Random Thoughts for the Week of February 27

• Last night while grilling out I looked up and saw the moon and two bright stars forming an oblong triangle in the sky above me.  The brightest star just beneath the moon was Venus.  The other, slightly dimmer star was Jupiter.  Mercury was low on the horizon and hidden behind my neighbors’ houses.  It was an amazing sight and reminded me a lot of how much potential there is in the night sky and the universe beyond our planet.  So many wonders, three of them right there in front of me.  I was very inspired to continue to write and to learn more about them all.
• I think it helps that I’ve been reading Arthur C. Clarke’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” this week.  I’ll save my review for when I finish, but I’m sad that I’d never experienced Clarke’s writing until now.  He has a great passion for outer space and great skills to describe it.  The book enhances the movie in many ways (the book was actually written for the movie), but by comparison I realize even more how amazing that movie really was.  I look forward to reading more of Clarke on my trip to California this week.
• Yup, I’m spending most of the week setting up a new office in Milpitas, California (just outside of San Jose).  I think Mindi is looking forward to having me out of the house for a while.  I know the dog is.  He’s already re-claiming his spot on the bed.
• The second draft is in Mindi’s hands for review.  Yes, I’m nervous.
• It’s amazing how little I care about the Republican primaries now.  I think it’s going to be another election where I vote for the lesser of two evils.  Yeah.  I’ll admit, I’ve got a few more things to think about than the best loser the Republicans can put up there.
• We’re heading back to Omaha for Easter Weekend.  I’m excited, and I hope to see a lot of friends when I get there.  It’s still strange for me.  After almost 4 months of living in Columbus, it has really started to become home for me.  Plus, I have changed a lot in 4 months.  I think the idea of going back to Omaha, even for this brief time, is really showing that to me in spades.  More to come on that, I’m sure.  Even still, it will be good to be back!
• Had to reduce the listing pricing on the house in Omaha.  The housing market in Omaha is above average … that is, in Southwest Omaha it is.  In my neighborhood, it sucks ass.  Part of me wonders if this isn’t just meant to be … that the house is waiting for us to move back into it.  Hmm … better bust out those tarot cards and see what they say.  Crap!  Mindi threw them out.  Well, Magic 8 Ball time it is then.
• It’s strange but working remotely, I either have really bad days or good days.  I can’t recall a really great day at work for some time.  I think that’s because the people you work with make it a great day.
• I’ll say this much for him … RG3 is FAST.  I think he’ll be a good fit in Cleveland.  I know I can’t wait for the NFL Draft!  Hell, free agency starting on March 21 is a date to look forward too!  (BTW, I also note that March 23 is the opening date for “The Hunger Games” movie.  Yeah, I’m that stoked to see that book on the big screen.)
• It’s funny how much I care about college basketball now.  My basic feelings haven’t changed … only the last 3 minutes of the game really matter.  Even still, thanks to Mindi and our friends out here, I’m actually looking forward to March Madness.  Mindi even managed to score us some tickets to 3 of the first games played here in Columbus.  If Creighton ends up getting seeded here, Mindi’s going to go apeshit.
• It’s strange, but I don’t miss “The Big Bang Theory” or “Fringe” at all.  I thought I would.  TV has become something to have on in the background most days.  My mind is in the cloud of reading, writing and husbandry/fatherhood.

MY THOUGHTS ON THE OSCARS

• Yes, it was great to have Billy Crystal back as the host, and he did a fine job, but it was a VERY SAFE show.  They kept to the formulas and nothing really bad happened … but nothing amazing happened either.
• Well, that is except for the Cirque du Soleil performance.  Holy shit was that awesome!  I honestly didn’t know the human body could do even a 1/10 of the things they did.  AMAZING!
• Only 2 original songs got nominated?  That’s just a sad state of affairs for Hollywood.  It’s also very surprising.  Elliot Smith won for “Good Will Hunting.”  You can’t tell me there wasn’t a song from any soundtrack that could match that one!  You know, maybe what it is that music supervisors are only using oldies in their movies.  Why not?  They’re using recycled stories, why not recycled music too?
• The show just needs to relax and have some fun more.  My favorite moment of the night was Rose Byrne and Melissa McCarthy grabbing the vodka bottles and playing Scorsese drinking games on stage (which she had started at the SAG awards last week).  Now that’s funny!  It’s sad that only serious, thought-provoking films get considered by the Academy, and it’s even sadder that comedy isn’t welcomed or encouraged in most of the presenters.  Lighten up, Academy!  Please!
• Lots of surprise winners last night, which is rare for me to say … until I took a look back.  It makes perfect sense that Hugo and The Artist won so many awards.  The Academy wasn’t just honoring the big names and big movies.  They honestly looked at movies that were different and achieved something.  Sure, I want to see The Help and The Artist now and see if they’re really all that, but I hope The Descendants wins some more awards because it was by far one of the most visually impactful movies I’ve seen in a long, long time.
• While I thought that Penelope Cruz, Sarah Hyland and, yes, even Angelina Jolie were stunning, the redheaded Judy Greer wins my most beautiful lady at the Oscars award and earned her pic on the blog.
• I hate to admit it, but I think Mindi is right on this one.  The next host of the Oscars should be Jimmy Fallon.  He’d make it really fun, young and interesting.  All the things they tried to do this year and last year.

BABY WENDEL UPDATE

• Okay, I swear to God, I thought the father attended baby showers.  Now, don’t get me wrong, there’s a large part of me that is happy not to have to sit through the love fest of “AWWWW” and “That’s so cute!”  Even still, I find I’m a little jealous that Mindi gets to have that fun.  So, calling all men … we’re hitting the bar.
• Mindi and I had our first parenting class last week.  It was part 1 of a 2-part class on the first 3 weeks after delivery.  I know I learned a ton of new things, and Mindi even learned a few things.  I put my first diaper on a baby doll for the first time.  Yeah, I nailed it.  (Speaking of that doll … I went to Target and bought the only one I was willing to spend money on.  It turned out to be WAY too small to learn to test diapers with.  Even still, we named him Rico and had fun stuffing him in the bag to go home, instead of fastening him into the car seat.)  What was disappointing was the lack of energy and enthusiasm in that class.  Sure, Mindi and I were both tired, but we got warmed up and enjoyed ourselves.  Most of the other people in the class barely spoke.  The couple next to us was the weirdest and distracted Mindi.  The father (having his second child with a second woman) picked at his arm (the one with the ugly, bloody tattoo) and slept most of the time, barely even looking at the presenter.  They were very distracting.  Sure, I was hoping to maybe meet one couple, but alas, not so much.  Maybe the other class in April. 
• Mindi did get to enjoy being around other pregnant people and finally see that her growth was normal.  She’s got a cute belly going right now.  Seeing how hers is doing fine compared to folks who are just a little ahead of us made her feel much better.
• God, I hope she doesn’t get ordered to bed rest.  We’ll kill each other, I guarantee it.  LOL.