I had today off, sort of. Technically, I had the day off, but the world of eLearning never sleeps, and so I had to get online and do some work in the afternoon, as well as call a client.
Mostly, I just hung Christmas lights.
When we bought our house, I knew that the two-tiered porch and columns meant we'd be lighting the whole front of the house. Fortunately, this year, I didn't have to figure out how this was going to work, and I more or less repeated from last year, with a few extra items and ideas I got walking around the neighborhood last year.
I also managed to get the tree up, but we didn't decorate it yet. Perhaps tomorrow night. We'll also need to figure out our floor plan for the 2007 Holiday Heckstravaganza and think a bit about getting out the rest of the decorations.
Tomorrow is back to the office for a short week, and cramming in the last few weeks before everyone disappears for Christmas, including me.
Jamie slept a lot.
When one is on dialysis, the body does not adjust terribly well to temperature changes, and so, with fall-like weather now upon us, Jamie is getting cold quite easily. I actually woke up last night to her shivering and covered her with a few blankets. I give her a hard time for getting cold during winter, but I know she really does get chilled to the bone. So I don't think she slept terribly well last night until I located the blankets.
The dogs, still recovering from their respective Thanksgiving weekends, also spent most of the day asleep.
It was nice having a day off and getting some sun and enjoying the cool weather.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Writers Strike = Return of Best Show Ever
Do I even need to tell you what that show is?
That's right, NBC is doing The League a big favor and bringing 90's late-night viewing fave "American Gladiators" back on the air.
American Gladiators was a staple of my TV viewing during my high school years, which can be accurately reflected in the list below:
1) MST3K
2) Tale Spin
3) Tiny Toons
4) USA's "Up All Night"
5) 120 Minutes
6) Cheers
7) Headline News (with the always amazing Lynne Russell)
8) Saved By the Bell
9) American Gladiators
10) Ren & Stimpy
American Gladiators featured a colorful cast of 'roid freaks doing sportsman-like battle with steroidless athlete-types. Sometimes this included pummeling one another with huge q-tips. Sometimes it entailed the Gladiators shooting tennis balls from a gun at the contestants as they tried to make it through a maze, or climb up a rock wall.
Basically it was Malibu beach freaks beating the snot out of one another in games designed to favor the Gladiators. And they wore sort of superheroish costumes.
This was back before there was a sort of backlash against competitive women's fitness. Younger readers may not recall, but in the 80's, women joined in with body-building, which meant that the women competitors took on the same, weird muscleliness that the men were aiming for. In recent years, the Ms. Fitness competition took a turn towards being less... uh... about huge muscles and more about being in really good shape.
My favorite Gladiator? Zap.
I guess as a high school dude, you feel like you have to pick a favorite.
So, anyway: American Gladiators returns in 2008. Be prepared to see 'roid freaks totally wail on one another.
And some blasts from the past
That's right, NBC is doing The League a big favor and bringing 90's late-night viewing fave "American Gladiators" back on the air.
American Gladiators was a staple of my TV viewing during my high school years, which can be accurately reflected in the list below:
1) MST3K
2) Tale Spin
3) Tiny Toons
4) USA's "Up All Night"
5) 120 Minutes
6) Cheers
7) Headline News (with the always amazing Lynne Russell)
8) Saved By the Bell
9) American Gladiators
10) Ren & Stimpy
American Gladiators featured a colorful cast of 'roid freaks doing sportsman-like battle with steroidless athlete-types. Sometimes this included pummeling one another with huge q-tips. Sometimes it entailed the Gladiators shooting tennis balls from a gun at the contestants as they tried to make it through a maze, or climb up a rock wall.
Basically it was Malibu beach freaks beating the snot out of one another in games designed to favor the Gladiators. And they wore sort of superheroish costumes.
This was back before there was a sort of backlash against competitive women's fitness. Younger readers may not recall, but in the 80's, women joined in with body-building, which meant that the women competitors took on the same, weird muscleliness that the men were aiming for. In recent years, the Ms. Fitness competition took a turn towards being less... uh... about huge muscles and more about being in really good shape.
My favorite Gladiator? Zap.
I guess as a high school dude, you feel like you have to pick a favorite.
So, anyway: American Gladiators returns in 2008. Be prepared to see 'roid freaks totally wail on one another.
And some blasts from the past
A (musical) note on food
CB's latest Musical Recipe is up at Dessert Lounge!
Also, Scan My Recipes is now LIVE! And if you haven't been there yet, remember to check out Key Ingredient (not a bad thing to try out as you head into the holidays, Leaguers...)
Also, Scan My Recipes is now LIVE! And if you haven't been there yet, remember to check out Key Ingredient (not a bad thing to try out as you head into the holidays, Leaguers...)
Saturday, November 24, 2007
I should probably be getting to bed.
It's Saturday night at the end of a few days stay here at Jamie's parents' house, and, as I understand it, this could be the final holiday we spend in Lawton. Jamie's parents recently purchased a home in San Marcos and will be moving there in the not-too-distant future. It's going to greatly change things, which I think came to a stunning conclusion in my head during dinner when Jamie suggested that my desire to consider Wisconsin or Minnesota as a destination when we were looking and wound up in Arizona was something that would no longer apply. Not sure of where she came to this conclusion, I stated that I would, in fact, go to Wisconsin now.
This was met with a "You better not" by the in-laws who have recently made plans to live closer to their daughter by buying the aforementioned house. Luckily, I have no plans to leave Austin, so all is well. But it does illustrate a point as to where I am in the game of life.
Fortunately, the point I was trying to make vis-a-vis the Wisconsin conversation was that I still don't mind the cold. When you are of the unconventional size of a Steans Bros., and tend to sweat when you just think about a hot day, places like Arizona lose some of their je ne sais quo. Even Austin on a humid day in August loses some of its charm.
Today we visited the new Comanche Nation Museum in Lawton, as well as the Great Plains Museum. The past which is reflected in both museums is not necessarily long-forgotten history, but of people who have lived during my parents' lifetime. Oklahoma is only now celebrating its Centennial of Statehood, and as much as one would like to imagine that the range wars are of the ancient past, they most assuredly are not. The inhumane treatment of Native Americans continued through much of the 20th Century, well after the Comanche were on reservations and the paternal Federal government took children from their families and placed them in Indian Schools.
As much as that recent history continues to live on in the language and memory of the people who've established and run the museums, its too infrequent we look away from our laptops and iPods and remember that 100 years ago, the machines we used to till the soil were pushed by hands and pulled by animals. It's the dates on photos of men busting horses and pulling steer to the ground with their bare hands that now is left as mostly a sport, when, once, that was s kill that put meat on the tables of millions across the US. Maybe we haven't grown soft, but it reminded me that I am.
Perhaps we weren't meant to sit behind desks and push icons around on a screen of glowing liquid crystal, or maybe that's where we're headed. Maybe that's why we try to invent $100 laptops for starving kids in Africa, because we haven't got a clue what those kids need to make food as readily available as a Lunchable for them, but maybe if they can blog about it..?
There was a time in our grandparents' and great-grandparents' lives when they could live in Indian Territory, at the edge of the world as maybe they'd known it. When a day of work meant pushing the seed tiller and hoping it didn't break today because you had how many acres to plant, and you had no animal behind which to pull the damn seed spreader.
It's an odd thing to realize you could not survive in your great-grandparent's shoes, and wouldn't begin to know how to put in the effort that was expected daily of people for the past 60,000 years. But, hey, you know how to freeze a pane in Excel, so that's something, right?
I have an idea how to carve something out of nothing, but we're an odd people now, we are. Brilliant leaps as we've touched the moon and done the math that tells us the Universe is expanding and collapsing. We've got the ability to store our food endlessly and the ability to chat with someone via voice and picture as a basic add-on to our Power Mac. But, really, we can't feed or clothe ourselves.
I dunno. I'm going to bed.
Hope you're well, Leaguers.
It's Saturday night at the end of a few days stay here at Jamie's parents' house, and, as I understand it, this could be the final holiday we spend in Lawton. Jamie's parents recently purchased a home in San Marcos and will be moving there in the not-too-distant future. It's going to greatly change things, which I think came to a stunning conclusion in my head during dinner when Jamie suggested that my desire to consider Wisconsin or Minnesota as a destination when we were looking and wound up in Arizona was something that would no longer apply. Not sure of where she came to this conclusion, I stated that I would, in fact, go to Wisconsin now.
This was met with a "You better not" by the in-laws who have recently made plans to live closer to their daughter by buying the aforementioned house. Luckily, I have no plans to leave Austin, so all is well. But it does illustrate a point as to where I am in the game of life.
Fortunately, the point I was trying to make vis-a-vis the Wisconsin conversation was that I still don't mind the cold. When you are of the unconventional size of a Steans Bros., and tend to sweat when you just think about a hot day, places like Arizona lose some of their je ne sais quo. Even Austin on a humid day in August loses some of its charm.
Today we visited the new Comanche Nation Museum in Lawton, as well as the Great Plains Museum. The past which is reflected in both museums is not necessarily long-forgotten history, but of people who have lived during my parents' lifetime. Oklahoma is only now celebrating its Centennial of Statehood, and as much as one would like to imagine that the range wars are of the ancient past, they most assuredly are not. The inhumane treatment of Native Americans continued through much of the 20th Century, well after the Comanche were on reservations and the paternal Federal government took children from their families and placed them in Indian Schools.
As much as that recent history continues to live on in the language and memory of the people who've established and run the museums, its too infrequent we look away from our laptops and iPods and remember that 100 years ago, the machines we used to till the soil were pushed by hands and pulled by animals. It's the dates on photos of men busting horses and pulling steer to the ground with their bare hands that now is left as mostly a sport, when, once, that was s kill that put meat on the tables of millions across the US. Maybe we haven't grown soft, but it reminded me that I am.
Perhaps we weren't meant to sit behind desks and push icons around on a screen of glowing liquid crystal, or maybe that's where we're headed. Maybe that's why we try to invent $100 laptops for starving kids in Africa, because we haven't got a clue what those kids need to make food as readily available as a Lunchable for them, but maybe if they can blog about it..?
There was a time in our grandparents' and great-grandparents' lives when they could live in Indian Territory, at the edge of the world as maybe they'd known it. When a day of work meant pushing the seed tiller and hoping it didn't break today because you had how many acres to plant, and you had no animal behind which to pull the damn seed spreader.
It's an odd thing to realize you could not survive in your great-grandparent's shoes, and wouldn't begin to know how to put in the effort that was expected daily of people for the past 60,000 years. But, hey, you know how to freeze a pane in Excel, so that's something, right?
I have an idea how to carve something out of nothing, but we're an odd people now, we are. Brilliant leaps as we've touched the moon and done the math that tells us the Universe is expanding and collapsing. We've got the ability to store our food endlessly and the ability to chat with someone via voice and picture as a basic add-on to our Power Mac. But, really, we can't feed or clothe ourselves.
I dunno. I'm going to bed.
Hope you're well, Leaguers.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Post-Thanksgiving
It is into the fourth quarter of the UT/ A&M game, and, goodness, UT's offense has not actually played a lick of football yet this game. Any doubts I've had about UT's offense have been completely confirmed as they look towards being stomped for the second year in a row by the sheep romancers of College Station.
Sigh.
Thanksgiving has thus far been lovely. Yesterday we had a very nice Turkey Dinner complete with yams, green beans, homemade rolls, and several other items. Dallas handily won their game and Green Bay also went to 10-1.
It's now 37-17. Our defense just rolled over and died. Because Colt McCoy will not keep the offense on the field for more than three plays.
Yurgh.
Today we dropped Jamie off at a dialysis unit in downtown Lawton and then Doug, Kristen and myself hit the two comic shops here in Lawton. One shop was in a former house and completely filled, wall-to-wall with back issues in absolutely no organizational order. I lucked into finding some of Jack Kirby's "Captain Victory" issues from his Pacific Comics days when he went indie, and some back issues of Airboy, The Spirit and a few DC comics which looked kind of interesting.
If this guy who owned the shop cleaned it up a bit, bagged and boarded his stuff, actually inventoried his comics, and got rid of the mountain of 90's-era refuse clogging the shelves, he might actually have a really interesting store on his hands. In the meantime, I suffered through an allergy attack after leaving the store, my stack of comics in hand.
At the second shop I found some Superman comics that are probably worth exactly what I paid for them, but were good finds for me, anyway. This shop was obviously a lot newer, and was very tidy inside, even if the selection was not as wildly varied. I mostly grabbed what 70's and 80's Superman stuff they had that I didn't (with an eye toward trying to keep the cost down), and then stumbled into the original Superman Red/ Superman Blue issue up by the counter (Superman #162).
It's been very chilly here in Lawton, although thus far no precipitation has come down. It's just cold and dry. Austin was warm when we left, but it won't be that way when we return Sunday and I'm supposed to be hanging Christmas lights.
Mel came with us for the trip. Jeff is staying home under Nicole's watchful eye, and Lucy has been dropped off out in Driftwood at a place called "The Austin Pet Ranch". I do not like leaving Lucy behind, but the guilt evaporated when I saw Doggy Fantasy Camp when we arrived. The place sits on a couple of acres, and she'll be able to run around and play with other dogs all day. The people running the joint were also really nice. I look forward to seeing her roll over and go to sleep from so many days in a row of excitement.
I hope your Thanksgiving Holiday is going well.
We'll be back in a few days.
Sigh.
Thanksgiving has thus far been lovely. Yesterday we had a very nice Turkey Dinner complete with yams, green beans, homemade rolls, and several other items. Dallas handily won their game and Green Bay also went to 10-1.
It's now 37-17. Our defense just rolled over and died. Because Colt McCoy will not keep the offense on the field for more than three plays.
Yurgh.
Today we dropped Jamie off at a dialysis unit in downtown Lawton and then Doug, Kristen and myself hit the two comic shops here in Lawton. One shop was in a former house and completely filled, wall-to-wall with back issues in absolutely no organizational order. I lucked into finding some of Jack Kirby's "Captain Victory" issues from his Pacific Comics days when he went indie, and some back issues of Airboy, The Spirit and a few DC comics which looked kind of interesting.
If this guy who owned the shop cleaned it up a bit, bagged and boarded his stuff, actually inventoried his comics, and got rid of the mountain of 90's-era refuse clogging the shelves, he might actually have a really interesting store on his hands. In the meantime, I suffered through an allergy attack after leaving the store, my stack of comics in hand.
At the second shop I found some Superman comics that are probably worth exactly what I paid for them, but were good finds for me, anyway. This shop was obviously a lot newer, and was very tidy inside, even if the selection was not as wildly varied. I mostly grabbed what 70's and 80's Superman stuff they had that I didn't (with an eye toward trying to keep the cost down), and then stumbled into the original Superman Red/ Superman Blue issue up by the counter (Superman #162).
It's been very chilly here in Lawton, although thus far no precipitation has come down. It's just cold and dry. Austin was warm when we left, but it won't be that way when we return Sunday and I'm supposed to be hanging Christmas lights.
Mel came with us for the trip. Jeff is staying home under Nicole's watchful eye, and Lucy has been dropped off out in Driftwood at a place called "The Austin Pet Ranch". I do not like leaving Lucy behind, but the guilt evaporated when I saw Doggy Fantasy Camp when we arrived. The place sits on a couple of acres, and she'll be able to run around and play with other dogs all day. The people running the joint were also really nice. I look forward to seeing her roll over and go to sleep from so many days in a row of excitement.
I hope your Thanksgiving Holiday is going well.
We'll be back in a few days.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Day Man
Thanks to CB and David, I've been watching a lot of the FX Network's "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia".
In an episode this season the characters put together a couple of bands, which resulted in two songs, "The Night Man" and "Day Man".
Apparently a few folks have adopted the "Day Man" tune as their own:
And, of course, jack-hole frat boys
Curiously, I could find no covers of "Night Man"
In an episode this season the characters put together a couple of bands, which resulted in two songs, "The Night Man" and "Day Man".
Apparently a few folks have adopted the "Day Man" tune as their own:
And, of course, jack-hole frat boys
Curiously, I could find no covers of "Night Man"
Doug Makes a Friend
Also seen in Wisconsin this past September.
Yes, it seems the Weiner Man is prepping himself for some form of auto-cannibalization.
Yes, it seems the Weiner Man is prepping himself for some form of auto-cannibalization.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)