Status

My name is Chris and I'm a caffeine junky. It's been 4 days since my last my Starbucks coffee. The weekend can't get here soon enough.

Starbucks on the Weekend?

I am on Day 2 of no Starbucks. I'm resolving to only have Starbucks on Saturday and Sunday. How can I do this? I don't know myself. This is like saying "I'll just snort coke on the weekends, I can handle it." Really, I probably can't. I'm trying though. I need to do this. Let's just say if they ever come out with a study that says something like "insane levels of caffeine intake lead to inexplicable, sudden death after prolonged exposure", I'll already be dead.

Would you stop and listen?

Check this. Would you stop? Hmmm.....? Would you?

Maybe the greatest poker video ever....

I love this. Maybe the greatest poker video ever. What did we do before youtube?

LC sex tape?

Holy cow! How can this be? I would have thought Heidi for sure. Will this make more or less than the Paris tape? My money is on way less. Now if this tape also involved Screech, maybe it's a different story ;).

Inspirational Piece on Being a Gentleman

I read this article yesterday. I sent an email to Jeff Gordinier as a result of this. I haven't commented on a magazine piece in probably 5 years. I loved this article. I don't agree with every line but the spirit of this article is something I believe in strongly. I really enjoyed this portion -

Jason Tesauro and Phineas Mollod, both 35, co-wrote the amusing and encyclopedic The Modern Gentleman: A Guide to Essential Manners, Savvy & Vice, and since its publication in 2002, they’ve detected a revival of interest in letter writing (as opposed to IM’ing), old-fashioned courtship rituals (as opposed to troglodytic MySpace-trolling), and even dressing up for work. "You carry yourself a little differently when you’re wearing pinstripes as opposed to sweatpants," says Tesauro, who’s begun leading Modern Gentleman seminars at a Ritz-Carlton outside Washington, D.C. "We are seeing signs of it, and it’s on a small scale, and that’s okay with me. While a gentleman may be an endangered species, he’s not going extinct."

I don't want to get entirely involved in a conversation about what I think a gentleman is or isn't. A couple of things though -

1. By my standards, there are too few gentlemen out there. I'm not giving a definition just yet though. That might be a different post.

2. What is your own definition of being a gentleman? This is a question that is asked too infrequently. Clearly as men, we should all strive for whatever the answer is. Why wouldn't you want to be well-behaved, well-mannered, well-dressed, etc.

3. New styles, standards, and behaviors while often accepted in society as normal are not always better than what came before them. As Americans, we export much of our culture and we should be wary of what exactly we are sending abroad. Many of these things will (thankfully) be rejected. Hopefully, Rachel Ray won't become a major star in Japan, for example. Still, I personally want no part of bringing things like cuisine, fashion, and manners to something that could best be described as a widely palatable form of mediocre to the rest of the world. Living with our own standards is bad enough.

Here's a few questions to ask yourself and maybe answer via the comments-

A) When you pictured the grown up you as a child, what were you wearing to work? Was it a solid blue suit or a playboy.com t-shirt and ripped jeans? Was it somewhere in between? Are you grown up now? Why don't you dress the way you were in this vision of your "best future self?"

B) When was the last time you sent a hand written thank you note or letter?

C) If you are male, how often do you pull out a chair for your significant other? How often do you open the door for her? How often do you help her with her coat? Do you feel like these are difficult things to do or do you skip these things in the spirit of "equality" or some other mumbo jumbo? If you are female, do you object to these things? Do you think chivalry of this type is a setback for the women's liberation movement?

D) Have you ever asked a woman out and then split the check on the very first date?

E) Do you believe that cooking, laundry, and/or cleaning are "woman's work?"

I'll leave it there for now. Back with more over the next few days.

Good News

Rex Grossman might be the next Joe Montana.

RPS gone frickin' nutso...

I can't even believe this. Thanks Nate. I think.