begining... perspective

Perspective is important. It has come up a lot lately and I want to mention a thing or two about it. First, it takes time to acquire. Watching college students at Penn State riot about loosing their football coach reminded me of that. Its not that they're in the wrong, I just wonder what they actually get all anxious about. Define it and I'll consider it. If you say it's "the man", then I'll probably ask you to redefine it.

It's also hard to have perspective without the benfit of time. I had to consider my own actions after reading David Brookings NYT article about the very same topic (Penn State). Find it here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/opinion/brooks-lets-all-feel-superior.html

And finally, I have to remember that over the next 10 months as my fiance and I step ever closer to our wedding day. When it gets particularly tangle-y and I'm worked up about what color the napkins are, I hope I can find it in myself to step back and keep it in perspective. My friend Clark gave me that advice today, and I'd like to follow it.

Wedding Register Shopping

I was invited to go on a small adventure yesterday afternoon - Wedding Registery Shopping. If you've ever had a sugar daddy, won a shopping spree or found use of a stolen credit card, you may be able to relate to my experience. Otherwise, allow me to let you in on a little secret. Buying stuff you don't have to buy with real money is awesome! (post on credit crisis coming soon!)

When will you ever get to take a magic red gun, walk all over a big box store and just scan with abandonment till your finger falls off or your gun runs out of batteries. Never, it just won't happen unless you're Jay-Z.

When my dear friend LJet asked me to go with her, I jumped at the chance. This isn't really the territory for dudes but I'm always up for a new and unique experience. We met at Target after work , got our magic red gun from the nice lady at the front counter and then plotted our course.

Our plan: a quick lap around the rather underwhelming first floor and then a concentrated effort on 2 where we were sure to strike gold.

Scan one: A welcome mat. Nice find LJet! We were presented with several options but we thought that this one said Welcome better than the rest. Boom.














2. Toilet paper - Scan it!
Red thin belt - Skip it (whoa that was close!)

We spent no less than 20 minutes matching the shower curtain to the towels, to the floor mat, to the hand towels. LJet, you don't even know what color the place will be yet. Scan it.

3. 6 towels
4. 4 hand towels
5. 1 shower curtain
6. 2 bath mats (shag and short)





Beyond bath we hit bedding then over to small appliances.
7. quesadilla maker (escanear por favor)
rice cooker (skip it)

And quickly ended up in kitchen.
8. apple core'er (this is why she brought me along)
9. beverage tub
10. strainer

The find of the day was a 6 foot foldable table perfect for hosting parties and playing games with beverages.
26. 6 ft table (scan of the day)

Leaving Target after only an hour of work (a land speed record) we felt like we had done what we had set out to do. We only added about 30 items to the registry but we subscribe to quality over quantity.
Wedding Registry Shopping was fun. I think if I was with my significant other getting ready for my own wedding it would be a totally different experience. Also, if this had lasted all Saturday afternoon instead of 1 hour on a Monday night, I think it it would begin to suck.

But we had fun... and that's why we play the game.