A TMP lunch o’ fun. We went to the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art yesterday for some quick culture and a bite to eat. I’m just stoked that our fine city has such a museum, and the Archigram exhibit was pretty fascinating. To top it off, we ate at Puck’s at MCA, and the Puckster himself was there! Thanks for the salad Wolfey. I wonder if I should name my next kid Wolfgang just so I could call him Wolfey?

I had a great conversation with Susanna and Karin on Friday sparked by my 2 month reading of the Catholic Catechism. Philosphising on religion and its merits, or lack thereof is a great way to pass a commute. I just need to finish that dern thing – one, because I’m sick of looking at it in that sidebar, and two, because I’ve got like 20 books on order from Amazon that they just confirmed are on their way. If that’s not motivation to tear through 300 more pages of gripping religious prose, I don’t know what is.

I never even saw the show last year. I must have been properly brainwashed by the media into watching it. It was actually pretty good. Although what passes as ‘smart cinematography’ is oftentimes us looking at a scene from through the slats in a chair. Nice overt use of the handheld camera though. Much easier to swallow than Blair Witch project. Stupid as it seems, I also watched the 3 minute commercial afterward by the sponsor, Ford. I actually think that’s not a bad idea. I watched the commercial because I appreciated the company that gave me the entire show uncut. Would somebody PLEASE give me a Bills game unedited by commercials. I’ll watch a 2 hour commercial for the flowbee afterwards if I have to.

Here it is…my Mason-got-me-sick-again blog. What do you know, the zipper has caught his son’s cold again. Straight out of the petri dish called day care. If I didn’t know any better I’d think it’s me who taste tests another kid’s face who has snots running from his nose clear into his mouth. It’s me who picks up 3 day old cheese from my high chair, rubs it around in my apple juice, and jams it into my mouth…with fingers that were last checking the side of the toilet bowl to see how smooth and silky it is.

My wife never gets sick. Maybe that’s because she doesn’t have time to. What a load of crap. I was just thinking to myself the other day. “Gee, zip you’ve really got some “extra” time on your hands. What you really should do is go get sick.” Tricia has definitely developed an immune system of steel. Come to think of it, my Mom wasn’t sick very often either. I’ve done an exhaustive Internet search to find out why, but I have come up empty. Either my searching skills suck or my browser has a headcold too.

My obsession with the Bills grows deeper week-by-week. My NFL Ticket is getting a major work out, and this weekend is no different – it’s the Dolphins. Squish the Fish, F the Fins…whatever. I’ve come to realize that when the Bills are playing well and they have enjoyable players to watch, I’m like a housewife addicted to General Hospital. Luckily, Tricia is into the Bills too, so my obsession doesn’t have to be a closet one. Since Buffalobills.com decided to be so gracious as to post all the Bills Backers Bars in local areas across the country, I’m pretty sure my next destination has to be Lincoln Station. Hey Trish, wanna go?

I had a really fascinating conversation yesterday with a co-worker sparked by her surprise that I went and saw Barbershop (which has a pretty cool movie site). She is black, and I am white. She was surprised that I went to see a “black” movie and really enjoyed the “black humor”. I had the frustrating realization that my attitude toward black people is as much a matter of not growing up in a very mixed neighborhood, to not making a lot of friends with black people, to listening to rap music, but not really “understanding it”. It’s not that I am consciously different. It’s that I am subconciously different. Likewise, I’m fascinated by my co-workers point of view having lived in Europe for some of her life. She’s used to people being judged by different points of view, not different skin colors.

So her struggle in fitting in with the American “Black Community” is to pass judgement the way they do. Her opinion differs with that community oftentimes. This is a theme hammered upon in the movie. It is only within the context of the Barbershop that the black people voiced an opinion that differed from the Black Community at large. My co-worker’s story of black people she knows being offended by these opinions-like Rosa Parks not being any more influential than any other black person that got kicked off a bus in the 60’s, illustrates the homogenous opinion sometimes offered by the Black Community.

My struggle is to understand others in a much more meaningful way. Specifically, understanding the roots of modern attitudes about each other that goes beyond the civil rights movement. If anyone has some good reading on any issues surrounding this topic, let me know. By the end of the conversation I was convinced that she is a human, and so am I. Our struggles are humaan ones, not black and white ones.

Saturday was awesome! Jim and I went to 5 movies in 10 hours.
(1) Red Dragon ** VERY similar to Hannibal.
(2) My Big Fat Greek Wedding *** Funny chick flick. Can’t beat lamb on a spit in the front yard.
(3) Sweet Home Alabama **Boring chick flick. Need some lamb on a spit in the front yard.
(4) Barbershop ****The only unique thing I saw all day. Ice Cube rules, and so does the guy that looks like Frederick Douglas.
(5) Road to Perdition *Don’t even bother. No lambs, no spits, no front yards. No fun to watch.

We topped off the night with my first White Castle ever. Those little mousemeat burgers may NEVER enter my body again.

Here’s a shout out to my dad who turns 50 today. I hope I will have acomplished as much as he has when I’m 50. 2 kids out of the house, 1 VP job, 4 classic cars, 1 five car garage, and a new habit – car racing. Mid-life doesn’t sound too bad. Happy birthday dad. I miss you! Here was his gift. A logo for his new habit:

Tricia and I spent a day away from baby to be with our “new kids”. 40 Freshmen on an hour bus ride to a teambuilding camp in the middle of nowhere. The girls were talking at about 150 lph¹ and the boys were throwing everything from food at each other to walnuts at trees. All in all it was fun. I can’t wait til they come over next weekend with their parents. Then we might have to start talking about God Stuff. Eeeewwww.

¹ Likes Per Hour. Example: “It’s like Jennifer and I are like going to the bathroom, and she was like eewww your hair is gross, and I was like, Jen we’re in the woods, duh…”

What the hell happened to me this morning? I’m on a workout kick. I get up with my friend, and the best youth minister in the world, Jim, every Monday, Wednesady and Friday at 5am to workout. That requires me to get up at 4:30am. We did our Friday “Max-outs” – where we test our progress by doing the most we can do on a bunch of exercises. Well I was pretty thirsty, and brilliant me doesn’t have a water bottle. Long story short, after the workout was over, I nearly passed out in my car. I gutted it out and made it home. Where I literally crashed. Shaking, out of breath, nauseous, I couldn’t even unlock the door to go inside. I had to ring the doorbell. My wonderful wifey took care of me while I couldn’t even tell her that no, I wasn’t having a heart attack, I just worked out too hard without water. I drank six full glasses in 10 minutes. I felt worse than a drunk with the room spinning. I’m better now, but I think I learned a little about my body today, and I think I’m going to go water bottle shopping.