Alcoholics Anonymous

Back room poker game in Chinatown

That seedy hotel on U.S. 1 South

Their gynecologist’s office (unless they’re pregnant. then it’s a race for the mayorship!)

Dank Frank’s house

Late night bail bonds

County morgue

This mentality is flat out wrong.

In his book, “Get Out of My Life, But First Could You Drive Me and Cheryl to the Mall?”: A Parent’s Guide to the New Teenager, clinical psychologist Anthony Wolf says that he sees many teen male clients who become depressed after relationships sour.

Additionally, Wolf states that the suicide rate for teenagers is 4x higher among boys than it is girls. It’s time to stop assuming our boys will just be alright.

Boys get their hearts broken by girls. Girls can be just as – if not more – ruthless in dating.

Yes, there are, of course, the boys who are mostly after girls because of their hormonal urges. Instead of patting them on the back, they need to be taught how to treat girls well. Otherwise, they can grow up to be the stereotypical non-committal men who use women as sexual conquests.

Many times guys end up just using girls for sex because they were hurt by a girl. This is because
girls are most often taught to protect themselves, instead of also being taught to respect boys. But teen girls are no longer princesses. They’re hormones are raging, too, and often manifest as jealousy, rebellion and revenge.

Both teen boys and girls need to learn about empathy, connection and respect.

As Wolf points out in his book, they may not listen very well during the teen years, so it’s really their adult years that depend on this adolescent instruction.

Of course, the best way to teach is by example, and this is where parents struggle. But even if we haven’t mastered these qualities in ourselves, the pursuit is clearly worthwhile.

But the walker yielded to me. I finally gave in because I was blocking a parked car that wanted to unpark.

For a micro-second, I felt defeated. I never lose nice offs. Then I realized, when it comes to Nice Offs, no one loses. Everyone wins.

What’s a nice off? This is a nice off…

So I felt better.

And then I went into Starbucks and a lady told me she liked the color of my sweater.

I wish it wasn’t a rare day when you notice the niceness of strangers.

So, I implore you – get into a Nice Off with everyone on planet earth. If niceness is a way of life, be determined to be the best at it.

Most of the time you’ll be competing with yourself. Everyone else is still competing for the closest spot in the parking lot. Not you. You’re nice. And no one’s gonna take that away from you.

Also, click here to view other pics from my afternoon at the museum/park.

Margie Clayman is a little person. As in, she’s shorter than most people. Why do we have to refer to her as a little person? Why can’t she just be person? We’re so used to “normal” that it’s somehow become ok to hire dwarfs as entertainment at parties – just because they’re short. Margie is often looked over in lines at restaurants – because people think she’s a child. They never looked at her.

That doesn’t just say something about society’s view of little people. It also says something about society’s view of children.

Kids who struggle in school are told that they are lazy. The truth is that human beings have learning differences. Education emphasizes reading with our eyes above all else, but many people learn best through hearing words instead of seeing them. Why is seeing words so much more important than hearing them?

Oh that’s right. Because blindness isn’t normal. Blind people are ignored all the time. Name all the places you go that offer braille signage. Very few. Hell, even as I write this, I realize I’ve never considered how blind people could ever hear my blog.

And while I loved that Wimpy South Africa recently reached out to blind people by using sesame seeds to create braille messages on hamburger buns, why was the idea of marketing to blind people such a novel concept?

Thankfully technology thrives on the ability to reach people where “normal” so far has not.

• Audible.com exists for people who love to read with their ears.
• KhanAcademy.org uses videos to break down information into chunks and allows students to learn and progress at their own pace.
• Interactive books, an emerging medium, are perfect for those who need tactile learning experiences.
• Dictation apps help people who struggle with the physical and mental acts of writing (their brain processes information differently than for those of us who are natural writers).

Technology is an equalizer. For most, innovation can’t come fast enough.

In the meantime, normal is a term reserved for an elite group of people (that apparently does not include those with a low IQ). But not everyone wants a membership to the club…

This week, I took Felix Jones and once again he’s injured. I had Roy Helu on the bench (in case Jones didn’t work out) and now he’s listed as questionable.

I got Adrian Peterson back, but, as with most players returning from injury, his performance was a bit stunted, fantasy-wise. Certainly his prospects against the Redskins this week are much better than against the Saints last week.

Steven Jackson has been looking better the past two weeks, making me regret dropping him. But the Rams will (probably) have a hard time against Pittsburgh this week, so I’m not sure about picking him back up.

Instead, CJ Spiller looks like a much better option. I’m eating crow on this one because I thought there was no way that Spiller was a viable alternative to Fred Jackson on a quickly disintegrating Bills team. But Spiller has outperformed other replacement choices I made, such as Benjarvus Green-Ellis.

All of this doesn’t matter too much b/c at this point in fantasy playoffs I’m only playing for third place. But I love fantasy football so I want to make the most of it before the season is over.

That’s right, it’s Christmas and for sci fi nerds that means a brand new Doctor Who special. We might seem eager to rip open gifts early on Christmas, but that’s only because the Series 6 marathon starts at 8am on 12/25 and yes, we must watch it again. For the 11th time.

And if we seem a little cranky, please forgive us, because we didn’t get much sleep in between the Christmas Eve programs featuring the 10th and 11th Doctors and waking up on Christmas morn. You see, ’twas the night before Christmas and even the mice wanted to watch David Tennant on The Nerdist at 9pm and Matt Smith ham it up with Graham Norton at 10pm.

The best gift you can give us is Silence at 9pm on Christmas day. That’s when the Christmas special airs on BBC America. If this all seems a bit obsessive, please just let it be. Resistance is futile, because the Christmas special is a fixed point in time. It can’t be changed and it must be watched.

Christmas Eve

12:00am The End of Time (2009 Christmas Special, 2010 New Year’s Day Special) – The end of the 10th Doctor, introduction of the 11th Doctor

3:00am The Next Doctor (2008 Christmas Special) – A mysterious alternate Time Lord shows up calling himself The Doctor

4:00am Voyage of the Damned (2007 Christmas Special) – The TARDIS collides with a spaceship called the Titanic. Kylie Minogue guest stars as a waitress named Astrid, who is the Doctor’s companion for the special.

5:00am The Christmas Invasion (2005 Christmas Special) – Introduction of David Tennant as the 10th Doctor, who lies in a coma-like state while the earth is threatened by the Sycorax

6:00am The Next Doctor (2008 Christmas Special) - A mysterious alternate Time Lord shows up calling himself The Doctor

7:00am The End of Time (2009 Christmas Special, 2010 New Year’s Day Special) - The end of the 10th Doctor, introduction of the 11th Doctor

10:00am Doctor Who at the Proms – Special live performance of Doctor Who score music featuring the London Philharmonic Choir, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conductor Ben Foster, conductor Grant Llewellyn. Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill host.

1:00pm Best of the Companions – Clip show featuring comedians and celebrities talking about their favorite Doctor Who companions and moments.

2:00pm Best of the Monsters – Clip show about the evil villains the Doctor has fought

3:00pm Best of the Doctor – Clip show featuring the best moments of you know Who

4:00pm The End of Time (2009 Christmas Special, 2010 New Year’s Day Special) - The end of the 10th Doctor, introduction of the 11th Doctor

7:00pm A Christmas Carol (2010 Christmas Special) – Christmases of past, present and future are visited time-travel style a la Doctor Who

8:00pm Best of the Christmas Specials – Clip show about, well, you can pretty much guess at this point, right?

9:00pm The Nerdist: Year in Review – David Tennant makes an appearance on the holiday edition of the talk show hosted by Whovian Chris Hardwick

10:00pm The Graham Norton Show: Christmas Special – Matt Smith is a guest

Christmas Day

12:30am Best of the Christmas specials - Clip show of great Doctor Who Christmas special moments

1:30am The Nerdist: Year in Review – David Tennant is a guest

2:30am The Graham Norton Show: Christmas Special – Matt Smith is a guest

4:00am Best of the Christmas specials – Clip show of great Doctor Who Christmas special moments

5:00am A Christmas Carol (2010 Christmas Special) - Christmases of past, present and future are visited time-travel style a la Doctor Who

6:00am The Christmas Invasion (2005 Christmas Special) – Introduction of David Tennant as the 10th Doctor, who lies in a coma-like state while the earth is threatened by the Sycorax

7:00am The Runaway Bride (2006 Christmas Special) – Introduction of Donna Noble, who is mysteriously transported to the TARDIS on her wedding day.

——-SERIES 6 MARATHON BEGINS——

8:00am The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon Series 6, Episodes 1 & 2

10:00am Curse of the Black Spot Series 6, Episode 3

11:00am The Doctor’s Wife Series 6, Episode 4

12noon Rebel Flesh and The Almost People Series 6, Episodes 5&6

2:00pm A Good Man Goes to War Series 6, Episode 7

3:00pm Let’s Kill Hitler Series 6, Episode 8

4:00pm Night Terrors Series 6, Episode 9

5:00pm The Girl Who Waited Series 6, Episode 10

6:00pm The God Complex Series 6, Episode 11

7:00pm Closing Time Series 6, Episode 12

8:00pm The Wedding of River Song Series 6, Episode 13

——–END OF SERIES 6 MARATHON——-

9:00pm NEW: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (2011 Christmas Special) – Doctor Who’s take on the C.S. Lewis classic, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

10:20pm Best of the Christmas Specials - Clip show of great Doctor Who Christmas special moments

11:20pm The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (2011 Christmas Special) – Doctor Who’s take on the C.S. Lewis classic, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Monday, December 26, 2011

12:40am The Nerdist: Year in Review – David Tennant is a guest

1:40pm The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (2011 Christmas Special) – Christmases of past, present and future are visited time-travel style a la Doctor Who

3:00am Best of the Christmas Specials - Clip show of great Doctor Who Christmas special moments

4:00am A Christmas Special (2010 Christmas Special) - Christmases of past, present and future are visited time-travel style a la Doctor Who

5:00am The Christmas Invasion (2005 Christmas Special) - Introduction of David Tennant as the 10th Doctor, who lies in a coma-like state while the earth is threatened by the Sycorax

Check out my guide to watching Doctor Who (both old and new series) in order on Netflix.