Lost my edge. Completely.

I was reading back over posts from the past month or two, and holy @#$%. Whatever edge I once had has been replaced by sunshine and puppy dog tails. I guess that's what happens when you're in a relatively good place. I guess if you have to trade engaging blogging for whatever the alternative was of career flame-out, poor health, what-have-you...

Anyway, I will also try to break it up a little more around here. It looks like I'm only covering a few items, but I also don't know what anyone whose left around here cares about reading (seriously, I haven't got a clue).

That's it for tonight. Jason and Jamie both told me I looked awful tonight (I slept poorly last night). So I'm off to get 40 winks.

Not enough this


Too much this

Ring Ring Ring

What better way to show your Thanksgiving Spirit than donating to the League of Melbotis Red Kettle?

All you have to do is click here to help out that most venerable of institutions, the Salvation Army.

We could really use your help to get the ball rolling.

Being Thankful

I'm delicious

So I saw Meredith has wisely posted her Thanksgiving column before the Thanksgiving madness had begun. And, as much as I am unsure of my own schedule this week, I don't want to write this thing for an audience that has skipped out on me for the annual tryptophan overdose. And while most days I'm unsure of whose hanging about and reading, if I'm going to spill my heart, I ain't doing it for, like, 5 hits.

Anyhow, for me, personally, its been a... weird year. But that doesn't mean I have nothing to be thankful for. To the contrary! Sometimes a sorta-off year pulls things into focus, and you can re-evaluate.

This year I am thankful for Jamie's relatively stable good health. We've had a bump here and there, and we have a lot to think about next year. But it's been a good year, and despite Jamie's many challenges, I think she's doing well.

I'm thankful for the opportunity to work, of course. 2008 did not go at all how I would have liked professionally, and it wasn't much fun. But good people gave me a second opportunity when they could have easily passed on me for contract work. Then, of course, I've landed what I consider to be an enormous opportunity back at the University. And all during a period when many, many other people are in less fortunate positions.

I'm thankful for old friends, new friends, and old friends with whom I've re-connected. For a family who is as supportive as someone could ask for, and who is also physically closer (and/ or is planning to be). I'm also thankful all of you Leaguers out there in Leaguer-Land. You're tops.

It's a tough time out there for a lot of people this year. Perhaps more so than usual. The press is going to have you believing that the future is more uncertain than usual. But we never really know (or we wouldn't be in half the jams we're in now). Be thankful for what you've got. Make sure you let people know how glad you are that you've got them.

I hope you have a great Thanksgiving planned.

Gobble gobble.

Now go have some Turkey.



Also, I am thankful for UT's inexplicably high BCS rating, Superman comics, jobs where you can wear jeans, new comics on Wednesdays, good Batman movies and probably a hundred thousand other little things.

"The League" fan film, shockingly, not about me

This is interesting. Here's a short film produced independently about superheroes in a sort of Watchmen pastiche. Actually, it owes a heck of a lot to Watchmen. Nonetheless, it's pretty darn well done from a design and acting standpoint, and demonstrates that even indie fanfilms now look and feel better than most superhero films up until Spider-Man.

It's about 20 minutes long. Check out "The League" (again, not about me).

round-up for Saturday

Quantum of Solace

We met up with Jason, Andy, Rami, Mandy, Kelly and Ellie Gamble to see Bond this evening at the Alamo South. Jamie and I had stayed in last night to watch "Casino Royale" again on DVD, and I think the continuity really helped. The movies are so tightly wound together that it really helps to have seen both so close together.

We ran into old League pal Laura Ryan-Day, who is (oddly enough) now a very successful hypnotherapist. She married a great guy, Simon, who happens to not just be from the UK, but he's apparently a Meet-Up leader for Brit ex-pats living in Austin. They were gathering, of course, to see the greatest fictional government employee of them all. And, they had invited Jeff and Keora.

I actually really enjoyed Quantum of Solace. It wasn't as good as Casino Royale, and it could have used more of Carla Bruni (who, sadly, died in Casino Royale, but in real life went on to marry French President Sarkozy... so, you know, congrats Mr. Sarkozy!). However, the story was fairly tight, it expanded upon the story from the first film and opened things up a great deal for another sequel. Plus, Judi Dench is just perfect as M.

I feel like after decades of actors playing the roles in Bond movies with a wink and a nod, the movies feel populated with real characters. That may have been at the expense of devil-may-care fun that many associated with Bond movies, but the movies had become parodies of themselves to an extent.

Anyhoo, the movie has drawn inevitable comparisons to the Bourne movies, which I also enjoy. I feel the two franchises differ enough that it's not a distraction for me, plus the plots are divergent enough that I just don't get hung up on it. That said, its a certain genre told in a certain way, so I appreciate the comparisons. More good stuff for me, I say.

Christmas Photos

We headed down to San Marcos earlier today to go and meet up with Judy and Dick and get the family photo taken for Christmas. Luckily, it was a little chilly out this morning, so it was easy to get into the spirit of the thing. Plus, you know, Thursday being Thanksgiving, we're kind of moving into the Holiday Season, anyway.

When we get a copy of one of the digital pics, I shall post.

I also have to pen our Christmas letter this year. So if you want to get on the League Christmas Card mailing list, send me your street address or whatever. 'Tis always a treat.

Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma

In going to see Bond, we missed the first half of the OU/ Texas Tech game. We ran home with Jeff and Keora to watch the game at their place and saw the score at half-time.

Which... THAT is the Oklahoma UT fans fear and respect. And why we like to play the Sooners in a neutral location rather than in Norman, OK.

geez, man.

But now... how messed up will the BCS ratings be with this screwy set-up?

For those of you who don't follow Big 12 Football, UT, Texas Tech and OU all have one loss. OU lost to Texas. Texas lost to Tech. Tech lost to OU.

Wisely, OU ran up the score a bit to demonstrate to BCS voters how well their team is playing, so I expect OU to have a lock on the Big 12 South.

That said, I will be watching the OU/ Oklahoma State game with terrific interest next week.

My folks' new pad

Here's some pics of my parents' new place in N. Austin. Pretty nice, huh?

We look forward to sitting on their porch and drinking whiskey sours in the summer.

Owen Lowry has himself a blog

Josh and Shannon Lowry are old, old pals of all of us here at League HQ. We've been pals since back in The League's amazing days at Klein Oak High School where we did some plays with Shannon and had a writing class with Josh. And, in fact, Shannon is more or less how I met Jamie as she was Jamie's freshman year roommate (and junior and senior year), complete with Shannon taking Jamie to the hospital as needed.

Shannon and Josh partnered up in our college days, a few months before Jamie and I. And now they're parents to young Owen Lowry. Owen has had some health issues since joining us here on Planet Earth, and its been a tough time for him. He was born in Houston about a week before Hurricane Ike (and about a month before baby Ike), and he's had to already go through all sorts of procedures.

Anyhoo, we're proud of Owen, and we're proud of Josh and Shannon for their A #1 Parenting.

We encourage you to visit Owen's blog to see how he's doing.

Present Idea

I now totally know what I am getting Judy (the mother-in-law) for Christmas.

The Tomahawk Skull Gauntlet.



I can totally see Judy using these. It's good to get something that's both fun AND practical.

Which is totally awesome, because I know Dick (the father-in-law) is really going to enjoy his neoprene skull mask.



tip of the hat to Randy for the website. (How he finds these things, I don't know...)