Random Ramblings

* The Moose just started his second semester of 7th grade and is taking Family & Consumer Science. Part of this class is a cooking unit, and after watching the first two seasons of The Bear, I fully expect him to swear a lot and start yelling "Yes Chef" at all times. 

* I started wearing contact lenses in 9th grade and while I don't wear them everyday like I used to in my teens and 20s, I still wear them more than my glasses. That ended recently. I started getting headaches if I wore them too long, so I haven't worn my contacts since January 1st. That needs to change. 

* While The Moose doesn't do this, there is a high percentage of middle schoolers (both boys and girls) that wear pajama pants to school. I don't get it.

* We won at trivia a few weeks ago, and one of the prizes was the socks pictured below. Most of my socks are black or brown or your standard Nike or Adidas socks. I want to become a fun sock guy. These socks will start it all!

* When I look at myself in the mirror, I see only brown hair. I mean, I'm mostly bald at this point, but the hair that I have is brown. However, at a recent haircut, there seemed to be a lot of gray on the cape.I think (or at least hope) that all the gray is from my sideburns.

* I didn't shave for several days, and I only shaved my neck so I didn't look like former quarterback Kyle Orton. When I picked up Pedro Tulo and Luigi, the after-school teacher complimented me on my beard. While I already shaved and aren't planning on growing a beard soon, it's nice to know I can grow a good-looking beard almost instantly.

* Over the last few months, I've binge-watched Yellowstone. While I'm almost done with season 4 and overall enjoyed the show, I'm getting a little tired of the messaging that cities, government, environmentalism, and in some cases education (for Jamie but not Beth) are bad and just living as a cowboy and vigilante justice solves everything.

* The other show I'm watching is Only Murders In The Building. I'm in the middle of season two and love it. So much fun!

* Finally, Pedro Tulo and Luigi wanted to watch the NFL Pro Bowl on Sunday, so I watched it with them. Anyone complaining about the amount of airtime Taylor Swift gets during Kansas City football games must also be going crazy about how much Peyton and Eli Manning appeared on the ESPN telecast. Yes, they were the coaches in the game, but ESPN showed one or both of them after EVERY SINGLE PLAY and sometimes even during the play on a split-screen. When they weren't on the screen, ESPN showed Ray Lewis instead. Would have been nice to spend more time with current players.

Which One Doesn't Belong?*

I received an e-mail from the NFL encouraging me to vote for the 2010 Pro Bowl. The e-mail featured this picture:



In looking at the three players featured, two are MVP candidates; two are leading undefeated teams; and one is a member of a 5-5 team. One of these guys is not like the others!

Maybe I'm being unfair to poor Ray Lewis. He is tied for 8th in the NFL in tackles with 83 and has 2 sacks (tied for 96th along with Detroit's Larry Foote and Pittsburgh's Aaron Smith who has been out for several weeks), 5 passes defended and 2 forced fumbles.

I guess we should be happy that the NFL is promoting a player on a mediocre team. However, perhaps the Jets' David Harris (88 tackles; 3.5 sacks; 1 INT; 1 forced fumble) San Francisco's Patrick Willis (96 tackles; 2.5 sacks; 2 interceptions) or Kirk Morrison of the Raiders (84 tackles) weren’t exciting enough and don't yell and do silly dances prior to games. Heaven forbid the NFL should highlight Denver's Elvis Dumervil (12 sacks); Minnesota's Jared Allen (10.5 sacks) or even the 2008 Defensive MVP James Harrison (10 sacks; 4 forced fumbles) over Ray-Ray.

You can vote for Ray Lewis or anyone else at NFL.com.

* Let's call this an extension of Trivia Tuesday!