The Art of Manliness & the Smoke Monster

My husband and I are about to have the longest separation of our married life together. Chris is taking a four day business trip to San Diego. While poor Chris is on an all-expense paid trip in a nice hotel next to the beautiful bay in downtown San Diego (of course I didn't mean that sarcastically), I'd like for him to be worry free and be able to use this as a mini-vacation. I thought it might be nice to do his pre-trip shopping and planning for him, have everything nice and neat in his suitcase so he can just grab his luggage and hop on that plane.

I'm a listaholic. I make little lists everywhere, although I lose them 85% of the time and rarely have the opportunity to scratch anything off. Still, it helps me a lot to keep organized by seeing my brain dumped out onto a page. The moment I begin thinking about what to pack for this trip I picked up a pen to start a list.

My pen remained in mid-air for quite awhile because I realized since I've never been a man, I don't know what "man things" men put in their man bags for their manly trips. So like any modern woman, I googled it. I did find some guidance, but I found something I think is even better: The Art of Manliness . The following is a great picture from the website next to the article titled:

The Menaissance: The Death of the Metrosexual and the Rise of the Retrosexual

I'm telling you, this website contains some gems including: the Essential Man Library and articles on "Manly Skills" like How to Jump From a Speeding Car.   As a plus, the format is easy and the old timey pictures give the website a great vibe.

As for the trip, I haven't started packing yet. Although, Chris and I have discussed important things such as how much yoga I would have to do to fit into his suitcase. We also had one more crucial conversation that went somewhat like this:

Nicole: Four days isn't that long. I'll be waiting for you at the airport on Saturday.
Chris: But what if I...you know.
Nicole: I don't even want to think about that. (pause) If you hear the smoke monster coming, just run like hell.
Chris: That is actually what I meant. I'm not as worried about crashing, it's just if I land on that island...do I run towards or away from the smoke monster?
Nicole: Away. And find a tree to get inside of.



(If you don't know what I'm talking about, see this clip from Lost.)