Yesterday

Finally something more interesting than which watch to buy.

From Esquire, October 2007, by James Othmer:

"The Hasselhoff Effect"

The definition of what it means to be a responsible man is being rewritten by ment who seem anything but responsible. According to a white paper by ad agency Leo Burnett Worldwide -- more specifically, by the firm's resident "man expert," Rose Cameron -- the much maligned bachelor is getting older, and he just may have a better handle on responsible, twenty-first century masculinity than anyone thought. According to the study, in 1970, four out of five men in their twenties were married. Today it's less than half. A generation of men -- men raised in divorce, or who have glimpsed their bitter, unfulfilled dads silently weeping in the garage, or who have been subjected to the You Tube video of David Hasselhoff slobbering drunk in front of his daughter -- are giving marriage, fatherhood, and what it means to be a man a bit of a rethink.
"Because of the environment in which they were raised, men in their mid-twenties today are far more sensitive to the repercussions of their actions and the ramifications of responsibility," says Cameron, who surveyed thousands of men in fifteen countries. "They've seen that their fathers' concept of masculinity didn't work out so well."
Why? "They want to ensure that they've figured out what it means to be a fulfilled modern man before they commit to a marriage," says Cameron. This includes anything from extreme tourism, to pursuing vocations because they want to rather than ought to, to experience every aspect of a relationship with a woman short of matching gold bands. Cameron calls this self-actualization. Your father would probably call it fucking off.
In fact, these may now be the most responsible things a man can do. Cameron says that because men aren't following the same old-man path anymore, the divorce rate will actually keep dropping. "This is potentially because more men are creating married lives that reflect their needs," she says.
Johns Hopkins sociologist Andrew Cherlin recently said, "Marriage used to be the first step into adulthood; now it's often the last." Which would seem to mean that at some point, the twenty-seven-year-old single dude whose life is the envy of married men and the bane of single women will declare himself self-actualized enough to tie the knot. Then he can start making a whole new set of mistakes the next generation of children can blame him for.

Today's Song: Ocean of Noise, Arcade Fire

p.s. Gray is this season's most versatile color.

Who knew?

They're back!

I Have No One to Blame but Myself

I flew to Los Angeles on Friday night. I rented a car from Hertz - $14 a day via Priceline. Not bad. My return flight was last night at 8:45pm. Southwest. I returned the car about an hour late - so I got charged an extra hour fee of $15. I also forgot to fill up the gas tank. So I got charged about $57 for gas. Which is really lame because I made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. I got through security at the airport and my 8:45pm flight was delayed til 9:10pm. I went to Boudin in the food court for a late dinner. I walked back to the gate at a little past nine and my flight had already departed. The gate agent said they paged me, but I didn't hear it because I was in the food court. They put me on the next flight out - 6:55am this morning. Fortunately, I had a discount form for the Marriott by the airport. I made that flight this morning.

I cannot believe I missed my flight last night for sourdough bread and clam chowder.

Today's Song: None. Silence. Except for the pesky voices inside my head.

So sad.

This is the look of a man that missed the last flight to SLC and is on his way to haggle for a hotel room. Thankfully his sister and Aunt are the kindest most gracious ladies and the pictured ASSHOLE has a Marriott form.

Song playing on hotel shuttle: You Are Everything, The Stylistics

Endless Summer 3

I'm a Really Sexy Dancer.

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!Today's Song: California 2005, Phantom Planet

Pretty Picture

Endless Summer 2

Me, Newport, and Kevin Costner.

Oh and 50 people staring at the weirdo taking a picture of himself.

Kevin is singing a song called Long Hot Night. Sounds alright. Check it on iTunes.

Endless Summer

Yes, It Was Bound to Happen

I've seriously been waiting for this moment. Not anxiously waiting for it. And not looking forward to it. But expecting it. I knew it was on the horizon. It's not the horizon anymore. It's today. It's now.

You know the "oldies" radio station: KODJ - 94.1 - here in the SLC? The station that, say, twenties years ago would play Fats Domino's On Blueberry Hill and Jerry Lee Lewis' Great Balls of Fire? (Yes, Susie, I know twenty years ago 94.1 was KLCY with Tom Bock and they actually played soft rock as opposed to oldies, but that's neither here nor there right now.) And then, maybe ten years ago, the station started playing more 60's and 70's as opposed to 50's and 60's? Well, I've been wondering when the 80's would be considered oldies. Last night, I got my answer:

The oldies station played Footloose! Not This Is It or Your Momma Don't Dance or any of Kenny's older hits, but rather one his seminal, mid-80's, soundtrack hits.

So hits from 1985 now qualify as oldies. Expect Duran Duran to follow the Beatles on 94.1.

Ordinarily, that wouldn't give me too much pause as I don't really feel old. But let me tell you something - you can age overnight.

To wit, at the start of the summer, I started watching the first season of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman! The show aired in, like, 1976, I think. (I may be off by a year or two.) One of the leads in the show is Loretta, a young blonde, skinny, hottie, temptressy, wannabe country singer. She's cute, she's bubbly, she's funny. She's played by actress Mary Kay Place. Good show. Then, mid-summer I start watching season 2 of Big Love. And holy shit there's Mary Kay Place! But now she's playing the polygamist mother of Chloe Sevigny's character. She looks old, frumpy, tired, and nothing like Loretta from MH, MH! That gave me pause. It was as though I watched that woman age 30 years overnight. And I did not like that. Where does the time go, and why does it have to wreak such havoc on us?

I had another flashback moment this week when I went to Rite Aid to get a combination lock. Whilst at RiteAid, I purchased a package of California Fruit flavoured Starburst because it came with a surprise retro-flavor. The retro flavor I got was lime. And I was instantly catapulted back to 1982 and I was going to Bowman's Market to get a pack of Starburst. Back then Starburst came in a white foil wrapper and the flavors were strawberry, orange, lemon, and my favourite lime. A pack cost a quarter with a penny tax, but if you were sweet the cashier wouldn't charge you the penny. I remember being really upset when they replaced lime with cherry. I thought lime was long gone until the other day when I got that sweet retro flavor.

I know my affinity for summer can be taken as read, and you don't need me to constantly remind you of the changing of the seasons, but can I just say that last night I did laundry and almost had a break down thinking it could very well be my last loads of swimsuits, shorts, and polos for the season? TOO SOON! I needed more summer! I did. not. get. enough. Who did? Not to worry, I'll be in California the next two weekends because I am all about Endless Summer.

Today's Song: If You Could Read My Mind, Gordon Lightfoot

Hush; Just stop

there's nothing you can do or say, baby I've had enough. I'm not your property from today.

Yes, that was the song playing on my iPod when I woke up today. Pure. Coincidence. No joke. I think she should issue a press release with those words. And then do that chair dance on Hollywood Blvd. That's a comeback.

I liked this article. I love how they had to work the double standard angle. Would a man's body be judged as harshly as Britney's? Of course. Absolutely. But like the article says, Britney built her brand on the sexy, so she's going to get judged on the sexy.

Since I'm basically a clearinghouse for public information, here is another great article that B-Lo tipped me on. Number 10 is the best.

I almost lost another cell phone this weekend. Well, I did lose it, but quickly recovered it and that led to a party at Acme Burger Company with a bunch of strangers and moved back to a suite at the Hotel Monaco (For clarity sake, the party was totally PG-13). So sometimes maybe it does pay off when you don't keep complete track of your belongings.

Well, parental permission has been granted, a proposal extended, a proposal accepted, and a ring purchased, so let me publicly congratulate my friend Ali on her engagement. She'd been dating for 16 years and she finally found "him". Well done.

Today's Song: Big Casino, Jimmy Eat World

You're the best

around!

Two movie recommendations: Rescue Dawn and King Kong Fistful of Quarters. I love a double header at the Broadway.

Prior to today, I was not aware of the Salt Lake City Ordinance prohibiting more than one bar per city block. But there is in place such an ordinance.

Avenues Street Fair tomorrow. First Utah football game at home. Greek Fair. Britney opening the VMAs. So, busy weekend.

Happy Birthday Ella. Month 36.

My most often recurring dream is that I somehow did not manage to complete the coursework for my undergraduate degree. I think I've had the dream in different variations twice this week. What is the meaning of this? The general theme is that I forgot to withdraw from a class and have an incomplete, or that I have one more class to take and have no idea how I am going to do it. And in the dream I am so confused because I remind myself, "You've got your law degree - they wouldn't let you into law school without an undergraduate degree. It's a pretty thorough process." But nevertheless there I sit freaking out in a classroom wondering what the hell is going on, and how I am really looking forward to the exchange with the Pi Phis on Friday and the Kappas on Saturday - plus TriFormal at the end of the month!

Today's Song: You're The Best, Joe Esposito

Poop.

Today's Song: Ventura Highway, America

What will it look like in 20 years?

At the bagel shop this morning, the girl working the counter complimented my bow tie. Her ears were gauged. There was an orange Crayola marker in one ear lobe. I didn't compliment that. I did, however, compliment the bull ring in her nose.

In other news, I was the last person out of the Lagoon A Beach this year. You'd think I'd get a special commemorative t-shirt or other special honor. As it stands, I'm just hoping I don't get that diarrhea pool disease that's going around.

Today's Song: These Are My People, Rodney Atkins

I said

"B lo take my picture!" She said "No." I said, "But it's just another stylin Sunday." She said, "Bud, it's actually Monday." I said, "Oh! That's why I love Labor Day."

Today's song: Martha, Tom Waits

p.s. If you don't get "Just another stylin' Sunday" see here.