I’ve decided to return to my little corner of the internet and this first entry will not make you laugh (and in that respect will be just like all the others).

I wanted to talk about the reason that I’m not a Catholic. There are many reasons that I could point to, but they all come back to this one thing. The Catholic Church is not a Christian religion. They are mean, they are outdated, and they are ill-informed.

Let’s talk about my faith for a minute. I’ve run the gamut. I’ve been a Catholic. I’ve been an atheist. I’ve been an agnostic (some would argue that I still am). I choose to identify as a non-denominational Christian/Unitarian Universalist. I’ve always liked the U2 community because they don’t claim to be right. People come together from all walks of life to celebrate their diverse faiths together. There’s something really cool about that.

I became an atheist because I thought that people who said “I know there is a God,” were arrogant. It wasn’t until later on in life that I realized that there’s no difference between a Christian saying this and an atheist saying “I know there’s no God.” Just as arrogant. That’s why I like agnosticism because it says “I don’t know”. However, I guess I can’t be agnostic and have faith.

I do believe we come from somewhere. I choose to call it God. But I don’t think it’s any different from Buddha, Jewish god, the Flying Spaghetti Monster or anything that anyone else believes. In my opinion, we’re all going to see the same thing when we arrive in the afterlife and we’re all going to be together.

So that’s my background. Where is this all coming from you ask? This article made me really mad and inspired me to write.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40769824/ns/us_news-faith/

What makes me so mad is the complete lack of scientific thought that goes into this decision. Lets say for the sake of argument this woman was going to die if they didn’t terminate the 11 WEEK PREGNANCY. 11 WEEKS! That kid never would’ve made it without a mother to live in for the next 7 months and would’ve died anyway. So this hospital made a choice, based in science, to save the mother’s life and for that, they lose the ability to hold a mass that probably comforts a great deal of their patients and the ability to have an item (the blessed sacrament) that also provides a great deal of comfort to their patients.

I guess what I’m saying is that this Catholic Church needs to wake up. They need to come into our century and get on board with the rest of the world. Abortion is not murder. It should also not be used as a form of birth control.

It's not great writing to end this rant by saying "It's stupid". But you know what, I'm not a great writer.

I think Kristen and I need to talk.

So there's this article making the rounds of the internet. It comes from the obviously forward thinking website Christwire.org. It's called "Is my Husband GAY?". Below are 15 signs that you're man is gay.

1. Secretive late night use of cellphones and computers

Guys, it's 10:15 right now. Kristen is fast asleep. I'm reading my twitter feed on my phone and I'm using a computer. CHECK!

2. Looks at other men in a flirtatious way

I mean, I'll hug and even kiss some of my dude friends. Let's not check this one off yet though.

3. Feigning attention in church and prayer groups

Who actually pays attention in church? CHECK!

4. Overly fastidious about his appearance and the home

I can't cop to this one. I try to look neat if I'm going out, but all told, I'm a bit of a slob.

5. Gym membership but no interest in sports

I definitely have a gym membership. I enjoy baseball, but not to a fanatical level. Beyond that, I'm not really a sports guy. CHECK!

6. Clothes that are too tight and too “trendy”

I try to keep up with fashion, but tight and trendy are not the obese man's game.

7. Strange sexual demands

No comment. My family reads this.

8. More interested in the men than the women in pornographic films

I don't even know women who are more interested in the dudes. Nope.

9. Travels frequently to big cities or Asia

I LIVE IN A BIG CITY!!!! I LOVE CITIES!!! CHECK!

10. Too many friendly young male friends

Most of my friends are friendly males, and most are under 30. CHECK!

11. Sassy, sarcastic and ironic around his friends

Are you kidding me?!?! CHECK!

12. Love of pop culture

Have you ever seen me improvise? CHECK!!

13.Extroverted about his bare chest in public

No no no no no no no.

14. Sudden heavy drinking

I'm not sure how to answer this. I don't have more than one drink very often. There are some rare occasions where I tend to go for broke on the booze, when I find myself flush with disposable income and with no obligations for the day after. Does this count? Sure. CHECK!

15. Ladies, have you dated men in the past who turned out to be gay?

I'm Kristen's first boyfriend, so we'll go no on this one.

Final tally: 8-10 depending on your interpretation. I guess I'm gay. Good thing I have those Erasure albums on my iPod.

Motivation

What motivates us to better ourselves? For me, it's usually necessity. It was necessary for me to make this budget because my job did not pay me enough. The 10 dollar a day budget has not been difficult. I have had to be creative to make things work on occasion, but it hasn't been too bad.

I don't have to do it anymore. I got a new job on Friday. It's not going to make me rich and it's not even a massive pay increase, but it's a start. It's a step down the right path.

But I think I'm going to try to stick with the budget. It's given me a reason to blog on a regular basis. It makes me write. It makes me think about how little things like coupons relate to my life. So for the time being, I'm going to stick to the budget, with less fear because I have a cushion. By my projections, I might even be able to build my savings back up. It won't be long before the student loans start knocking at my door.

This is for the whole weekend.

Money spent: $0
On?: Nothing
Money left: $49.00

Loyalty.

I like companies that reward loyal companies. I've been playing Foursquare (the social media game) for a while now and I'm sad to see that more business haven't embraced offering a Foursquare incentive.

There's also the punch card. I don't carry many. In fact, I only carry one. It's my Ian's Pizza punch card. Oh you haven't been to Ian's? Well, if you live in Chicago, you have serious mental problems. If you're from out of town, book yourself a flight very soon and order up some Mac and Cheese pizza. If you don't believe in God, you'll see him. If you do, the slice will present you with irrefutable proof that he doesn't exist. It's life changing.

I'm not much of a creature of ritual. Habit yes, but not ritual. The only ritual I really have in life is that I have to have Ian's pizza before performing at iO (which is right down the street). Just like all superstitions, it has no basis in reality. During my 5b shows, I went to Ian's before most shows. There was a show where I wasn't able to go beforehand, and that turned out to be a terrible show. Naturally, rather than blame my performance skills, I cursed the skies that I had skipped my mac and cheese slices. I think I've only skipped once or twice since (both shows proved to be mediocre on my part).

Anyhow, I didn't want to spend the extra money before the show last night (especially because the show was at 10:30 so I had already eaten dinner). But I looked in my wallet and noticed that my most current punch card (my 5th) had ten holes in it. FREE SLICE! THE SHOW WAS SAVED!

Money Spent: $4.21
On: $3.21 (Burger King breakfast cause our milk went bad) $1.00 (chips to go with lunch)
Money left: $49.00

Clipping coupons with grandma

There's something I don't do very often, which is surprising. That thing is use coupons. I used to sit with my gran while she clipped coupons and put them in a little folder. I'd usually wear my mom's big Grasshopper glasses while I clipped. Even in her later years, she clipped coupons to give to my mom all the time. But I can't recall a time when I've ever used a coupon. I think that's mostly because I buy off brand products, which rarely have a coupon offer.

Yesterday, I had to get some dinner before rehearsal. I was browsing my options online and in between all of the burger joints and mexican places, I spotted a Quizno's. I was perusing their menu and noticed a coupon offer for 2.99 for a small sub, chips, and a drink. How do you pass something like that up?! A secondary lesson was learned as well. A small sub is a perfectly adequate meal. Before, I would eat a large sub, chips, a cookie, and a drink for like $1,000.00. NO MORE!

Money spent: $16.79
ON?: $3.29 (Quizno's) $10 (Rehearsal fees), $3.50 (post-rehearsal beer)
Money left: $53.21

So I came across a blog today with the same focus (living on ten dollars a day in Chicago). This girl's blog is way better than mine (probably because she is taking the challenge to a much higher level and also because I didn't set out to make this the total focus of my blog). Anyhow, I can't wait to read this girls tips and see how I can make them work to my advantage.

Money Spent Sunday+Monday: $0
On? Nothing.
Money left: $70.00

I missed a couple of days but let's see how I did with the first week. (I think I went a little over). This is the total from last nights evening out on the town

Money spent: 61 dollars
On? Dinner out ($25), Drinks($22), show ($8), and unexpected cab ($6).
Money left: -$19.50

All in all, it's not too too bad. I'll be saving a little bit of money on transit this week because I'm buying Kristen's brothers CTA pass from him for 6 dollars and that gives me an extra 2 days before I have to buy one. So instead of spending 96 dollars on transit, I'm spending $75. So things are ok, just have to reign it in.