I recently learned that some of you have not seen some movies that I consider required viewing for your life.  So each month I hope to enlighten you by providing a homework assignment….go rent and watch these movies…..then write a 10 page essay explaining how these movies have changed how you view the world. 

Since this is the first installment I will provide two assignments:

Fight Club: As you will see many of my selections are movies that are a bit of a head-trip.  Fight Club is no exception.  Brad Pitt and Ed Norton are great in this.  One thing I remembered when watching this for the first time, was how the promotional trailers and ad campaign didn’t spoil the movie for me.   These days you’ve basically seen the entire movie before you even get to the theater.  On that note I will say no more.

Office Space: Do you (or have you) worked in a cubicle?  Then you will totally relate to this comedy.  There’s also some great catch phrases that people have been using for years that are going straight over your head.  Don’t miss out on all the in-jokes…watch now:

So I (Stuart) turned 40 yesterday.   I know, I know..how can someone as young and beautiful looking as myself be 40.  Good question, but just in case I forgot this milestone…my Mom emailed me this:

To cope:

– First, Bonnie tried easing me into it:  Spoiling me with breakfast in bed.
– Second, I tried Denial: Went to the Gym, shot some basketball at the Park..both things I haven’t done in a long, long time.
– Third, we tried shopping.  Works for depression, so I’ve been told.  Bought a small freezer for the garage.
– Fourth, Bonnie let me choose a place for Dinner…stuffed myself with Korean food.
– Lastly, surprise….Bonnie had some friends waiting for me at home..more food, beer, and some good ol’ Texas Hold ’em.  Everyone was on the same page except Dave, who didn’t know he was supposed to lose to me.

It was a good #40 and I’ll try to be as sympathetic to Bonnie when her quatro-decade hits, ‘course my memory isn’t as good as it used to be….

Update:  More news-breaking info on my Surprise Party can be found here:
Tsao’s Blog
Chang’s Blog

Sorry Logan….you ain’t going to college, we got cell phones to pay

Actually this turned out to be a misplaced decimal point issue (ie it should have been $96.17).  Strange that Sprint could make such an error..what are they doing, manually typing amount dues?

A few weeks ago we had the “Guess the Name of our Baby” Poll…and in honor of the “2 month ’till Stork Arrives” barrier being broken we are announcing the winner today.

It turns out that many people thought this was actually a Choose the Name of our Baby contest, so after much consideration….we agreed.   We were prepared to name our child TsingTao, after the refreshing beverage enjoyed on many an evening out, but we discovered that some major voting infractions occurred in the State of Colorado.  Since all of these ‘ballott-stuffing’ entries were in favor of ‘TsingTao’ we had no choice but to disqualify it.  Therefore Logan is the Winner!  

Things I’ve learned, that everyone else already knew, when painting a room:

(1) Preparation is 90% of the work.  Just clearing out the room, covering furniture, using masking tape, covering the windows and doors,  can be the most time-consuming step….except for the item (4).

(2) There’s a thing called primer paint….what this basically means is that you will be painting the room twice.

(3) Color Samples on a 1″x2″ card are no indication of what a room will look like when it is completely covered.   That nice calming green sample card can turn into a radioactive, neon, sunglasses required, room.  I’d suggest picking up a quart each of the 4 colors you’ve narrowed it down to.  Paint a different section of your wall those colors and then decide.   Don’t do the whole room and then make a judgement.

(4) Ya know in step (2) when I said you’ll be painting the room twice.  I lied. You won’t like the first color you paint, so you’ll be doing it again.  If you do like the first color…wait a day and look again…bet you don’t now.

(5) Remember that original color which was on the walls prior to painting.  That was a nice color wasn’t it?  Wonder if I can still get a gallon of that.

(6) Acceptance:  After a couple of days…that new paint actually looks pretty good.

Dora (Bonnie’s Sis) is the proud new momma of a cute little furball she has named Cody.  As you can see from the picture, he was born without a spine….wait…I’ve just been told that was just a napping position and she quickly woke him up so he wouldn’t get stuck that way.  We’ve been promised new pics via email soon….but Scottie may hit the Delete key before we get a chance to see them.