Crazy, Stupid, Love

Okay, a couple of months ago my wife, Amy, had a rare day off the following day, and our son was asleep by nine o' clock.  What to do???  Oh yeah you know what I'm talking about.  We decided to watch a movie.

So we have the overpriced On Demand through our cable company that we willing pay for from time to time.  We're going through the movie selections and checking different previews.  As you know this can take a lot of time to do if you are not careful.  It took us an hour to make a decision.  I wanted something of a more masculine variety.  I was thinking about that movie called The Eagle which is set twenty years after the Ninth Legion of the Roman army disappeared in the north of Britain.  A Roman centurion arrives in Britain to serve as a garrison commander, but also to salvage the honor of his family name as his father was in command of the Ninth Legion that disappeared along with the eagle standard.  Guys that sounds like a good movie, and it had my vote.  Unfortunately I still have not seen this movie.

My wife also had a vote, and for some reason I find that our votes are weighted.  She voted for Crazy, Stupid, Love, which is a romantic comedy (the genre that she almost always votes for).   And I've seen more romantic comedies than I wish to admit to.  This romantic comedy is about a middle-aged man who finds out that his wife slept with another man and wants a divorce. The story follows a year in the life of this couple along with their children, their babysitter, and an alpha-male super hunk that most women would rather spend the evening with than they would you or me gentlemen.

Now guys, what do I do in a situation like this?  Amy wants to watch a movie about a woman who wants to divorce her husband.  The husband wears New Balance shoes and gets his hair cut at Superclips (I wear New Balance and get my hair cut at Superclips), and has an alpha male character in it that is in much better shape than me, and let's face it, a lot better looking.  It sounds ominous. Should I be worried?   Fight or flight????  We watched Crazy, Stupid, Love.

You know what, I love that darn movie.  I watched the movie for the fourth time recently, one more time than Amy.  The night we watched it the first time, we enjoyed it so much that we watched it again, not getting to bed until three in the morning.  The time I did not watch it with Amy was on an airplane.  I was on my way to San Diego, and the attendant announced that there would be a free in-flight movie, and you could purchase headphones to hear that movie for, I think, two dollars.  Well I said to myself, "I'll be darned if I pay for headphones to watch a movie on an airplane.  Besides I have a good book to read and plenty of work to do.  One of the attendants came around with headphones, and I waved her off, maybe a bit too briskly.  The beginning of a movie came on with no sound on a screen I could not avoid.  It was Crazy, Stupid, Love.  Well I bowed my head, thought "I want to watch that movie," looked up for the attendant, held up my hand indicating that I would like to see her, and I requested headphones to watch that movie.  And I thoroughly enjoyed it once again.

I won't do anything to give away the movie, and I don't want to do an exhaustive review of the film.  All I will say is that Crazy, Stupid, Love is a movie that will make you laugh a lot. It may even bring a tear or two.  It is original.  And even though it is an embellishment of reality, I think the movie captures enough of reality for most people to identify.  In short Crazy, Stupid, Love is a pleasantly wonderful movie that we now own.  So guys if you have not seen it, on your next date night, suggest to your wife, significant other, girlfriend, boyfriend, date, or friend with benefits that you will make the sacrifice of watching this romantic comedy.  They will likely enjoy it as will you.  And guys if you are not in the floor laughing when the four men get into a fight, you lack the humor gene.

Toddler's say the darnedest things

My little boy, Augustus, is 2 years old.  He has always been a communicator, giving speeches and soliloquies that no one can understand.  But now, much of what you he says is becoming discernible, and it is a treat to watch his progression.  Or is it hear his progression, nonetheless, I've really enjoy it.

Augustus is a very polite child.  One day at Target, we were going through the checkout line.  The woman checking us out gave me no eye contact, was not thrilled to be working on this day, and was only going through the motions.  At the end of the transaction, she said, "Thank you," with little enthusiasm.  I responded with "Thank you."  Then you heard the soft, innocent voice of my son, "Tank yooouuuu!"  Everyone in line was charmed, and the most charmed person was the cashier.  She lit up.  She said, "Oh my, would you like a sticker."  She gave my boy a sticker, and he said, "Tank yoooouuuu!"  And then for good measure, "Tank yooouuuu," on the way out.  It was one of those great moments that make being a parent worth it.  Since then "thank you" is common to hear whenever someone gives him something.  I have no idea how he acquired the understanding of when to use the phrase, but I'll take credit.

His mother recently taught him to say, "Excuse me."  Actually it comes out "Stuze me."  He has picked up that when you burp, you say the phrase.  But now he is going around grunting (trying to formulate a burp), and then he says, "Stuze me."  He does this over and over again.  Grunt, "stuze me," grunt, "stuze me," grunt, "stuze me."  And if you burp, he also like to say, "Stuze me."  So this is commonplace as well.  For this my wife can take credit.

As many women know if married or just around men, the more masculine sex likes to quote lines from the movies they love.  I love the movie Lonesome Dove so you might hear me say, "It ain't dying I'm talkin' about, its livin'."  My friend, Clint, loves movies like Kingpin, so you might hear out of his mouth, "The name's not boy. It's Roy."  Another friend, Kyle, loves The Outlaw Josey Wales, and he might say, "Are you gonna pull those pistols or whistle Dixie."  It is just something that guys do, and you guys know what I'm talking about.

Well Augustus has already started the process.  Right now he is watching Cars, and I heard him recite back something from the movie, "Mac....Mac....where are you Mac." He said it as clear as day, and this is happening a lot. He even imitated one of Lighting McQueen's sayings, "Ka-chow!" He has started to sing as well.  Whenever he watches Bolt, he sings the song that has a verse, "There is no home like the one you've got, cuz that home belongs to you."  He sings this verse, not perfectly, but he sings it.  He kind of rolls through it like someone singing a song that does not know the words, articulating some words and making sounds that might sound like a word that would work. So it comes out like, "ahhh oome like one ohh got, cuz one ongss to yoooouuuuu."  It is awesome, and he leans down, bowing his head when he sings, "yooouuuuu."  Then he claps for himself.  Brilliant.