Month: January 2007

  • Digital Flaws

    Heather and I had a wonderful anniversary. We took lots of pictures, and as I uploaded them to the laptop last night, I realized that digital cameras aren’t very forgiving. Let’s face it: they’re down right rude. They do not cover blemishes or forgive leftover crumbs. After seeing myself in these photos, I fear that I must hire an image consultant to redeem myself. Either that or a personal trainer.

    A photo journal of our day is on the way. Looking back, I regret that I didn’t take pictures of the places we went, to serve as chapter headings. Oh well. Guess we’ll have to live with pictures of ourselves!

    Honestly, Heather is a doll! I cannot believe my supreme luck at landing a hottie like her! This only leads me to wonder: what the heck was she thinking?!?!?!


  • rules for the story

    The story always begins with a boy. The boy is always innocent and always lacking confidence. And somehow, the boy must always find a way to save the world. The boy always faces his greatest fear. The boy always approaches final defeat. And somehow, the boy always finds the courage… the strength to face his greatest fear, to mature into a man, and to defeat the great evil which always plagues mankind.

    In our story, there is always love. Romantic love is best, for it speaks to most everyone and motivates the same. Occasionally the story will focus upon brotherly love or sacrificial love unrelated to a romantic interest, and it is here that that story most often fails. Not that a person cannot experience those other loves, of course, but because eternity cannot remember a story which does not move its soul. And eternity is shockingly predictable.

    What lives in the hearts and souls of men lives on forever or dies in obscurity based upon the merit of their stories. Some stories live forever, but none save a few survive whose lot was not cast upon the fervor of love.

    The boy is a type of ourselves. We are young, innocent, lost in an unfamiliar forest and pressed to our wits end to survive the night. Many strangers along the way offer wisdom or deceit, and the words we accept will guide us either to safe passage or to our very doom. Lacking the basic skills of a seasoned adult, we must choose whom to trust based upon very simple and untested instincts.

    Every smile could hide a grimace. Every handshake a sword. Every meal could be poisoned. Every moment a trap. We live with the uncertainty that comes from being thrust into a story without the narrative. We are characters waiting for someone to map out our inner character, our purpose, and our destination. The lack of response is nothing short of disheartening, yet the story must continue. The story does not stop for uncertainty or ill will.

    The story is always all-consuming. It does not yield its permanence for the weak of heart. Those tested like our boy must choose whether to cower and be consumed or to stand, stretch, face the darkness, and consume the dark itself with light.

    Â


  • Our Three Year Anniversary

    As of today, Heather and I have been married for 3 years. No amount of denial can shake the fact that I’m getting older. Not really… I’m not one of those people who has a problem with aging.

    Heather is such a thoughtful woman. She spent hours working on a sneaky secret strategy for our anniversary. She planned the whole day, and I’ve been the helpless awestruck victim! She really went above and beyond this time. It’s 4:33pm on Saturday as I write this, and we are at home taking a break. We’ve been on the go since 10am.

    It’s going to take several posts to cover the day (we’re photographing all of it), so check back in a few hours and you should see parts two and three with photos included.

    This is so fun!


  • we are

    one goal, one path, one destiny, we are
    tracing narrow steps back to the beginning
    one set of feet and arms we are
    stumbling and flailing forward toward eternity

    while it’s true that words cannot express
    what deeply we most feel
    also true how often we mistake a moment
    for one in which the words will fail

    one heart, one breath, one mind, we are
    beating, panting, analyzing our own true self
    one soul, one central point we are
    finding simple expressions are most true

    poems drip like wasted water from a drying well
    grand gestures sometimes come out wrong
    rather than promise you a world i cannot give
    i will simply state the truth:

    i will always love you
    my feeble heart adores you.


  • arguing with sunshine

    a dismal afternoon
    hints of lovers’ doom
    a splinter in my shoe
    a missing day of you

    the struggle ‘gainst a common good
    the moments some misunderstood

    the narrow minded pleas
    the splendid bruising knees
    fight against the day
    wish for what we may

    resistance is a waste of time
    like arguing with sunshine


  • privilege

    (inspired by the 2007 Golden Globe Awards Ceremony)

    it is a privilege to sit at that table
    to smile, sip the champagne,
    and lean over to joke with others
    it is an awesome power
    to shape how we think

    it is not fame we seek
    but the right to relax
    to kick back and change the world

    upperclass? i think not.
    such humble platitudes fall far short
    we are world changers,
    evangelists of thought and culture
    models of who you wish to be.


  • NFL Playoffs: How Could I Be So Wrong?

    As the three of you who read this blog may know by now, I am clueless when it comes to football. I called the Patriots over the Colts and the Saints over the Bears. I was wrong on both games! That’s freakish!

    So now I’ve decided to root for both teams. That way I can’t lose. Peyton Manning deserves a Super Bowl championship after being considered one of the top two quarterbacks in the league for years. I can also root for the Bears because, despite the fact that I hated watching them during the regular season, they’re actually quite entertaining to watch during the playoffs.

    So go team!!!! Both of ‘em!!!! I can’t lose this time!!!!


  • Top Ten Hollywood Actors

    No offense to women, but choosing the Top Ten actors is much more difficult than actresses. There are easily 20-30 men who qualify for consideration. As you can tell by my list of actresses, my Top Ten has nothing to do with who’s the sexiest, hottest attraction in Hollywood. I judge by acting talent and how well each person entertains me.

    #10 Gene Hackman – It’s impossible for me to think of Gene Hackman without picturing his bald head in the old Superman movies. My favorite films starring Gene Hackman include Hoosiers, Mississippi Burning, Unforgiven, The Firm, The Quick and the Dead, Crimson Tide, Get Shorty, Absolute Power, Antz, Enemy of the State, and Runaway Jury. Gene Hackman typically plays a cold, hard leader who makes the tough decisions other people can’t make. His characters generally aren’t the emotionally available or vulnerable type.

    #9 Robin Williams – Robin Williams had delivered some amazingly unique performances. My favorites include Dead Poets Society, Awakenings, Hook, Aladdin (one of the best animated films ever), Mrs. Doubtfire, Jumanji, Good Will Hunting, Patch Adams, What Dreams May Come, Jakob the Liar, Bicentennial Man, and Insomnia. That’s an impressive list, and I haven’t even seen somewhere between 5-10 of his most recent films. Robin Williams does comedy better than anyone. He also mastered the tear jerker and more recently the suspense thriller.

    #8 Dustin Hoffman – You cannot keep Dustin Hoffman from the Top 10. How many actors have learned how to portray the handicapped because Hoffman nailed it in Rain Man. My other favorite Hoffman films are Outbreak, Hook, Mad City, The Messenger, Sphere, and Wag the Dog. Hoffman has an excellent sense of wit and humor.

    #7 Jack Nicholson – Most people would have Jack at the top, and I can understand why. Still, I only appreciate his recent films. Jack is the only person to make a decent villain in a Batman movie, and he owned that role. My favorite Nicholson films include As Good As it Gets, About Schmidt, Something’s Gotta Give, and A Few Good Men. I also enjoyed Wolf though it wasn’t received well. There are a couple highly regarded films I haven’t seen yet. No one portrays confidence and arrogance like Jack Nicholson. The epitome of his characters’ attitudes is the scene in Wolf when he pees on another guys leg in a public restroom and while staring at the man with absolute ownership says, “I’m markin’ my territory.”

    #6 John Cusack – John Cusak is my guy for dry wit and sarcasm. I haven’t watched his older stuff (i know – it’s sacrilege). He drew my attention in Bullets Over Broadway (excellent movie that nobody talks about). My top Cusak films are Cradle Will Rock, High Fidelity, Serendipity, Max, Identity, and Runaway Jury. Second tier films include Con Air and Must Love Dogs (which was disappointing). There are a couple recent films I still haven’t seen. Cusack is the guy you want to hang out with and discuss pointless issues, politics, and music just so you can hear his long winded, witty responses.

    #5 Al Pacino – I like Al Pacino for his flair and charisma. He doesn’t really play too many different roles, but he does what he does well. He sure can give a speech. He deserves mention for The Godfather if nothing else. Then he hits it big in Scent of a Woman, perhaps my favorite Pacino role. Heat, City Hall, and The Insider are all honorable mentions. I liked him in S1m0ne and especially in The Recruit (I just like the genre). He was excellent, though disturbing, in Two for the Money, Insomnia, and The Devil’s Advocate. Al Pacino is THE motivational coach.

    #4 Sir Anthony Hopkins – I wanted to place Sir Anthony Hopkins at the top of my list, but he didn’t quite make it. He is an exceptionally entertaining actor, and I wouldn’t trade him for anyone. I’ve only been a fan of him in his old age, however. The oldest Hopkins film I’ve enjoyed was 84 Charing Cross Road (1987). Four years later he revolutionized the role of the villain in The Silence of the Lambs. Howard’s End and Remains of the Day were excellent period pieces. The Trial was disturbing (Kafka, if memory serves). Shadowlands is one of my favorites, because C. S. Lewis has had such a profound influence on my life. Hopkins was legendary in Legends of the Fall. I walked out of Nixon and watched Jumaji instead (I was a teenager). Surviving Picasso was a great video rental in college. I wanted to move to Europe and start painting. I was entertained by the conversion of knowledge to skill in The Edge. Meet Joe Black and Instinct are favorites of mine as well. I cannot say enough about Hannibal (though there are parts where I have to look away or be scarred) and Red Dragon, and he was didn’t disappoint in Proof or The Human Stain. I still haven’t seen two or three of his most recent films. Anthony Hopkins is the epitome of class, intelligence, and style among Hollywood’s leading men.

    #3 Denzel Washington – Regardless of what the girl at Starbucks thinks, Denzel is a treasure. I had no idea when I saw him in Ricochet (1991) that Washington would make something of himself in Hollywood. Malcom X blasted him into the stratosphere a year later. The Pelican Brief, Crimson Tide, Virtuosity, and Fallen are his earliest films that I enjoyed. The Siege (1998) is among my Top 20 all-time favorite films. The Bone Collector is one of those films I can watch over and over. I skipped The Hurricane (no interest), but I really enjoyed Training Day, John Q, and Man on Fire. Second tier favorites include Remember the Titans and Inside Man. Denzel Washington is the emotionally balanced alpha dog you want running the show.

    #2 Brad Pitt – It will grieve many, I’m sure, to see Brad Pitt at the #2 position. I can’t help it. He has been in more of my favorite movies than any other actor. While Brad Pitt did well in A River Runs Through It, his career didn’t truly begin until Legends of the Fall and Interview with a Vampire both opened in 1994. He was an instant megastar. He followed up with two more incredible performances in 1995 in Se7en and Twelve Monkeys. Sleepers was a quieter hit – a film that should probably only be seen once at most. Pitt returned in 1997 with The Devil’s Own and Seven Years in Tibet. He played Death in one of my Top 20 films in 1998 – Meet Joe Black. He ruled the world in 1999 with Fight Club (every teenager wanted to be that cool). I was personally disappointed with Snatch and The Mexican. I loved Spy Game in 2001, but wished that I could have seen Pitt as a present day operative. Ocean’s Eleven was okay, but Pitt still outplays everyone else in the film. His charisma and style are unmatched. Troy was an epic worth watching at least once. Mr. & Mrs. Smith was one of the most anticipated films ever (because every single person in America wants to sleep with one of the stars). I haven’t seen Babel yet, but it won the award for best drama, so it must be pretty good. Pitt has seven movies in the works between now and 2008. Brad Pitt is the good looking, emotional silent type who exudes confidence and charisma.

    #1 – Tom Hanks – for my money, there is no better actor in the world than Tom Hanks. I don’t want to like him sometimes, but I can’t help it. He plays even the most surprising roles well. I first noticed Hanks in The Man With One Red Shoe (1985). I can’t remember The Money Pit, but that was the first film of his I saw in the theaters. Big was, of course, his breakout role. I absolutely loved The ‘Burbs. He did well in A League of Their Own, but in my book it all began with Sleepless in Seattle. That film is in my Top 20. Then there’s Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan (I walked out of that one) and my next favorite, You’ve Got Mail. He was excellent in The Green Mile, Cast Away, Road to Perdition (surprised me with that one), The Terminal, and The Da Vinci Code. He has at least 6 films planned for the next couple years, and I expect 5 of the 6 to be stellar performances. My least favorite Tom Hanks films are The Ladykillers (hated it) and Joe Versus the Volcano (I never recovered from the suicidally dismal office scenes at the beginning). Tom Hanks simply hasn’t met a role he can’t do as well or better than everyone else.


  • Super Bowl Predictions

    Leading up to Super Bowl XLI (can you hear my wife groan in misery?), I have some final game predictions. I’m not smart enough (or nerdy enough) to know how many points any team will win by, but here is what I expect to see:

    AFC Championship – Tom Brady and the New England Patriots take down Peyton Manning and the Colts. I don’t know how they do it, but the Patriots manage to make Brady look like a golden boy. The Colts are good, but we’ve seen them breakdown and I think the Pats can exploit and create Colts weaknesses.

    NFC Championship – Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints have a definite edge over the Chicago Bears. The Saints don’t display much in the way of weakness. They are consistent and building confidence. Despite the improved performance of Bears’ quarterback Rex Grossman against the Seahawks, I don’t expect to see him hold up as well against a much stronger Saints defense. As we saw this past weekend, the Saints have two killer running backs – probably the best combination in the league – and a Pro Bowl quarterback.

    Super Bowl XLI – I expect to see New Orleans vs. New England. Both teams deserve to win, but the edge goes here to New Orleans. The Patriots have the playoff and Super Bowl experience, but they just don’t have the consistency and strength of New Orleans. I’ll predict New Orleans by 14.

    So there you have it. I pick New Orleans to go all the way. Any of the four remaining teams can win it all given the right (or wrong) circumstances. Here’s the order of most likely to become Super Bowl Champions this year:

    1. New Orleans
    2. New England
    3. Indianapolis
    4. Chicago