Back in the Mini Apple

9 years ago, we, Martha and I, moved back to Chicago after living in Minneapolis for 5 years. For the past week, we've been back in the land of 10,000 treatment centers, staying with friends. We came with a purpose, to mourn the loss of a good friend. After that, we decided to stay an open ended amount of time to try and reconnect with old friends and enjoy a mini vacation. This has been bitter sweet for us. On one hand it was very difficult to walk into a funeral home and church the next day to say goodbye to a close friend. Having to see people you love hurting and knowing you sill never see some of them again is an excruciating thing. On the other hand, reconnecting with people you love and feel loved by is a very special thing that can be a great by product of death.

On the one foot, the grass is always greener and by spending a week, you really mostly experience the good and not the reality of living someplace else. We loved living in Twin Town for a while but by the time we left, we were badly missing Chicago and felt awful about missing our nieces and nephews growing up. 5 years makes a big difference when their whole life is made up of just 10.

On the other foot, there is a lot of bad mojo for us in the city of big pizza. We seem to have a love hate relationship with our families - we love 'em, they hate us (passive/aggressively). We also don't have many friends there anymore. In the granola apple we have very close friends that are a real support system for Martha and not being around it makes life very challenging. Close friends are hard to come by and after being so isolated by our store for so long we really feel behind the eight ball. Most of our closest friends appear to be in other cities; Minniappolis, Cleveland, Miami, Annapolis and the rest.

I guess something needs to be done and moving is not the answer (even though Martha always thinks it is). I think we need to re-invent ourselves again and figure out how to see the people who loves us more and to find a way to get real friends right where we are. I'm no help in this area since I don't think most people actually like me. I'm more tolerated than liked and that makes finding friends as a couple a real feat.

On the phantom limb, boy I sound like a whiny puke in this post, don't I?

My name is Mark, I'm here to rescue you...

My ubergeek friend came over this weekend and fixed my LAN for the price of 3 Mexican Cokes. Mark is the best. Now, I am not a slouch when it comes to fixing things. In fact, I'm usually the go to guy when friends are having issues with their electronics and computers. But when I have a problem, it's always a doozy and Mark is my guy. Thanks to the fine folks at Comcast, my network was down for over a month. I tried everything I could think of, and then some, but nothing fixed my issues. Mark comes over Saturday and within 10 minutes, I'm back in business. He then spent the day updating my software, reconfiguring things and generally making me feel that my patchwork mess of computers and various other hardware is usable and that I''m not so dumb. What a guy. That's all this blog post is, a pat on the back to Mark. Thanks Mark. You're the best.

Enjoy your Mexican Coke in the bottle.

Hoo Hoo Hoo

That's easily the most celebratory intro I've ever written. Life's been good lately which is why I haven't updated in a while. Today we're going to the Brookfield Zoo. I love to go to the zoo. Animals are so cool and Molly loves it too. Martha and I went fairly often even before Molly so now it's a big family event.

Use the comment section to share your favorite embarrassing animal moment. I love them.

I love ya, baby. Honest.

Don't think I've forgotten about you, dear readers. I've been busy creating a new business and cheating on this blog with another one. Today marks the first day of my new business venture and boy am I excited. I promise to pay more attention to you in the future. I've got lots of thoughts and theories to lay on you and promise to keep 'em coming.



Just to follow up on the last post (that I actually posted), I have done a very good job of staying honest and not being lazy. I am changing myself for the better and already feel better about myself. Just a word of warning though, this is not the time to ask how you look in those jeans.



Time waster update... I got the red ring of death on my Xbox last night. That definitely cuts down on the playing. Lots of Wii play around here. Boom Blox is the best thing on that system that I've found. Little Big Planet for the PS3 was sweet also. Now go watch Lost and explain what's going on to me, would you?



If you want to read all about my other life, check out my other blog http://southgatesmallbusiness.blogspot.com/

I've seen parts...

That is one of my pet peeves. When you ask someone if they've seen a movie and they say, "I've seen parts" what they mean is they saw a commercial or the trailer or an ad in the paper. I hear this all the time and it makes me nuts. Why not say, "No, I haven't" or "I saw a preview on Entertainment Tonight"? At least then I know not to talk much about it. I believe people do this so they don't look stupid. I want to make this clear to those that think this, not having seen a movie or seen a TV show or heard a CD or played a game or read a book does not make you stupid. In fact, sometimes actually having done one of those things can make you feel dumber and potentially may kill off brain cells (I haven't seen any research on this so it's a guess). This blog may be hazardous to your intellect, who knows? But one thing I can say with certainty is you are not stupid for not having read it.

My friend Chris used to get mad if you would say something like, "How have you not seen that movie? It's a classic." This would really upset him since, to his point, nobody has seen everything and he was positive he's seen things he loved that you hadn't. He shouldn't be made to feel bad for not having seen something. In fact, depending on what it is he might be commended for not wasting his time (Sex and the City Movie, I'm looking your direction).

I guess the bottom line is this, as I write this blog and meet you in day to day life, please don't say you've seen parts, just tell me no or yes and whether or not you would like to. Or better yet, see, hear and do everything I do before we talk so I can feel comfortable and we can have a dynamic conversation.

Vidtastic update: Are you kidding me, we've been watching movies and show like crazy. I think I'll just start listing them and saying great or don't bother. Everything else is worth wasting time with. My XBox360 got a red ring of death (this is number 2 for me) so I've been playing Wii whatever and Metal Gear Solid 4, babyon the PS3! Man do I love that monkey in a diaper.

You've got me irate Jenny McCarthy

Today I finally took our bedding to the laundromat. It's one of those activities that is not difficult and really doesn't take much time but I will put it off with every excuse I can muster. The bottom line is I can be lazy to a point that I'm not proud of. I can be so lazy that I will sit and watch "Maury" or "Funniest Home Videos" just because it takes too much effort to stand up and grab my XBox 360 controller. Said controller is literally 3 steps away, 1 if I stretch, and the game is already in, yet I just won't get off my every increasing butt. I will lie to anyone to just get out of going places and having to do things and I fell that's wrong on every level. I do it anyway. Not good. It would do me good to live "Liar Liar" for a week. See if I can do it. Of course the drawback here would be that Jenny McCarthy would be inexplicably attracted to me at that point and I would have to tell her the truth, HAVE TO, about how much I love my wife and I would also have to admit to Jenny that her infatuation was manipulated and I know this would be a deal breaker.

So in conclusion, I am drawing a line in the sand _________________________________ and doing my best to be totally honest with everyone (both blond and brunette Jenny's) and to turn off my laziness. I even had to fight my laziness off just to write this. We'll know if I'm successful if there is another post to this blog in a timely manner.

I'm 40 and it's time to grow up. Now I'm off to play Little Big Planet. Do not judge me.

It's a new year and a new me

I should do a Jenny Craig ad.

"I've lost 2 ounces of disgusting fat off my middle finger and I feel fabulous!"

That's right, I'm a little lighter these days and I have a 1978 Bolens snow blower to thank. It's my fault and yes it could have been worse and I'm so lucky and blah blah... enough. It's a small piece of a finger and honestly, it really didn't hurt. The pain of having to hear everyone else's "slicing a finger" stories is much worse. Why is it that whenever we experience some sort of discomfort in our lives, people love to tell you about there similar experience and no matter how much pain you may be in at the time, you have to sit there and empathize with them or their friends third cousin who got a paper cut that could have turned ugly if it had been deeper.

I used to experience this same thing when I admitted I was an actor to people. I always had to hear about how they had done a commercial in college or their uncle was in community theater or whoever else I didn't care about was so much more successful than me. It's similar to this blog. You are choosing to read this so I have no problem talking about whatever is rattling on in my head. I thank you but I also understand that you may not read every word I right and I'm okay with that.

My niece Katherine told me it's called Canterbury Syndrome. My theory is this name comes from when Chaucer was writing the Canterbury Tales and as he tried to tell his tale at Ye Olde Barnes and Noble, some jackass or two had to interrupt him to tell their own, much lamer Canterbury tales.

So in conclusion, I never read the Canterbury tales and don't know if anyone lost a finger in it, but if Toro, Ariens or Craftsman are looking to tap into the weight loss market, please keep me in mind as your Jared.

Videoholic Update! I was down for almost a week but I'm back. Played a lot of Wii the last couple days and that's about it. Kung Fu Panda is Kung Furiffic. I can do without any more Christmas shows for awhile.