Unrelenting Boredom

Well, it has been almost a week since Lent has started and I am beginning to grow accustom to the changes that it has brought into my life.

A few weeks prior to the start of Lent, I began thinking about things that I might do or not do to partake in the festivities. In the years past, Lynette and I have given up eating sweets. I figured that I would just do that again this year and that it would be all I needed to do to pacify Jesus. I didn't need to do anything else. Besides, sweets were something that I would miss , right?

After a weekend of playing too much video games, I realized that sweets weren't something that would serve as pertinent loss to my lifestyle. I began to think that I might want to give up playing video games for Lent. As the thought crossed my mind, I shuddered at the copious amounts of leisure time that would have to be laid-waste to in some other fashion. I finally steeled my resolve and decided that I needed to unplug for at least forty days. I wasn't pleased with the decision, but rarely am I satisfied with decisions that stem from God encouraging me to deny myself. (It's ironic that this arduous self denial originates from infantile steps, which are taken as I wean myself off an over-fascination with playing video games)

Amidst the Pancake Day Celebrations, I was secretly mourning the loss of my electronic friends, whose journey to save a peril stricken world would be put on a temporary hiatus. The first day without video games wasn't too bad. I decided that because I couldn't play video games; I would begin to watch animated films online through our Netflix account. I watched a lot of animated films that I would never bother to rent. As I watched more and more films, it dawned on me that I was simply filling my time with alternatives worse than the original. At least when I was playing video games, I was participating on some level with the unfolding story. For this reason, I am allowing myself to only watch an episode or so a day.

Lynette made the comment to me that she thinks I have an addictive personality. I agree with Lynette. I suppose it is a good thing that I don't drink, smoke, or gamble. If I was to pick a theme for this season of Lent, aside from the preparation for Easter, I think it would be navigating a path of moderation through my addictive tendencies.

Along with giving up video games, I have joined my friend Dan in an attempt to read through the Bible by the time Easter rolls around. I have to admit, I didn't approach the task with insurmountable enthusiasm. However, for as much as I dreaded my trek through the Pentateuch, I found that there are a plentiful amount of memorable stories to satiate my immature attention span. Please don't misunderstand me, I really enjoyed Genesis and Exodus, but the other three didn't hold the same allure. Fortunately as I made my way through the books this week, I found numerous stories, I've dubbed "Gems of the Pentateuch", which I would have sorely missed had I mindlessly skimmed through the books. For instance, the stories of Balaam's Donkey, Moses' Humility, and the literal scapegoats of Israel have all added to my appreciation of entire series.

I am beginning to think that I may come out of this season of Lent a little better off than when I started. One benefit of reading through the Bible is that I gain a better understanding why God would continually tell Joshua to be "strong and courageous". It isn't easy wandering into unknown territory.

Carnival Supply Headquarters

I hope things are well on your side of the Internet.

Things on the Sanchez home front are going pretty well.

Recently, Lynette and I have come into a windfall of cash (sold volvo & tax rebate) and have been upgrading our humble abode into a humble home. We recently bought a platform bed frame from Ikea, ushering us further into adulthood. With our new found money, we also decided to get some pictures framed, that we had simply laying in the closet up stairs.

So our new and exciting artwork should return home just in time for Pancake Day. The picture is a wood block print of Miyamoto Musashi, who was Japan's foremost Samurai. I can hardly wait until it returns home. It's pretty cool.

On the way back from the framing store, we spotted a large warehouse filled with tacky looking goods. This inconspicuous building was nestled cryptically along Stark Street just a block or two down from Flying Pie Pizza. We enter the building and were amazed at what we found.

Inside this concrete floored warehouse, were 10 ft. shelves piled high with an assortment of goods, one would win at a Carnival. There where picture frames of various sizes surrounding images ranging from Jesus' Senior Picture to Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, and young Elvis having coffee at a 50's diner. Felt sports team pennants, plastic Buddhas, miniature bamboo plants, pink ninja swords, and knock-off action figures lined the walls as far as the eye could see.

At one point, I began to get a little distressed, as I found myself disoriented in an aisle of framed posters of low-rider cars and at-risk teens in uncomfortable looking clothes. The posters contained captions similar to "It's a Dawgg Thang"," Aztec Pride", "Low-Ridin' For Life", and "Viva Mi Raza".

However, the trip through the store wasn't a total loss. I did happen to find some boxing gloves emblazoned with the Mexican Flag. Lynette did not allow me to purchase them this trip, so I will have to venture back when I have some extra time. Besides, the prices seemed to suggest that the products were on the high-end of the low-quality carnival prizes.

In other news, I was able to restore Dirty Dan's SNES and games, which are all functioning great. This means that I have an extra Super Nintendo, if anyone wants it ( it is a little beat up, but works great). I have no qualms with releasing it to the hounds on Criagslist, so don't delay.