Guiness, My So-Called Life, and a Touch of Gray

I don’t want to say that 27 “hit me”. When I turned that ripe old age yesterday, I didn’t particularly feel “traumatized” by it. I’m ok with it. It’s not a scary age by any means. I would be lying to not admit, however, that it does have a different ring in my mind than all the ages before it. I don’t know really how to explain why it’s older . . . but it just is. It’s older. It sounds older.  For now, though, I’m good with it. I’m actually none-to-afraid of 30. As I explained to someone a few weeks ago, 30 gives a man credibility. For women it’s an age of dread, but for men, its almost an age of validation. So yes, I’m ok with 27.

 

A pint of Guiness . . . maybe two.

Last week, Holly and myself finally got the vacation that we have long been looking forward to. As a reward for Holly’s graduation, we went on a cruise that left out of London and went to Ireland. We spent two days at sea, a day in Dublin, and a day in Cork. We went to the Guiness Brewery, the Dublin Zoo, and Blarney Castle  (where yes, we did in fact kiss the Blarney Stone). It was a great trip in that we both got to see countries we’ve never seen before. More than that, though, it was a great trip because, after weeks of stress from the move, the house, Holly’s graduation, we finally got to truly and honestly relax. We made a pledge to not check our emails for the entire trip. It was truly freeing. We got to focus on only each other and the task of de-stressing. It was a beautiful thing, indeed. Ireland wasn’t too shabby either. Avoid Dublin, though, it’s just a city. Embrace the countryside. That’s the Ireland you’re paying for.

 

My So-Called Life

I phrase it like this for the following reasons. On Monday-Friday, I’m working from 8am to 5pm as a law clerk at a law firm here in downtown Indy. On Monday nights, I have an MBA class, “Int’l Competitive Strategies”, from 5:45 pm to 9:15 pm. That is not a typo. On Tuesday and Thursday nights, I’m in “Sex Discrimination” over at the law school from 5:30 pm to 7:45 pm. On Wednesday nights, there is bible study from 7:30 pm to 10:00 pm. Did I mention that I live alone, as Holly has now officially moved to our house in Cincinnati. I’m living in my friends one-bedroom condo here downtown, since she moved to Chicago and hasn’t sold the place yet (though it could sell at any moment, at which point I would again need to relocate). My essential point is this – I have no life right now. I’m just a law school-MBA-law clerk machine, who doesn’t know the definition of fun.  December, you can’t arrive soon enough.

 

Jon and Kate + Annoying

So, I’ll admit – I’m a sucker for tabloid covers. Mags like Us, People, and Ok! will have me captivated in line at the grocery store. As we were getting ready to leave for Chicago (that’s where we flew out of to go to London), Holly and me caught some episodes of Jon and Kate + 8. I was mesmerized. Why would these people do this? Isn’t eight kids hard enough? Why would you want a film crew around all the time? And after twins, you went back for more??? I know I’m late to the game on this show, big time, but still.

All this to say, in the airport, Holly picked up the People magazine with Jon and Kate on the cover. I would be lying if I didn’t say I was excited, because I wanted to know! Is Kate really this big of a biatch? Is Jon really this much of a pansy? I needed to know, dammit! Well, People “confirmed” my beliefs that, yes, Kate is a batsh*t crazy, media hungry Harpie from the planet Estrogen. Feel free to enlighten me, though, if you think I’m totally wrong. Because really, I’m basing this opinion on no more than three episodes watched and two tabloid magazine articles. I’m open to being proven wrong.

 

Thoughts at the closing bell:

• The Tigers are holding into 1^st place in the AL Central. I really do think that they will still be there by the time October comes around. I’m just not impressed by the total package of any other team in the AL Central.
• Living alone when you’re married SUCKS.
• I’m pretty interested by the reaction from the different areas of the political spectrum to President Obama’s  Middle East tour. Conservatives (hard-righters, I mean) are saying that this is his time to finally open up about his true Muslim upbringing and intentions. Lefties say this is his chance to undo all the evils of W. in one swoop. I think reality will be a little bit more towards the middle.
• I finally started a new book! Does that mean that I’ve finished Einstein? Umm, no. But hey, I have gotten several chapters in to The World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman. It’s a great read so far, and I find that I’m “discovering” a lot more thoughts and ideas than I thought I would when I started the book.
• Lakers in seven.

That’s all for now kids. One love to you all. Holla.