The First Day of the Rest of My Life

Monday, April 24, 2006

GOOD THING: Finding out I'll have a cheap place to get furniture for my new place, since my dad got hired as the office manager of a furniture store.
BAD THING: Not having a place to put that furniture, as it looks like the closing date, which was tentaively planned for this Friday, may be pushed back.

GOOD THING: Surviving tax season, and all the overtime "requests" made from our bosses.
BAD THING: Still having more "requests" for overtime from those same bosses one week later.

GOOD THING: Going to Oyster Bake Friday and Saturday, a San Antonio tradition.
BAD THING: Being a wet blanket one of those nights, and almost kissing a friend's friend the other night.

GOOD THING: Lingo is coming to town looking for contestants!
BAD THING: They're not coming to my town, they're going to DFW. Anyone wanna come with?

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Reason #397 Why I Love My Friends:
(from a Yahoo chat last week)

EM: have u talked to suzanne?
brown_boy: Nope.
EM: Good for you! I'm proud.
brown_boy: We're about six months into this break-up, which means this one just might actually take.
EM: You are gonna make it....Greg, you've always been too good for her, and you are going to find your "soulmate"
brown_boy: What makes you say that? (about me being too good for her, that is...)
EM: You're just a very kind soul. you deserve a girl that loves you unconditionally, who really sees you for all you are.
EM: You have such a beautiful soul, and somehow i just never thought suzanne brought that out in you.

Seriously, that is one of the best compliments anyone has ever given me.

Monday, April 17, 2006

RANT!

Before I begin, allow me to elaborate on the source of my anger. On a Catholic dating site I belong to, there's a columnist named Mary Beth Bonacci. She posts on the Catholic single life and other such topics. Her most recent article has to do with "The Masculine Gift." You may need to register to read the whole thing, but I suggest you do try to read it.

I've never been the most "macho" guy in the world. In grade school, I was the one being hit, not the one doing the hitting. Not really athletic (save for a stint in middle school running sprints and middle distances) or anything like that. But masculinity and I have never really run together. Now, after years of having it drilled in my head that I shouldn't be an oaf, now comes advice that maybe that's what I should have been going for the whole time.

But one passage really got to me. From the article:
"Let me say that, as a woman, I have no objection to a man being 'in touch with his feelings.' I think it’s nice, in fact. But given a choice between a man who is in touch with his feelings, and a man who can confidently throw a punch when the situation calls for it, I’ll take the guy who can throw a punch any day."

Great. Not only do I avoid conflict at all costs, but if I were to throw a punch, one of two things would happen. Either I would miss, or connect with the force of a wet noodle, and end up getting decked myself.

So I guess this means less Coldplay and more AC/DC. Less TLC, more Spike. Less GQ, more Maxim. (Okay, so maybe it's not ALL bad...)

Back in 2003, I thought my status in the dating world was pretty bad. Now, I find it's even worse.

Sunday, April 16, 2006

THINGS TO BLOG ABOUT WHEN I HAVE MORE TIME/ENERGY:
- Abstinence.
- Masculinity.
- Gin and tonics.
- "Deal or No Deal."
- 400 blog posts.

Friday, April 14, 2006

Finally, a day off...

GREETINGS:
You are hereby notified to appear before the Honorable (____________), Judge, (____) District Court, Central Jury Room, Bexar County Justice Center Basement, (address), San Antonio, Texas at (date and time) then and there to be qualified to serve as petit juror in the several district and county courts of Bexar County. You are cautioned under penalty of law to answer this summons in person at the above time and date.

This is the second one of these I've gotten in my lifetime; the first came when I was at UT, so I had an excuse to miss it. Now... I'm actually looking forward to this.

Other than how to dress ("no shorts," the letter says), what should I do to prepare for one of these? Anything special I should bring? Anything I should say (or not say)?

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

I promised a book review, and here it is.

So I finished reading "Why My Wife Thinks I'm An Idiot" by Mike Greenberg. For those of you who aren't familiar with the author, he's a SportsCenter anchor on ESPN, and co-host of a morning sports-talk radio show, "Mike and Mike in the Morning." This is a book of observations, reflections and essays about life and sports. Mostly about life; the book is about sports the same way "Everybody Loves Raymond" was about sports. (In other words, not very much.)

This is the third "celebrity" book I've read in the last few years (Drew Carey and Aisha Tyler penned the other two). This one is basically my type of read: light, funny, something I can get through in a day or two.

The book comes from a journal that he kept while undergoing therapy. (Quick aside: seems like all great works stem from mental illness. This book, Picasso's artwork, Nevermind... I only wonder what the guy who built the Taj Mahal was going through.) He wrote the journal during a time which his wife was pregnant with their first child, going through to the birth of their second.

After finishing the book, I came away with a few thoughts. First, he actually is a regular guy. Mainly due to the cussing. (The word "shit" appears twice in the first few sentences.) I'm not saying he's Andrew Dice Clay or anything, but the language definitely speaks to the fact that he's somewhat like me. (Not exactly like me, since I'm more of a "fuck" guy than a "shit" guy like him.) Second, he is pretty funny. Not an intellectual type like Aisha Tyler (there was only one word I had to look up in his book, as opposed to the 66 I came up with in Ms. Tyler's book), but still smart enough to get his point across. The talk about the stuff that comes out of kids was a bit much, but I suppose that's what I'll be talking about if/when I have kids. Third, the man is an admitted metrosexual. He sprinkles designer names throughout the book to keep up his street cred (or would it be avenue cred?).

But mostly the focus is on being a husband and a dad. It's a nice little read, maybe not the best thing I've read this year, but it's quite entertaining. I'd say pick this up secondhand.

Alright, literary time over...

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Earlier tonight, while at a fundraiser my church group was holding at Chick-Fil-A, I found out that one of our priests, Fr. Charlie Oyabu, passed away last night from cancer. The stunning thing was that only a couple of months ago, he was saying Mass. He entered hospice care soon after being diagnosed.

I was meaning to do something, but tonight's news spurred me on a bit. I've joined my group's team for this year's Relay for Life, to benefit the American Cancer Society. I'm trying to raise at least $100, possibly more. if you'd like to learn more about the event, or help by making a donation, please visit my donation page. Thanks in advance for your help.

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Last week, during one of my days off, I bought three books at Borders (along with the latest GQ, something about a hot virgin).

I finished one of the books tonight. I'll let you know what I thought about it tomorrow.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Not to go into too much detail about the events of tonight, but I will say this: when a friend quotes a line from "Ice Age: The Meltdown" to keep you from doing something foolish, perhaps it's time to re-evaluate things in your life.

Opening Day is overrated.

Find out why on my latest post to the sports blog.

Saturday, April 01, 2006

RANDOM BLOG OF THE NIGHT:

Becoming. A Texas Ex making her way through China.