Do You Really Want to Know How I Feel About It?

I spent 5 hours in the car today, traveling back-and-forth to Philadelphia for a meeting.  It wasn't all bad as there wasn't that much traffic and I got to listen to a lot of Howard Stern.  Unfortunately, the show replay that I was listening to on the way back this afternoon overlapped with much of what I'd already heard this morning.  I was perfectly happy to listen to Howard's interview of Jason Ellis twice.  Jason Ellis, while very screwed up, is always entertaining.  Of course, maybe it's because he's so screwed up that I find him so entertaining.

Anyway, while listening to Jason Ellis twice was fine, I didn't want to listen a second time to Howard berate Richard and Sal for their latest lame phony phone calls.  So, I switched over to ESPN Radio and caught a little bit of The Doug Gottlieb Show.

After just one 10-minute segment with Doug, I quickly remembered why it had been so long since I'd last listened to him.  Specifically, I'd forgotten how tiresome, repetitive, annoying, condescending, strident, disingenuous, repetitive, patronizing, sanctimonious, arrogant, arduous, bombastic, unimaginative, and, (yes, one more time) repetitive I find his commentary.

Wow.  I feel much better now. 

Day One

So, I started my new job today.  It was a great first day.  Highlights included:

• A meet and greet with my new team where everyone told me how excited they were to have me back -- and actually convinced me that they meant it!
• Back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back conference calls from Noon - 6:15PM.  Believe it or not, I didn't mind one bit.  It was good to feel wanted.  My bladder, though, is going to need to be retrained to accomodate an Aetna schedule.
• One customer defection.  I think everyone just wanted to see how I'd react to a minor catastrophe on day one.
• Notification of out of town trips in each of my first three weeks.  Unfortunately, I'm going to have to get used to sleeping alone in hotel rooms all over again.
• Absolutely no time to web surf (on Cyber Monday, of all days).
• Arrival at home to an empty house shortly after 7PM to find dinner waiting for me in the fridge.  That dinner was proof (as if I needed it) that Kim really loves me.  Inside the refrigerator, still in its container, was the carcass of the rotisserie chicken that she had served to the boys.  Since I was alone, I was free to just roll up my sleeves and start pulling it apart.  I picked it clean and disposed of all the remnants before she made it home.  Kim is the best.

All in all, it was a very good day.  I can't wait til tomorrow.

5 Things That Made My Day Today

I thought I'd end the day by summing up the things that made me happy today.  Then, I decided that wouldn't be any fun.  So, here's a list of 5 of the things that aren't making me happy today.

• OK, Wally.  I get it.  I'm not Kim.  I know she's your favorite.  I know that most people probably think that you look so cute when they see you sitting at the bottom of the driveway, patiently waiting for hours for Kim to return whenever she's out.  But, they don't have to see your disdainful "Oh, it's you" look when they turn into the driveway and you see that it's not Kim driving the car.  Could I just once get you to turn and chase my car up the driveway?  You don't even really have to chase the car.  Just trot at a slow pace.  Could that really be that hard for you?
• Hey, Brent Musburger!  Retire already, please.  I just did a Wikipedia search and there is no way you're only 72 years old.  You've got to be at least 96.  Brent, if you're not going to retire, then I've got 3 favors to ask of you: (a) stop calling Kirk Herbstreit "Herbie," (b) limit your references to players' "daddies" to no more than 2 per game, and (c) get a sports jacket that fits.  How hard can that be?
• Does the NBA strike really have to be over?  Is the NBA even a real sport?  I'm probably not in the best position to answer that question, given that I've never even seen a full NBA game.  But, if no one's playing defense, can it really be a sport?  In any event, I was so happy to not be seeing NBA "highlights" on SportsCenter.  Now I've got to deal with that nonsense again.
• Can we please stop with all the speculation during Penn State football broadcasts about what Tom Bradley "knew" about the Jerry Sandusky allegations?  During today's game, Matt Millen and Sean McDonough went on forever on this topic.  Seriously, do we really think that we all know what our family members and friends, let alone our co-workers, are up to all the time?  Trust me -- we don't.  To prove my point, I could make a list here of my own little "secrets" just covering the years 1980 - 1985.  Unfortunately for you, dear reader, my mother reads this blog so you'll just have to use your imagination.  If you're really desperate to know, call my sister Lisa.
• For all of you out there who still have pumpkins on your porches, Halloween was 26 days ago.  Thanksgiving is over, too, so don't try to use that as an excuse.  Get rid of your pumpkins!  Don't make me do it for you because it may not be pretty.

Christmas - The American Way

Usually, I try to keep the Christmas season from starting too soon at our house.  This year, though, I've been lenient.  Kim's been playing Christmas music in the car since last weekend.  Our outside Christmas lights have already been hung.  And, instead of watching the Ravens game last night, Jay and I watched "Elf."  (We let Kim and Hannah borrow our man cards while they watched the game.)

So, it's safe to say that I've been getting into the Christmas spirit early this year.  According to this morning's headlines, it seems like I'm not alone.  From all across America, there were heartwarming stories of peace, joy, and goodwill towards man taking place in the parking lots and store aisles of our shopping malls.  Of course, I'm talking about pepper spraying, shootings, and armed robberies.

Shopping should be a necessary evil, not a leisure activity.  With Black Friday, though, it seems like shopping has moved beyond being a simple leisure activity and has become a competition.  It's all about how early the stores open, how big the "deals" are, and how you can walk away with more than your fellow shopper.  But, getting into arguments and shooting the other people who are waiting in line with you while waiting for the store to open at midnight?  Pepper spraying your fellow shoppers to keep them away from "your" stuff?  Hanging out in parking lots at 2AM to rob people walking out of Wal-Mart?  Seriously?  This is what Christmas has become?

For the last few years, Hannah and I have gone to the mall each Christmas Eve.  We don't go to shop.  We go to watch other people shop.  It's fun.  Believe it or not, there's never any panic at the mall.  People are calm, smiling, and in good spirits.  It's pretty boring.  In fact, the Christmas Eve outing has become so uneventful that, this year, we actually talked about going out on Black Friday to see what that was like.  It never crossed my mind that, if we went, I might need to bring my shotgun.

P.S.  I need to thank Hannah.  While I've been writing this, she's been switching back-and-forth between the annual Pitt - WVU "Backyard Brawl" on ESPN and "Say Yes to the Dress - Bridesmaids" on TLC.  I may have just found a new favorite show.  Drama, cattiness, and sheer stupidity.  "Say Yes to the Dress" has it all.  Each time Hannah switched back to the football game, I had to fight the urge to tell her to please go back.  Somewhere deep inside I must have some testosterone left because the actual words never came out of my mouth.

Tonight's Horrifically Horrifying Episode of "The X Factor"

I was always a Simon Cowell fan when he was on "American Idol" so I've tried to give his new show a chance.  But, "The X Factor" is absolutely horrible.  Quite frankly, it's hard to describe how terrible it really is.  The singers can't sing.  Every third performance, a judge becomes overcome with emotion and starts crying while praising the performer as "genuine" or "courageous."  The host is a complete tool who makes Ryan Seacrest look like a Mensa member.  Did I tell you that the singers can't sing?

So, I'm giving up on "The X Factor."  Halfway through tonight's show, we switched to "Hoarders - Buried Alive."  On this episode, a retired ventriloquist has a house completely filled with puppets!  It's scarily awesome.  The hoarder's son just started crying because he was so overwhelmed with how "... the puppets have been accumulating."  Now that's entertainment.

Unemployment -- Day One

Friday was my last day at my old job.  Next Monday is my first day at my new job.  What does that mean?  I'm unemployed for the week!  Other than the fact that we've got no health insurance for the week, things couldn't be better.
Here's how I've spent my first day on the dole: 

• I let Kim beat me out of bed this morning.  But, I made a special point of coming downstairs before the boys left for school so that I could mock them for having to leave so early.
• After going for my run, taking a shower, and eating a bowl of cereal, it was 8AM.  My plan for the day was to finish my fall yard clean-up. Unfortunately, it was raining (which it's done off-and-on all day).  So, I headed to the computer to check out my favorite websites.  After getting my fill of Penn State football news at www.blackshoediaries.com, checking out the morning headlines on www.CNN.com, and getting my weekend entertainment highlights from www.thr.com, it was all of 8:45AM.  I still had a full 12 hours left before I could go back to bed.
• From 8:45AM to 9AM, I sat in the kitchen and watched deer come and go through our backyard.  I thought of heading out to chase them off with some ammunition from the "bucket o' rocks" that Nick gave me for Father's Day (he's so thoughtful).  Instead, I roused Wallly and Ginger and sent them out in full attack mode.
• Following all that hub-bub, I walked aimlessly around the house til 9:30AM when Kim came home from her walk.  When she asked me if I wanted to go to the food store with her, I could barely contain my excitement.  I patiently waited while she got ready and made her shopping list and then off we went.
• The food store trip was everything I expected and more.  When we got to the parking lot, we split up so I could go to Bagel Bin while Kim headed into Giant.  All on my own, I ordered one dozen bagels!  Once I made it back to the food store, Kim kept me occupied (and out of her hair) by sending me off on searches for lunch meat, hamburger, juice boxes, and chips.  She really knows how to utilize my talent.  While shopping, I looked at all the other guys in the food store (there were quite a few) and wondered what they were doing there.
• After stopping by the high school to pick up Jay (the boys had a half-day and Jay stayed after for a while), we headed home.  I had a tasty lunch of a leftover roast beef sub from Pudgie's.
• By now it was 12:45PM.  Once again, I had absolutely nothing to do.  I complained about that for a bit but, at the same time, told Kim she wasn't allowed to give me a list of chores.  I headed into the family room and switched on the TV.  I watched the Barefoot Contessa prepare a back-to-basics Thanksgiving dinner (roast turkey roulade, herb and apple stuffing, parmesan smashed potatos, cognac gravy, and cranberry fruit conserve) and said a silent prayer that she'd invite me over for Thanksgiving next year.
• Then it was time for some bill paying.  No need to dwell on that.
• Now it was 3PM and Nick was getting ready for work.  Inspired by the Barefoot Contessa, I whipped him up a tasty meal of re-heated flank steak and broccoli along with a banana. Slaving over that meal made me hungry so I popped myself a bag of extra movie theater butter-flavored popcorn and set a good example by eating 3/4 of the entire bag.
• After that, I went back to the TV but nothing held my interest.  So, I decided to do some Christmas shopping.  I went up to my dresser, got the catalogs that Kim's been saving for me, opened them up to the pages she'd marked, and went online to "shop" for the things she'd picked out for herself.  Thank God she doesn't mind not being surprised on Christmas morning.
• That took me up to 4PM.  I put on some Shania Twain ("Up") and sat down to write this.  Shania Twain is the best.  Jay walked by, heard her, and said "Anyone who says they don't like Shania Twain is just lying to themselves."  He is so right.

I have no idea what I'm going to do the rest of the week.  I think you should all pray for my family that they get through this.

That's My Story and I'm Sticking To It

Hannah is home for Thanksgiving break.  Yay!  Finally, the whole gang is back together -- at least for 7 days.

Luckily for me, I didn't have to drive to State College to get her.  Instead, she got a ride home with a friend.  I met them down in College Park at about 9PM on Friday night.  I didn't notice until we got home and were sitting in the kitchen that Hannah has the remnants of a black eye.  When we asked how it happened, she said that she got hit by a door.  Hmmm.

I didn't press her on it but I guess that's a plausible story.  In fact, I remember the same thing happened to Bob Pankuck back in college.  Bob was standing in the foyer at Kappa Sig, in the middle of a conversation late one night.  While he was standing there, someone plowed through the front door.  Bob caught the impact of the front door full on in the face.  Luckily for him, he'd had quite a few Old Milwaukee "sleeping pills" that evening and didn't even remember it happening.  But, he had two black eyes to show for it for quite some time.

So, I'll take Hannah at her word.  However, let's imagine how she might have gotten her black eye:

• Perhaps she got it when she was rolling that TV van in the middle of the "Joe Pa got fired" riot down on College Avenue.  Hasn't every Penn State student claimed responsibility for that?
• It could happened while she was throwing the Occupy Penn State faction out of the Hub.  I mean, you've got to think that she's on the side of the 1%, right?
• Or, maybe it happened when she tried to cut in line among all those who were camped out earlier this week to see "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1."  Actually, I hope she's got better taste than that.

In any event, she's home and I'm happy about that -- black eye and all.

The Problem With Pizza

Here's what we had for dinner tonight: salad, leftover french fries, and Ledo's pizza (sorry, Pudgie's).  Sounds good, right?  It was.  There was only one problem -- I'm not satisfied.

Whenever I eat pizza,  it's the same old story.  First, I eat til I'm full.  Then, while my belly tells me "no more," I start to wonder what else there is to eat.  You see, one of three things needs to be on my plate at dinner time for me to walk away truly happy:

• Pasta (any kind will do)
• Meat that I can pick up and eat with my hands (it's even better when my dinner companions let me gnaw on their bones, too)
• Gristle (come on, give it a try before you call me gross).

Unfortunately, pizza doesn't offer any of those three things.  Sure, it tastes good.  It comes with toppings.  You can eat it with your hands.  But, whenever I eat pizza, it just seems like something's missing.

I know that, within an hour, I'm going to be rummaging through the pantry, still unsatisfied.  I'll grab a bag of chips -- one of the big, family-sized bags.  And, I'll proceed to eat every last chip out of the bag.  It's going to happen.  I won't be able to stop.  Thank god for high metabolism.

Katniss, and Peeta, and Gale -- Oh, My!

Yesterday, the first trailer for "The Hunger Games" was released.  That meant I got to pretend to be 12 years old -- which is pretty much a daily occurrence for me.

I saw the news online while I was at the office.  I had to wait in agony for several hours til I got home and could watch the trailer in peace.  Sure, I could have viewed it at work.  But, I wanted to be able to put the volume up loud and really study it.  I got home a little after 6PM and we immediately sat down for dinner.  I was a good boy during the meal, joining in the conversation, clearing my plate, and even offering Wally a spot underneath my chair.  Finally, I couldn't contain myself any longer.  Before we even cleared the dishes, I hopped up from my seat.  Kim and Jay asked me what I was doing.  I said "I'm watching 'The Hunger Games' trailer."  I grabbed Nick's laptop (it's got the biggest screen), pushed a couple plates aside, and fired up the trailer right there on the kitched table.  We all hunched together in silence to watch it.

So, what did I think?  Here goes:

• Jennifer Lawrence looks perfect as Katniss.  In my mind, Katniss can't be too pretty.  She needs to seem a little rough around the edges.  That's Jennifer Lawrence in a nutshell.
• Effie Trinket seems like she'll be a hoot.  But, they'll have to be careful about how much on-screen time she gets.
• I loved the glimpse of Rue, even if it was just a brief one.
• I'd wondered about Lenny Kravitz as Cinna but, in the short moment he appears and speaks in the trailer, he seems to have the vibe nailed perfectly.
• They raised the tension nicely without ever showing us any of the actual Hunger Games competition.  I like that they didn't reveal too much.

All in all, I liked it quite a bit.  If you want to watch it, here it is:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S9a5V9ODuY.  I can't wait for March.

P.S. In case you're wondering, Liam Hemsworth is not quite dreamy enough as Gale.  But, I never liked Gale as much as Peeta, anyway.  So, that's fine.

Getting to Know the Amazingly Awesome Danielle Pignastic

It was a rough football weekend.  Penn State's comeback effort against Nebraska fell short.  The Bills got pounded by the Cowboys.  The Eagles lost, eliminating me from my elimination pool.  And to top it all off, the Ravens just finished getting embarassed by the Seahawks.

But, there was one bright spot.  Last night, Nick, Jay, and I went to the Notre Dame - Maryland game with my brother, Andrew, a proud Notre Dame grad.  The game, itself, was a laugher with Notre Dame completely dominating Maryland right from the opening kick-off.  Notre Dame's dominance was so complete that the action on the field had a hard time holding my interest.  Luckily, we had the good fortune to be seated right in front of the amazingly awesome Danielle Pignastic.

I can hear you asking yourself -- "Who is Danielle Pignastic?"  Let me tell you, after listening to her talk non-stop for three straight hours, I feel that I know her quite well.  Let me tell you just some of what I learned:

• Danielle is the type of girl who needs 9 hours of sleep a night.  That's why she wasn't going to be able to meet her friends for breakfast this morning.  She proposed a late brunch, instead.
• Her neighbors just got a new dog.  He's a 17-month old Lab and he's neutered.  She has lots of pictures of him on her cell phone and would be very happy to show them to you.
• She's getting her MBA part-time at the University of Maryland.  She's annoyed at all the students who are trying too hard to get "A's" since she thinks everyone should just be satisfied with "B's."
• Danielle's friend Chris lives in New York City and says it's a real tough dating scene.  Danielle says this is because Chris gets immediately turned off by any guy who's actually nice to her.  In fact, Chris had been seeing a guy that Danielle thought was really nice.  Chris had been on 3 dates with this guy!  Then, he made the mistake of texting Chris.  Chris never contacted him again.  Poor guy.
• Danielle came to the game with a group of about one dozen friends.  One of them was this guy, Dan, who was sitting about 6 seats away from her.  Danielle yelled "Daaaannn!!!" loudly every 10 minutes or so during the game.  Once, it was "Daaaannn!!!  Why are you wearing mittens?"  A couple times, it was "Daaaannn!!!  Are you going to cheer for Maryland?"  Unfortunately, most of the time it was just "Daaaannn!!!"    I'm pretty sure that Danielle loves Dan.  I'm also pretty sure that Dan can't stand her.  By the way, all this yelling for Dan is how I decided to give her the first name Danielle.  The last name of Pignastic just kind of fit.
• Danielle had an interesting name for cheerleaders, dance squad members, and marching band baton twirlers.  She called them "slutty bitches" as in "Why are our slutty bitches talking to the Notre Dame trombone players?" or "Why doesn't your band have any slutty bitches?"  As I'm sure you can tell, Danielle is a real classy lady.

I ended up getting Danielle and all her friends thrown out of FedEx Field with about 5 minutes to go in the game  Seriously, that's a true story.  It involves a security guard, Danielle calling me a "tattle tale," and me shouting out Willow Smith song lyrics.  I think it's a pretty good story.  Maybe I'll tell it some other time.

Since You Asked ...

Today, we've received calls and e-mails from neighbors, friends, and family.  Everyone has the same question for us -- "What do you think about Penn State?"

That's a very hard question to answer.  I could say it's made me feel disgusted.  I could say that it's made me feel angry (don't even get me started on the completely clueless, unprepared, and seemingly gutless Board of Trustees).  Or, I could tell them that it's reduced more than one member of the family to tears.  Penn State is a special place.  I know that sounds hokey, but it's true.  To see it vilified -- and to understand that the actions and inactions of members of the Penn State family are the causes of that vilification -- is extremely saddening.

All day, I thought about what I would write this evening.  When I got home, Kim told me that her dad recommended that I read today's editorial from The Wall Street Journal.  I'm glad that he did.  Amongst all the hyberbole that the media has been spewing, it was refreshing to see a rational, reasoned, insightful piece that stays away from emotion while commenting on some of what's so very wrong with our society. Since it sums up my feelings perfectly, I've lifted it entirely and reprinted it here.

The end of Joe Paterno's run as head football coach at Penn State University was all but inevitable the minute Pennsylvania's Attorney General released the horrifying details of alleged sex abuse by a former assistant coach.  Yet the iconic coach's dismissal after 46 otherwise spotless years is more an occasion for sadness than righteous satisfaction.

"This is a tragedy.  It is one of the great sorrows of my life.  With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more," Mr. Paternoo said in a statement Wednesday announcing that he'd step down at the end of the season, at age 84.  The university trustees fired him instead Wednesday night, effective immediately.

Mr. Paterno's statement refers to his decision to inform a university official, and not the police, that a graduate assistant had told him in 2002 about witnessing former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky with a young boy in the showers.  It isn't clear from conflicting reports whether that graduate assistant told Mr. Paterno the ugly details of the sexual assualt that is described in the grand jury report.
 
But, this is at best ameliorating, not exculpatory.  As everyone has noted and Mr. Paterno himself now seems to accept, the coach fulfilled his legal obligation, but not his moral duty, to look after the well-being of that child and others who may have been victimized later.  He is now paying for that lapse in judgment with a tarnished end to a long and distinguished career.

This is not to endorse all the media moralizing, which revels in schadenfreude that another man of great reputation has been revealed to be flawed.  We live in a culture that worships celebrity but seems not to want heroes, or even figures of respect.  The icons of our age are the Kardashians.

Mr. Paterno has done enormous good across six decades at Penn State, especially for young people, and that legacy should not be forgotten amid the denunciations.  Given the relentlessness of modern public scrutiny, and the thousands of young men who have traveled through the Penn State football program, it's something of a miracle that Mr. Paterno could coach for 46 years without a previous notable blemish.  We doubt it will happen again.  It's also something of a relief that, in a culture as libertine as ours, at least some behavior -- sexual exploitation of children -- is still considered deviant.

The events at Penn State are indeed a tragedy, and doubly so because they give new license to cynics who want Americans to believe that no one who achieves prominence in public life can be honorable.

The End of The Innocence

For the past 48 hours, I've thought quite a bit about the Penn State situation.  It's horrible, distressing, and disappointing on so many levels.  I don't think I can say much about it that others haven't already said.  

Kim and I have tried to use the situation as an opportunity to talk to the boys about the importance of doing what's right, even when doing so is unpleasant.  Tonight, Nick and I were alone for dinner and I gave it another shot.

Nick just loves Penn State.  He and I have had some great times together going up there for football weekends.  We have fantastic shared memories that include the car rides, hotel stays, and tailgates even more than the actual games we've seen.  It's been wonderful to have those times together with him.  I won't ever forget them and I hope that he won't, either.

At dinner, we talked about the disappointment and disillusionment that we both feel.  We talked about how that comes nowhere near the the unimaginable pain that the boys who were abused have felt for years.  We talked about the criminal justice system.  We talked about the court of public opinion and our tendency to rush to judgment before all the facts are known.  And, we talked about heroes and the wisdom (or foolishness) of trying to keep them on a pedestal.

The conversation was a tough one, with a great deal of emotion expressed.  During the course of it, I literally felt like I was seeing Nick's youth and innocence fade away.  I would have liked for him to have kept it a while longer.

That's More Like It

So, now that the Bills are good again (supposedly), I had the great pleasure of spending my afternoon with them.  Yes, for the 3rd time this year, I was able to watch them play.  Things were great earlier this year when I got to watch them beat the Eagles and Redskins.  Today, though, was like a flashback to all the disappointing losses of days gone by.

In case you had other things to do today, here's what you missed:

• Unbridled optimism all morning as kick-off draws near: Check.
• A sense of togetherness as the CBS coverage began and they show all the other faithful lemmings at Ralph T. Wilson Stadium who are just as excited as me: Check.
• Poor execution by the offense right out of the gate: Check.
• Untimely turnovers: Check.
• A defense that couldn't get off the field in the first half: Check.
• A deceptively close half-time score that, despite how bad things look, gave the Bills faithful hope: Check.
• An opponent that pulled away in the third quarter: Check.
• A brief early fourth quarter run that made you think that a remarkable comeback may be in store: Check.
• A meaningless garbage time Bills touchdown after the game was well out of hand: Check.
• A virtually empty stadium with two minutes left: Check.
• Misery and disappointment at the final whistle: Check.
• A full week of "what could have been" wondering to look forward to: Check.

So, Bills fans -- does that all sound familiar?  In any event, I know I'll be right back here next week provided I'm (un)lucky enough to get the game on TV again.

Fear of Commitment

It's 7:37PM on Friday night.  Nick's upstairs getting ready for an evening with his friends.  Jay just wrapped up his own little get-together and is settling in for a fun-filled night on Facebook.  The big dilemma facing me is whether or not to suck it up and finally watch "X-Men: First Class."

We've had the "X-Men: First Class" DVD for almost 3 weeks.  Jay's already watched it.  Nick isn't interested.  I've heard it's good so I've not let Kim send it back yet.  But, I just can't bring myself to sit down and watch it.  There are so many reasons why that I don't think I can list them all.  Let me just give you a couple of them.

• We have three different DVD players.  Each one is tempermental.  The basement works through Jay's PS3.  I have no idea how to work it so that one's out.  In our bedroom, we've got a portable DVD player that's hooked up to the TV.  Unfortunately, the DVD's remote is broken so you have to actually stand next to the player and hit buttons by hand.  That's a bit too old-fashioned for me.  That leaves the player in the family room.  After you turn it on, it takes a good 30 seconds to actually become operational.  I know that, of course.  But, it doesn't stop me from hitting the "power" button and then repeatedly pressing the "open / close" button on the remote until the darn thing finally opens up for me.  Invariably, I get frustrated while doing this and start cursing under my breath.  By the time the player finally opens up, I'm wondering why I even started to try and watch the movie in the first place.
• There are no movies made anymore where the dialogue takes place at a consistent level throughout the entire movie.  I feel like I spend the entire movie doing nothing but adjusting the volume.  The sound is either so loud that it gives me a headache or so soft that I can't understand what's being said.  Each scene becomes a game -- I guess if it's going to be a loud scene or a soft scene and adjust the volume in advance.  Sometimes I'm right.  Sometimes I'm wrong.
• I hate making a commitment to spending two hours watching a movie that may not be any good.  I have no trouble turning off a regular TV show or flipping to something else when whatever I'm watching on the current channel starts to bore me.  But, I still feel guilty turning off a DVD before it's over.  In fact, I think I've only done it once.  The movie was "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"  Trust me, it was horrible. 

So, there will be no "X-Men: First Class" for me tonight.  I'm pretty sure HGTV is still running back-to-back episodes of "House Hunters International" on Friday nights.  I think I'll give that a try for a while.