Blogging is likely to be short and sweet this week. My morning train ride is my usual blogging time, but my commute has been turned upside-down by the effects of hurricane Sandy. The picture above was the scene at the train station this morning just to get to the platform to wait for a train.

Presently standing, packed in like a sardine, on a train headed to New York City for the first time since the storm hit.

In order to keep my blogging momentum, I have a few snippet-of-life type stories to share.

The scene: the car, headed home from the Dolphins-Jets game last Sunday.

Ryan is talking about one of his perseverations of late: girls. Or, more accurately, how he does not like girls because most of them like stupid, girly stuff like “peace and fashion.” They therefore do not like sports, and since they do not like sports, he does not like them. Through this strict logic, Ryan has eliminated an entire gender from worthiness in his worldview.

We try to combat his logic by pointing out that many girls, including his sister Riley and mother Veronica, love sports, but it is an uphill battle.

We were discussing something about the game in the car when he suddenly blurted out, “Dad, I’m never going to get married,” and proceeded to justify that stance with the logic above.

I wasn’t alarmed. I’ve heard this many, many times before and I typically respond with “that’s fine,” “you’ll change your mind,” or by just changing the subject. This time I decided to push a little.

“What if you found a girl who loves sports as much as you?” I asked.

He thought for a moment.

“I’ll only get married if I find a very, very attractive girl who loves sports.”

I loved his use of “attractive.” So polite. So formal. Sensing an opening, I pushed a little more.

“You mean like mommy? She’s very pretty and loves sports,” I answered.

“No dad, I said VERY attractive,” came the answer.

It was all I could do to keep from laughing out loud and losing control of the car. I knew I would have to share the story with Veronica as soon as I got home.

Still, this was progress. Ryan managed to pry open his closed mind just a little bit. Plus, it was nice to hear him express something about the opposite sex that didn’t include the word “stupid.” His social deficit is never more obvious than when the topic of girls comes up with his friends.

Veronica took it in stride, with much the same reaction.

We all need to laugh at ourselves once in a while. Right now, crammed on this train, is as good a time as any.