The 40 / 40 Club

The guilt, the guilt, oh Lord: the guilt!

I have indeed been panged with the big "G" these past few days, weeks. Okay, this whole month.

But whaddaya expect? That's what happens in Lent.

Kidding. (not really) But I have felt really guilty because I have not written anything on the blog since the beginning of February. And I could make excuses, (like about how I'm producing a documentary, and am responsible for coordinating crew schedules, making plans with locations, getting permits, making travel arrangements, and keeping the director on track) but I'm not going to, because excuses don't make for worthwhile reading.

Indeed, the writer's guilt I feel is multiplied two-fold now that I, being the good Catholic boy that I am, am in the self-shaming period of Lent: a time when us Catholics prepare for the coming of the Risen Lord, fast in order to bring us closer to God, and grumble about having to pass on burgers or steaks on Fridays.

You may then be wondering what small-but-significant vice I am giving up for these 40 days and 40 nights, an especially good question considering the wide array to choose from...

Will I be passing on pop? (specifically, Coca-Cola?) Maybe, cutting out candy? Finished with fats? A cessation of Cinemax? A moratorium on mini-cigars? Or, probably the most ambitious, a personal prohibition on alcohol until April 12th?

Well, here's the thing....none of that's going to happen. Sorry. Film school is stressful enough without me pulling my hair out b/c I can't have a beer with friends or relax with mini-Ashton. Besides, I'm not sure God would be that proud of me biting everyone's head off just cause I didn't have a Coke with lunch.

I will say that throughout Lent I am continuing my New Year's Resolution of no fast-food* and, I've decided that in lieu of denying something from myself I am going to give of myself, to you, my friends, family, and random bored people on the internet. (Wow, if that's not a sin of pride, I don't know what is..)

Since I feel so bad about screwing up the whole of February, I am going to post SOMETHING, anything, on this blog every single day of Lent (which, is actually more than 40 days from Ash Wed to Easter Sun, but whose counting, right? Seriously, who? The Vatican? Bene XVI? God? non-partial Jewish accountants?). But the idea seems appropriate, especially since it will simultaneously culminate with Easter and my coming home (briefly) to Chicago for the Holy Weekend.

AND, since Lent started 7 days ago when I got ash'd up, I've got some making up to do. But, since I don't have the time/energy to go back and recount what I would have written the past 7 days, I'm just going to give a quick buffet of the entire past month since my last post.

I'll be honest, one of my favorite things about the blog is coming up with the post titles, so I present to you, with apologies to David Lettermen:

THE TOP 7 TITLES OF POSTS YOU WOULD HAVE SEEN IN FEBRUARY

7. Horsin' Around (and Round)

6. The Road to Hanford

5. Jai-Ho!

4. Sandy Eggo

3. He's Just Not that into Bad Chick Flicks

2. P's and C's

1. Hooray for Mannywood!


See you tomorrow! (and the day after tomorrow.......and the day after that, and the day after that....)

-MJK


*I mean chain fast-food, greasy burger stuff like McDonalds, BK, Wendys, Carls Jr, Jack-in-the-Box, In-n-Out, and others. Absolved from this field are any Chicago-based fast food, such as Portillo's, Giordano's, Flips, ect.