I Like My Family

Boy, this is a nice hotel room!  I'm in Nashville (Music City!) for work, and this morning I'm chillin, in a manner not unlike a villain with a gold-tooth filllin!

It's awesome to just chill, finally!  All by myself!  Not do anything!  I'm just in this here nice hotel room, and man, the freedom is awesome! 

Here's my agenda thus far!

6:05 a.m. -- Wake up and just kick back with nothing to do whatsoever!  Woo!

6:15 a.m. -- Lose will to live.

Turns out, I like being at home because I like Carolyn, and Justice, and Julia.  They're cool people.  I like them.

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I do have one of those huge TV's in my awesome suite.  And I'm catching up on the TV news!  It's cool to catch up!

Apparently, Kobe Bryant still wants to be traded, but the Lakers' front office is quarreling about a potential trade, and Kobe is somewhat ambivalent about it, but his feelings seem to be unchanged, and that's troubling teammates, and also the entire state of California is on fire, and Kobe went 4 for 15 last night.

Experts picked "Purple Rain" as the greatest movie sountrack, ever.  It beat "Saturday Night Fever", and even "Hard Day's Night", which were both pivotal works, obviously, according to "Vanity Fair", and also California is on fire, and Britney's getting visitation rights to her kids, and the state of California has finally solved its illegal immigration problem by burning to the ground, and "Kid Rock" just got arrested at Waffle House.

I'll keep you posted.  This is awesome.

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I seriously just saw this commercial where the guy and his wife are celebrating to "It's the most wonderful time of the year" because the kids just went back to school.  I don't get it.  BTS was like, two months ago, for one.  And two, why don't you like your kids?  What's the matter with you people?

Comments

[Marie]

Oh yeah, Purple Rain beat Hard Day's Night. As if.

[Cheryl]

Brant,
You obviously have exceptional children. Feel blessed.

[Brant]

Serious question, and maybe I'm misreading you: Do you like your kids?

I hope I'm not guilt-tripping anyone, here. Not my intent. Maybe it *is* easier for me, because I've hand-crafted two hilarious little people in my irony lab. Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha. I like my kids more than other people's kids.

[M.E.]

Day after day
more people come to L.A.
Don't ya know, everybody
the whole place shakin' away

Where will ya go
when the fires burn
San Diego
Better load up the trailer
and move to Idaho

The news remains the same whether you're watching on an old 20 inch (me) or an HD plasma that could swallow the entire planet.

For me, the only real news of the day is that the sheiks of Iraq are telling OBL to bite himself and the story of an eight year old boy who had the courage to call 911 on his drunk-driving mom and stay on the line even after she bit him. That kid deserves a metal!

[Brant: A metal jacket?]

[M.E.]

LOL! Maybe one of those metal suits divers use to fend off sharks? :))

[darin hansen]

i like your kids almost as much as i like my kids :o) well, they all have those same funny genes. hmm... there is excellence in the hansen name.

shar

[Brant: So true. Your kids totally rule, too. Seriously. And it's the exact same sense of humor. The weird thing is how in-sync all the Hansen kids are.

That last sentence seems odd to me, in retrospect.]

[Lisa]

Yes. I like my kids. Nevertheless, every year I love that commercial, which I find hilarious. And yes, it's partly because (even though I like them) I still need a break from them once in a while. That has nothing to do with liking or not liking them, or whether they are "exceptional." (Whose kids--what kids, anywhere--are not exceptional?) It has everything to do with being on duty with two small boys 24/7, quite often by myself, since my husband has to go to a trivial thing called "work" all day every day. I don't want to go a whole day without seeing them. I don't know anybody who does. But that doesn't stop me from identifying with a back-to-school commercial, which only involves being away from them for a few hours, and is basically just supposed to be funny. Is your funny bone broken on account of losing your will to live?

[Brian in Fresno]

Yeah, there is a fire in California and it does involve the only parts that most people care about, Los Angeles and San Diego. But I'm here to say that news of the entire state being on fire are greatly exaggerated. That is not to say that the situation isn't bad. It is. Very bad. Please give generously to a charity near you that will send your money to people in other countries that have it far, far worse.

Here is my vote for the Hard Day's Night soundtrack.

[Texas in Africa]

For goodness sakes, take a walk, Brant.

[Maudie]

I like the add, too.My husband, my kids and I all like back-to-school time. It is a change of pace for all of us and the kids get caught up with old friends, meet new teachers and we settle into a different routine- it's fun. Not everyone has to go for it, but enjoying school has nothing to do with not liking each other.

[Monica Battaile]

I love staying in hotels by myself...mainly since I haven't been able to do it in so long. I love having the king-size bed all to myself, keeping the TV on ALL NIGHT and drinking coffee in bed at 5am just because I can. It rocks. Then I leave the towels in a pile on the floor

I also get excited when school goes back into session. That way I don't have to deal with OPK (other people's kids) in the mall, in the grocery store, etc...

[Maudie]

I find the ad funny, too.Going back to school is fun. We all look forward to the change of pace at our house. New teachers, new friends- it's all exciting! We like the new rountine in our lives. Not everyone has to like it, but enjoying school has nothing to do with not liking each other.

[Adrianne]

I was afraid your trip would lead to this. Go over to the desk, look in that book they leave with the expensive room service menu and find the section on local attractions, then choose one. You could always check out the shopping scene and pick something Tennessee-ish up for the fam. I'm almost sure there will be some interesting local finds.
Also, thanks for the Kid Rock tip, I didn't catch that in Nikki's news review this morning.

[Sarah]

Great satire on our quality of our news!

[Amy]

Wow, bordering on a bit of codependency there! It only took ten minutes to lose the will to live!

The other codependency marker is that if you enjoy back to school time you must not like your kids...talk about extremes! :)

In other news, I mean I know my house is not burning down or anything (I don't even have a house!), but this fire has been tough on poor little old me....I got the worst cold and now my eyes are giving me problems.

[Shawn Bashor]

This is why Nikki does the news!

[Brant]

It's not purely the being-away-from-family. It's the empty-hotel-room-without-family-and-not-much-to-do that's the issue.

I travel long-distances pretty often (four hours on a plane is a quick jaunt) for extended periods, but that's to some other country, and I'm super-engaged in stuff.

If I did much of this kind of travel, I'd go nuts.

[Jay H]

Completely irrelevant to the actual point of your post, but:

Look at Vanity Fair's top 10 film soundtracks. Compare the similar list by the AFI.

Score: AFI, 1; Vanity Fair, idiots.

[Carolyn Hansen]

The one thing I was looking forward to while you are gone was getting lots of extra sleep and having the bed to myself... but I stay up extra late with you gone - don't know why. Then the day is depressing because we all know you won't be home soon to play x box and talk sweet to the dogs. So tomorrow we are going to do something crazy after school is done. I mean, CRAZY. I will tell you what I think of after we do it. It's gonna be nuts.

[Lucia]

I do like my kids, but 1) I need a break from them now and then 2) bts means I don't have to juggle and scrounge for daytime babysitters. (Yes, I am an evil working mom.)

[Wolfgang Amadeus M.]

Gads.. Travel.

Seems I do alot of that- more so than ever! Mostly due to music.

:)
Brant, I really am not feeling to sad for you right now. However, being that I don't have children- and may never, I kind of know what you are saying. I would love to have a family. Just don't see it in my near future. You are indeed blessed in that sense.

As for Hotel rooms- I have stayed in some really nice ones- and loved it. Hmmmm....enjoyed awesome food, great entertainment, and some sleepless nights.

While in Toronto- I heard the Church Bells ring- round the clock. It was so Hot in the room- that I finally had to turn the heat off, and open the window. The Thunder was ripping through the sky, and the rain pouring, and it seemed as though the fire trucks ran all night long.

One thing however, "The Path" was cool, the French Onion soup was cool, the Curry was cool, and the Apfel Strudel at the local Stube was awesome. I stayed at the Marriot Centre- and I highly recommend that to anyone who goes there in the future.

Some of the places I have stayed have been very interesting. Guess that is the fun of it eh bene? :)

For instance- one trip, I had Pizza in Georgia at midnight,at a holiday inn.

Wolfgang

[Mark S.]

After 4 years of marriage and 2 and a half years of parenting I've been away from my family for about 7 nights total. I look forward to this care-free-no responsibility-I can watch ESPN-eat-Spaghetti-Os-straight-from-the-can evenings.

I enjoy it for about a half hour. The house is too quiet, I miss my family, and even though I look forward to catching up on sleep, I don't sleep very well when my family isn't with me at night.

I went to Nashville for a work related conference last year. I was in music city. I stayed in my room all evening, and ordered room service.

I like my family too.

[Steve]

Yeah! Waffle House made the news again! Love those Waffle House brouhahas.

[rob smith]

Brant. I hear you loud and clear. I have a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach just thinking about it. I like my kids and my wife. Heck, I take them with me every time I can on such things.

[Jim]

I LOVE my kids. Especially when they go back to school.

And I get to watch my favorite movie that has a soundtrack that should have been best soundtrack on earth. It's about these four guys who write the best soundtrack, evar.