Showing posts with label Family Guy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family Guy. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Do I really want a baby?


When I was in South Carolina this past weekend, I spent about an hour holding a three-month old baby taking care of her. Her name was Savannah and I believe that she was one of my cousins or one of the neighbor’s kids.

I took her from her grandmother and started to hold her on my lap facing out and her back was against my right arm. I made sure to clean her mouth when she started to spit up and even fed her some formula. I was just so comfortable sitting there with her and didn’t even notice how much time had passed.

It was getting hot outside so I decided to take her in the house and sat with the family while we were watching TV. The entire family saw me doing this and started messing with me because I’m not a father but looked so relaxed handling her. My older aunts and my mother were especially getting on me.

I then told one of my aunts that Savannah had sleepy eyes and right at that moment she started yawning. This got the aunt even more on me. I placed Savannah’s head on my chest, started rocking her and she was asleep in no time while I was silent, making sure that I didn’t disrupt her sleep.

By the end of the day, everyone was telling me that I looked real comfortable with that kid and should have one of my own.

This wasn’t my first experience with babies, not by a long shot. I’ve tended to all of my nieces, nephews and even some cousins in the same capacity. However, when I was dealing with them, I was a teenager and just did it to do it. Now, I look at this experience in a different light.

When I was around 13, I told one of my brothers that I wouldn’t get married because it seemed like a life in hell. I made a deal with him that if I ever got married, he could be my best man because that day would never happen. However, I now see myself getting married one day and have now amended my best man promise to both of my brothers.

Yeah, I’m going to have best men. That’s possible right?

Anyway, since I thought I would never get married, surely I thought that I would never have children. The desire to be a father has never been strong for me because of the pressure. I’ve always wanted to focus on my career and become good at that before even thinking of starting a family.

However, I’m in a good, but not great place in my career. I still have a lot that I want to accomplish but I’m going in the right direction with graduate school and gaining experience.

But for me to have a child, I really have to consider my career in sports and definitely change my current job. I like being a sports information director, but I’m away from home too much and make too little to raise my child with my wife.

I know that I’ll have to travel a lot no matter what job I have in the sports industry, but there are better positions for me to have that will pay me more and make me available more.

My father wasn’t there for me a lot of my life and I don’t want to do the same to my child. All has been forgiven with my father, but I went through some emotional pain as a kid and don’t want to do that to anyone.

My hesitance to be a father is also probably based on me not meeting anyone who would be a good mother to compliment me as a father. Don’t get it twisted, I’m not perfect. I have flaws and my wife will have flaws as well. The key is to find someone that you can balance your faults with to produce a mostly good union to raise that child in.

I can have a kid tomorrow if I wanted to. We all know the process because we took health class, went to the zoo or watched the Discovery channel.

All of these things considered, I think about the time I spent with Savannah, my open relationships with my nieces and nephews and my inspiration, my mother and I lean towards having a child.

My mother is an element in all of this as well. She loves her grandchildren and has four. She’ll never tell this to me because she doesn’t want me to rush anything but I know that she wants another grandchild. My two older brothers have contributed to the party and now it’s time for the baby child to bring a baby of his own.

Having a child is also scary. What if he has physical or mental disabilities? I don’t want to bring a life into the world and have it go through pain.

What if he ends up being a bad kid and causing the world harm?

Babies are cute but they turn into teenagers and adults. It’s a lifetime commitment dealing with your child. Do I want to deal with that?

While writing all of this and thinking some more, I do want a child, just not for a while. I really can’t afford it right now and I haven’t had much luck in the relationship department.

But since my mini-epiphany about liking myself and living my own happy life without comparing myself to others, I’ve come to accept my paternal fate. If I have a child or ten in my lifetime, I’m cool with it. If I have none, that’s fine too.

I think that I would be a good father. I like children, don’t mind spending time with them, love video games, believe in education, love God, and dig children TV shows (accept Teletubbies and Hannah Montana. I have my reasons and I’m sticking to them. The Suite Life of Zach and Cody is tight, respect to that show. OK, back on topic.)

Spending that time with Savannah made me reflect on these things and I’m still unsure. I would love to have a message to send to each of you, Mr. Rogers' style but I don’t. Until then, if you have doubts like I do, it’s normal. Just protect yourself. Between condoms for men and women, birth control pills and a whole bunch of other things, if you don’t want to have a baby and have a good time you can still be careful.

On a lighter note, here’s how Family Guy handles sex education. Enjoy.



Family Guy - Sex Education
Vezi mai multe video Haioase »

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

My Updated MLB Predictions and why Meggie, Jonathan, Noth and the rest of Chicago is Happy



Since we’ve reached June, its time for me to review my baseball picks, this should be interesting…

Here were my choices before the season started for the National League:

NL East- Phillies (So far, so good)
NL Central- Milwaukee (oy!)
NL West- Arizona (solid so far)
Wild Card- Colorado (not a good choice)
NL Champions- Arizona (sticking with my pick even though Philly is good)
NL MVP- Prince Fielder/Ryan Howard (neither one is bringing it. Bring on Chase Utley, Lance Berkman and Larry Jones)
NL Cy Young- Johan Santana (Johan is doing well, but its Brandon Webb award to lose)
NL Manager of the Year- Bob Melvin (The Diamondbacks are doing their thing, good job Bob)
NL Suprise Team- Cincinnati (They started off well, stumbled a little bit, but the Jay Bruce era is in full effect. I love their young pitching like Cueto and Volquez, whose a stud. They’re not going to make the playoffs, but if they may have a future. The Marlins are obviously the choice here.)
NL Disappointment- Chicago and San Diego (I was wrong on the Cubs of course, but San Diego was a good call. I’ll get to the rest of the disappointments later.)
NL Worst Team- San Francisco, even worse than Pittsburgh (The Giants are awful, but they actually have a better record than Washington, San Diego and Colorado).

My standings predictions for each division and the current ones:

My NL East:

1) Philadelphia
2) New York
3) Atlanta
4) Washington
5) Florida

Current NL East:

1) Philadelphia
2) Florida
3) Atlanta
4) New York
5) Washington

Thoughts: I still love Philly. I thought this before the season started and Howard hasn’t gotten off yet. Utley is playing out of his mind and Rollins is going to continue to get healthy and better. The Marlins are a surprise. I though Atlanta would meddle around .500 all year and that’s what they’re doing. I never liked the Mets and they’re pathetic play and internal bullcrap with Willie Randolph. Washington is Washington.

My NL Central:

1) Milwaukee
2) Cincinnati
3) Chicago
4) St. Louis
5) Houston
6) Pittsburgh

Current NL Central:

1) Chicago
2) St. Louis
3) Houston
4) Milwaukee
5) Cincinnati
6) Pittsburgh

Thoughts: Brewers, what’s going on. I go out on a limb for you and you show your appreciation with this? The Natti’ isn’t in second, so that’s a no for me. Houston is showing some spunk, which is good. I thought St. Louis was going to be horrible and they have been more than respectful. The Cubs are the story of the National League right now, maybe all of baseball. You were right Meggie. To be fair though, I did say that I thought that the Cubs were better than everyone else in the division on paper, I just didn’t trust them. I should have trusted them, but its still early.

My NL West:

1) Arizona
2) Colorado
3) Los Angeles
4) San Diego
5) San Francisco

Current NL West:

1) Arizona
2) Los Angeles
3) San Francisco
4) San Diego
5) Colorado

Thoughts: Arizona is looking good, even though they have cooled off some. Colorado is the shocker. I thought they would contend for the playoffs and they stink right now. The Dodgers may actually win this division.

On to the American League:

AL East- Boston (good call)
AL Central- Cleveland (oy again, but there’s still hope)
AL West- Seattle (no hope here)
Wild Card- Toronto (this can still happen)
AL Champs- Cleveland (I’m being stubborn and sticking with them)
AL MVP- Manny Ramirez (I can still see Manny winning this even though Josh Hamilton is doing great right now)
AL Cy Young- Roy Halladay (this is an open race so far)
AL Manager of the Year- Terry Francona (this is Joe Maddon’s award, manager of Tampa Bay, right now)
AL Surprise Team- Kansas City (terrible choice by me)
AL Disappintment Team- Yankees and Anaheim (Yankees, yes…Anaheim’s in first place. Mixed bag)
AL Worst Team- Baltimore (the Orioles are showing something and Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City and Seattle each have worse records)

My AL East:

1) Boston
2) Toronto
3) New York
4) Tampa Bay
5) Baltimore

Current AL East:

1) Tampa Bay
2) Boston
3) Toronto
4) New York
5) Baltimore

Thoughts: The story of baseball has been Tampa Bay. To be fair, I thought these guys had young talent but I didn’t expect this. Boston is doing its thing, even though Ortiz’s injury is cause for concern. I hated the Yankees before the season and don’t like them now. I still like Toronto and Baltimore may be in last place, but they are actually playing better then they have in years. Maybe the best division in baseball.

My AL Central:

1) Cleveland
2) Detroit
3) Kansas City
4) Chicago
5) Minnesota

Current AL Central:

1) Chicago
2) Minnesota
3) Cleveland
4) Detroit
5) Kansas City

Thoughts: The White Sox are doing well right now, which should make Jonathan and Noth feel better. But none of these teams has separated themselves from each other, so this is anyone’s guess. I still like Cleveland. I never trusted Detroit, I didn’t like their bullpen, but I expected their hitting to be better. Minnesota has been a pleasant surprise because I thought they would be awful. Kansas City, I’m shaking my head in shame.

My AL West:

1) Seattle
2) Anaheim
3) Oakland
4) Texas

Current AL West:

1) Anaheim
2) Oakland
3) Texas
4) Seattle

Thoughts: First, they will always be Anaheim and not this LA crap. Second, I was wrong about Seattle, way wrong. Like the worst choice that I made in my entire predictions wrong. Wasn’t expecting that. I thought that Anaheim’s pitching would be weak but they have been good. Oakland has been a surprise, Billy Beane does it again. I hope that Josh Hamilton can keep it up because it’s a great story. I liked Josh before the season began, but I didn’t expect this.

I’ll keep reviewing my picks every month and see where I’m at.

I didn’t listen to any music while doing this post, but I was watching Family Guy. Here’s a clip.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Cartoons, Still Love Them


Cartoons

I woke up early one Saturday morning and wanted to watch some old school cartoons like the Flintstones, the Jetsons, Smurfs or even some Looney Tunes. Heck, I would have taken some Disney cartoons with Mickey, Goofy and Donald Duck, which I hated as a kid.

Accept, I loved Duck Tales with Uncle Scrooge and the nephews Huey, Duey and Louie. Scrooge was my man because he was always grumpy. On the same note, Darkwing Duck and Tale Spin, I was all over that. Also, Doug, that was my show.

From non-cartoons, Clarissa Explains It All and All That, I know you old-school Nick fans can respect that. Also, Are You Afraid of the Dark? I’m getting flashbacks right now over these shows. That will deserve its own post. I have to stay focused on this one.

I liked cartoons that had a little cynicism and darkness to them. I hated being talked down to as a little kid and told that everything was great and nothing bad happened. The Disney cartoons treated me that way and I didn’t like it. Now, Looney Tunes were my favorite because of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. Daffy was my man. He was angry, didn’t take stuff from anybody and would fight you till the end. I liked how he would always battle Bugs and even though he would always lose, he brought an energy that I liked.

Kenisha wanted me to bring up the fact that the cartoons would depict violence in an unrealistic way, which is true. Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam would shoot Bugs and Daffy and nothing would happen. In real life, they would be dead. This is a fair point, but the idea of these animals waking on their hind legs and grabbing items is unrealistic also.

I was thinking of this also when I was watching Family Guy and my favorite character on TV, Brian, the talking dog on the show. Not only does Brian walk with two legs, he drinks liquor, drives a car, holds a job and even has a human girlfriend at some point in the show. The writers of the show do a good job of making Brian a real dog by making him do things like chase balls, have fleas and wanting to stick his head out of a moving car, however, he’s treated like a human.

This should scare me but it doesn’t.

Another thing about the old school cartoons is that they were pretty simple to understand and were very predictable. Take the Flintstones for example. You knew that Fred would do something sexist or something stereotypically male, Barney would unfortunately be dragged into the plot and eventually Bettie and Wilma would get the best of the boys and we would learn a valuable lesson.

BTW, Bettie Rubble, CGI. That’s all I’ll say.

Anyway, the Jetsons were the same. The Smurfs confused me then and now. How can you have all of those male smurfs and one woman smurf. Back home in Brooklyn, we call that nasty. Also, why were you forced to do only one job. If I’m a locksmith, why can’t I change my job and become a cook? In Smurf world, I couldn’t do that. I believe that’s called Communism and I’m not down with that.

What I’m trying to say is, these kids today can have their Dragon Ball Z and Pokemon and these other crazy shows, accept for the Grim Adventures of Bill and Mandy. That show is the truth if you give it a chance. Also, to make Kenisha and others happy, I do like The Boondocks, but for some reason, I never really watch the show. Its funny when I see it.

So, it’s a sad day when you have to go to a cable network called BAM to catch these old-school cartoons. Networks, bring back old-school cartoons on Saturday mornings and the new-age kids will enjoy them just as much as I did. I’ll even wake up early to catch them.