Happy Easter

As a non practicing Catholic, I always feel slightly guilty around Easter and Christmas. Right now, at this very moment, I'm drinking coffee, eating some toast with raspberry jam and have my feet up on my couch. I should probably be in church. Oddly, I observe Lent. I always have. But yet I skip church on Sunday.
If there was any a Easter for me to be at the Basilica, it would be today. We have a new pope. Which in the Catholic world, is a pretty big deal. But I'm more content with blogging about random ass things, going to the gym and browsing the Internet. I'm the worst kind of Catholic.
I'm not 100% sure where my faith went stray. Probably sometime during junior high school. My parents were obviously raised strong Catholics, but never made me go to church. Mostly because they didn't attend themselves. I think they felt they paid their dues during Catholic school or something. So needless to say, I never made it a priority. Living across the street from a church, lent itself to easy come, easy go. So I would drift in and out during random Sundays. But I found myself more preoccupied with things like graffiti, sleeping in and riding my bike.
But as I sit here looking at my kid, I wonder what I'll do with him? I doubt I would ever push any kind of religion on him, but I also want to provide him with some guardrails in life. But it's hard to say "Observe Lent because the bible says so", but then also saying that I feel the bible is flawed in it's verbiage of marriage. We can't pick and choose what sentences to model our lives after when it's convenient.
In unrelated news, it is starting to finally get nice out. My bike is all prepped for when this snow is gone I'm super excited. And I can't wait for the Cubs to start playing again.

Better Than Ezra

Remember that band? They had that one good jam called "Good". Loved that song...

Anywho. I got into a great discussion with a friend yesterday over lists. We love lists: Who is the best basketball player ever, what was the greatest movie ever, etc... We live for lists. We love to organize and prioritize for some reason. But it got us thinking - what are the best things in life (from only my perspective)? So I thought I would put together the Jon B list or random ass things. Most people who don't know me, probably won't understand this, but that's ok.

Best movie:
1. Goodfellas. My all time favorite
2. Do The Right Thing
3. Clerks
4. Caddyshack
5. Full Medal Jacket

Best TV Series:
1. The Wire
2. The Sopranos
3. Mad Men
4. OZ
5. Tie: Parks & Rec/New Girl (both could change, as they are super new)

Best flavor of bubble gum
1. Bubble gum
2. There are no other flavors

Worst ideas for a blog:
1. A blog about lists. I've already lost interest, so I'll end here...

Free Time. Oh I've missed you

Since having a kid, I get little to no free time. Except for times like right now when he's snoozing in his rocker. #dadprobs.
It's hard not to be somewhat resentful at the fact that I can't do anything for myself these days. For instance, I've been trying to start writing another book. But to actually get a few hours to do it doesn't exactly come easy. Last year, I tried to learn how to play the guitar. I've gotten decent, but I haven't picked it up in almost 2 months. Time with friends is out the window. Mostly because my friends are so random, just getting together for a beer and some shenanigans is no longer a monthly occurrence. Photography used to be one of my greatest pleasures. But I can't exactly go wandering the streets on a photog walk at random anymore.
People keep telling me it will get easier. I hope so. I feel like I've stopped growing as a human. I used to take great enjoyment in trying and experiencing new things. Now, my new things are seen through the eyes of my son. This post wasn't meant to sound selfish, though I feel like I'm feeling a little bit of that these days.
But I do pride myself on my ability to change, swaddle and repeat without fail these days. Will I one day become the Adam Breverman of Minneapolis? Possibly, though I fancy myself a little more of a Phil Dunphy.

A Year in Review

I was going to write a post reflecting on me getting another year older and (maybe) wiser, but the passing of an awesome woman takes precedence.
For those that knew Ma Cooper knew that she was something special. I think the only time I ever called her Pat was the first time. She quickly told me that since I knew Mike, I could call her Ma. The next sentence she uttered to me I will never forget: "You do that graffiti stuff? Well, I don't care if you do that tagging on planes, trains or whatever, but don't you dare do any of that crap in my house". I never did.
She was one of those women that everyone in a particular community group knew. I think she has fed or clothed damn near everyone of the Ted's Basement group. Obviously with growing up and moving away from the Southside, I didn't get the chance to interact with her as much as I used to. I really wish I had. She was always so full of energy, wit, sass and life when I did get to see her. I will miss her at random barbecues and holiday parties.

Three Months In

Three months in, and Jayson is still breathing. Which means, I guess I'm doing my job.
I know that might seem simple and very basic, but as a 1st time parent, I have ZERO idea about what I should be doing. I carry him around like a football which he loves, if a nuk drops on the floor, I might look the other way, and I may not be the best at dressing him up. But I'm ok with all of that as long as he remains happy and healthy.
Each day is a journey. Yes, that was a very cliche statement. But it's true. I feel like he grows a ton between the time I go to work and when I come home. It's actually pretty amazing.
He's at the point in his life when he's cooing and trying to talk. It's hilarious. It's amazing how much he acts like me. Sometimes not for the better...

Beautiful Boy

Yes, I know I haven't been blogging a lot lately. And to be honest, it will probably be a while before I do so again. Reason? We had our first child last week. While it's the most exciting thing to ever happen, it's also the hardest. When they say that you won't get a lot of sleep, they weren't exaggerating. When someone needs to eat every 3 hours, and it takes about an hour and a half to change and feed him, well, you can do the math...
I wouldn't change it for the world right now. While getting peed on isn't top on my list of favorite things, when he laughs at it, I can't help but smile. Thankfully, he looks more like his mother so he can at least get a date when he gets to high school.
One thing that I've noticed, is that your circle of friends changes when you have a kid. Like when you get married, you lose some of your single friends and start hanging out with married couples more. And when you have a kid, you drop off some of your couple friends in exchange for couples with kids. And because almost ALL of my friends are happy and content bachelors, I need to make some new friends (kids optional). However, that doesn't mean I'll be limiting my time with Mike, Drew, Steve or Victor while they're in town. To be honest, some people with kids are downright odd (trust me, you known the type). I'll explore that creature in a later blog post.
Well, baby boy needs some attention. I'll let you know more about our adventures as they happen.

Bo's Nose Knows

But Bo Jackson cannot help me find a new cologne. I spend almost an hour at Nordstroms and Macys trying to find a new cologne for the Fall. I walked out of both stores empty handed. Oh well, I guess I'll stick with what I got for the time being.

On a sidenote, it literally hit me this week that I'll never be a legit uncle. Sure, Kristen's niece and nephew are, but that's really because it's through marriage. But being an only child means that I'll never be directly related to someone like that. I have lots of cousins, but no brother or sister. As I write that, it feels somewhat lonely. Especially since I haven't always been the closest Michael or Crystal since we were kids. But as you can see by the picture to the left, Michael and me can have some pretty awesome times too.

We did a LINK activity at work this week and it really got me thinking about the role I play in my family. It used to be such a defined role - the oldest. Being the oldest (also the 1st male) in my family was a HUGE thing. Most of my family (especially my grandmother) showed lots a favoritism towards me. I could do no wrong. I played that role up. I always made sure to always be "the good one", I never got in trouble. And when I did get in trouble I always made sure to spin it off to be someone else's fault. But over the years I think that created a gap between my cousins and me. It was a semi-competion. And in the end, I never lost. Because I made sure that whatever I had, was what we were competing for.
Looking back now, I should have spend more time connecting with them, and less time being the cooler, older one. I can't even remember the last time I called up one of them for coffee. I went to Italy with my Aunt and Uncle who live in Colorado, but I don't make a decent effort to call people who live 5 minutes away...
When my grandmother passed away a few years ago, there was a void in my family that has never been  replaced. I doubt it ever will be. My aunt Sue took on the role for a while, but she passed away shortly after. I feel like I should have stepped up more after that, but I never did. Instead, I distanced myself further from them. Why? Great question. I have no idea. Maybe it was because I wanted to play chess while everyone else was stuck on checkers. I felt like I outgrew my family. I far exceeded everyone from an education standpoint (with the exception of my dad's mother who was a U of M professor). And somehow that made me feel (and still does) a little stuck up. While I may not be talking about political policy or classic literature with my family, I certainly can talk about warm coffee and the weather. And I need to commit to doing that more often.