faulker009

We have all been asked a million times that age old question -- if we could bring one thing with us to a desert island, what would it be. For me, I’d bring a Super Target. They have everything I would ever need. For those of you living in area with just “Target” and not “Super Target”, you must be wondering what in the world I am talking about. Well, I would’ve thought the same thing until we moved to this area about five years ago. If you enter into our Super Target through the doors to the far right, you probably won’t notice anything different. In front of you are the clothes, the music section, the discontinued electronics, the clearance area. But if you enter through the doors on the far left, as Green Day once said, “Welcome to Paradise.” Now when I speak of the far right and the far left, I am not making any type of political statement. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy politics. I think it can be very entertaining and election years can make for some great TV, but I’ve got a wooden n...

As the father of three amazing kids, you might think that I could teach a Parenting 101 class. Well, think again. Let there be no doubt, I am still the student. Rarely does a day go by that I don’t discover a new way of making a mistake. Like I’ve said many times, there is no handbook to being a parent or at least I have never seen one. I entered this parenting thing as cold as the Winter Carnaval in Quebec City. And let me tell you, that’s cold. The Carnaval is so cold. How cold is it Gene Rayburn? The Carnaval is so cold, they keep their ice sculptures outside to make sure they don’t melt. That’s cold. True story.  I’ve been there. Ok, enough with the weather, back to the news. For those of you longtime parents, stop laughing at me and just nod when I say -- kids become different when they reach the teens. In the Jewish religion, we call it a Mitzvah, Bar or Bat. The Catholics call it Confirmation. Bruce Springsteen just called it Growin’ Up. As a parent, this is a new world that...

McDonalds made Ray Kroc a billionaire. It also made Morgan Spurlock fat. It also makes my six-year old daughter VERY happy. And isn’t that all that matters. Pick a day, pick a time -- ask my daughter where she wants to go eat and the answer is always McDonalds. (P.S.  I’m not applying for a commercial here, really I’m not, but if you like the concept, contact her agent.) A couple of days ago my six-year old had some visitors over for a play date. Her three-year old cousin from my wife’s brother’s family. And her three-year old cousin from my wife’s sister’s family. We decided to have a girls day out (+1) at the mall with my wife, the three girls and me. On our way there, we were getting a little hungry, so we stopped at... well, you know where we stopped. And when we got there, the order was as predictable as a Hugh Grant movie. “I’ll have the Happy Meal.  Me too.  Me too.” Wow, I didn’t see that coming. The truth is they all ordered the little plastic toy with whate...

I have this friend who went to a movie last night. This friend’s wife and three kids were out of town for the weekend, so this friend had some free time for himself. This friend decided to see the new Leonardo DiCaprio movie, “Inception.” He liked it a lot although I, I mean he didn’t really understand like 95% of it. When that movie ended, he decided to pull an Ernie Banks and play two, moving from theatre 22 to theatre 21 to see the new Angelina Jolie movie, “Salt.” He liked that one too although I, I mean he thought it was as believable as Inception was simple. Two movies for $7.50 (plus $8.00 for the small popcorn/drink combo). Now that’s a deal. For my friend . I don’t know if sneaking into a second movie is considered a crime, but since it was a friend doing it (and not me), I figured it would make a perfect intro to this blog. I’m not much of a rule-breaker and I never really have been. Maybe it’s the Jewish guilt from my dad or the Italian guilt from my mom, but I always f...

I have never seen the show “In Treatment” on HBO, but I bet I would love it. HBO does an amazing job with everything they touch. Except for the show Hung. Dud. But from what I know about In Treatment, it sounds like a very cool concept. Basically you are a fly on the wall during a series of intense therapy sessions. When my parents were growing up, the only people who went to therapy were the weirdos. At least that’s what most people thought. When I was growing up, the only people who went to therapy were the weirdos and the hyperactive kids. The only thing I knew about that biz was what Dr. Sidney Freedman from M*A*S*H had taught me. (I wonder if the writers knew that he has the same initials as Sigmund Freud.  Wow, what a coincidence.) These days if you want to be part of the in-crowd, you’d better make an appointment with a therapist. But you better make sure you know what the doctor is ordering. Do a quick search and you'll see about a million options -- Psychologists, Psy...