The Inconsistent Writer

"Now you're looking for the secret. But you won't find it because of course, you're not really looking. You don't really want to work it out. You want to be fooled." -- Cutter,  The Prestige The arrival of 2011 brought about the change in my diet.  Lisa and I decided that if we were going to do one of the thousands of diets out there today, that the low-carb diet seemed the easiest to accommodate our lifestyle. Everything was going well until I decided to to cook up some steaks and both of us really wanted mashed potatoes.  For those unfamiliar with a low-carb diet, potatoes of any kind are strictly prohibited due their massive amounts of carbohydrates.  One small russet potato, weighing approximately 6 ounces, has 31g of carbs, 2g of dietary fiber and has 134 calories. We're not suppose to consume more than 20 net carbs in a single day (at least right now). NET CARB  = CARBOHYDRATES (minus) DIETARY FIBER Needless to say, potatoes are off the men

Last week, upon the viewing of Toy Story 3 , I came to a revelation.  A cinematic discovery that shook the very foundation on which I had built my admiration for the art and craft of filmmaking; my overall love of movies.  It wasn't destroyed ( and probably never will be ), but I know for certain that it will never be the same again. In all honesty, I had been noticing cracks in this foundation for years. As I grew in my maturity and knowledge of film, mindless dreck became less appealing.  The days of flooding my senses with new releases on a weekday afternoon with my buddy Ryan after college classes has since past.  Every once in a while a guilty pleasure will still appease the mindless drone that I had once been, but for the most part, my tastes have slowly changed. How is it that the creators at Pixar can unleash tears, can reach inside of you and touch emotions that you haven't felt in years, yet the rest of Hollywood stays pretty much the status quo, releasing emotio

‎"Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow..." This verse, from  Isaiah 1:18 , seemed much more personal after witnessing a blanket of snow that covered my home when I awoke at 4:30 this morning. 5:00 AM comes early, especially to one that goes to bed late.  5:00 AM also comes early when you're awoken throughout the night, once at 3:00, again at 4:00, and finally at 4:30 wondering why it's so much brighter in our bedroom than it normally is at this time of night (or day, depending on your lifestyle). As I finally dragged myself out of bed (at 4:30 mind you), I knew what was waiting for me outside.  A splendid, but awfully inconvenient, five inch blanket of snow had fallen some time after 10:00 PM the night before. Why did I dread this?  Because it would take me 20 minutes to clear off my car in order for it to be acceptable and safely drive-able on the road. However, I was also extremely excited.  Why, you ask?  Considering that I

There's always one, and sometimes unknown ( until now ), factor in the old saying that "some things only get better with age." I used to regard that most of my personal relationships and friendships almost always resembled this truth. However, one should come to the realization that it always depends on what kind of relationship it is before coming to this not completely valid, but mostly credible, personal resolution. The "Expensive Scotch in the Liquor Cabinet" Relationship Some relationships don't require much maintenance. These should be referred to as the "expensive scotch in the liquor cabinet" relationship. Let's presume in a hypothetical situation that you received a very nice and quite expensive bottle of scotch as a gift. At that time, you didn't really care much for alcohol. Or maybe you enjoyed it from time to time, but not enough to think you would need an entire bottle of it at home. Rather than insulting your friend,