sweat and men

I think I have a super power. I don't know what it is yet...but every superhero has a weakness that can be seen or figured out by his enemies. Since I have the latter I figured I must have a superpower waiting to come out soon. The problem is, every time I feel sick, or tired, or something is really stressing me out, this huge vein bulges out of my forehead...and it pulsates to the beat of my heart. So if someone were torchering me Jack Bauer style, my vein would give me away for sure. The other problem is that when I sweat, I don't really sweat anywhere but my head. And for some reason all of the blood flows to my head when I get worked up or work out...so you can see the problem that lies pretty much in my head, maybe it is a gift. Maybe God has a sense of humor and he blessed me with all of these abilities with my head, then he helped me to lose my hair at a young age so everyone could see them. I guess my bum sweats too sometimes, or maybe there is a channel running from my head downwards.

I find that when I sweat, or when I am participating in some physical activity, I think more intensely than any other time. I analyze everything, sometimes I get worked up or angry, sometimes I think of something funny and giggle out loud...whatever it is, I think I would be embarrassed if someone could read my mind during those moments. Maybe that is why I have trouble expressing myself sometimes in person, but I feel I can express myself well when I write. Maybe you are getting an inside look on my thoughts, but just in slow motion because I can't type that fast. I was reading an article in the Reader's Digest at Firestone tires of all places the other day, about 100 secrects on how to know men better. That sounds a little wierd but it was either that, or watch "the View" on the tv they had there (yes, "the view" was on). There was actually some pretty good stuff, some of which I agreed with and some of which I didn't. The article talked a lot about how similar men and women are emotionally, but how differently we express our emotions. Men grow up learning to keep thier emotions inside, and that getting emotional is a sign of weakness. We have our little "place" we go that we don't want people to see where we can pour all of our emotions out, and we will only let someone know about things when WE want them to. If a man lets you in that "place" every once in a while that means he trusts you and cares a lot about you. Just don't tell anyone else about it or you are a goner. Something else I remembered was that men don't prefer to talk face to face when it comes to deeper thoughts, but more side to side. Joni and I have the best conversations when we are in the car, or not facing each other on the couch. I remember having long talks with Joel during bedtime (not the same bed), and staring up at the cieling the whole time. Then an hour later he would scare me half to death with his sleep talking, dancing, walking, hovering, etc. On a more serious note, I guess that's why prayer can be such a powerful thing. It's like therapy in a way...seems kind of one sided and selfish but it doesn't have to be.
Every man needs his little "projects", the wood shop, the car, the lawn, a blog...anything that is easy to fix and not as complicated as a woman. So there you have it ladies, we aren't so insensitive after all. We just forget to listen sometimes because of all that noise in our heads.

We had some visitors this weekend. My dad and Susan came down for a couple of days to see how we lived down here. Saturday we went down to the farmer's market after a tour of Baylor, they have it every day down here year round, and it is huge. It was fun to walk around and buy some fresh fruit and veggies for a good deal, and eat pinelapple chunks cut right off the pineapple with a knife by the vendor. The way it is all set up reminds me a lot of South America. There is some really cool rustic looking furniture, and some wierd stuff that you would only see in Texas, like cowhide covered furniture. We made some really good burgers and had sweet corn, with fresh strawberries and pineapple in a fruit dip that Joni made. Friday night we went to a cool fondu restaraunt, and Sunday we drove down to College Station after church. I was able to see a lot more of campus and I couldn't help but get butterflies with excitement walking through my future building. College Station seems like a really cool town and I have a feeling living there will be a much more positive experience. We spent last night in Houston with friends after dropping off dad and Susan at the airport. I must say Dallas is way smaller than Houston and a lot cleaner too. After hurricane Katrina, Houston was the place most of the people affected went. It just seems like maybe Houston didn't get the best New Orleans had to offer. We were really glad to come back home after having such a fun weekend, and now it is back to business for me, and back to business next week for Joni as this week is her spring break and Andrea is visiting now. I think I am getting a cold, which is probably why I sound so boring right now, and why I will have to stop soon for fear of dripping my nose on the keyboard...thats gross. My picks for the final four are A&M (surprise over Ohio State?), Georgetown, Wisconsin, and Kansas. I think Oregon and Washington State are going to be tough to be beat, and I want to see Nevada and New Mexico State do something special.

In front of the liberal arts building at A&M

Fights

Glen's little story about Carter getting into a pushing war made me reflect on fights I have been in throughout my life. I am sure I got into a lot of fights as a kid but the first one I remember I was on the playground in 3rd grade. We were playing wall ball and for some stupid reason I decided to call a sixth grader fat. This wasn't just because he was fat, because he was, but he always walked around bullying little kids and thinking he was cool. He didn't hear me call him fat, but my friend made sure to tell him because his older brother was friends with him. Anyways, up rolls Mr. fat 6th grader ready to pound my face in, I don't really remember a lot but I remember everything being in slow motion, I also remember a teacher standing right next to us with her tinted bifocles, poofy perm, and tan poofy trenchcoat who chose to turn her back on the whole thing. So I got punched in the face, I didn't move or flinch, and for some reason I don't even remember it hurting...maybe his fists had extra padding, maybe the adrenaline was flowing, maybe he didn't hit me full force...I don't know. All I know is that all of the kids in my class thought I was cool, and the girls started to notice too. I also distinctly remember hitting Matt Nappolilli in the face with my lunchbox because he teased me that I walked home from school with a girl. That wasn't the smartest thing to do because the kid owned his own chinese star and nun chuck collection, but I survived.
As I got older fighting wasn't the same anymore. The last fight I remember getting into, and the only real punch I ever threw, was in high school. We were playing football, and as competetive as boys are, I got in an argument with a neighbor kid and he kicked me, so I punched him in the face. It felt really good at the moment. But I felt horrible when his parents invited me over for pizza 30 minutes later. I can't believe I still went, and I don't even remember saying I was sorry, all I remember was how stupid and embarrassed I felt.
Fighting definately becomes more hurtful as we get older. I can't believe how mad I get sometimes at work or on the road when someone drives stupid. All it does is create a bad habit, then other people catch on to the negativity and it affects them too. I don't know how many times Joni has caught me getting upset over the littlest things, then I feel stupid. When driving home today an old man in a nice Jaguar pulled up next to me at the stop light. The funny thing was that he was on the wrong side of the road, but the double yellow lines were a little faded and hard to see. Sure enough a couple of cars followed his lead, and when the light turned green, there was a barrage of horns and poeple screaming at each other because they couldn't get through. The situation was a bit crazy and made a lot of people upset, but now I can look back on it and laugh at how absurd it was. You can't always change what other people do, but you can change what you do so that negativity doesn't get fed. I need to find a way to not get so easily upset, so that when a situation arises, whatever it may be, I can take something positive from it instead of feeling bad and embarrased afterwards for getting upset. Any suggestions? Physical activity is pretty good for me, but I don't always have time. What do you do when emotions bottle up at work or when someone cuts you off on the road? I am hungry...time to eat.