So, things were going well in my training through 5 weeks. I had seen some bumps and bruises along the way, but all in all, training was steady. I was averaging 10-12 miles per week, running 3-5 times. There were a few days that I would have to take off due to soreness, or fatigue, and weather. I started off week #6 in good form by running 3 miles on Monday night and I felt pretty good. The next day I was a bit tired, but still planned on running. My wife ended up having to work late so I had to miss Tuesday, but that wasn't horrible. Wednesday was normally a day off of running, so I would just switch with Tuesday and not skip a beat. The problem was that my left knee began to hurt around noon. It slowly became more and more painful as the day went on. I decided not to run and by the time I was in bed my knee hurt like a Mo Fo. I ad a difficult time falling to sleep and woke up today with some tenderness. Perhaps I just needed to take a few days off and let things get better. Well, it may be more than just a few days as I can barely walk on it without feeling sharp pain in my knee. I'm not sure if I hyper extended it or what, but it's not happy.
When it comes to setting goals in the year 2011, I am getting kicked in the crotch over and over again. I really hope that this is not long-term and I can start up again by next Monday, but I haven't felt this much pain in my knee in a long long time. If any of my readers...Hello?
If any of my readers are religious in any way shape or form, then please pray for me as I am basically an atheist and will get no reply for god as he has most definitely "unfriended" me a long time ago. Thanks and I hope we passed the audition.
I was disappointed by not being able to run on Monday or Tuesday. Weather and children's schedules got in the way, so I ran 4 days in a row starting Wednesday and am quite sore now. I am hoping that my body starts becoming stronger in the next 4 weeks so that I can add on the mileage before the end of the year.
Monday-Had little time to run and the little time I had, it was raining cats and dogs.
Tuesday-Had less time than the day before. DAMMITT!!
Wednesday-Ran for a little over 30 minutes and felt pretty good the entire time. Not so much after though. I drove the loop I ran to verify the distance and looks like I ended running close to 4.4 miles.
Thursday-ran for 30 minutes (close to 3 miles)
Friday-Ran for 30 minutes (close to 3 miles)
Saturday-Ran for 30 minutes (close to 3 miles) Feeling rather sore as I ran 4 days in a row to try an make up for missing Tuesday.
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Finished up my first month of running and I was hoping not to feel like a car that is breaking down. One day it's my knees, the next day it's my quads, the day after that it's my ankle. I am hoping that things start to feel bettter in the next month otherwise it's going to be a long 52 weeks. It's going to be a long 52 weeks anyways, but I was hoping for it to resemble the Chariots of Fire theme song rather than the Little Enging that could.
Monday--ran for 30 minutes ( I think close to 3 miles).
Tuesday--Ran for 30 minutes (close to 3 miles, I think).
Wednesday-off
Thursday--did not run
Friday--Ran for 30 minutes
Saturday--Ran for 20-25 min (felt a bit tired near the end.)
Sunday-off
"By choice man!"
That, in the most simplistic way, sums up why my wife and I chose for me to be a stay at home Dad over the alternatives. Before my wife and I were married, we knew that it was fast becoming inevitable that we would be engaged and have a wedding together. We had already moved into a condo and were talking about what we saw in our future, both together and our own lives. We both wanted to travel, eat at some nice restaurants, live in a house with a yard, work hard at our jobs, and of course have children. When discussing children, we were pretty much on the same page in our expectations. We wanted to provide a warm upbringing that consisted of love, care, education, fun, laughter, and experiences. One problem was day care. At the time, I was working in retail which had an ever changing schedule that included at least 2 nights a week and sometimes to weekend working days. My wife's job had always entailed a steady Monday thru Friday 9-5 type of work schedule which meant that we weren't always off at the same time and if that didn't change in the coming years, then child care could become an issue.
One day, my then girl-friend (I will just refer to her as wife no matter if we were married at the time) pointed out a Newsweek article about the rising percentage of stay at home Dads in America. She asked me if that was something that I would ever consider. She brought it up because she has a chance at becoming a full partner at her law firm that would require more of an already large time commitment and an obvious increase in pay. If I were to continue working then we would never see each other and were both agreed that that was not the way we wanted our lives to go, especially with a child. My first reaction was to completely balk at the suggestion, which is pretty much my nature to do whenever faced with a new idea.
After a few weeks, I began to talk it over a little bit with my wife (remember we're not married yet, but let's just call her my wife) and we discussed the situations that may come up in which it would be best to have one of us, mostly me, be a stay at home parent. We had no problem with the possibility of hiring a nanny, depending on the time commitment as well as the cost. All of our parents would probably be in their 60s and 70s when we had children so it would be quite difficult to count on them as full-time daycare. We didn't have to make any type of definitive plan, but it was important that we knew what our options were and if we felt comfortable with them.
Fast forward 3 years and my wife is told that she is going to be induced into labor because of her symptoms of preeclampsia. Everything works out and although the little guy is a little underweight, things turn out. I took 6 weeks off of work because my wife needed a little bit of bed rest and then went back to work. Things started out well, but that was because my wife was still on paternity leave and had help with her parents during the day. A few weeks after she had gone back to work herself, the schedule began to get a bit hectic. It became quite clear that my wife was not happy about the differences in our schedule and wanted to make some sort of change. At first we talked about hiring a nanny for 3-4 days a week and soon found out that it would cost roughly $28,000-$25,000 per year based on what we needed. That would be 3/4ths my paycheck after taxes and would require that my wife have a little more restricted work schedule herself. Since our wedding, my wife had gone from a law firm to an in house job as a corporate lawyer and was moving up the ladder. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense for me to stay home full-time and take care of our son. My wife would be able to get promotions which would mean more money, her job already was paying her quite well, and we would be almost breaking even at the end of the year from a financial standpoint if we were to hire a nanny.
It was settled. Now what the hell do I do?
Surprisingly my wife was quick to accept my proposal, not only the first time around, but this one as well. Once I got in to the groove of the daily schedule and felt comfortable in what to expect, I really enjoyed being at home for a myriad of reasons. The retail business was in a general decline and management jobs were becoming much more competitive without the benefits. You were expected to work whenever it was called for which no longer seemed fair to me. More importantly I hadn't gotten a chance to know my own Father who had died when I was 4 years old, so I thought this was a wonderful opportunity for me. Now 4 years and 3 sons later, I am feeling more of the same way. I would be lying if I said that it wasn't incredibly tough and draining, but for me, this is where I want to be. I am not religious at all and I don't know what's going to happen, so I don't want to miss watching my kids growing at this age. I could go into a lot more detail, but that would take up countless entries and hours, but most of all, I'm happy to leave it at that.
Thanks for reading.
After a bout with shingles, being a new parent of twin boys and being utterly exhausted, I decided to take the rest of July off. In fact, I hadn't really known whether or not I would return to playing online poker with the same interest or focus as I had before. As August rolled around, I started to feel the itch to get back into playing some poker. My wife and I had a night nurse 3 to 4 days a week so that we could have some sleep which was crucial now that we had 3 children all under the age of 3 years old.
Most of my sessions were around 11 PM after everyone had gone to sleep and I had an hour to myself. I moved back down to .50-1 so that I could feel a bit more comfortable and 3.27 BB/100 winner over the course of 5,100 hands which gave me a nice ego boost.
September wouldn't fair as well although I still ended up a winner with a disappointing .78BB/100 after playing 7,500 hands. I had attempted to stay on the LAGier side of TAG, but not to go crazy postflop. I was also trying to use seat selection much more carefully than before. I started off October doing fairly well and by mid month, saw some opportunities to move up and play a few 1-2 FR tables with some immediate rungood. I limited the amount of tables I played when at 1-2 to no more than 3 at a time and usually only playing 2. I finished that month at 2.58BB/100 over 4,900 hands. It was obviously a more successful strategy at the time than playing nearly 10,000 hands like the previous month. Even though that plan seems to be rather obvious in hindsight, I was still expecting a lot more out of myself which was one way for disaster.
November began much like October in that I was mostly playing .50-1 with a little dabbling in 1-2. That quickly changed as once again I saw myself as shark ready to feed. Much like June and July, I was terribly wrong. Near the end of the month I saw a lot of losing sessions without many winning ones. I finished the month down money wise, but technically up as far as BB/100 goes with my .50-1 sessions helping to stave off the big losses at 1-2. You can probably see where this road is headed can't you?
December was basically my first all 1-2 month, which was most definitely a mistake given the circumstances. Surprisingly enough I had a very good month with the exception of one day in the middle when had a 60 BB downer which hurt my BB/100. All in all I ended up at 1.02BB/100 which is ok, especially taking into consideration that I was not playing A game poker.
Much like the beginning of the year I had some other high notes in poker during this time that were not attributed to cash games. In August I finished 2nd in a 180-man SNG which brought in $144 and then in late December I netted my first 180-man SNG win in NLHE which brought in $108. I finished the year with $522 in tournament winnings and $1,433 in cash game winnings, which includes all of the holdem variants. It was a roller coaster ride at times, but I learned quite a bit. Not that I would apply all that I learned right away, but at least it was stored up for the next go around.
All in all I knew that I had a strong love for poker and wanted to learn a lot more. I learned that when I stayed in my game that I could reduce my risk and pick up the skills that were needed in order to move up. I was beginning to learn that moving out one's comfort zone didn't mean becoming a crazy aggressive player overnight, but that's another story for another post.
Thanks.
So my week #3 sucked ass. I started well as I normally run on Monday and Tuesday, followed by a day off on Wednesday and then ran again on Thursday. My son had a Halloween party for school which left me little time to run on Friday. I then went out Friday night with some friends and had way too much to drink leaving me very hungover on Saturday. Nix that. Sunday I spent time with my family so no running then either. I have to get back in to the saddle tommorrow during nap time so that I can keep pace for my first month of consistent running. It could have been worse...
Monday-- Ran for 35 minutes
Tuesday--Ran for 35 minutes
Wednesday- Day off.
Thursday-- ran for 35 minutes
Frday--did not run
Saturday--hung over from Friday night--did not run
Sunday--did not run.
Children's fairy tales have been around since the beginning of recorded history. They are used for a variety of reasons, most of which help explain to children common life situations that arise from day to day. Some are fair, some scary, some violent, and some are far fetched, but they have been use in a variety of cultures and beliefs. They're often changed to fit into the everyday life of the group using it. Fairy tales may not always be correct, or nice, or clean, but they communicate an life lessons to all who are listening. Unfortunately there are important morals that do get swept under the rug of entertainment. These classic tales, like politicians, speak to the human heart, rather than the mind. When we look at the metamorphosis of a fairy tale as it has been passed from generation to generation, we see a story that is meant to create a path of least resistance. Much like the man behind the curtain in the "Wizard of Oz", the storyteller is motivated to get their way. Parents keep children out of the woods. Daughters are frightened by disease and lack of virtue so as to stay pure. Little boys tell the truth unless they want to be taken by mean old men. With the invention of movies, that motivation has changed into a monetary one and the storyteller is no longer the parent, but the studio. They enchant the fantasies of a child with one hand and reach into the pocket book of their parents with the other. This is not surprising, but more than a little disconcerting due to the lack of virtuous content available in some of the most popular fairy tale stories being shown on big screens the world over, whether they be in theaters or homes.
Disney's version of "Beauty and the Beast", in my opinion, is the prime example of an age old story of true love without the morale. The creators go beyond the stereotypical fantasy of princes and maidens and offer up some basic archetypes without the soul. The characters are lacking in depth that is a necessary attribute in children's role models . This is a small example of the how shoddy the overall production is despite the cutting edge visuals in computer animation.
Each time I see the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast, (which is way too many times as I have 3 kids all under the age of 5), I pick out new inadequacies that complete the aura of a Faberge egg, that is lacking in substance. I can only assume that Disney went overboard on the budget for animation and were forced to cut back on the creative writing team.
The obvious and most blogged about aspect of Beauty and the Beast which has little to no explanation in the movie on its own is the timeline.
The prince lives in a castle with only servants to take care of him as well as the daily business. He shuns an old woman asking for shelter who then places a curse which transforms him into a beast. In order to break the spell he must find true love by the time he turns 21, or so we think. First off, does the curse become permanent on his 21st birthday or will the rose stop blooming on his 21st birthday? If it's the later, will the curse be permanent once all of the petals fall from the flower?
The narrator states that the Beast has had the curse for 10 years which means that he was living in a castle alone when he was 11. What kind of negligent blue-bloods have their son live in a separate castle with only servants and tutors? The main castle isn't big enough to share with an 11 year old boy? What's with this old lady sorceress? She comes across an 11 year old boy who doesn't want to let her in? I teach my kids never to go with strangers, take anything from them, or let them in the house. This young prince was probably only doing what his servants/tutors had taught him (because we know the parents or off gallivanting in another castle). What crazy twisted old bitch turns an adolescent, immature, boy into a beast, unless this is Disney's fucked up version of teen aged acne, in which case they need to get off the Thomas Hobbes philosophical bandwagon and get in touch with their inner child.
End rant...
If he had been a beast passed his 21st birthday and the flower has been wilting for 5-7 years then that makes more sense, which again, goes back to the terrible story telling that Disney has provided.
The next and most obvious turn off of Disney's Beauty and the Beast is the the character Belle. She is framed as the intelligent, educated, beautiful, misunderstood, classic feminist who's ahead of her time and wants to achieve more in the world than what society will allow her.
The opening song for Belle gives the audience a look into not only her daily comings and goings, but more importantly a sneak peek into her inner thoughts as well as those provincial little people she passes by. All of the towns people look at her as an enigma that they cannot figure out, which most likely is because they are active and performing tasks that need to be done, like shopping, working, cleaning, feeding, farming, just those "little people" things that are unimportant in real life. Belle has the luxury of reading all day and dreaming of exciting adventures in exotic locations which always end up with her and a rich young prince. What kind of a role model is this for young girls to look up to?
She reminds me a little of the character Tom Wingfield in the Tennessee Williams' play, The Glass Menagerie, who, like Belle, is tired of the banality of everyday life. He mindlessly works at a warehouse and dreams of adventure in the dark of a movie theater. A big difference in the two characters, other than the obvious, is that Tom ends up leaving his home in search of that other life. I don't mean to imply that the character of Tom Wingfield is a role model or something that people should aspire, but he did finally leave home. The main argument in his actions would be whether he did it to escape or that he found the courage of his convictions. Belle falls upon the adventure that she has been dreaming about due to unforeseeable circumstances when her father gets lost and is imprisoned by Belle's future love. (Foreshadowing alert!)
The other main character of the story is obviously "The Beast", an angry, uncontrollable, immature, brute who feels sorry for himself and is looking to undue his curse by picking the lock rather than finding the key. He is so insecure of himself that he goes so far as to imprison an old man for life without questioning him why he may be in the castle. A side note to this scene are the actions that the supporting characters don't even offer up any argument or fight to the judgement handed down by their master, even though they enticed him to stay and are partially to blame for being in the castle. The Beast has apparently learned nothing since being cursed and his self-exile is a way for him to cut off his nose to spite his face. How does he or his servants expect to undue the spell if they never venture off the castle grounds? Furthermore, how can The Beast be expected to fall in love with someone in a healthy manner even if they were to stumble upon him and his motley crew? He has no relationship that is reciprocal in nature. He is self loathing and can't even stand his own sight, let alone having someone else look at him without "losing his temper".
Most love stories contain 2 characters who, like Beatrice and Benedict, are at odds with each other , have little in common, and almost no chance of falling in love. Belle and the Beast get to know each other and realize that they have more in common than first expected. The climactic morale of the story is that love can be found in the most unusual of places. It's a very nice sentiment drowned in a sea of terrible writing. Belle and the Beast grow fond of each other and supposedly begin to fall in love. The first glaring problem is that Belle never asks nor learns of the Beast's real name. She simply refers to him as "Beast". Does she really lack enough interest to find out his name? Is this how the flame of early love is kindled?
This is a horrible example of how 2 people who are falling love should treat each other.
Later on the Beast wishes to show Belle how much he values her friendship. Instead of telling her about his past, or communicating his new found feelings, he gives her a library of books that haven't been read in more than 10 years. This illustrates how far the Beast is from making any change in his character. Instead of being locked down in solitary confinement as her Father was, she is moved to the more comfortable confines of minimum security, fully equipped with staff and a wonderful book collection to keep her company. She's still being kept prisoner for life by a self absorbed werewolf who wants nothing more than to break a curse by hitting the sheets with this pretty little inmate. It all sounds like a scene out of Pulp Fiction. All we're missing is the Gimp who was transformed into a Mummy. At least she doesn't have to be bothered by those little people from the village that she loathed so much a few days earlier.
The last major defect in the story is that of the timeline, which is rather obvious from the get go. Belle's father leaves to travel to the fair to show his invention. Belle doesn't realize that her father is lost until the horse he was riding on comes back home. This was probably over the course of a day or two. Belle goes out to look for Maurice and falls upon the castle where he is being held. There's no snow on the ground in the village where she lives or at Beast's castle, but when her father is released and heads back to town, there appears to be a bad snowstorm. That night, I can only assume, Belle refuses to dine with the Beast and then tries to escape the castle after he yells at her. They both end up back at the castle after a fight with some wolves. He then spends a nice winter day with her outside. That night the two of them get dressed up for dinner and dancing. Now we are on the 2nd night that she is in the castle and we have already gone from late fall, to winter. She sees in the magic mirror that her father is sick in the woods and there is no longer any snow. The Beast lets her go to help her father. Belle takes her father home which we can only assume takes a day and there is snow on the ground again. Later that night, Gaston and the head of the crazy asylum come to take her father away and the snow is gone once again. How long were Belle and the Beast together in the castle?
Either they only spent 2-3 nights getting to know each other or Disney did a terrible job of telling giving us the timeline of the story. They couldn't have fallen in love given the time frame compounded with the incredible amount of psychological baggage they're carrying. Either way, it's rather surprising how big of a shit sandwich Disney is willing to sell to children.
These are just a few of the many examples of how poorly constructed Disney's version of "Beauty and the Beast" is, not to mention how inappropriate some of the subject matter can be. Disney's French stereotyped characters use difficult situations as leverage to get money and sex. When that plan fails they resort to sexual assault as can be seen by Lefou who fondles Babette the feather duster during the attack on the castle near the end of the movie. Disney studios has made a fortune, to say the least, on the marketing of this movie over the past 22 years since its release and in that time, I have never heard anyone bring up most of which I have written above. Just because something is a spectacle to see doesn't make it a good product. It's important for parents to take a closer look at the content of their children's viewing habits which continues to become more and more desensitised. I am in no way suggesting that children should be sheltered from the realities of life, but I think it would be better to have it explained in a proper manner. I also think that a story like "Beauty and the Beast" shouldn't start with a marketing plan and leave the story to be sorted out later. We all know that the Devil lies in the details.
