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.