A New Mall

I found another mall in Omaha today. This one is far more impressive than the other one that I went to last week. Its larger and more ornate. While I was there, I saw a sign stating that some location work was being done for a movie. They were filming for me a movie called Election. I highly doubt that I was on camera though.

Since I went to the mall, I had to spend money. I finally bought myself a copy of Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time. I guess that I was feeling intellectual today. Its been a long time since I have read anything in this vein. Actually its been a long time since I have read anything more than online journals and the New Yorker.

The other reason that I went to the mall was the theater inside. This one has a different selection than the other one that I have been going to here in town.

I saw Seven Years in Tibet this afternoon and enjoyed it. I knew that I would. This was my kind of movie. There are epic backgrounds and it is a spiritual journey. Then again I agreed with the message even before I saw the film. I doubt that the American public will embrace Buddhism though.

Whenever I see a movie, I get completely drawn into what I am watching. Everything else just slips away. Then I try to relate what I am seeing on the screen with some experience of my own. The fact that the Brad Pitt character was so close in age to me made it even easier. I don't see myself climbing the Himalayas any time soon though.

The father element in the movie got me thinking. Last year I was a father of a sort for Christopher, Tracy's little boy. The little guy and I really bonded at times. It was just the two of us every morning when mommy went to work. We ate breakfast and watched television together. Sometimes we went to the park for a change of pace, before we went to daycare.

I had arrived on the scene just in time for potty training. I won't even get into a discussion of when this should be started. All that I know is that he was having a hard time getting it down. So I got to give him a demonstration, because mommy didn't have the right equipment.

Interacting with Christopher was very educational for me. Its not everyday that you have a little person who relys on you for food and shelter. I got to watch him and he got to watch me. He liked to imitate and he liked to talk. One of his favorite activities was chopping wood. He had seen his grandpa do it once and so Christopher would run around the house chopping wood. Anything could be wood, even your head. He would pick up his rake and give you a whack on the head if you weren't looking. Another favorite activity was drumming, which for some reason mommy encouraged.

Now I realize that Christopher was not my son, but I did the best that I could. I only hope that I didn't ruin his world when I left.

The last time that I saw the two of them Christopher was much more thrilled to see me than his mother.

Christopher: Eric's back.

Tracy: No, he's not.

I guess on the outside, I was just someone who kissed his mommy and changed his diaper for a few months.

I'll be home on Friday, so its all downhill from here. Three weeks went by fast. It'll be nice to sleep in my own bed again and have my own computer again. I want to make some artistic changes to the look of my journal. I'm glad that I have a weekend before I have to go back to work.

I wonder what the reaction will be when I get back to work. I'll have to prove to my boss that it was worth his time to send me here.

I have a feeling that the rest of the year will go by fast. Thanksgiving is just around the corner and then my birthday is in the beginning of December.

The day that I get back home is the exact day to the year when I first moved in to my home. Its been an interesting year. In the span of one year, I went to Hawaii and to court, got a new car and a promotion. Most of these things happened before I started this online journal.

I think that it is funny that I am spending so much time in malls. Very seldom do I go to the malls where I live, but its an easy option when I need to get out of the hotel.

Now that winter is coming, I have a feeling that I'll be going to the movies more and more. Last year at this time, I saw all of what would become Oscar winners. I saw Shine, The English Patient and Jerry Macguire.

I did very little else today besides go to the mall. I just felt like relaxing and reading my new book and maybe reading some of the other books that I brought along with me from home. I brought three books with me and bought two since I have been on this trip. I have yet read to any of them all of the way through. That is a bad habit of mine. Sometimes I start a book and then put it down and start something else. There is a stack of books at my house that I still need to read. Something to look forward to on Friday.

Well I think that I have rambled enough for today.