I'm such a girl

So Tuesday night my wife and I went to the movies. We went to see "The Holiday." This is maybe the ultimate of chick flicks. I mean it was probably the most chickie movie that I have ever seen, and I liked it. That's right, I liked it a lot actually. It was touching and funny and clever. Just liking this movie may have made me a bit of a girl, but it gets worse. There was a really touching part to the movie that brought tears to my eyes, none rolled, but tears came to my eyes nonetheless. It wasn't even a sad part of the movie, but a happy and touching part. What kind of man cries when the movie is happy? I do. The kind of man that I am is that kind of man. Sure I called myself a girl, but the truth is that any man should feel okay to cry at any time in their lives. We have double standards everywhere in our society, and this is one that is unfair to men. I think that it is time for the world to accept that men have feelings other than lust. We don't just like sports and action, but also like a romance and love. Of course, we suck at it sometimes, but I blame society for this. We aren't allowed to be in touch with those things unless we are gay, which is assinine. Why should just gay guys know something about romance? Anyway, I think I might be just justifying that fact that I cried at a movie that my wife didn't cry at. That's right, she didn't cry. The woman cried for like three hours after "Life as a House," which was really sad, but doesn't shed one single tear when I have the urge to cry at a movie. I think I'm done with this. Feel free to cry, even if it is at what a loser I am.

Later,

Mark

Tis the season!

I was clicking around on the internet a couple of weeks ago and came across this. I was surprised by it, and haven't really been able to get it out of my head since. How very appropriate this is for how the season is really celebrated. I think that children have a better idea of Santa Claus than they do of Jesus being born in a manger in Bethlehem. I'm not saying that we should stop talking about Santa Claus with the kids. I'm not saying that we should stop giving presents and stop watching Christmas movies about Santa Claus. What I am saying is that Christmas is a little too commercial. I like getting presents for my friends and family, and really I don't mind receiving a few gifts. Christmas is about the humble beginnings of Jesus, who went on to do some pretty great things like redeeming us from our sins. It's turned into something that is more about stuff. Jesus was born in a stable. Not in a state of the art hospital. But I think that the humility is gone from Christmas. It's about what we want and what we can buy for other people. I don't think that everyone is like this, but it seems to be more and more prevalent in today's society. Children are about getting more and more, which I think is normal, but now it's not just children who are all about the gimme-gimme's. I think it is time that we stop thinking about ourselves during the holiday season, and start thinking about those who don't have anything. I came across a quote by St. Basil, he was a Cappadocian Theologian from a long time ago. "The bread that you store up belongs to the hungry; the coat that lies in your chest belongs to the naked; the gold that you have hidden in the ground belongs to the poor." I think if we keep this in mind Christmas will look a little different.
Peace homies,
Mark
PS-This comic comes from www.tmcm.com and is drawn by Shannon Wheeler.

"Johnny Quest, he thinks we're WHAT!?"

My favorite band for quite some time now has completely changed their style, and it really pisses my off. The Band is Less Than Jake. They used to be a really cool ska band with some punk influence. Now, they sound like pop, which isn't bad if you want to be a pop band. They used to have a great ska sound with trombones and saxophones, it was great. Now it's just guitar, bass, and drums. They went from awesome songs with nonsensical titles, which were about real people in their lives, to "In with the out crowd." What I've heard of the new album is what is pissing me off. I don't care if a band decided to change up their style some, as long as it doesn't suck when they do. This Johnny Quest does think you are sell-outs (Which is a reference to one of their better songs).

Which leads me to a question that I must ask myself. Does everyone have their price? Is everyone just a few dollars, cents, or people from selling-out? I would define selling out as a compromising your own style, thoughts, beliefs, or background for prestige, money, power, or sex. I just threw sex on there on a whim. Is it always a bad thing to sell-out? I think it is bad for anyone to compromise their own values for money, or anything else I mentioned before. If a person makes a change in his/her life, then that person should do it because it betters them emotionally, physically, or mentally. It should not be to gain something at the expense of someone else. Maybe LTJ made an honest change, but I feel they got too poppy and are isolating all of their old fans for younger ones.

Could I sell-out at anytime? I think it is possible. It's scary to say, but I really do. I'm not sure what I would compromise, or for what reward. I don't really want to make a lot of money. Maybe I would sell-out my beliefs for a class, but I think that would only be for the duration of the class. Actually, I don't know that I could do that either, but I guess it is possible. Maybe we are all "sell-outs" at different points in our lives. We all conform at some point. I think it is a question of whether you stay that way, or go back to being the unique individual you have always been. Anyway, this is getting way to self-helpish, so I'm done.

Don't forget to dance,

Mark

Overworked Kids

Kids today have way too much to do. The kids in my youth group are constantly doing something. They have drama stuff. They have soccer on Sundays. They have other sports throughout the week. I don't think there is a day that they don't have something going on. Then, they try to squeeze church into that mix. This is insane.

When I was a kid I played sports and went to church, but the sports didn't happen on Sunday. And practices were always over before Wednesday night church. I mean every night after practice I would go and play basketball with some neighborhood buddies, but I wasn't really pushed in every which direction by the many obligations I had. I only had like two obligation, church and school. What are we teaching these kids today?

I think it is a bad trend that our youth don't know how to rest. They go from one thing to another with very little rest in between. They have after school things and then homework, and sports that are outside of the school. Then some of them have to work, and there is no "me" time in any of this. We are teaching our kids to be overworked business people. Any we are teaching them that soccer is as important as church, or at least it is okay to have things compete with church.

Now, I have my struggles with the church. I really don't like institutions, and I think that sometimes the churches have no idea what God really wants. But I don't think we should be teaching our kids to be cynical about church. Instead, we should let them come to that conclusion on their own. They are plenty smart enough to see the flaws that come from getting a bunch of humans together to decide what God really wants for the world.

I guess my point is: It is no wonder that people grow up without ever figuring out how to rest and relax. We teach people from a very young age that it is something that you are supposed to chance but never catch, like the wind. Man, we like screw stuff up. On top of that we teach them that since you can't rest you might as well try to buy lots of stuff to make up for it. I think that's another topic though. I guess that all for now.

Later homies,

Mark

I want to go back to school!

I'm so tired of doing the same stuff all the time. I know I complain about going to school, and most likely will once I return. But I really want to go back to school. Right now, I'm working part time, and that is really it. I have nothing else pressing to do in my life. I work in the mornings then go back to my apartment, and right now try to get it set up. Normal life is really boring, I think I want to be a student all the time. Not that student life is the easiest and best thing in the world either, but it seems to suit me well. I mean sure it is physically and mentally exhausting, but there is always something that needs to be done. Of course, I will probably just put it off until the last minute. Maybe that's what I miss. In the real world they expect you to plan things before the night before. I don't really know how to do that, or rather I'm not used to doing that.

It's not that my job is particularly hard either. I just have to plan fun things for middle school kids, and carry it out. Nothing hard about that. I mean I think like a middle schooler, so I just plan things for myself. It seems to work out pretty well. My life is boring at the moment, now that the wedding is over. I just need more to do I think. Twenty hours a week will be great once I'm in school, but right now it's boring. Maybe once I'm full time it will be better. Anyway, I guess I'm done. Maybe next time I will have something a little more exciting to write about.

Peace, Love, and eat your veggies
Mark

Sickness and Health

I just got married, and I have been thinking about some of the vows that I took during the ceremony. Most of it is just taking care of each other, and loving each other until death parts us. Well, that well and good, but they didn't tell me how soon it would be before all of these in statements are going to take place. For instance, they didn't warn me that sickness was going to happen shortly after making it to the hotel for the "honeymoon," which was almost non-existent.

We hadn't been to the hotel for more than an hour when my wife starting feeling sick to her stomach. I tried not to take it personally, but I couldn't help thinking that my lousy attempts at pleasing her have literally made her sick to her stomach. With that thought never aired publicly, I convinced myself that it had nothing to do with me. She spent most of the rest of our couple day stay sleeping while I watched tv. It wasn't the best honeymoon ever, but I think it should be something that is discussed before the wedding. The pastor in premartial counseling should have said, "Mark, your wife will most likely get sick on the wedding night, so don't have any plans apart from sleeping." Of course, he wouldn't have known that, but still we should have been warned that sickness is before health in vows for a reason.

I've also been thinking about "for richer or for poorer." I only hope that the for richer comes, so that we can at least get out of debt. I'm content with poor, but poor with no debt hanging over my head would be great. I don't really want all of my poorness be as a direct result of debt. I wish I was smart enough to get some scholarships or something. Anyway, since the sickness has already found us, I hope that the richer comes next. But I don't want to be a millionaire, I just want enough to cover everything and little more for some fun things. Anyway that's all for now. Peace and Love!