on the flight out here i sat next to a kid who wore sandals

two probs with wearing sandals on a flight from LA to Chicago. the first being its been raining for a week straight in LA, so his feet had to be wet and cold.

the second being theres 4 inches of snow in chicago and it’s about 39 degrees.

needless to say we didnt talk because ive met my annual quota of talking to crazy people.

which brings us to chicagoland grocery store Dominick’s who has a large assortment of gift cards.

i noticed gift cards for Sox, Bears, Bulls, even the soccer team the Fire was represented. but where are the world champion Chicago Blackhawks or the beloved Chicago Cubs?

my mom told me: they are always sold out of Cubs and Hawks stuff. any store, anywhere. people love them.

and with that answer i love her that much more.

which isnt to say they go to plan, they never do that

but sometimes people are going the same direction as you in the freeway

and maybe one of em looks over at you like “wanna go fast?” and they floor it

and you catch up, flooring it also, and together you speed through the desert in the rain

the freedom is supernatural because most of the time everyones going so damn slow

and when you look over at the person to your right they’re texting

and when you look over at the person on the left they can barely see over the wheel

last night i was so nervous that i became early. i was nervous in a way that required chocolate milk.

turned out i was being crazy again. turned out everyone wanted to scream across the plains.

turned out i wasnt alone.

, i was pleasantly surprised.

natalie portman was really good of course. she plays the petite protagonist like a pro.

but yr girl mila kundis, she defies all the herky jerky directorial cues, she sizzles effortlessly

the whole movie works on so many levels.

and best of all it asks the viewer, are you as complete as you could be?

are you holding back

why are you holding back

people are saying The Fighter is the best movie of the year hands down, but Black Swan is getting the exact same high rating on rottentomatoes (88%).

the times’ kenneth turan is one of the minority who ripped it to shreds, pointing out the directors lack of subtlety and flat characters.

the readers root him on: “Great review.  Turan is one of the few critics who still has a voice and does not seem concerned about writing an advertisement for the film,” said Bilboa.

anonymous 47 said “I don’t often agree with Turan’s reviews, but I completely cosign this one.  I cannot believe the postive reviews this film is getting.  Somewhere in this film is a good movie with a different director.  But this?  This is not it.  At all.  I get people are looking for something new & original, especially considering the dreck out there.  Finding five best Oscar nominees will be tough, much less ten.  But good lord.  This is not a good movie.”

roger ebert was in the majority giving it 3 1/2 stars saying it’s “a full-bore melodrama, told with passionate intensity, gloriously and darkly absurd.”

apparently everyones gotta run out and rent “The Red Shoes” now, im being told. ok.

and division champs dont need jackets

da bears are division champs. they beat brett fav-ruh in a frozen college stadium in minnesota

the game was played on monday night football around the world.

devin hester broke the record for most kickoffs or punts returned for a touchdown (14) and he did it way faster than anyone else. second place got 13 after more than a dozen years, hester has only been in the league 5 years.

the bears also swept the entire NFC Norris Division, the first time anyones run the table on such a competitive division since 1987, the year i became a gaucho

i want a hat for christmas ma

but you have sex, she challenged.

but theres nothing in the bible that says i shouldnt i said.

but what about gays? she asked

Jesus’s last commandment, almost in defeat of human’s desire to rebel was “just love each other the way ive loved you”, i said.

then she said, tell me why do bad things happen to good people?

wasnt as ready for that one as i was for the others, but it still came pretty easy.

free will. dont you want to know that when you accomplish something you did it. that you have responsibility over your life? free will however opens up the possibility for dbags to do dbaggery.

but i wish i had known of this 10-year old quote at the very bottom of this lead up from this sermon that i wouldnta known about if adriel wouldnta posted on her facebook.

Thornton Wilder in his play, “The Angel and the Troubled Waters”, illustrates this profound thing. In the play, there is a scene where a medical doctor comes every day to a pool, very similar to the pool in today’s scripture, wanting to be healed of his melancholy and his gloom and his sadness.

Finally an angel appears. As the doctor is about to step into the water and be healed, the angel blocks his entrance and says,

“No, step back, the healing is not for you.”

The doctor pleads,

“But I’ve got to get into the water. I can’t live this way.”

The angel says,

“No, this moment is not for you.”

And he says,

“But how can I live in this way?”

The angel says to him,

“Doctor, without your wounds, where would your power be? It is your melancholy that makes your low voice tremble into the hearts of women and men. The very angels themselves cannot persuade the wretched and blundering children of this earth as can one human being broken on the wheel of living. In love’s service only wounded soldiers can serve”

Merry Christmas.

almost brought a tear to my eye.

im very glad i will be spending Christmas with her this weekend.

CANT BELIEVE CHRISTMAS IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER!!

its got a cute name, Like A Little, and apparently a great start

but my question is do young women really talk that way or is the success of this site the fact that people of all walks can talk about each other without the fear of namecalling and discrimination?

im usually against anonymity because i think we as people should work on our individual levels of courage instead of hide in fear, but i can see how this could be a useful stepping stone