got John McCain who sort of reminds me of that curmudgeonly uncle who yells at you when you drive by his house too fast and who's always telling old war stories. "Hey John, we get it, you were in 'Nam and it sucked. Get over it!" Next there's Huckabee who I'm still surprised has gotten as far as he has. Then again, who can resist a guy who plays a bass guitar and has lost 150 pounds. It's the American dream. He's like the Jared Fogle of politics. Of course there's Romney who seems to be the most polished of all of the Republican candidates but everybody's scared because he's a Mormon. I think Mormons are scary too and I'm not sure why. At the end of the day though it's interesting to me that Republicans would probably vote for an agnostic before they'd vote for a Mormon.
I think it's going to be a pretty interesting year in American politics. I know it's really early but my prediction is that Barack Obama will be the next American president. I just think it's going to be very tough to stop the Obamarama bus once it gets rolling...especially if Oprah's riding shotgun.
There are a few reasons why I've always been pretty intrigued with politics and one of them is the fact that I have a bit of political pedigree. Okay maybe pedigree isn't the best word for it but my dad was quite a political maverick in his day and as his kids we were forced into action in many of his landmark crusades. The thing was, my dad had a real penchant for choosing slightly extreme and some may say futile causes. For example, one of my earliest political memories was when my dad got very involved with a group called the Alliance for the Preservation of English in Canada (or APEC as it was known to insiders like me and my six year old brother). Anyway, the main goal of this "political lobby group" was to end Canada's policy of official bilingualism and go back to just one official language which I believe they were hoping would be English. I actually did an internet search for APEC recently just to see what came up and found out some pretty interesting things. Apparently, in their prime they held a lot of Quebec flag stomping ceremonies which ended up sort of backfiring because it fueled up the Quebec sovereignty movement. Well that's certainly annoying. I can't believe I wasted an entire summer going door to door with all those stupid flyers while my sister typed letters to the prime minister only to end up furthering the very movement I was supposed to be ending when I was nine. I'm not sure whether I believe that though because I'm pretty sure if there had been some flag stomping going on my dad would have had us all there front and center in our Sunday best. My research also found that in addition to their opposition to the horror that is the French language they apparently also fought some other noteworthy battles against things like immigration and homosexuality. See now that makes a little more sense as I do recall a very memorable gay immigrant themed pinata party we attended one beautiful summer's eve when I was ten. I remember sort of thinking that the pinatas seemed rather lifelike. I should clarify that my dad isn't actually an extremist. He just happened to have some unique and usually harmless passions.
Okay so that should give you a little idea about my political "pedigree". Although I'm not sure that totally explains why I'm so fascinated with American presidential politics. Truthfully I think in a lot of respects it has to do with the fact that it is very much like a sport. It has drama, intrigue, strategy, emotions, winners, losers, and of course the bragging rights that come with being on the winning side.
In particular, I think that primary season really is the most interesting part of the whole process because it's really not about issues at all. Essentially the candidates within each party have the same stance on the big issues whether it be health care, foreign policy, taxes, etc... They all talk about their different "plans" but since they fundamentally agree on most issues it comes down to perception and emotion and who comes up with the message that resonates the most with voters. Someone like Barack Obama is so intriguing because he's so engaging that I have the feeling that even if he was just a city councillor from Topeka people would still be falling all over themselves to vote for him for President. Whereas someone like Hillary Clinton who is probably the brightest and most experienced of all of the candidates just can't get people to vote for her because they don't "like" her. It's not that I'm a big fan of Hillary's (although I have to admit that she's sort of grown on me much like a fungus) but it does strike me as a bit strange that it's so important to people that their president be someone they'd feel comfortable having a beer with. Truth be told, I also sort of feel sorry for Hillary because she's as smart (if not smarter) than her husband and has definitely paid her dues both personally and politically but I just don't see her winning the nomination. I'm almost positive though that if Bill Clinton was able to run again he'd get elected for another two terms because he's such a top rate "politician".
Then there are the Republicans and I can't really get excited about any of these guys. You've got John McCain who sort of reminds me of that curmudgeonly uncle who yells at you when you drive by his house too fast and who's always telling old war stories. "Hey John, we get it, you were in 'Nam and it sucked. Get over it!" Next there's Huckabee who I'm still surprised has gotten as far as he has. Then again, who can resist a guy who plays a bass guitar and has lost 150 pounds. It's the American dream. He's like the Jared Fogle of politics. Of course there's Romney who seems to be the most polished of all of the Republican candidates but everybody's scared because he's a Mormon. I think Mormons are scary too and I'm not sure why. At the end of the day though it's interesting to me that Republicans would probably vote for an agnostic before they'd vote for a Mormon.
I think it's going to be a pretty interesting year in American politics. I know it's really early but my prediction is that Barack Obama will be the next American president. I just think it's going to be very tough to stop the Obamarama bus once it gets rolling...especially if Oprah's riding shotgun.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Follow Your Bliss
They say the key to happiness in life is all about "following your bliss". For the last week and a half that's been my sole mission. As it turns out, my bliss looks a lot like sleeping in until noon, eating glutonous amounts of my mom's fresh Christmas baking for breakfast followed by a full day of glorious inactivity. I'm guessing that this wasn't exactly what Joseph Campbell had in mind but despite my staggering lack of productivity, my bliss felt pretty darn good. The only caution I would have for anyone planning on following their bliss for an extended period of time is that you try to avoid wearing pants with elasticized wastes for more than a few hours at a time as they are capable of hiding a multitude of sins. I know you're probably wondering how many pairs of pants I have with elasticized wastes and the answer is actually just two. I have a pair of pajama pants and a pair of athletic/work out pants - which I guess is sort of ironic. The problem was that I'd put these on because they're so comfortable and by the time I had to put a real pair of pants on I needed a tub of butter to squeeze into them.
I came to this troubling realization a bit later than I should have. It was about three days after Christmas which was about day six into my intense and focused study in the art of bliss. My brother, sister and I had decided to pry our sorry carcasses off of the couch and go to a movie. You know it's bad when the only motivation to get off of the couch is to go and sit on another one for two hours but what can I say, that's just how I roll. Anyway, I changed out of "my Christmas pants" and into a pair of jeans. Boy was that an uncomfortable wake up call. At first I tried to tell myself they were a touch snug because I had just washed them . Then the harsh reality of the situation set in and and I just prayed they'd give a little so I wouldn't lose consciousness in the middle of the movie. We arrived at the theater only to realize that the start time of the movie was actually fifteen minutes earlier than my brother had thought. Since we were already our standard fifteen minutes late for the "perceived" start time, we were in fact one half of an hour late for the "actual" movie starting time. Although disappointed, I can't say we were completely surprised by this turn of events since my brother's not exactly a details guy. They say "the devil is in the details" and with my brother being the holiest guy I know, the devil is nowhere in sight which means these things are just bound to happen. I've got to be honest, ordinarily something like that would really annoy me but the problem is that my brother's one of those people (perhaps the only one) who I find it almost impossible to stay annoyed at for very long which in and of itself is sort of annoying. He's just so darn well intentioned and that apparently is my kryptonite as far as holding grudges goes. The other reason it didn't annoy me so much was because it meant that I'd be able to get back into my Christmas pants even sooner than expected. In fact, as soon as we got home I was back in my Christmas pants in under two minutes flat (travel to and from my chambers included). It was so quick that even my brother and sister were impressed...or scared, I wasn't really sure which. I also took this opportunity to share with them the song I'd written about my Christmas pants. The song was entitled "Oh Christmas Pants" and actually sounds a lot like "Oh Christmas Tree" but with the word "Pants" substituted for the word "Tree". Trust me, it's catchy. They were both pretty moved by the musical expression of my devotion to my Christmas pants...or scared, again I'm not sure which.
Listen, I'm not going to lie to you - following your bliss is definitely all it's cracked up to be and maybe even more. The only downside I guess is that I'm pretty sure I'm going to be working off my bliss at the gym for the next three months. It's like another wise man once said "Nothing worth having comes without a fight". I'm so relieved to finally know what he was talking about.
I came to this troubling realization a bit later than I should have. It was about three days after Christmas which was about day six into my intense and focused study in the art of bliss. My brother, sister and I had decided to pry our sorry carcasses off of the couch and go to a movie. You know it's bad when the only motivation to get off of the couch is to go and sit on another one for two hours but what can I say, that's just how I roll. Anyway, I changed out of "my Christmas pants" and into a pair of jeans. Boy was that an uncomfortable wake up call. At first I tried to tell myself they were a touch snug because I had just washed them . Then the harsh reality of the situation set in and and I just prayed they'd give a little so I wouldn't lose consciousness in the middle of the movie. We arrived at the theater only to realize that the start time of the movie was actually fifteen minutes earlier than my brother had thought. Since we were already our standard fifteen minutes late for the "perceived" start time, we were in fact one half of an hour late for the "actual" movie starting time. Although disappointed, I can't say we were completely surprised by this turn of events since my brother's not exactly a details guy. They say "the devil is in the details" and with my brother being the holiest guy I know, the devil is nowhere in sight which means these things are just bound to happen. I've got to be honest, ordinarily something like that would really annoy me but the problem is that my brother's one of those people (perhaps the only one) who I find it almost impossible to stay annoyed at for very long which in and of itself is sort of annoying. He's just so darn well intentioned and that apparently is my kryptonite as far as holding grudges goes. The other reason it didn't annoy me so much was because it meant that I'd be able to get back into my Christmas pants even sooner than expected. In fact, as soon as we got home I was back in my Christmas pants in under two minutes flat (travel to and from my chambers included). It was so quick that even my brother and sister were impressed...or scared, I wasn't really sure which. I also took this opportunity to share with them the song I'd written about my Christmas pants. The song was entitled "Oh Christmas Pants" and actually sounds a lot like "Oh Christmas Tree" but with the word "Pants" substituted for the word "Tree". Trust me, it's catchy. They were both pretty moved by the musical expression of my devotion to my Christmas pants...or scared, again I'm not sure which.
Listen, I'm not going to lie to you - following your bliss is definitely all it's cracked up to be and maybe even more. The only downside I guess is that I'm pretty sure I'm going to be working off my bliss at the gym for the next three months. It's like another wise man once said "Nothing worth having comes without a fight". I'm so relieved to finally know what he was talking about.
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