I am MacGyver

If you are under 23, then this makes no sense to you.

Giving a shout out to my homie Colby...see you Sunday morning!!

Technology evolution

So a friends son asked me a question the other day: "Did you have iPods when you were a kid?"

I then proceeded to tell him about an ancient device called the walkman. Got me thinking about the evolution of technology.

There is an old Chinese Proverb: may you live in interesting times. Can't imagine a more interesting time to be alive can you?

I think the cell phone is a microcosm. Remember when cell phones that were just phones? I was reading an article about some of the latest evolutions in cell phones. Phones are becoming entertainment centers with full-length feature films available via mSpot. The iPhone doubles as a juke box. Phones function as remote controls. Give it a few years and phones will be garage door openers and thermostat adjusters. They will function as e-wallets and roaming alarm systems.

And you gotta love this: a new phone from Japan's NTT DoCoMo alerts women who are trying to get pregnant when they are ovulating. Are you kidding me?

For what it's worth, I'm a TMobile guy. But if someone got me an iPhone I would feel compelled to switch over :) It would be rude not to!

Cow Farts

You know I like random animal facts right? Don't know why, but I've always been fascinated by the fact that African elephants poop eighty pounds per day. Really makes you appreciate cage cleaners doesn't it?

What I'm about to reveal ranks right up! Here's the entire article if you want to check it out.

According to a United Nations Report, cow "emissions" are the greatest threat to the environment. The 400-page report by the Food and Agricultural Organization, Livestock's Long Shadow, says that the world's 1.5 billion cattle are responsible for 18 per cent of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming. That is more than cars, planes and all other forms of transport put together.Cow farts account for 9% of all carbon dioxide emissions. Their "wind" and manure account for more than 33% of methane. And their farts produce 100 other polluting gases including ammonia, one of the major causes of acid rain.

One more random cow fact: a cow drinks 990 litres of water to produce one litre of milk!

My triceps are in pain

Worked out muscles that I never even worked out before in my life, but my friend D (this person likes to remain anonymous...the goober!) swears that it is good for me.

So, back to the gym again tonight for more pain :)

24

Last night and tonight is the big season premiere event of 24!!!

OMG!!!!

Jack is a beast!! I was amazed when Jack went all Lost Boys on that guy!!

Dr. Bashir as the pseudo bad guy was a good move. I knew I recognized him from somewhere (for those of you who have no clue who Dr. Bashir is, he was the ship doc on Star Trek: Deep Space 9).

Wayne Palmer as President...off the chain!

Can't wait to see what happens tonight!

Oh, by the way...

1. The first CD I ever owned was by Duran Duran. I am still embarrased about that.
2. I never had Chinese food until I was 19.
3. I'd rather go west than east and north than south almost any day.
4. I paint very well. John and Tracie will testify.
5. I attended K-12 in the same town and got through early, thank you very much.
6. Trail mix is a common late night snack for me.
7. My affinity for gadgetry was underdeveloped until I was in my 30's.
8. I have more than my share of strange friends.
9. I've been blogging since some of you were in high school.
10. My favorite days, hands down, are spent with my family and best friends (u know who u are).
11. My dream gig would be to sing backup for The Police.
12. Sitting by a fire in Banff Canada, while listening to Train at midnight on a cold, clear January night was just about nirvanic for me.
13. My first name was picked by my Dad.
14. I can back up a boat trailer faster than would seem prudent.
15. I did not like algebra in high school and it hasn't gotten much better.
16. If it comes down to Trivial Pursuit...you want me on your team. If not...I will eat your lunch.
17. Every night, it takes five chargers to make my life work.
18. I once hot wired a 40ft rv because it needed to be done.
19. I am not a party person.
20. My iPod contains a 50/50 mix of music and spoken word.
21. I know how to use a satellite phone.
22. Driving coast to coast in four or five days really sounds like a good time to me.
23. If you find me at Chipotle, I'm eating the chicken burrito.
24. One of my best friends was just named the new head football coach at Louisville...seriously.
25. I can eat grapes like there is no tomorrow.
26. I nearly lost a van in the Mississippi river once.
27. I'm taller than my father (and all my brothers), who was taller than his father (and brothers).
28. I am not afraid to have the hard conversations.
29. I am going to bed now.

Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys underachieved. It's sad, but true. And you can't convince me otherwise. They have zero excuses.

Dallas had pristine health, a favorable schedule down the stretch, and a talented roster that collapsed in December. Not to mention the Cowboys play in a conference lacking a dominant team, so reaching the Super Bowl was a reality, not just a delusion of grandeur.

And don't forget, the Cowboys played their 2 biggest games of the season against New Orleans and Philly, at Texas Stadium. The Cowboys suffered blowout losses in each of those games. In the end, we shouldn't have been surprised the Cowboys found a creative way to lose Saturday in an NFC wild-card game. They've been doing it all season.

I needed one of these for Christmas

Seeing as I locked myself out of the house yesterday morning...

Worst album covers ever

These are pretty bad....

Does the phrase "bad to worse" mean anything to you?

Because it's not enough that the woman in the minivan in front of you is talking on the phone. Now she's surfing ebay at the same time.

Autonet Mobile, a start-up wireless technology company based in San Francisco, announced that it has reached an agreement with Avis Rent A Car System to provide a rolling wifi hotspot to Avis customers by March. For $10.95 a day, Avis will issue motorists a notebook-size portable device that plugs into a car’s power supply and delivers a high-speed Internet connection.

As if traffic on the tollway isn't bad enough already! Sheez!!

The ball has dropped!

- In sports, dropping the ball is a bad thing.

- At work, dropping the ball isn't good either.

- Yet somehow, millions tune in to watch a ball drop...and that is a good thing.
Maybe now that the ball has dropped, it means we won't drop the ball and we'll see all our dreams come true in 2007...

Happy New Year!

A special thanks

Well, just wanted to say thanks for reading my blog in ‘06. I’m heading toward my third blogging year—we’ll see what ‘07 brings. I'm spending New Years eve tonight with a lot of other people from church, so no posts till much later tomorrow afternoon when I wake up :)

Travel skivvies

Saw these this morning while out doing some pre-ski trip shopping at a local store. There is so much I could say about this, but I won't.

Ok, yes. I will...

First of all, if you can afford to travel to 17 countries in 6 weeks, you sure as heck better be able to afford some space to carry around a few skivvies. I don't care how "breathable" they are! You wear those for that long, Malaria and Japanese Encephalitis will be the LAST of your worries! No shots to help with THAT!

Gag.

I'm done.

On my soapbox

When was the last time you told someone you would do something, and then not done it? Or you did it so poorly that you would both have been better off if you had said "no" to begin with?

If you don't care what people think of you, then maybe there's no reason to worry about it. After awhile, those who know you will just assume that you're not reliable, and they'll just stop asking you for commitments. Those who don't know you well enough to avoid asking you will find out soon enough, and they'll stop asking you too. After a while, the only people you'll need to worry about are the ones who either don't yet know you, or haven't yet asked you for anything.

If you have a great personality, or lots of money, or a wonderful spouse, you may not even notice the lack of esteem others have for you. They will continue to invite you to do things -- they just won't count on you. Whether you show up or not, no one will be inconvenienced anymore, because they're not expecting anything from you.

Even if you either don't care, or don't care enough to do something about it, if you are a Christian you have another problem. The Bible tells us to let our "yes be yes and our no be no". (Matt. 5:37). When we say yes and are consistently unreliable, we do more than damage our own reputation -- we damage God's reputation in the eyes of those who see Him through us. Not only do we discourage other Christians, but to those who do not know God, we provide a witness that they will likely have to overcome to even want to consider becoming Christians.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not talking about the person who just occasionally doesn't live up to their commitments. We have all experienced that from time to time. No, I'm talking about the person who acquires a reputation for not being reliable.

I have two friends each of whom is unreliable. One is unreliable because they think they want the freedom of not being organized. The other friend is unreliable because they think they're better organized than they really are.

Both of my friends have the same problem: they both say yes when they should say no and vice-versa. The Bible tells us that our yes should be yes and our no should be no. It also tells us in Luke 16:20 that whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. Although the context has to do with money, the principle is universal. If we cannot be trusted to do what we say we'll do, neither God nor man will trust us to do greater things.

Ok, I'm off my soapbox now...thanks for indulging me...

Happy Belated Festivus!

How did December 23rd pass us by without us wishing one another a Happy Festivus?

I suppose this would serve as part of the "Airing of the grievances"... So Happy Festivus for the rest of us!

If you have no idea what I am talking about...then go here.

Un-used cell phone minutes

I remember my first cell phone. It was roughly the size of a cinder block, but less pleasing in appearance and function. I think my first cell contract was $30 for 30 minutes. I'm not kidding. And a portion of a minute rounded up. In other words, you could make fifteen 65 second calls and you were over your limit and getting jacked for about a buck a minute (or portion thereof).

Not so today. I have a cell phone plan that would allow me to call Buffalo NY for Time & Temperature as often as I wanted. I have more minutes than George Bush has backers right now. Nationwide. Plus free weekends, free evenings and free whenever minutes to T-mobile phones. All that to say, I never have an excuse to not make a call any more. Never...

In spite of easy access, I regularly wonder "What happened to..." and "Why haven't they called?"

It hit me the other day that if I really wanted to stay connected with people, I'd come home with a drained phone battery every day and use all my cell minutes. Instead, it's easier to not call. It's easier to not connect, easier to wonder why we disconnected, even though I have their number in my phone and could, at no cost, call them and find out.

I have moved all over the country. I've developed close relationships with people only to pack up and move on. Every time I've watched them grow small in the rearview mirror and told myself "but I'll stay connected to THEM. They're like family....". I must have eight or ten people like that, yet quickly, the calls stop (both ways) and we're both left wondering.

To be fair, relationship is anchored in two directions - a common history and a common future. That's what you do with friends. You reminisce and you scheme. You look back and you look forward. When you move away, you disconnect with the common future that you thought you might have had at one point...and conversations become a stilted rehash of the last time you got together. The only thing that's worse than not connecting is reconnecting and finding out that you don't have anything to say.

I have no resolve to this, except to say that I wonder what happened to you. Or me. I think of you often... with a bit of sadness in my heart because of the widening gap between my life and yours...and cell minutes left on my account at the end of the month.

How moronic is that??

Busy Christmas

It was a very long day.

Began the morning at my friend Brian's house for breakfast and exchanged gifts, then made my way to my grandparent's for lunch and the annual lottery ticket scratch-0ff....jetted over and opened gifts at my parent's house for dinner...then moseyed over to my friend Darren's place and watched a little James Bond to wind down...now I've finally made it home. WHEW!

"And I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight...'Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!' ".

Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

Well, sort of.

It's raining outside, and it's cooooold. Not cold enough to freeze mind you (this is Texas ya know?) but just enough bite in the air to make you wanna sit by the fire with a nice caramel apple cider from Starbucks :)

Got Christmas Eve services tonight at church, then the eating shall commence tomorrow!

Stay warm and dry kiddos!!

Random thoughts at 10pm on a Saturday

Sometimes, when I’m driving and listening to the music of someone like Led Zepplin, The Doobie Brothers, U2, etc., I picture myself as a character in an independent film in one of those long driving scenes.
****
When men over thirty wear shirts or sweatshirts with more than one Disney character on them, it creeps me out.
****
When I go into a public restroom to wash my hands and someone rustles in the stall like they’re just about done and ready to reveal themselves, I frantically try and get out before they do. It’s kind of like a little contest, if I see them, I lose. I hate losing.
****
If I don’t practice remembering the books of the Bible in order, I get them mixed up. And, for some reason, in my head, I always feel like I’m going to get caught and someone will say, “Wow, you’re a Christian and you don’t even know the books of the Bible,” to which my clever reply will be, “No, no I don’t.”
****
My oldest neice is pumped for Christmas. She loves to count down the days. The only problem is that she won’t really be home on Christmas so it screws up the whole Santa deal. Now, we talk about the meaning of Christmas a lot–so the whole Santa thing is a sideshow, for sure. Last night she asked me again, “how’s this going to work with us not being at our house and Santa coming…” And, everything inside me wanted to free her from his boxed up Santa-prison and yell out, “It’s all a LIE... the reindeer, the elves, the whole sordid milk-and-cookies-chimney-sliding-fat-man-story…” but, instead, just another clever response–”Uhmm, how many days till Christmas?”

Can I sleep in or play Atari?

Times have changed for me.

I'm growing older and am becoming separated from my youth. Though these differences are prevalent on a daily basis, they come to the forefront around Christmas.

When I was younger all I wanted for Christmas was everything in the JC Penney's catalog. Now I can't come up with enough things I want to give each family member one suggestion.

When I was younger all I wanted was to get up and catch Santa climbing up the chimney. Now I want to sleep until around 9:30, shower, shave and eat breakfast before I think about gifts.

When I was younger, I could have cared less about the big meal and just wanted to play with my toys. Now that I'm older all I think about is how many calories are in those candied yams.

When I was younger I loved playing video games on my Atari 2600 or Commodore 64. I would pack my games up and take them to grandma's house and play until my eyes were bloodshot. Now that I'm older... wait, I still want to play video games.

In fact I'm going to the livingroom to finish my game of Frogger on PS2. At least somethings will never change.

G'nite!

Mission accomplished!

Well, some said it couldn't be done, but I proved all of the nay-sayers wrong!

I started and finished my Christmas shopping in less than 2 hours today!! WOO HOO!!

And all before lunch!

The Chipotle burrito today was definitely well earned :)

Waiting until the last possible moment!

First of all, I want to give a shout out to my brother Colby...thanks for reading my ramblings bro :)

I've learned that I am way behind in the modern marvel of Christmas shopping. I've discovered that "sensible" people have it all done by the 18th of December.

Why? Because there aren't any good sales this time of year.

But, I'm not in it for the sales. I'm in it for the holiday spirit and reviving the memories of being a kid and walking in the shopping mall with my mom and dad surrounded by people carrying shopping bags and listening to Christmas music being piped in every store you walk into.

Should I mention that I haven't even bought one single Christmas gift yet? So is it just a guy thing to wait this late??

What do you think?

Rain

This is what it looks like outside from my office window right now...

It's going to be a rainy commute home...

Hiccups

I had the worst case of hiccups I can remember in while for almost an hour tonight.

It got to the point to where they actually hurt. Finally, after holding my breath for what seemed like an eternity, they subsided.

On a lighter note, we went to Six Flags tonight for their Holiday thingy. The place was packed, but the kettle corn was worth it :)

Hi-Tech at the AAC

Went to see the Stars get beat by the NY Rangers last night at the American Airlines Center here in Dallas (or was we like to call it...the AAC).

Getting to see Jagr play for the first time was off the chain. The man has some serious skills...

On the walk up through the entrance pavilion, we came upon these GIGANTO screens. They were Hi-def, completely digital, and man-oh-man, could these things pop with color! They were also some kind of motor/pulley system, and slid the entire length of the pavilion (which was 100 yards) in all different directions. What's more, these split up into 4 separate screens while shifting. They had 8 in all...

Hi-tech has definitely arrived at the AAC.

Thanks Adam!!!

When I got home this afternoon, I found a package on my doorstep.

I rarely ever receive packages at home, so I was a little curious as to what it was.

Turns out it was a 1999 Dallas Stars Stanley Cup t-shirt, sent to me from someone in Buffalo. That someone happens to be my best friend Adam.

Adam and I have known each other since we were 12 year-old punk kids in Jr High.

We reconnected after 17 years apart back in 2002. Seeing him at the airport in Buffalo 4 years ago for the first time, was one of the single greatest moments in my life...period.

Thanks for the gift Adam, you know me well :)

Let's go skiing!

Oakley stylin'

I have a friend from church who is able get these for me at cost. These are the same exact pair worn by Cyclops in X-Men III (well... not the exact one's he wore, but the same model...you know what I mean).

Is that cool, or what?

That's about a $300 savings!!!

So this upcoming ski season I will be sporting these bad boys. Not on the slopes of course. I'll have the goggles on for that. Knowing me, if I was to wear the glasses on the slopes, I'd break 'em quicker than you could say snow-plow.

Birdie birdie, in the sky....

Yes, I got nailed as I was walking out of Target at lunch today.

Crazy pigeons roosting in the Target sign right over the exit door.

Luckily it only hit my jacket...I guess this means it's been a crappy day? :)

34 days until 24

I'm already counting.

I never actually watched the show before until mid-way through last season. I was immediately hooked.

Time to get the TiVo programmed.

Last Night

My Stars lost last night to the Oilers. Could've been because Modano, Lindross, and Morrow were all on the DL, but who knows?

Our seats were pretty good. Lower lever, about 15 or so rows back. Any closer to the glass, you can't see the action at the other end of the ice very well. That didn't seem to matter since the score was 2-ZIP.

I realized one thing though, they are definitely keeping the arena a lot colder these days!! Must be prepping for the All-Star game here.

Anyway, it was a very enjoyable evening with an awesome friend. Here's a couple pics...

When is enough, enough?

I spent a couple hours today at a local coffee shop... pretty normal Thursday afternoon. Except that across the coffee shop parking lot, a man walked with a young boy.

As I watched, the boy dropped a package he had obviously been entrusted to carry - right in a big puddle of mud. The man exploded in a tirade at this 10-12 year old boy... yelling at him in what was, from my vantage point, the ugliest silent-move I have ever seen. Then he slapped this kid upside the head.

I watched, from about 100 feet away, as several men walked by this scene...watching but doing nothing. The boy started to cry and something inside me snapped. I got up, closed my laptop, and walked across the parking lot. I walked up to the bully and told him to step away, that he was not to touch this kid again, and then I called the police. I stood there between the man and the boy until the police came and handled the situation. Then I returned inside. I heard from several men as I retook my seat, "I was going to go out there...", and "I am glad you went, because I was about to...". Yeah, right.

I am not a hero. I am not even particularly brave. But I have to ask - why are most people afraid to interact?

The guys in the parking lot were all at least as big as the bully. Why did all those men walk by a young boy who was obviously being victimized? Because they didn't want to get involved... fear of lawsuit, fear of confrontation, fear, who knows...

Are we are so afraid of being accused of doing wrong, of "getting involved" or confrontation, that we don't DO anything? Maybe we all need to get a little less civilized, and a little more righteously indignant.

I agree with Edmund Burke - "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good [people] to do nothing."

Seeing Stars

I got an early birthday present yesterday (it's tomorrow BTW), but I don't actually go to the game until Friday.

Many thanks to you-know-who for the tickets. You knew just what to get me, and I didn't even have to drop any hints :)

Riddle me this

Why is it that every time I go to get ice from my freezer dispenser, I can never seem to get any into my glass without at least dropping one ice cube onto my kitchen counter or floor?

Relational math

A friend of mine sent this to me...

of course it works with both genders (only girls are mentioned). I think this is the perfect math equation to teach teenagers before they go out on a date!

I want to ride my bicycle

Today I scored big. I was able to get this $500 dollar, never used, mountain bike for free...nada...el zippo...zilch!!!

Can you say KA-CHING?!?!?!?!?!

I haven't ridden a bike since I was 14. That is a very long time ago. Now I guess I'll see if I can prove the old saying about never forgetting how to ride one.

Hope I don't break anything :)

If the question

If the question is "Can a guy use a bottle of White Out to hammer a nail into the wall far enough to hang a picture?"...

then the answer is "Yes! Yes, he can!"

Dorito Beach

A cargo container that apparently fell from a ship washed up on the Outer Banks of North Carolina on Thursday and spilled thousands of bags of Doritos brand tortilla chips on the beach.

People collected the chips, which were apparently still fresh due to their airtight packaging. It was unknown which ship had lost the cargo or to what port it was bound.

It's a winter wonderland

Or about as close to winter wonderland as you can get here in Texas.

I snapped this shot of my house just a couple minutes ago. Most of the highways here are starting to freeze, and we all know how well iced-over bridges and Texas drivers mix together...which is why I left the office around lunch.

Adam, I know this doesn't compare to Buffalo, so don't laugh too hard :)

Cool sunset

I snapped this shot last night as I was hanging my Christmas lights on the house.

Tomorrow we may have a winter wonderland here.

Time to get the fireplace going!

The lights are on the house!

And just in the nick of time too. A winter storm with freezing rain, sleet, and snow, is on it's way. Supposed to hit here Thursday. I just spoke with my friend Scott who lives in Utah, and he said it's snowing big time there. And that is the stuff that's headed this way.

I put these lights up on my house in about an hour...that's got to be a record somewhere!

My apologies for the blurry photo. I have a new Sony digital camera that I'm still trying to figure out.

BTW, it was 80 degrees here today....supposed to get down to 25 by Thursday....SHEEZ!!!!!

If I was a MLB Hall of Fame voter

Mark McGwire, Tony Gwynn, and Cal Ripken Jr headline the first-time candidates on the 2007 baseball writers Hall of Fame ballot released yesterday.

Jose Canseco is also on the ballot for the first time. Canseco said he used steroids along with McGwire when they were teammates in Oakland. At least Canseco was honest. McGwire denied using illegal performance-enhancing substances, but when he appeared before a congressional committee, he evaded questions. "I'm not here to talk about the past," was his repeated response.

There is a clause on the Hall of Fame ballot indicating that character should be considered, and after his non-performance at the congressional hearings, his character certainly DOES come into play.

If I was a Hall of Fame voter, this would be my stance:
McGwire doesn't want to talk about the past? Then I don't want to consider his past.

My friend Darren caused me to have a different view on it...do you punish the player, or punish the era??

The tree is up

This year I decided to purchase a brand new Christmas tree to go along with the new house. So I made the trek to Gardenridge yesterday with my mom and sister-in-law, and got a super great deal on a 7-foot Sierra pine, pre-lit tree. Apparently someone forgot to tell Gardenridge it was Thanksgiving...but I digress.

Yes, it's artificial (my allergies would hate me). I decided to go with new ornaments as well. I'm part of the angel faction (sorry to the star faction), so I found a new angel for the top of the tree also.

I ended up getting the multi-colored light tree. I've always liked them better than just plain clear lights. Anywhoooo...after 3 hours of decorating it, I think it turned out pretty nice.

What do you think?

The High Stakes World of Competitive Eating

I've been tuning in to competitive eating for the last couple of years when I caught a Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest on ESPN in which Kobayashi cleaned house and ate 59 dogs!

This evening, I turned on ESPN only to find that today was the Krystal hamburger eating contest. This was 60 minutes of great TV! How we haven't thought of filming people while they eat and giving them money and trophies is sheer lunacy! Needless to say, Kobayashi won by eating 97 Krystal hamburgers. Yes, you read that correctly...97 burgers. It was impressive to say the least.

What felt weird was eating a grilled cheese and some sopa de pollo (chicken soup) while watching the competition. The funny part was when my brother said, "I would never let you get into this!" How well he knows me :) I think I could do some damage in a Krispy Kreme donut eating competition. I guess we'll never know...

Pinch me again!! This is off the hook!!

Remember how I was saying earlier this morning how I desperately need to rake/blow all of the leaves from my front yard again?

Well, I was in the shower this morning when I heard what sounded like blowers outside...I thought to myself, it must be the neighbors mowing. I looked out the window, and lawn care folks are in my yard...I thought..."what the...???"

I walked out to the head landscaper and asked him if they were at the correct address.
They said "Yup." I wanted confirmation, so they showed me the paperwork.

Some "anonymous" person sent them out! Can you believe it!!!!

The pic from the entry just before this is the "before" picture, and the pic on this entry is the "after" picture.

Someone must have been reading my blog....that's off the hook!!!!

Whoever you are, my sore arms and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!! I greatly appreciate your kind and generous heart...WooHoo!!!

Pinch Me

As I sit and type this from my study here at the house, I'm looking out at my front yard, and the leaves are falling like snow.

Sometimes I have to sit and pinch myself just to make sure that I actually live in such a nice neighborhood and house. I have definitely been blessed, even though I know I deserve much less.

My yard is full of leaves again. About every 2 or 3 minutes, a gust of wind will come thru and knock a few hundred more to the ground. I took the pic above on Friday, but trust me, there's a million more leaves on the ground this morning.

At least I don't have the snow to deal with like my best friend Adam does. But he lives in Buffalo. Adam, the one bad thing about living here in Dallas, is that your not...

I have a feeling I am going to have 20 inch biceps by the end of the day after my battle with the leaves...

Things I'm not blogging about

OK, sometimes there seems to be an excess of ideas, experiences, and books that I want to blog about … and then there are times when I have a lot of things to write about but I just don’t feel it.

So, this post is about what I’m not blogging about:

• 
  I’m not going to blog about my haphazard stacks of books that sit strategically around the house, waiting for me to walk by and pick one of them up.
• 
  I’m not going to post my Jeff Foxworthy take on, “You know you’re a Dallas Stars fan if…” because, well, after letting it sit in the que for a day it just doesn’t seem as funny. It happens. Many posts don’t make it to the blog for one reason or another.
• 
  I’m not going to blog about how I wore a white button-down shirt with my jeans today, eventhough I never do that, and it kind of felt good. Untucked, of course :)
• 
  I’m not going to blog about my dreams of being a self-supported musician … not right now, at least.
• 
  I’m not going to blog about dealing with difficult people…although, it’s tempting.
• 
  I’m not going to blog about the fact that I watched “Nacho Libre” again today and that I think Luchadores are like Mexican ninjas.
• 
  I’m not going to blog about my fascination with the string theory, because I don’t know anything about it really.
• 
  I’m not going to blog about the fact that, at one time, I applied for an MFA at one of the best schools for creative writing and didn’t get in. It would be a good post, though, trust me.
• 
  I’m not going to blog about my three attempts at writing a novel. They’re all hidden somewhere on my hard drive, along with really bad poetry, though.
• 
  I’m not going to blog about my search to find a cool winter hat today. Although the one with the fur and the ear-flaps was hip in a very I-don’t-want-to-be-hip way.

No, these are all things I’m not going to blog about. At least, not today anyway.

"Neat"

I was on the phone with my brother last night and he replied to something I said with these words: "That's neat."

Now, is it just me or does "neat" seem like the type of response you would give to someone who shows you what they believe to be the COOLEST thing in the world, when in reality it's about as cool as my friend who tried wearing "man" capri-pants a few summers ago?

And think about what the word does to your facial expression. Go ahead - say it. "Neat." Notice how your face contorts like you've just smelled the armpits of a junior high kids after gym class?

Turning over an old leaf

This past Saturday, the battle began in earnest. The battle of course, is not against flesh and blood but rather every decaying leaf descending upon my front yard, now numbering in the gazillions.

I started the day by climbing up on my roof and blowing out the gutters with 280 mph of Black and Decker ramjet air. After climbing down, I blew leaves from the house towards the street. I say 'towards' the street because about halfway to the street I ran out of cord and my 280 mph of Black and Decker ramjet air went silent. I called my brother who was at Walmart - 'bring another cord'.

While waiting, I grabbed a rake and went after it the old fashioned way. By the time my brother got to the house, my two lines of leaves had met in a Great Leaf Convergence in the middle of the yard. They formed a sort of a botanical Maginot Line defending my house from the occassional dog walker or jogger wandering down the street.

Next, I swapped the blower parts out to make it a mulcher and mulch I did. And mulch. And mulch. I condensed 42,000lbs of leaves into 10 biodegradable bags and stacked them at the back alley curb for the city to come pick up on this morning.

During the mulching, I had repeated problems with it jamming...I ended up modifying the intake to allow it to munch mulch at a monsterous rate. It's the American Male Way - we can make anything go faster or work better. Next weekend I think I'll tweak the engine and try and coax it to 300 MPH of ram jet air :)

The repetitive motion of the blower, the mulcher, the rake and the bagging have torn the living snot out of my right arm, which is more accustom to a point-and-click workout than actual labor. Now I'll feel like an injured pitcher, sitting in the dugout while my team plays without me because of rotator cuff problems.

Did I mention the yard is almost full of leaves again this morning?

The Clash is calling

I am sitting right now in a coffee shop, one that I normally don't hang out in. It is near a ritzy resort here in town, and what I have discovered is that they are playing music that seems to cater to the resort folks like Sade singing "Smooth Operator". I found myself being agitated and not being able to concentrate to be writing here. I know music is very subjective, but I am not personally in harmonic resonation with Sade and the other pop "easy listening" type of music coming from the stereo in here.

So, I finally grabbed my Ipod and listened to The Clash - and within merely moments, I breathed easier, my pulse slowed down and began to be able to concentrate again.

As I listened to The Clash with relief, I couldn't help but wonder - has there been any great and truly meaningful and of substance rock or punk bands since them? I think U2, may be one of course (the only one I could think of). But since then, what bands have really been in any comparison to The Clash and all they stood for, what their songs were lyrically, what they created musically, and were just plain one of the coolest bands in music history in my subjective opinion. They had songs with angst, yet hope - were original, yet also blended other genres of music - they were fashionable, yet not fake or silly - they took strong stands on issues, yet didn't mock others or fans for not agreeing with them.

I love The Ramones, but I can honestly admit their musical writing ability is nothing in comparison to The Clash. Social Distortion is a really good band, even a great band - but seems to fall way short of who The Clash were. Green Day and Rancid are sort of third generational expressions of The Clash in many ways so I don't see them in the same category.

Did rock and punk music died with The Clash? I just cannot think of any band who is in that particular league of both influence and what they created musically since them. Maybe the Sade music (and the band The Eagles have also been playing as I typed this) are clouding my objective thinking. But I am not sure I can think of any band to compare The Clash to since they were around.

That is my wondering of a not very important question as I sit here and now I think I hear a Celene Dion beginning to play in the background.

It's Red Again

It's officially begun...

I took these pics at Starbucks about 20 minutes ago...

Adam, you better have snow in Buffalo already...because the Starbucks here in Dallas says it's a winter wonderland now.

itsredagain.com

More Nacho

Last night some friends—you know who you are—gave me a priceless gift.

Yes, it’s a Nacho Libre talking pen. It does seven lines from the movie, count ‘em, seven. My favorite line, which I've been repeating like crazy in the office, made it to the pen, so we were all thrilled. It’s the line:

“Chancho, I need to borrow some suedes.”