Tricky's Stories, Media and musings

I'm moving....

2013-05-30T23:48:00.001-05:00

It's time, my friends, for a change.

It's been a interesting time, but it's at the point where I have to grow past what I can do here.

So, I'm building a new playground.

Www.studiotricktop.com

Now, I'm still going to keep the old blog up, but this is going to be my last update.

Over there you'll be able to see more art, more writing, more....everything.

I hope to see you there.

Oh, and pardon the mess. I'm just moving in.

Ciao.

Don't watch the news today

2013-04-15T20:43:00.001-05:00

Don't watch the news today

by now you've already heard that the Boston Marathon Massacre. if not you're the facts:

Two bombs exploded around 2:50 today nearby the finish line of the Boston marathon. 2 dead, 22 injured.

No matter how many times the news media says it, that's not going to change.

There are small details that will change, you will hear tons of witnesses, photos, scientists talking about tragectories, maps flashing across the screen, networks trying their own spin, their own way of telling you those simple facts.

They, the news media, are going to tell you those same facts a thousand different ways, pulling at your emotions.

so, what's wrong with watching the news?

Why do we watch movies?

Film makers know how to take us on a emotional roller coaster they know how to string us along, ramp us up and bring us down. After a couple of hours though, the ride ends.

The producers of the news know how to do the same thing, except it won't end.

Not for days.

If you turn on the news, you will be in that emotional roller coaster and the facts won't change.

How many days can you ride the roller coaster?

Of course, this is just my $0.02

getting back to life: or the weekend I got a roommate, a cat and three goldfish, and what's been happening afterwards.

2013-03-31T19:57:00.002-05:00

Back to life

Back to reality

Back to.... google to find out the rest of the song lyrics.

Well, things have been a bit different lately.

I guess, really, I would have to tell how one weekend I got A roommate, a cat and three goldfish... but that wold also need some back story just to make sense..

fuck it, I'll tell.

The Goldfish

A friend of mine posts on facebook.

Hey I cannot afford my fish anymore anyone in the Austin area want them I would just like 30 bucks for the tank but everything else is free three fish and rocks and two months of food let me know ASAP I need to get rid of them

So, I think, 30 bucks for fish, tank and everything?? Sure!!!

We talk, and apparently her filter had gone out a day before, and she was worried that they would suffocate starve or die or something.

I did a little research online, and apparently fish can survive for a while without a filter. the filter is really there to keep mold and crap from getting into the tank. I'm sure there are some fish people who can write out exactly what the filter does, and what the benefits are, and exactly how long every species of fish can live without one... but as long as the answer is more than a few days, we're good!

So, years ago I helped a friend move his fish tank, and learned dhow to do it. First thing, isn't scoop the fish into a plastic bag with water in it. How I learned to do it was drain about 1/2 of the tank. Transport the fish in the tank then add water when you get home.

Simple.

And much less complicated than the rest of my roomies.

The cat (destructo cat, Ninja cat, the cat from hell)

So, here’s another odd instance of my sister and cats.

A few month’s ago a cat showed up at my sister’s house. Normally this isn’t a big deal, there are a lot fo streys in the neighborhood. Except this cat kept on coming back.

Then one day this cat decided to bring them a present of a dead bird. She just popped it there on the back patio, sat down and waited. They were done for.

The cat officially adopted them and whether they wanted it or not, they had a cat. So they named the cat Kitty Kitty (Not the most original, but what can ya do. There was a bird involved.) they began feeding it and letting it in the house. It’s an indoor/ outdoor cat, used to running around, exploring the neighborhood and coming in to wrestle the dog and let herself be pet by the humans.

Thankfully her boyfriend isn’t allergic.

Now, her boyfriend is a dog person. For reason’s I don’t know, and probably won’t know anytime soon, her boyfriend has dogs staying with other people. He hasn’t gotten his dogs back under one roof yet.

One of these dogs, fluffy, is a cat killer.

Fluffy had been staying with this friend who had a bit of a problem. She needed to take care of her daughter’s cat for a couple of weeks, and since Fluffy’s a cat killer, it wouldn’t be a good idea to keep both of them in the same house.

So, my sister and her boyfriend get to take care of fluffy for a bit, as soon as they can get Kitty kitty out.

You can see where this is going , right?

So, I get Kitty Kitty, aka Destructo cat, aka Ninja cat, aka the cat from hell.

It was rather funny, really.

The first day Kitty Kitty stayed in the cat carrer. I showed her where the food was, the litter box, and Matilda, my cat, watched her every move, or at least until the goldfish did something that caught her attention.

The second day Kitty Kitty began exploring. It was kind of like chess.

Kitty kitty would move.

Matilda would move following her.

Kitty Kitty would see Matilda and stop.

Matilda would stop.

They would stay like that until someone looked away. Kitty Kitty would move….

After a while Kitty Kitty would get more… adventurous.

She would run around, randomly attacking objects, sometimes Matilda. She would break things. Matilda was now standing guard over me, keeping Kitty Kitty away.

I had some friends over one day. They were sitting on the couch and got attacked. She felt a sharp pain in her hand from a claw, but never saw the paw or the cat it was attached to.

Once, when destructo was doing that, a friend leaned over the arm of the chair to see what was attacking, right as destructo jumped up swiping at her face. If she hadn’t moved when she did, she might have lost an eye.

I’m pretty sure she was still ferile, not fixed, and definitely not declawed. Not a cat for a small apartment. I’m sure if she had room to run, to hunt and to play she’ll be a good cat. I just couldn’t give her those things.

After a while, Matilda used to attack her when she saw her.

One day I found a claw mark and a big chunk of fur gone on Kitty Kitty’s underbelly. Wasn’t sympathetic.

After two weeks, to the day, we returned destructo cat….

The Roommate.......

Yep, the roommate’s tale is another tale, for another time.

OK, fine, I want to make sure she’s willing to let me write it and put it up.

So… assuming I don’t get murdered in my sleep anytime soon, you’ll be hearing more from me.

Don't ask me how strong I am.

2013-03-31T18:34:00.001-05:00

True Strength is never flashy, its subtle.
It's never used to gain leverage, to balance the scales.
It's never for sale.

True strength is invisible, at its best never seen at all and at it's worst felt like a light breeze, barely there.

Those that have it use it every day, relentlessly, to make the lives of those around them better, whether they know it or not.

You always know those that have it, for they always treat those around them with respect, forgiving any slight against them if they can't ignore it first.

You will never know how strong they are.

They slay dragons, right the world, and make sure their people are safe, and they do it behind closed doors, hidden in plain sight.

Don't ask me how strong I am.

Look back at my life and see the battles won, the lands conquered and the dragons slain.

If you thought it looked easy, then I failed.

You weren't supposed to see at all.

Holy Fuck!!!

2013-02-16T20:36:00.000-06:00

OK, let me knock some of the dust outta this thing....

**cough cough.... hack**

Seriously, I gotta vacuum or something in there.

Ok, yea, I'm still alive. twitchin as I twitch.

I've just had a low spot, energy wise, creativity wise.

Was the best man at a wedding!

yea, that's me in the Vader helmet.

I've gotten a request to marry a couple in it.

well, technically they are renewing their vows, but still....

Soooo.... business as usual...

Oh, shit!!! forgot about my Birthday!!!

yea, that's definitely a post.

See ya soon!

can someone get a maid in here!!! It's disgusting!

Cruel November

2012-11-24T17:05:00.001-06:00

Ok, you ever notice how some weeks, or months might have a trend, a theme as it will?

Well…. November’s been about my health.

Now, I admit, I’m a 3^rd generation fat fuck.

I’m not as big as I've been in the past, and I’m surely not as big as my family’s been, but that doesn't mean I don’t have some extra poundage.

According to the numbers, for me to be at a good BMI (Body mass index for those who haven’t had to suffer through the medical industries new ways of quantifying how much of a fat fuck you are) I would need to be about 156 pounds. Roughly a hundred less than where I am now.

So, not only am I a fat fuck, but according to their numbers, I am a Morbidly Obese fat fuck.

That they can quantify.

Now anyone with more than two braincells in their head calls Bullshit on BMI stats. Yet they are still used. Why? Because people are afraid it’s true, and it’s supported by math. You ever notice how math and meth are similar?

I thought that a simple two figure formula was enough to figure out my own ideal weight, then I would be just as dumb as the rest of these people.

I’m not a Dr.

I have no interest in dropping everything I’m doing, lying, cheating and stealing to get the money together to get the proper scientific background to be able to accurately put together a better formula….

Just because I can’t prove that I’m right, doesn't mean I’m wrong. (I’m sooo sorry for saying that. I understand the Pandora’s box it’s connected to, and I’m not planning on pulling that string.)

So, why is my health such a big theme for November? Oh, and specifically, MY health, not health in general, and not ‘being healthy’, though that’s a new theme for at least a year.

Well, a funny thing happened on my way home from putting up the show…..

So, Saturday November 3rd we get most of the show up and then go back in on Sunday to put up the rest, and repair what had fallen down. Originally I had about 30 pieces that were held up with sticky tack, but those kept on falling, so we went in with nails and binder clips. We were able to get a lot of it back up and I was going to check on it regularly to make sure that more pieces didn't fall down.

Gradually during the day, my allergies started going wonky. I've got mild allergies to a lot of stuff, so every now and then, my nose decides to explode, and I get bad coughing fits, you know the drill. I normally just call in that day, OD on allergy meds and sleep it off. So, I did that on Monday.

Tuesday, I was better, but not 100%. I was still sneezing, and had a persistent cough which got worse on Wednesday. By Wednesday night I felt feverish. I was a hot mess. I had set up a Dr’s apt for Friday, November 9^th, when the symptoms were still rocking, so I called in Thursday and Friday. Dr. Said I had a cold, and that it would last till about Sunday, and then I could go back to work.

Now, I’m a bit of a workaholic. I don’t take many sick days, and I take more of those than vacation days. Also, it’s in the middle of our Monthly reporting session, which I’m responsible for. All the things that everyone who is above me, all of upper management look at to see if our department is doing what it’s supposed to be doing comes from these reports, and I don’t have a back-up. I have not done the monthly once in the past Seven years, and the only reason why I didn’t do it, was because I was training a back-up, Seven years ago. So, missing three days in the middle of that was a bit of a problem. We only have Seven business days to do it, and If I’m out Three of those…. Well, I stayed on top of e-mails and was able to coordinate what I could while home sick. Any other problems I was able to take care of when I got in on Monday.

So, Monday and Tuesday I’m good. Those are the only TWO DAYS I'VE HAD THIS MONTH!!!!! (Spoiler alert),

Which was a good thing. On Monday I had the blood screening for my health insurance. They took down my weight, my height, figured that with a bit of interesting multiplication that my BMI said that I was a fat ass and took my blood. My blood pressure was around 120/70, my normal. So, always a good time.

On Tuesday, November 13^th, we had the traditional thanksgiving lunch at the company, and everything went well. In retrospect, I just realized that I basically went from one thanksgiving to another, with a lot of trouble in between.

So, on Wednesday after I eat my lunch, I feel this pain. It was exclusive to my left side, up and down my chest and into my shoulder. I also start to feel gas pressure in my chest. (****** Symptoms of Gallstones******) I didn't know what was going on. I thought it might be food poisoning or something. I took some Aleve and some anti-gas meds and pushed through the day. The pain went away, but the pressure kept in there. It kept on getting stronger and stronger and began to get painful. By the time Wednesday night came around, I was not happy. The chest pressure was pretty intense, and I was feeling nauseous. By midnight I finally threw up and felt well enough to crash out.

So, on Thursday I’m up and going, and everything’s ok. I don’t typically eat breakfast, just lunch and dinner, so lunch was the first bit of food I had. Right after lunch, I started to feel the same chest pressure and gas. Everything repeated, to the point where I finally throw up Thursday night and crash out.

Now, keep in mind I’m stupid enough to still be going into work at this point.

By Friday I've noticed a few other things.

1) I’m not going #2.

2) The pain isn't going away as well after I throw up.

3) Eating isn't helping anything. In fact, it’s making it worse.

So, I go to work and just don’t eat. I nibbled on little things here and there, but didn't have a meal. By the time I go home, the pressure is not as bad but I can’t seem to be able to throw up.

Now, it’s November 17^th, which is also the day we had set up to do a party for the art show. The party was scheduled to start at 7:00, which was great because this was also in the middle of the East Austin Studio tour weekend, a BIG EVENT for local artists.

In the morning I set up an apt. with my doctor. She can see me that day.

Keep in mind that at this point I thought it was food poisoning, that I had finally done myself in with my own cooking. If you've known me for a while, you would understand why this is was a real possibility. I’m not the best cook, but for every one of my successes, I've got a few dishes that should put people in the hospital. I thought I just needed a pill or something and could still make it to the party.

So I see my Doctor, who was on call. My primary works out of a clinic in South Austin. They are open 7 days a week, which is probably part of the reason why I go there.

She says that it’s my Gallbladder. She checks my body and finds a spot that hurt that I didn't know hurt, which is always a good sign. They grabbed samples, wrote me a script for Vicodin and a stool softener, and said that if the pain got too bad to go to the hospital.

So, I go get the script filled and as if on cue, my pain gets worse. I take a vicodin, and the pain gets worse. I could tell the Vicodin was taking effect only because of a mild tingling. It wasn't able to do a thing for the pain. I called a friend of mine, Laura who is also one of my neighbors and was on property and she was able to take me to the hospital.

********Warning: there is going to be talk about Vomit, Stool, blood, poking, prodding and drugs. If you are squeamish about these things, stop, grow a pair and read on. YOU HAVE DONE OR EXPERIENCED ALL OF THESE THINGS BEFORE, JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER HUMAN.

DON’T RUN FROM ICKKY, IT’S NOT GOING TO KILL YOU.

SOLDER ON!**********

So, on the way down there I had to have her pull over so I could vomit. Vomiting from pain is very much like vomiting from everything else, except what comes out is more like vanilla pudding than anything. I remember it was different from what I was vomiting up earlier, a lot less stomach acid. So, in a way, vomiting from pain is better than normal vomiting, except for the massive amounts of pain.

So, we get to the hospital. You know, it’s odd. I have a favorite hospital. I haven’t been a patient of a hospital since I went in for surgery on my finger back in ’92, but I've taken many friends to the hospital. I've seen how the Emergency rooms in a few of them work, Sat with many people, held their hand and helped make sure the Doctor’s know what they need to know. There are two I can think of off the top of my head to go to. One is way down south, past the Y in Oak Hill, and the other is Seton Main off of 38^th street. I asked Laura to take me to Seton Main. The people there have a lot of good Juju and really want to help. Since it’s the main branch, they've got all kinds of fun gear, a small museum on the history of Seton and an art gallery.

So, ( I really do start off a lot of paragraphs with that, it’s my thing…. I’ll probably need to rephrase that sentence later) they get all the pokes, prodding and tirage they need and get me into the back. Now, here’s a funny thing. A lot of people have mistaken Laura for my girlfriend. It’s been sort of an ongoing joke for a while. When we get a room, and they ask me to go ahead and strip and put on the gown, they naturally assumed that Laura would be helping me, because they thought that she was either my girlfriend or my wife.

Laura was a great help through this. She let my family know, and was able to help get a few things taken care of that I couldn't do right then.

When I got situated, I told them what was going on, to the best of my knowledge, basically gallbladder, gallstones, and Vicodin wasn't worth the hype. They hit me with morphine, which took a bit of the edge off. Just a bit. They hit me again, and again. They put me on a couple of different anti nausea meds, and they weren't doing anything. I was still in pain. Still Throwing up from the pain. They had x-rays done and a sonogram and checked my blood. The Doctor came back and said that I had Gallstones, but the pressure in my Gallbladder was so bad that it had pushed some of the bile down to my pancreas and I had a Pancreatitis on top of it. They finally put me on Dilaudid and a ton of antibiotics.

You can tell the pains bad when the morphine’s just taking the edge off.

I hear that Gallstones is one of the worse pains you can have, right up there with childbirth. I can tell you that I was able to keep my head throughout it and work past the pain, up until the last bit. I think it was the pancreatitis on top of the Gallstones that did me in. I've always thought that I've got a high pain tolerance, but this helped me figure out the upper range of it.

There is a enzyme that the pancreas excretes. Apparently when it’s enflamed it shoots out more than normal. Normal for it is somewhere around 100. When I came in it was over 4,000.

So, yea, I owwww’d. I admit it, I even said Oww.

By the time I was admitted, they had me on a constant stream of Dilaudid with a pain button, you know the ones that you hit to give you a extra shot, Tons of antibiotics, anti nausea meds, Pepcid and stool softeners. I had made sure they knew that I was allergic to penicillin and needed a C-pap to sleep.

Then, I stayed in the hospital… a lot. Or at least, a lot of me. I had never been overnight in a hospital. Never needed to stay overnight. The last time I was in one for me, was for a day surgery on my finger back in ’92. I learned a uncomfortable truth about hospitals. They don’t want you to sleep.

Every 30 min it seemed I had someone new popping in for that first day. I had nurses, clinical technicians, respiratory therapists, chaplains, cleaning crew, all popping in and out for various things. I was on clear liquid diet, and really didn't eat much the first day or so. I don’t normally eat much in the first place, but even less now. I don’t know about visiting hours, but I got the impression that they were 24/7. Once or twice they asked me if anyone was going to spend the night. So, I’m assuming they find some way to accommodate.

When I first started writing this, I was going to go into details about all the little problems, and the little victories… how for the first few days they had problems with my O2 levels, and eventually had to put me on oxygen, and we found a way to rig a O2 feed into my C-pap for when I was sleeping. Or how none of the technicians could seem to get a good stick, and the nurses had to get my blood from my IV. I've got deep veins. They scare people. Wimps.

I had one clinical technician try to take my blood pressure on the same arm as my IV, which would have blown it.

I had frequent problems with my IV pump. Either the line would get kinked, or even once, the cartridge blew and started dumping fluids on the floor. At 3:30 in the morning.

All the fun it is getting out of bed and going to the bathroom, while untangling the IV, and the IV machine from everything, and trying to squeeze in the bathroom the IV machine, and me, and maneuver a urinal at the same time.

Walking

By Sunday, my enzyme levels were down to 1,000, my Monday 187, so on Tuesday was surgery day.

Now, there was a plan. A two part plan.

I learned that the gallbladder is there to collect bile and stuff from the kidneys. It’s also connected by a little tube to the pancreas. The Gallbladder will collect bile, and create stones, that go through the digestive system. Not fun. Sometimes thought the stones can take a right turn at Albuquerque and go into the pancreas and as I’m sure you can guess, hilarity ensues.

So, step one: Take out gallbladder endoscopically. If that’s not an option, then carve me up like a butter ball and I get to go through a few weeks of recovery.

Step two: After the gallbladder is sucked out like a juice packet, then the Doc does a dye study on the tube to see if it’s clear.

Step three: If not, then I go back in for another procedure where they take out the stones.

I lucked out. No stones in the tube.

I got out on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving.

I hadn't had solid food for six days at that point.

First stop: THUNDERCLOUD!!!!!!!!!

If you haven’t, you should. If you have, you know.

I did have thanksgiving dinner with the family, but past that, I've spent most of my time being a Post Op patient at home. You go to the Hospital if you are sick, but home to get well.

Today’s day four.

I’m a bowling ball, well, with a extra hole. I try not to brag…..

I've got four holes in my chest from the surgery, so I’m trying to be careful. I’m on pain meds, and almost everything, in some way shape or form, that I had in the hospital, but I’m getting better. I’m on light duty. Can’t pick up anything over 25 pounds, and have to be careful, but I’m going back to work on Monday, November 26^th.

I've gotten another nasty cough going, but I’m taking Mucinex for it. I just hope it doesn't keep the holes from healing. I’m not 100% yet, but getting there. I’m not going to be done before the end of the month though.

I was wrong, I had the days before the show, and two another week where I was healthy, so maybe November wasn't as cruel as it could have been.

Since there was a lot of thanksgiving involved, there is a lot I am thankful for. I have good friends, scattered across and in many circles, but good friends. I did not have a day in the hospital without a visitor. Someone was always coming by, and we would visit as much as possible. The ones who I didn't see, I still talked with on Facebook. Even when I was in pain leaving for the hospital, I made sure to grab my phone charger and to keep it charged. I figured Facebook was the easiest way to get out as much information to the most amount of people at once. I think most of the people knew by the first day what was happening. I didn't call many people. I was on drugs in the hospital, and not always in my right mind (as If I ever am), but people could and did call me and I talked as much as I was able. My mom was the only one who tried to call the room. I never used that phone, even though everyone who worked at the hospital gave me their number to call them if I needed too. I just found that the easiest thing to do was hit the nurse button, or wait 15 minutes. I wasn't going anywhere and wasn't in any hurry. I could wait. I heard from both of my grandmothers, though one insisted on chewing me out for not calling her. Ehhh, what are ya gonna do. You can’t win them all.

This might be the longest post I've done in a while. Well, it’s been a long month, and I’ve been busy.

I've been busy for a while really.

If anything described my spiritual path, the closest would be Tao.

I feel that there is a place, a path for me to follow. The way to tell if I’m on the right path, is the closer I can be come in harmony with nature, with the universe around me. There is a lot I could write about the difference between movement shaping the universe, and the universe shaping your movement, but I’m not going to bog you down with that stuff. My spiritual path is mine. I will gladly share, in the hopes that some part of it might help give you in site into your own, but I would never want you to replace mine with your own.

Now, for any of the die hard traditional Christians that are reading this, chances are we share the same last name, I hate to break it to you, but you talk about the same thing. If you have ever talked about God’s plan for you, then it’s the same thing as talking about this. One’s talking about the plan, the other is learning to walk it’s path.

At best, imagine if you will, trying to walk a road in absolute darkness.

The only way you know if you are on the right road is the impact your feet have on the ground.

By taking steps in different directions, you know how the feel of the ground changes.

By staying to the center of the road, you are following Taoism.

Since July, I have reconnected with that path.

I started doing art again. I've moved, changed my life around. Found the road better.

The entire time I was in the hospital, I felt like this was part of that path. This was just one more step in getting this body healthy, more in harmony with everything else. I wasn't afraid, though, I suppose I should have been. The Doc did mention something about the surgery could have killed me, but I wasn't worried. I was on the right path, I knew the outcome would be good.

I think having that Gallbladder taken out will help me in loosing the weight. I would like to get down to 180’s. I think that would be great for me. I might decide once I’m there to go farther and try for the 150’s, but that’s a long road ahead, and many turnoffs.

I know that my diet needs to change, has to change now. My body isn't going to like fatty foods anymore. That’s alright, I wasn't a big fan of them either.

I would rather grill than fry. Bake than Grill. I prefer chicken to beef and have no problem with my veggies.

I’ll figure this shit out eventually. If nothing else, I now know I can take the pain of a few hiccups along the way. I’m patient, as long as I’m moving down the road, I’m not worried about a destination.

Well, if I haven’t bored you enough, I’m going to stop trying. I’m still a four day Post Op patient, hopped up on pain meds, trying to figure out how to move around.

when the dust settles....

2012-11-11T21:24:00.000-06:00

I keep in hoping for things to slow down, that there's going to be a moment when I can comfortably cram everything back in.

Well, I think that's coming, in a odd way.

The show went up on Saturday, last Saturday. You can read about it here. We're having a party for it next weekend, November 17th.

Right after it went up I got sick.

I think it was allergies then a cold, but either way, I was a bit out for a week.

I think that might have been the break I was looking for.

I rested, I mean really, really rested.

I've got some of my energy, my focus back, and discovered how little I really had over the past few months. I feel clearheaded.

Basically, I'm just checking back in. I'm still here, and ready to revamp and rev back up for next year.

Oh, and We won the Halloween contest this year too....

been meaning to write about it.,

I'll put something up soon.

Have fun, and enjoy.

Change happens...

2012-10-27T14:56:00.001-05:00

I hate moving.

Not because it’s changing shit up,.I like that part. It’s that I have too much shit.

Like, really… too much.

I’ve had friends boycott my moves, just because it’s going to be a pain in the ass.

I think I’ve got horder jeans….. or I’m hording my jeans or something.

Anyway….

For all of September, I was in box acquisition mode. There is no way, no reason, to possible justification, in my mind for me to buy a box. That’s just crazy talk!

Thankfully, there is a big records retention, document destruction project going on at work. You know those thick, long term paper storage carb board boxes? Yep, we had tons of them around the office, just emptied and ready to be destroyed. SCORE!!

My apartment soon started to look like a Iron Mountain storage facility… as opposed to the victim of a slow moving tornado.

So, I got into a routine.

1) Pick up 5-6 boxes from the office.

2) Go from room to room filling them

3) Stack them in back room, and txt pic of stack to person I was seeing, so she knew why I was cancelling whichever event that we had talked about.

4) Sleep, wash and repeat.

That was September.

And probably why I didn't write. Sorry.

So, October came, and it was time for the move.

Oh, I guess I should mention the why.

Well….

I've posted about my sister staying with me, and about selling the pool table, and everything. Well, after all of that, I realized that I didn't need a 2 bedroom anymore. So, my lease came due, and I decided to move into a 1 bedroom… lost 1/3 of the space for ¼ of the rent.. more or less.

It also left me with a logistical problem, moving a 2 bedroom into a 1. Of course, it can’t be a move without breaking a few laws of physics. (Trained professionals only, don’t try this at home)

So… Moving day.

I had been prepping for this for a while. On Sat I got the keys, on Sun was the move.

The day beforehand I painted an accent wall, figuring it would be a pain in the ass to do it with all the furniture in there, and moved over those… well, some party favors you don’t want your friends to see and they don’t want to touch. Then the morning of, I set up donuts and coffee in the new place, bottled water in both places, and at 10:00, people started to show.

I love my friends.

Friends will help you move.

Good friends will help you move a body

Great friends will help you move more than once.

I've got a lot of great friends.

I also have a lot of different pockets of friends.

When people started showing up, and having to introduce themselves, I noticed a odd pattern. Everyone there knew maybe one other person, aside from myself. Ten people showed up, so everyone had about 8 strangers…

The new apartment was six doors down from the old one, just one left turn away, all on the same floor, so we had people walking back And forth hauling stuff constantly.

People were punning badly.

Dropping bad Star wars, firefly, avengers, comic books, star trek references constantly.

My wall was a hipster wall, complete with mustache.

Douglas Adams was quoted, as well as Eddie Izzard.

Everyone meshed.

Facebook friends were made, real friends were made and a party was had.

I had a few say that it was the most fun they've had, while doing manual labor.

At some point I had put together an improvised utility belt and became the Batman of the group, just for a little while. (Where does he get those wonderful toys…)

About a year ago when I started blogging, I talked about culture. With this move I kind of felt it come full circle. I love that I've built a group around me that, even though they were strangers to each other, and from completely different parts and times of my life, all could get together and mesh, like they had found more of their people. One big tribe, scattered, speaking the same geek language, a family in fanboy.

I am a geek at heart. I’m not sure if I can call myself a recovering one anymore though. They are my people, and my heart does swell in joy when I hear them speak that language, and I think it’s the same for all geeks at heart. You hear a reference, a quote, or see someone perform a gesture, or hear someone hum “Jay’s Song” and you know, there are my people, my tribe.

Two hours into the move we were done. Friends were made, and not broken. Fun was had and had.

And I’m still trying to put the new place together…

And in my infinite wisdom, I decided to rent both places for a week so i could finish up the 'little' things.... and that damm near killed me.....

all well.

On to a new chapter.

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A new post series... just not here....

2012-09-09T19:48:00.001-05:00

Hi, it's me, back again...

So I've been busy.

Art is on my brain a lot lately, looking at the process, talking with other artists, going to museums, and realizing that, generally, ART SCARES PEOPLE!!!!

Strange, I know, but there it is.

So, I thought I would start a series of posts looking at the basics of art, from definition to how we respond to it, what makes art great,and the language of art.

Here are my first few posts....

Basics: part 1 the definition of art

Basics: part 2 Emotional versus Logical

my new normal

2012-09-02T14:23:00.001-05:00

Wow

I’m sitting here, totally milking free range WiFi, making mugs on Zazzle, uploading and whoring out my Bill Murray series on Ghostbuster’s forums, downloading the latest episode of Doctor Who (I’m repressing the geekgasms… I’m a little out of practice) and looking at a stack of sheets next to me for whenever I get a moment to start work on my Stormtrooper series… that I realized I haven’t posted anything in a bit.

I’ve been busy.

Like, that above paragraph, that’s my normal now.

I like my normal.

Things have settled down some though. My sister’s drama is ongoing, but now I’m getting random news reports instead of daily updates. Once things are settled and public in that area I’ll Post about it, but until then, well, it’s interesting.

I’m planning for a few events.

Art connectors is looking for some art for the October Art outside event in Austin. I think I’ll have some stuff for that. I’ll probably post some of the falling series, and the Audry’s. I don’t think it’s going to be a big seller, since it’s a one day event, but I could be wrong.

They also have wall space at Flightpath coffee and want me in there in November. That’s where I’m looking at having the most stuff. I want to get the Bill Murray’s, the storm troopers, and the bulk of the falling series in there for November.

I haven’t a clue about the Blue genie art bazzar…

So, I’m producing.

It’s funny. I do a cost analysis on each of my pieces now. Since they are layered, I use a mat or a frame to put it together. I’ve got the mat costs down to about $2.00 per from a art store nearby work. I also can get frames from IKEA for $1.99 each, but that means driving up there. Maybe when it gets closer to showtime I will. I’ve got a photo series I’ll prep for the Flightpath show, so I’ll probably put together the prints, and frames then for that.

Of course, I’ve also got three weddings this year… One in each October, November, and December… and Moving in the first weekend in October…

So, yep… my new normal.

Hay, a quick update!

2012-08-22T13:01:00.000-05:00

Hay,

So, have you been to Studio tricktop lately?

http://studiotricktop.blogspot.com/p/welcome.html

Please go and check it out.

it's also me, but it's all art related.

So, it's like I'm bringing the funny, but also putting up pretty pictures too.

Double bonus!!!

Oh, and while you are over there, check out the pages too. I'm building a page for each series I'm doing. So, even if a page is already up, if there is more art for that series, I'm gonna add it on.

Oh, and everything's for sale over there too.

So, it's really a whole new ball game, or some other saying... or something..

really..

Go check it out.

J.

One more day...

2012-08-04T20:38:00.001-05:00

Ok, I'm trying something a little diffrent...

I'm pushing this one out from my cell, at a art show. Today is Art Connectors 1 yr anniversary. We are at Flightpath coffee in Austin with kids running around and hammers in our pockets waiting for the signal to start transitioning from one show to another, to strip the walls and fill them anew....

Oh, and there is cake, no lie.

It reminds me a little of my first post, about community.

This is a community, slowly building, slowly networking and growing. I'm glad to be growing with it...

This is a strange time.

My sister is moving out today. if you read my previous post, you might ve confused. I'm sorry, I wasn't able to complete it.

Four weeks ago my sister fell in love. Over the past few weeks she's taken him to meet our mom, which I don't think she's ever done. He's slept at our place a few times, and her cat likes him.

They are moving into a house they just rented.

Since my office is in the dining room, I don't really need the back bedroom anymore. So, I've dedicated myself to moving into a smaller apartment in two months and accelerate the timetable by 6 mo.

fun fun fun...

Plus, there's a position open at work I'm trying for. If I get it, then it would be complete. In a few months, a new place, new job and diffrent problems.

I'm reinventing my life again.

Community....

On Wed night, August 1st, my cousin's husband was killed in the line of duty.

Five years ago, my cousin Jill got married to Josh Mitchell, a good man. They were high school sweethearts. They, like all couples, had their ups and downs. She's a registered nurse, he was a deputy sheriff. Long strange hours, stressfull situations and rare quiet moments were their life.

On Wed, Josh was serving a warrant, and was shot with a deer rifle. The shooter baracaded himself in his house right after.

This was all in Big Lake, TX. It has 2,900 people, and is located 70 miles from Midland. I've learned these last two facts from reading the news stories of the 17 hour standoff that happened. Sherrifs from hundreds of miles away converged in this small town. The red cross came out and made sure everyone had food. The local babtist church opened its doors for the displaced. I saw this in newspapers and TV stations as far out as San Francisco.

The guy tried to kill himself, and screwed it up bad. He surrendered, but is still alive.

I'm glad for that.

Taking a life doesn't ballance the loss of a life. Having kids and raising them right ballances that life.

I know that sounds a little crazy. I live in Texas, I know I'm in the minority in this, but its just how I feel.

The funeral's on Wed.

I don't know, as a composit of who I am, as I get eaten by mosquitos on the back porch, what it says.

probably nothing.

All I know is, hot tub and rum failed me last night.

All well, time to head back in.

RIP Josh. You were a good, honest man. This was a senseless death, and I'm sorry for that.

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Welcome to the chaos theater....

2012-08-02T21:04:00.001-05:00

Come in, come in...

Can I take your hat?

May I see you're tickets?

Thank you.

Yep, everything looks good.

Can I show you to your seat?

Fantastico!

The show is about to start.

The curtain pulls away, the lights come up and you see… my apartment.

Action!!!

Yep, it’s kind of felt like that over the past couple of months.

It’s time for a quick recap.

At the beginning of June, my sister moved in.

Now, this has happened before. Once or twice.

Well, actually, since I’ve been in my apartment, it’s happened two other times before now.

Each time, she gives me a call, I pick her up, she doesn’t have much more than the clothes on her back, and we go on from there. No job, sleeping on my couch, she rebuilds her life, and goes on.

This time, when I got the call, she still had the job.

I’m not going to go into details, but due to some bad decisions, money was a bit tight. Like choking tight. So, when she called, it was a welcome change.

Three days after she moved in, her work promotes her. To a home office.

She’s sleeping on my couch.

Ok.

So, I make a decision.

I have a two bedroom. The second bedroom is my office, but really it’s more like a storage unit. I’ve got tons of shit. As my sister would say lots of moss. (A Rolling Stone gathers no moss, but does a lot of coke)

She, and her cat, were going to live on my couch.

So, plan change.

Out goes the pool table.

Out goes a big chunk of the office.

The remainder gets moved into the dining room

We paint and carpet the room. (Don’t ask. It needed it, but really, don’t ask)

I come home to “honey do” projects…

I’m tired.

We make 7:30 am trips to Home depot so she can have supplies, and paint, while I’m at work.

And, in the end, I’m tired, and she has a bedroom and an office.

We make a deal.

Typically, when she crashes out with me, she doesn’t pay rent. I figure, this way, I’m not relying on her for bills, and she has more resources to move out.

This time, She’s paying rent.

Well, sort of….

She was still paying rent on her old place.

Till the end of August.

So, September first, she starts paying rent. My lease is up at the end of October, so, she signs on and a roommate, we put her on the lease, and she stays till March. Then we each get separate one bedrooms, and that’s that.

While this is going on, I go on vacation, My computer dies and has to be reborn, I go to my cousin’s graduation in West Texas, and somewhere along the way, start to paint.

You see, many years ago, I was what I considered an artist. I primarily worked in pen and ink, and dabbled in sculpture, acrylic and pastel. In high school I always had pieces in shows, and was doing commissioned pieces on my own on top of that. I did my first advertising pieces in my Sophomore year of high school, and did them for my school’s theatre department by the time I was a Senior.

I went to college for commercial art with a minor in business management.

Then shit fell apart.

I got tragically depressed at the end, and really didn’t even attempt art again. For years……

Till now.

Here’s a link to some of what I’ve been doing lately.

http://studiotricktop.blogspot.com/

When I started again, it was like reviving a part of my brain I hadn’t used in a long time.

It was like meditating.

I forget to eat, to sleep. I just go.

It’s easier than writing is. With writing, if I’m lucky I can get to that point, but sometimes it feels forced.

With art, I have to fight sometimes not to be in that zone.

I just go.

And, this is really what I’ve been doing when I’m not doing anything.

I create.

I don’t think of myself as a artist, not again. A artist sells, and I haven’t sold anything. A artist is known for their work, and no one really has seen this.

Yet.

I got back in touch with a friend of mine from way, way back. We hadn’t talked in a while, but we were on line friends.

She started a business.

Art connectors.

http://www.artconnectors.org/

And through them, I’m going to see where this will go.

I’m sorry, if this seems a little brief, but I’m running out of time.

I’ll be back soon, either here or at the studio tricktop site.

I don’t know how this new road is going to go. I don’t know how far I’ll go down it, but it really feels like a old road that I just got back to, and that I’m finally making the journey.

Batmobile

2012-07-01T21:30:00.002-05:00

Ok, so by now you might have read this blog one or twice.

You might have noticed that, well, sometimes things get a little absurd.

Odd, as one might say.

And, if I’m lucky, there might even be, at times, a touch of awesomeness.

(Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na..)

So, I’m at work, doing my thang… (get your minds out of the gutter..) and I hear one of the people I work with, K, talking with my boss. Specifically, I hear this….

“I told you that J (her husband), bought a Batmobile, right? Well we took it out this weekend…”

Oh yes, Spider sense was a tingling…..

So, when K leaves my boss’s desk, I have to ask.

“Oh yea, it’s the one from the seventies I think, with the machine guns…”

(Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na..)

“Yea, we took it to this charity event for kids that have Lukemia. People were talking pictures of it and everything. I think I left them at home though. I’ll bring them in if you want to see…”

(Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na..)

Na, na, na, na, na, BATMOBILE!!!!!

Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts, it’s about to get geeky in here!

Like you have no fucking idea…

http://www.chickslovethecar.com/KeatonCar.aspx

Yes, this is a web page devoted to the car. It’s not the only one.

You know what, I’m just going to sit back and drool for a minute…..

(Can I get a wet wipe?)

So, I talked with K, and found out that they were going to take it to another event next weekend and got the address. I had an Idea, but I really wanted to talk it out with J first.

(Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na..)

It’s the car, right, chicks really dig the car.

I mean, the tumbler is nice, but it’s all balls and no sex.

The 1989 Batmobile is nothing but sex.

(Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na..)

So, one Saturday morning, I’m heading up to the event. It was a Hematology Wellness Fair for children with chronic blood illnesses and their families. They were doing a ‘Superhero’ themed event at this small rented space nearby the Galaxy Highland movie theatre in North Austin.

Normally this group does their events at the Dell children’s hospital, however, the area they do them in is going to be under construction for the next few years.

The owner said it would be ok to park it in front…..

Na, na, na, na, na, BATMOBILE!!!!!

It’s Christmas day, 1989

I’m eleven years old, in blue sweatpants and a t-shirt unwrapping presents. The VHS tapes were the easiest to spot, all the same size, almost indistinguishable from one another. I remember, I think, getting two copies of Batman and giving one to my sister.

We got whatever it was we were having for breakfast, probably breakfast tacos, and all sat down in the living room and put that on. I remember it started off with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck hawking Warner brothers merchandise. Heck, I remember, you had to order their catalog. Then, even before the movie, you saw the car, racing through the streets of Gotham in a Diet coke commercial.

“Where does he get those wonderful toys?” Jack Nicholson asks.

The toys.

I remember having a couple of versions of the car as a kid. Little toy versions with a metal skin, scratched up paint job, worn off around the front headlights and the rear fins. I never imagined the gadgets, the pop up guns, the disk throwers, none of that. For me, it was just the car. She was sexy enough, I didn’t need the special features.

And here she was.

I heard that after I left, a guy showed up who was a super fan. He left work to come here. He started crying tears of joy. Here was beauty and life personified. He started taking off his shirt, just to show off a Batman logo he had tattoo'd on his chest.

Now, things are starting to get Bat crazy around here.

So, have any of you spotted the problem yet?

I saw it the first time K told me about her husbands car.

I saw it when I saw the car, and no one has said it, not yet.

Well, hold on, I'll show you.

You see, when J bought the car, he took about a year getting it ready, streetworthy.

It's street legal, believe it or not.

Not that anyone, I mean anyone would pull over the Batmobile.

Unless they wanted to get their picture taken with it, that is.

But, just having the Batmobile isn’t enough. J knew that.

http://www.sanmarcosrecord.com/local/x136104407/Holy-double-take-Batman

you see, J’s decided he only wants to take it out for charity events.

http://www.kvue.com/video/featured-videos/Kids-battling-cancer-ride-in-dream-cars-157614885.html

Seriously, click on those last two links.

With great power comes great responsibility…

With a great car comes great obligations.

J’s planning on taking the car out for charity events, specifically for events for children that are in treatment for blood cancers, or other dangerously deadly illnesses. He wants to give these children a moment of awesomeness.

But, I think he has one problem.

He has a Batmobile without a Batman.

And it’s a Batmobile from before these children were born too.

So, here’s what I proposed, and definitely need help with.

If you know anyone who would be willing to cosplay, that is dress in costume and act like the charictor in question, for charity events, to work as security, and more importantly, to pose with children, with the car, and help make something that is awesome legendary, please let me know.

I talked with John while I was out there, and he agrees that the car needs a Batman, and a Catwoman and a Penguin, a Riddler, a Joker, a Mad Hatter, and all the other characters that revolve around Batman to be out there, to help make this even more special for the kids.

No money, just time. And you need to bring your own costume.

I know, it’s a lot to ask, but I’ll be right there with you, dressed as the penguin.

(He stole the Batmobile once, right?)

Just let me know, here or anywhere.

The batsignal is officially lit.

Calling all Batman!!!

breaking promises

2012-06-04T21:42:00.000-05:00

I hate to break a promise.

I really, really do, but, well... I did.

yep, a couple of posts back I promised to get out some of my backlog.

I failed, spectacularly.

Part of it was due to, well Life.

Things have been a bit crazy.

My sis has moved in, I’m trying to sell my pool table, and reorganizing my life.

I’ve taken a few trips around, just in state, but well…. Yea. Damm

“the road goes on forever and the journey never ends”

And, I’ve been doing it without my laptop.

It’s been sick for a while, but suddenly it got a log sick.

And, well… there are something’s I can’t do from a semi intelligent phone. (I can’t call it a smart phone. It’s like a genius with narcolepsy, keeps crashing..)

I can’t blog. Not really, not with the things I need, like spell check, grammar check ect.

Really, for me to write, I need good software to hold my hand.

I blame the dyslexia.

And exhaustion.

Anyway, more tales to tell, likes to spin and rumors to create, and destroy.

And now that I’ve got my computer back, and all’s well, I can share.

So, Batmobiles, San Antonio, Rollerskating (deducting points from my man card), West Texas graduation speeches, figuring out women (yea right..) and a little bit of a bearded bandit, all coming up.

Hell, If I’m on a roll, I might even be able to write some more….

Do you have a Monkey keychain?

2012-05-24T00:42:00.002-05:00

Do you have a Monkey Keychain?

So, one of my plethora of duties at work is to manage our ‘fleet’ of pool cars. This barely counts as a fleet since it’s only two white Chevy Impala’s. Since they are both white and of the same year, I realized that we needed something better than license plates to identify them. So, I went to Target and picked up two small stuffed animal key chains, a Monkey and a Penguin. I wanted something that was cutesy enough for the women I work with, but manly enough that I could get away with it. It had to be as gender neutral as possible, but still memorable. So, Monkey and Penguin.

Now, fast forward a few years.

Everyone in the company who has used one of our cars knows about Monkey and Penguin. Security calls them Monkey and Penguin, everyone in our office knows Monkey and penguin.

A few months ago Monkey got into an accident. It was rear ended, causing some damage to the trunk and rear bumper. When I went out there to look at it with security, we both agreed, Monkey got spanked.

Unfortunately in the whole mess trying to get it fixed up, the Monkey keychain was lost. This had happened a few times before, so it wasn’t a big deal. I would just go to Target and pick up another one.

We always lost the Monkey, never the Penguin.

Unfortunately, Target stopped carrying them.

After years, I’m sorry, Monkey is Monkey. Calling it by any other name just wouldn’t feel right.

So, I now have a Monkey hunt.

When the car would go out, I mentioned it to people to keep an eye out for a monkey key chain. I figured with all the gas stations and car washes in this state, chance are there is a monkey keychain waiting out there for one of my people to discover.

No Monkey.

Months later, no Monkey.

So tonight, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I decided to make the trec to Barton Creek Mall in Austin, TX, and find myself a damm Monkey.

So, logically, the first place I go to is Spenser gifts.

Wait, here’s a link to the Mall’s floor plan for those who want to follow along at home.

http://www.simon.com/mall/FloorPlan.aspx?id=223

Now, if you haven’t been to Spenser’s, it’s kind of like a head shop, but instead of Weed paraphernalia, it has light fetish stuff, just enough for a bored housewife, or a teenager who’s just discovering the internet. Plenty of candy underwear and fuzzy handcuffs, along with Muppet pillows, shot glasses and beer pong sets.

I found 2 inch dick key chains, plastic skull key chains, mini fuzzy handcuff key chains, even some Family Guy key chains, but no monkeys.

But, you know what, it’s a big mall, someone’s bound to have one, somewhere.

So from there, I started checking out shops.

Gamestop

Nope, nothing close. Lots of Games, of course. I saw that you could preorder Lollypop chainsaw. I kind of followed the online contest for the lollypop chainsaw girl through the Jessica Nigri fan page. Here’s a link to her site. http://www.jessicanigriofficial.com/about/ She’s the official Lollypop Chainsaw girl.

No clue why I follow it though…

From here I kept on walking, looking into different stores, seeing if they had anything that might be useful. I guess I was, I don’t know, a slow walker, because I had one guy stop me from one of those kiosk things. Yeh, most of the time their selling cell phone cases or makeup or whatever. You could tell it was a slow day because every one of these people had this starving look on their faces, like I was some prime piece of kibble to be gobbled up if I came too close.

Well, this guy, I don’t know, had a long leash or something so he jumps right in front of me, thrusting something at me. So, well, it set off my asshole reflex. (I have one, and yes, it’s right where you would expect me to have one).

I said “OK, you can sell me whatever it is you want to sell me, if you can answer me one thing, Where can I find a Monkey Keychain?”

“Um, what’s this Monkey?”

So, yes, I tried to explain to him what a Monkey was. Not a good sign.

Suffice it to say, he did not make a sale.

So, I keep on trekking.

I walk into Calendar club.

Ok, I have no idea what this store is trying to be. It’s got toys, it’s got games, it’s got puzzles, but, they don’t have, like full lines of anything. It’s all mixed up, miscellaneous stuff. Randomness personified. I admit, I felt at home a bit.

But I knew there was no way I could possibly find what I needed in here.

So, I ask the person behind working. “Do you have any Monkey key chains”

“No” straight up, no chaser. One hundred percent, no pausing for station identification no. Not even a , ‘let me think about it’ no.

Ok, as a consumer, if someone straight up says no like that, it isn’t because they have a detailed account of every piece of merchandise that has come into that store, including any off shipments that might have come in while they were not working, and with their supercomputer brain crossed referenced the catalog and determined that there was not a single item what could possibly fit into both categories ‘Monkey’ and ‘Keychain’ at the same time.

She said ‘no’ because she would rather lose a sale than look.

To every business person out there, if you have an employee like this, FIRE THEM! They are costing you money.

The only priority to a sales person is the customer. Period. If they are not actively helping the customer in a purchase, they are doing whatever is necessary so that the customer has an easier time on their next purchase, which includes stocking, cleaning and straightening. Everything they do revolve around that purchase or any and all future purchases. If they don’t understand that, then they are costing you money.

So, I looked around.

I admit, I’m a sucker. I did buy two things.

A Lego figure and a yellow box of awesomeness.

It truly is awesome. You’ll see in a bit.

I really shouldn’t have bought anything.

Not really.

I kept on looking.

I went to Bag and Baggage. The guy was too interested in booking his flight, no wait, talking on the phone with someone about booking a flight to bother with a lowly customer.

I popped in to a candy shop. The guy there showed me the only key chains they had. Tons of animals, but no monkeys.

I stopped in the Hallmark store. The ladies there were very friendly, very helpful. One left the counter to help me look through their stuffed animals for a monkey… no luck.

I swung by this engraving place and yep, the girl behind the counter was doing everything they could to keep from acknowledging a customer. I looked like I might make them *shudder* work…

I was going to go into the build a bear workshop…. But it scared me.

I made it to one end of the mall with Nordstroms. OK, Nordstrom’s is known for their customer service. I remember hearing about the store when they were just starting to move into the mall. It was like a status symbol. Like the mall finally arrived, it has a Nordstrom’s. They had a piano player playing on the sales floor, it was that ritzy.

Which probably explains why I hadn’t been in there yet, like ever.

I kind of feared they would kick me out for having Wal-mart shoes.

Don’t judge. (Sorry Carrie, had to steal)

So, I walk around and make it upstairs, grab the first person I could see who works there, ask my question, my only question. It’s like Inigo Montoya looking for the six fingered man. She sends me downstairs to this one section.

“If we have it, it would be there.” She said.

I walk straight up to the counter, like I’ve done in half a dozen stores now.

There are three women behind the counter, the two closest with their backs to me, so only one sees my approach, and she starts trying to let her friends know. Not in a “Oooh, look at this creepy strung out old guy with Wal-Mart shoes.” Kind of look, more of a “honey, I know this is the most fascinating thing in the world, but I think you might have a customer coming and they are always our priority. We’ll talk later, after work.” Look. (Yes, I’m fluent in the subtle looks of retail non-verbal, thank you for noticing)

One of them breaks from the pack and comes up to my side of the counter, but all three start giving me their undivided attention.

“Hi, how can I help you?” and she said it not like it was a script, not like she has said it thousands of times every day. She said it like she wanted to know. It was a question, not a default response.

“Well, I’ve got a question.” Figure I better warn her right away, and not about the Wal-Mart shoes.

“Go right ahead, I’ve heard them all before.” Ok, I admit, the first thought that came through me head was ‘be easy on her, she doesn’t know who she’s talking to.’

So, I asked my question.

The one I’ve been asking everyone in this mall, that question, you perves.

Immediately, all three started going through different stores, throwing out answers. She admitted that they didn’t carry anything even close to that.

Oh, and that no, she had never gotten that question before. It was her first time.

One of them did suggest asking the information desk for the mall itself, to see if they had any ideas.

So, I continued on, in my Wal-Mart shoes that were beginning to squeak.

So, back to into the open I went, yet again, looking for my fix, my Monkey.

I paused by the Lego store, not to seek the monkey, but to see If I could resist a far greater Monkey inside…… some addictions never go away.

I swung by the apple store to see if they had any. Oh, who am I kidding, I knew they weren’t going to have any. I really wanted to swing by because of this.

Ok, people taking videos of themselves on the store merch and then uploading it to Youtube..

Ok, I had to try.

My humor stated and a extra push of energy, I walk into Hot Topic.

Ok, one does not simply walk into Hot Topic.

While dodging the posers and wannabees. (They are shopping at Hot topic, therefore posers and wannabees) I make it to the counter where a young woman, shaved of head and generously pierced, also dodging posers and wannabees, and having to regretfully come tut terms with their existence, and her position of making money from them, turns to me.

Now, I must point out, I came straight from work. I’m wearing a button up business shirt and kakis. I do not at any point in this story look like a Emo High schooler.

I could see the relief in her eyes. Someone who has thoughts MTV did not put there. (do people even still watch that?)

I asked her if she had any Monkey Key chains.

She turns to her key chains, right beside the register and with the traces of alarm in her voice, says “If we have some, they would be right here, but they seem to be missing a lot of them”. The rack was bare but for a few penguins.

I go a few steps and start to spot metal loops, of the keychain variety, not the, well other varieties.

I even make it a bit of a game, finding key chains throughout the store, tucked behind merchandise, on shelves, in hats. All of them light up penguins though.

I needed a Monkey.

So, I swung by the information desk at the mall. There was someone there, which helps. A older gentleman who I’m sure was used to the kids hanging out around here. I could see him in a few years screaming at them to get of his lawn, but for right now, that last nerve has not snapped, and he’s sane.

So, I ask him. where could I find a Monkey keychain.

The gears started moving. There was software unused being booted up. He got a far away look in his eyes and his arms started to rise, like a marionette beginning to dance. About the time I started to smell the smoke from the un oiled gars turning, that I let him off the hook.

You see, By this time I kind of knew where I had to go.

I had heard the name a few times as a suggestion. I knew of the place enough to know that, If I went it, it would be the last place.

I would have to plan. I would need a exit strategy. I would have to prey very very hard that no one happened to be recording a youtube video on their phone at the time.

Clare’s

I knew of Clares just because I have a sister, who was at one point a girl. I mean a little girl.

This place is for the jewelry, the makeup, the glitter lip gloss and plastic rings and earrings that little girls wear. This is not a place for a young woman who has experienced puberty. This is strictly a place for young, 10 year old girls and their mothers.

By virtue of walking in there, I’m now the creepy old guy.

I manned up.

I walked in, and just as I feared, the shelves, the stands were at, well, boob height. Perfect if your clientele are young kids. Not so much for me.

Thankfully the lady behind the counter spotted me right away. We were pulled to each other like magnets, more out of necessity than anything. I think she didn’t want to alarm her customers that one of ‘them’ was in there, and I didn’t want to seem like, well, a creepy 30 year old balding fat dude in a little girls shop.

I asked my question, in a hushed whisper, ready to say anything to help her understand why I needed it, to explain about the cars and my frustration. She didn’t ask, but she did tell me the most distressing news.

“I think we have one, but it’s in the Claire’s downstairs.”

You mean, I have to do this, AGAIN?

I quickly teleport out of there and check my map. Yep, there’s another Claire’s, right downstairs. I know exactly where.

This time though, there wasn’t a sympathetic person behind the counter and a clear path to the register.

I went in, and started looking. Going over all the shelves. It wasn’t until I had reached the very back, and turned around did I find it. Nestled next to a stuffed penguin (what’s with those anyway?) and a elephant, was a misshapen monkey. Its limbs of different lengths. No tail, but a Monkey just the same.

So, I find it, and I’m standing there holding it, Afraid to move for fear of it disappearing. Looking, frantically for a sales person, who finally shows up.

I buy the monkey, and promptly let her know that she’s the only one who has them, in the entire mall.

I get out and take a picture of the front of the store.

And the store beside it, the Spenser’s I started at.

And here’s the key chain, along with a Green Tea and soy Bubble Tea I had to get, just to recover.

Oh, and the Lego Figure.

And my box of awesomeness.

So, now you know, when you’re hunting a Monkey, do the smart thing.

Shop online.

Crawfish, rum and time in the Country

2012-05-23T00:24:00.000-05:00

You know, sometimes there really isn’t anything better than spending some time in the country.

I was raised a city boy, but I still have some country in my blood.

Maybe it’s because, as I’m writing this, it’s 12:30 and there is a party going on outside my apartment. Or maybe it’s that the party isn’t that unusual of an occurrence.

I would love a place, just away enough where I could see the stars without having light bleed out form downtown.

I would like some quiet.

But I also don’t want to drive more than 20 minutes to get back into the hustle of the city.

I mean, I like the country, but I still need civilization.

So Diane’s place isn’t quite ideal, only because it’s about 45 minutes outside of town, past that, it’s perfect.

This is the 4^th annual crawfish boil, but this is only my second time going.

They have only been doing this for 4 years, but they had over a hundred people show up for it.

Diane and I were talking about it beforehand. She was worried about not having enough toilets for everybody.

So we kind of figured that the guys could go out and pee anywhere. We’ll paint a bush pink for the women.

Well, when I got there, I didn’t see a pink bush.

All well.

So, as usual I was running late.

I like to think of it as being fashionably late.

Well, I was making a booze run for the hostess, so I figure, If I’m coming in with a huge bottle of rum and mixers, no one’s going to give me grief for running late.

While I was on the way, G, another person I knew was going, called me to see if I was already out there. Apparently one of the exits was closed, so the most, well, maybe not the most direct route was closed off. There isn’t a direct route to this place, but at least there isn’t a dirt road.

So, we start coordinating, running names of who’s going to show up and figure who might be there, I give her a few names to call, buy the booze and get ready to get lost.

I didn’t get as lost as I did the first time. I was all over the county trying to find their place. Of course that was before I had gotten a mildly intelligent phone. I would love to call it a smart phone, but it’s like a genius with narcolepsy. It’s smart for a while, but then it just crashes, restarts and sometimes goes on.

But at least it has a GPS.

And sometimes it even works.

So with only two, or three wrong turns under my belt, I find their place.

Last time I don’t remember it being such a parking lot. I mean, I’ve seen restaurant’s that would kill to have this many cars in their lot. I guess they must be doing something right.

I remember the last time I was here, I was trying to be a vegetarian. Emphasis on try. I had some of the corn, some of the potatoes, and maybe cheated a little and had some of the crawfish.

Well, ok, I better confess.

I’m not a fan of crawfish.

Or shellfish

I’m sure Lobster is alright, I mean, that many people can’t be wrong, right? **coff coff republicans coff coff**

But when it comes to crawfish, well… ehhh.

Of course, it’s like going to the ballgame and complaining about the food not being five star. That ain’t why I drove to Kyle.

It’s to hang, and drink, with my peeps. My work peeps.

It’s also the only reason why, in my advanced age, I’ve set foot in a dance hall, and once got a pedicure. Once. (well, ok, the girl who did my toes wasn’t wearing a bra. There might, or might not have been a low cut top involved too. She really had to scrub. In my defense I tipped very well. Ok, so It wouldn’t take much arm twisting to go back.)

When I got around back to the party, I didn’t see a pink bush, but saw plenty of people. Like, plenty.

There were tables and tents and conversations and beer and box lids of crawfish and beer and people and only a handful, a handful of faces I recognized. Last year I knew maybe 80%, now, maybe 30%. This shit grew.

They had a band. That always helps. I mean, from Austin, a band is to a party what salsa is to chips. You can have chips by themselves, especially if they are like cool ranch Doritos, but if you really want something, you gotta have salsa.

SO, I look around, the band starts playing a old song I remember from when I was growing up, My toot toot. I used to hear that blaring out of my Grandparents jukebox before it burned up.

Here’s a bit of it.

Heh, as corny as it is, with this playing, you know it’s a proper country crawfish party.

So, thankfully I didn’t have to go far to find my peeps. Especially since I had a couple of gallons of booze and mixers with me. I’m not saying I was bringing the party just that all you needed for a good party was what I brought.

So, right away I start spottin faces at the first table and figured what the hell. I plopped my not so mini bar down on one end, and started looking for a place to put my chair.

By the time I found a spot to crash, Alvin and Diane’s (Diane and Alvin) daughter came sweeping up with a box lid and a feed bucket full of crawfish. I’ve been to pricy restaurants that didn’t have as fast of service. So, with a surprise and a thank you, I sat and took a look around.

I’m not sure if the photo can do it justice. People walking around, beers in hand, kids running around having fun, playing with total strangers, conversations being had, a great sunset, great food and everyone just taking a moment to relax.

Ok, when left there was yet another concert at my apartment complex, a bunch of twenty year olds getting drunk and staying stupid, and everyone else trying to impress.

So, in reverse priority order.

Food!!!!

Peeps and booze.

Most tables had a cooler of beer, we had our own bar growing.

You know you can tell when you’re in the right spot, when you don’t have to go mingle. The minglers come to you.

That’s how I knew I had the right table. Most of the people came up at some point to say hi. People from work, people who used to be from work. People from the last shin-dig, and people who will definitely be at the next.

Then, when things got a touch less quiet, Alvin, Diane’s husband went up, interrupted the band for a little bit, but since it was his party, he’s entitled.

He wanted to do something special. They were just about to celebrate their 19^th wedding anniversary, on Star Wars day. So, as a proper representative of the male gender, who has a tendency to do goofy shit and hope it comes off as romantic, Alvin proposed to Diane, a second time. They’re going to renew their vows at next years party, a bit closer to their anniversary.

I’m proud of him, not just for the sentimental gesture, but also for being smart enough to do it in front of a big crowd of people and to have a band. I mean, what if she said no?

So, since this is getting late (it’s after midnight when I’m writing this, and it should have been up weeks ago..) I better crash.

So, here’s one last pic from the night of Alvin and Diane dancing, in their back yard surrounded by a hundred or so friends. May we all be so lucky. (See, I’m also prone to goofy sentimental shit, so sue me.)

Ok, I can’ promise they did or didn’t play this, but going along with the theme, here’s a little something.

Oh, I forgot. When it was all said and done, I did get to go home with a little something special.

What?

I was out of rum….

And now a message from our sponsor

2012-05-20T14:39:00.000-05:00

Yes, Elvis has left the building...

So, yep, here's my promise to you, to get up to date, to get everything up and going,

It's some interesting stuff.....

Like a great night out in the country...

Going someplace that, as a 34 year old male, I should never go... ever.....

A batmobile....

What you should really do with a wire hanger....

oh, and why there was a manhunt for me Easter weekend....

so, plenty of tales, all that will be posted up this week, starting Tuesday, because, of course Monday sucks balls!

The Avengers!!!

2012-05-04T04:19:00.001-05:00

Ok, so I decided to try video blogging this.

I did a few.

Yep, not a damm thing....

and I'm running late

I get there...

Oh, who are we kidding, here's my Upside Down Spoiler free Avengers review.

I'm tired. I gotta crash

with a shit eating grin on my face

I’m not hip enough for comic books.

2012-04-29T19:41:00.003-05:00

Uh huh,

This hit me just a few hours ago. I’m not hip enough.

Not even close.

So, I’ve been on a blog-splosion over the past couple of days. I’m sure there are a lot of other, professional bloggers that do five or ten blogs in a day. I’m not one of them. I get off maybe one a week. (ok, ok.. fine, just stop staring.)

So, I’ve been just writing a bit more than normal, which is fine, fantastic, great! I think.

So, I decide to take a break.

I scan a lot of the on line sites looking at internet rumor, casting announcements ect for a lot of movies that are in the process of coming out.

So, even though Avengers is just about to hit theatres in the US, they are already developing the next batch of movies, starting with Iron Man 3. The current rumor is that they are going to use the Extremis storyline.

I had not read Extremis.

About Seven years ago, I quit working for a comic book store. That store is no longer around, and that might be a good thing. IT had some critical flaws in it, deep flaws that I don’t think were able to keep the thing solvent without a few miracles.

But since I quit, I haven’t’ been that in touch with comics.

I know, what could happen in seven years, right?

Well…

On the few occasions that I’ve gone back into a store, I just get this sense of being…. Lost.

Thing a have changed a lot since .

Stories, companies and in some ways the entire industry has changed a lot in the past seven years. So, when I go in and look at what’s on the shelves I’m a bit lost.

There are titles on the shelves I hadn’t heard of before. Almost all the characters that I knew have been revamped in some way. I would have to buy seven years’ worth of reading material just to know who, what, where of what’s going on now.

I don’t think anyone can make sense of DC anymore.

So, back to Extremis.

I go to Austin Books and Comics.
http://www.austinbooks.com/

So, as my habit is over the past few times, I kind of just go in, find what I’m looking for and leave.

But that was before I started blogging.

So, I stay true to form and go in.

I look around and find the graphic novels, find the I’s and find Extremis, in the Iron Man section.

On the floor nearby is a person. I couldn’t tell gender or age, as they had long brown hair hiding their face and was definitely staring down into a book in their lap.

I heard someone nearby me ask if they’ve seen someone who looks like a small troublesome child, but didn’t think much of it, until I heard her turn my direction, and identify the human lump beside me.

I quietly stepped back out of the way.

The woman was six foot easy. I’m not six foot. My eye level is right were people don’t like you to stare at too long.

Her friend untangled herself momentarily to acknowledge her friend, find out what the next location was, and then reabsorb into the comic she was reading.

Standard fan…boy? behavior.

Right about now is when I start paying attention.

Renee, I might have mentioned her once or twice, is a self-professed comic book nerd, I prefer geek, but it doesn’t matter. She’s Star Trek, I’m Star Wars, there’s always going to be a difference.

She knows more of the current stuff. A lot more than I do. She read Extremis and loved it. I was just now buying it.

I thought she was a bit of a anomaly. She likes Tenchi Muyo, so she still is, just not as much as I first thought. (I wonder if I’m going to get into trouble for this…)

Ok, so at this point, I decided to look around, really look.

This is what I expect from a comic book store.

If you look closely, you can see a stool between Hulk’s legs. (stop looking at his package, follow the inner thigh down and there it is, right behind the knee)

When I moved over a bit, there was another woman pouring through backstock like a pro.

After I took this pic, I turned around and noticed the first guy I saw here, reading a book and probably checking out the woman.

Please, re read that sentence.

I kept on wandering through, and saw a comic that gave me pause.

Ok, when I was still collecting, the two characters on this cover were part of completely different companies.

It would be like The Terminator showing up in a Jason Borne movie.

As I said, I’m lost.

I kept on looking around, and it was a balanced gender ratio, male to female. Finally, comics had changed socially enough where it wasn’t an exclusive gender centric audience.

So, I get up to the counter, with Extremis, and honestly disappointed I had to get it as a hard back, instead of paperback.

And while I’m there I see the first person who is under 20 in the entire store, and they look like they don’t want to be there. I heard the lady with him say something about getting him a git certificate to the place and bringing him back, but honestly, I don’t think she knew what she was talking about.

Comics stopped being written for his age group a long time ago.

So I buy My copy of Extremis, and a Superman Pez. (I like Pez. It’s a thing)

But, I didn’t quite expect the next part.

You see, Austin Comics had created a Comic book boutique store, Guzu right next door.

Well…

It’s artzy, trendy, and well… comic booky. These are the independents, the renegade books that store owners always knew about, and tried to promote, but weren’t of the spandex clad.

These were my favorites. The odd balls, the unique, the risk takers.

I just didn’t expect them to be Hip.

If that old lady and her Grandson had walked in here, she would have walked them both right back out.

Let me put it to you this way, there’s a gallery in the back.

The artist is Tim Doyle, internationally known pop culture artist. He’ got a full showing of prints.

Most of his stuff is based off of Movies, TV shows, quirky pop culture with a bit of nostalgia thrown in.

Much Penis Envy Here.

I love his ink work.

But, I’m not hip enough for this world.

I’m old school comic book geek.

I can point out plot points in stories going back fourty, fify years.

Earlier today I was explaining the origins of Thor, not form the movies, but the original Dr. Donald Blake stories, where he didn’t know he was a God.

A friend of mine was asking me when Commissioner Gordon shoots the Joker, and I could tell him. (it was at the end of the No Man’s Land storyline when the Joker kills Gordon’s wife.)

I don’t know this current comic book world.

And that’s OK.

It’s not my world anymore.

I’m still a comic book geek. It’s like being an alcoholic, I might not read the books anymore, but it’s still there.

All well,

See ya.

All plays should be BYOB

2012-04-29T13:51:00.001-05:00

Now, I have a few rules in my life. One of which is “When a cute girl asks you to do something, and it’s obviously important to her, you do it, no questions asked.”

I’m part of the heterosexual male persuasion; we do stupid shit like this. This also burns me by having me permanently engraved into the friend category, but that’s a bitch session of another time.

So, when a friend, and texting partner, Renee asked me to go see a friend of hers, M. in a play, I said sure!

(She: cute female, Me heterosexual male)

Plus it helped that she was getting together a group of us to go see the play.

And, in my defense, the more I read up on it, the more I wanted to go see it, not for the play, or to see M (Male, friend of Renee, haven’t seen in 14 years), but because of where it was.

Richard Garriott’s estate.

Ok, if you look at that name with kind of a ‘wait, am I supposed to know who that guys is?’ wonder, then, well I shouldn’t be surprised.

Not many people know him, I guess. I know him because I’ve heard about him from around Austin, and a good friend of mine J seriously geeked out on him for a while, and, well, I’m a friend so I listened.

Richard Garriott is a gamers gamer. He created a couple of video game companies. He created Ultima, which evolved into Ultima Online, one of the first major MMORPG, which laid the groundwork for Everquest and World of Warcraft. Ok, and by laid the groundwork, I mean he coined the phrase Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG).

It’s like being a Star Trek fan and getting a opportunity to play at Gene Roddenberry’s Mansion.

Like spending the night at Skywalker Ranch.

Ok, I admit, the last one might put me into a fanboy coma. It would be like being permanently drunk and high at the same time…

Sigh

So Richard (can I call you Richard?), did many things that only the really cool rich and famous do, be really really cool to everyone.

For years he would take his mansion, Britannia Manor, and turn it into a haunted house.

Here’s a link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britannia_Manor yes, he’s so cool, his house has its’ own Wikipedia page.

He’s a second Generation Astronaut.

Ok, I’m geeking myself off topic.

One of the things he did, which you can read about on the house’s Wiki page, is create a replica of the curtain theatre. Shakespeare’s original troupe, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men used to play at the original curtain theatre in England. Richard recreated it on his property and has an acting troupe, the baron’s men performing plays there. Richard is also known as Lord British, a character he used in the Ultima games.

And M is an actor in The Barron’s Men.

So, having accepted the quest, we traveled to our destination.

We decided to meet up at J’s apartment to check provisions. We had a bottle of wine, a six pack of beer, six bottles of water and a bag of ice in a cooler. As long as we could find a convenience store in route to get more beer, we would be fantastcio!

Oh, and we only sort of know where we were going. But we brave are adventurers and don’t need to sweat the small stuff.

So we endeavor or make our way to Lord Brittish’s Manor.

You can tell this is a Texas road trip because part of the instructions were, turn down the gravel road…

I’m glad we went in my SUV.

I the end it was J, Renee, her sister and I, a truly merry band indeed.

So, Renee had talked with M beforehand about what we could bring, what we couldn’t, and he mentioned that it was BYOB, so we brought.

When we got there they had set up a bunch of carnival games that the actors were running. There was a fortune teller, Bottle toss, a nail game and a few others. People were having fun in period costumes, with a period playhouse.

So, our merry band of travelers, not in period gear and carrying around a ice chest of adult libations, tried to subtly carry it upstairs and commandeer a base camp for the night.

It really is a gorgeous theater.

Opera is what you get dressed up for. Theatre is what you should get drunk for.

So we played games, had fun and when it was time, went up to our section and discovered our first problem of the night.

Bottle of wine: No corkscrew

Bottles of beer: No bottle opener and they needed it.

So, as in every quest, when you are faced with adversaries and problems to solve, you use what weapons you have at hand.

We flirted with other people to find the tools we needed.

And by We, I mean the others in the group. I failed remedial flirting. Twice.

I consider it success when I can get the light turned on for me.

I empathize with Wilber Turnbald from Hairspray “Honey, took me five years to figure out you were flirting!”

Let’s just say that I’ve got a hard head. When someone was interested in me, they had to knock me over the head with it. Repeatedly, with a 2x4.

I digress.

So we improvised. J found someone who had a bottle opener and went back a few times. I hope he got their number. I’m not sure who flirted with whom to get the corkscrew, but soon the wine was open as well.

Oh, and we forgot glasses, but we can improvise!!!

Everyone grabbed a bottle of water. When you finished the bottle, then you could pour in wine.

High class is drinking wine out of a Wal-mart bottle water bottle.

I grabbed that pic right before the play started.

You know what, I’m not going to describe the play. I can tell you thin, everyone was spot on, perfect in their roles. There was a little bit of technical mishap with the props, but honestly I didn’t even notice. M pointed it out later that night. They played on stage and played with the audience too. If you can, get out there to check out their next performance. I would suggest seeing the alchemist, but I just saw that their last show was yesterday.

Here’s a link to their site. http://thebaronsmen.org/

Afterwards, while we waited for M to finish up, we went exploring. It was around midnight, on a rich dudes property on a Saturday night….. Sure why not.

Now, I had heard rumors about this, but I had never been down here to check it out.

You see, Richard, (yep, still calling him Richard, like we’ve ever met and I’m not some strange guy who went poking around on his property while he was out of town) decided to build a town on part of his property. He invited his friends to design and build their own houses, and he built a few other things besides.

There’s a light house, two tree houses connected by a rope bridge, and a huge stand up swing. Oh, those tree houses, well like all the houses out here, none of them looked like small, prefab, junk wood houses like we might have made when we were kids. No, each of them looked like a miniature version of a professional house. Architects were consulted. The tree houses, well, imagine someone built a small Victorian style house, and like the hand of God, put it in a tree, just placed it there among the branches. Then did it again in another tree, and connected them with a long rope bridge.

This is where the rich get to be kids again.

I want to be Richard when I grow up. Of course I want to be many things when I grow up.

Oh, I mentioned the jail right?

Heh,

Well they had two sets of stockades in front. It’s like putting cheese on a mousetrap. Ok, you see a set of stockades, and you’re in a group of people who have been drinking a little, well someone’s going to end up in there.

Cape and all

See the craftsmanship on the bars on the windows and the brick façade? I know, they spend time and money on this!

I don’t think we were exploring more than maybe five minutes before we remembered to get him out.

Really, couldn’t have been more than five minutes.

Anyway, towards the end of the property, just in case he hadn’t built up enough awesome points (he had, btw) He built a fort and a pirate ship.

I just want to take a moment to let that sink in.

A fort, and not just any fort. This had a upper walkway, double inner doors, and a two story tower on top. It even had handholds so you could SCALE THE WALL!!!!

Seriously!

And the pirate ship, heheh…

The Pirate ship had two crows nests, ropes you could swing from one side to another on and rope ladders going up the sides. I was tempted to pull out a knife and start climbing with it in my mouth, but that would require having a knife… which probably would have helped with the bottles…

I just wish I got pics.

Yea, you see, this band of intrepid explorers didn’t have any flashlights. There were no streetlights or anything, so we made due with cell phone flashlight apps…. And couldn’t use them to take pictures… I know, lame. Right…

So, next time I go see the Baron’s men, I’ll try to take some pics for you.

But seriously, If you ever get the chance to wander around a millionaire’s property like that, Take it!

Totally worth it.

The power of a peanut butter and jelly hotdog

2012-04-29T00:04:00.001-05:00

Never, ever underestimate the power of a peanut butter and jelly hotdog.

I’m serious.

Especially if it has Capt’n Crunch on top.

Don’t believe me ehhhhh?

Well, for the past couple of month’s my sister and I have gotten into a routine, almost a tradition. On Sunday’s I pick he rup form work, we go out to eat somewhere, talk, gossip , and then I take her home.

I’ve talked about this blog, and the stuff going on in my life.

She’s talked about how she shouldn’t be in my blog and the stuff going on in her life.

Now, she’s a foodie. She like staking pictures of the food before we eat, she likes talking abuot them, heck, she even wanted to be a chef.

She’s a foodie. It’s her thing, her passion.

I’ve been tekking her she needs to write about it.

So, as we were going to have lunch this Saturday at Man Bites Dog, she decides she’s going to take the bite, and start a blog. (all puns were sanitized and approved of ahead of time)

So, Man Bites Dog became her first entry into blogginess.

Here’s a link to her blog, and I hope we see more!

http://austinfoododdities.blogspot.com/

15 minutes of awesome.

2012-04-28T18:03:00.003-05:00

Ok, If I can give you awesome, I’m going to give you Awesome.

Here’s 15 minutes worth.

(15 minutes is a arbitrary number, not to be associated with any actual time measurement or determination of distance ala Kessel run rules. If you feel like your actual 15 minutes were in fact less than 15 minutes, you may apply for a full refund of the remaining minutes.)

Subwars

SubWars from SeanSoong on Vimeo.

MegaMan

Static Shock

Kara

the three little pigs

I hope these work...

So, hopefully at this point you've watched these videos.

each a small studio, creating massive amount of production value seen worldwide.

It reminds me of the printing press, really.

Way back in the middle ages, books were a great rarity. Technology had advanced to the point were you could bind paper together, but copies of books were still being made by hand. People would sit there and duplicate, page by page, word by word the contents. After days, weeks, month's of work, you got exactly one more copy.

With the printing press, everything changed.

it used to be a form of pride, of wealth to have a library. You could spend money on books, learn everything int he world, discover concepts that were totally foreign to your neighbors. The idea of being 'elite', knowledgable was the mark of the upper class.

after a while, books became less and less expensive. Dime store paperbacks became the product of the masses. Publishers began publishing everything they could, just to see what would stick.

Now, think about movies.

We're at a age where the movie studios no longer have the monopoly. Where the technology to create a movie, a short film is available to all, cheaply, and you can create the same quality of experience as a big blockbuster.

Clerks, one of my favorite Keven Smith movies, would seem way too cheep now. Back in the 90's, it was cutting edge inde film making.

Just something to think about.

A few tokens of what passes for wisdom…. Maybe.

2012-04-22T23:53:00.001-05:00

The only thing worth earning: laugh lines

The only thing worth receiving: forgiveness

The only thing worth giving: compassion

The only thing worth having: acceptance

The only thing worth practicing: humility

These are a few of the things I know. I admit, it isn't much. I don't think I'm smart. Maybe, at best clever.

These five things are things I know, but like most good advice, easier given than followed.

Except the laugh lines. They are the only goal I really have right now. Well, maybe not the only one, but one of the more important ones.

maybe not the most important anymore. I need to do some self discovery on that, which might be part of my current problem.

I’m sure you’ve heard the idea that we are spiritual beings having a human journey. I think that’s close to the truth, closer than a lot pf people get, but not entirely true.

I think there are three things that rule us, the head, the body and the spirit.

Over the past eight or ten or twelve or more years I’ve learned to, or, maybe trained myself to focus on the head alone.

I’ve used the head to push past what my body can do. Not for something as important as physical health, but for more immediate, impossible tasks, typically ones that are for nothing but a little notice, if any at all.

I’ve treated my body like a badly tuned car, paying attention to it only when it needs it.

Lately though, I’ve felt more of my spirit come forth, and I don’t know what to do with it.

I am, like a piano, out of tune.

I probably need to meditate more.

Prayer is in the asking, and I have been asking.

But as I’m learning, I need to listen more.

So, I need to meditate, to quiet my mind and let my spirit talk, that is I my body doesn’t talk first.

There is something in those seven habits classes, ‘Seek to understand, then to be understood’ basically, learn to listen, and see, and ask questions and understand what the other person is trying to say, then express what you need to express.

I’ve found a reason to listen more, to my spirit and those around me.

If my head can be quiet enough and stop telling stories.

Dammm, I’m fucked.

See ya soon, I hope.

It’s a short post, I know.

A 121 year old book, a manhunt, a fake ‘stache and briefly dating my cousin, part 2

2012-04-12T01:22:00.002-05:00

Ok, so where was I?

I’ve been a batcher for a while now. I’ve dated some, but nothing I would consider serious.

And my cousins are, for the most part, married.

So, when my cousin and her husband show up that first night, loaded down with Easter baskets for everyone, I realize two things.

1) I am a cheap bastard.

2) I’m nowhere near as domestic as these two.

Now, the cheap bastard part I’ve been coming to terms with for a while, but the domestic part kind of threw me for a loop. It was something that my grandma said during that weekend, that I need a partner. That something’s in life are better handled as a team rather than by oneself. I realized that a partner might be just the person to nudge me every now and then, point out that I need to stop being a cheap bastard, and that it might be a good idea to get a headcount, and bring baskets for everyone as well.

I know, a lot of realizations over some Easter baskets, but there it is.

It’s one of those holidays.

So, the next morning, as we are all getting together for breakfast on Easter eve, I find out that there is a Itinerary. Apparently there are events planned, services to attend, props, driving and the whole shebang. Not one, but three services were scheduled, the first one being, I guess not what one would technically call a service, but more of a two hour long pageant complete with smoke machine, a huge cast and a theatre that I know, I mean I personally know would be the envy of a lot of theatre companies in Austin. I’m pretty sure that the stage was bigger than the Bass concert hall at UT, which typically has the big Broadway shows come out and do their productions…. In other words, this stage was bigger than most professionals… Fucking huge!

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

A little bit ahead.

Ok, I’ve got another confession to make. Aside from being a cheap bastard, (I was raised that way… I know, not even really a page gone and I’m already making excuses) I ‘collect’ relics of my parents.

Ok, My Mon’s not dead, but for some reason I’ve been collecting stuff of her as well, not as much as my Dad. And well, not really collecting, more like accepting when they were given to me.

Now, My Grandmother knows this. If she finds something that had significance to my Dad or to my mom, she gives it to me.

I’ve been trying to mitigate this somewhat. Like with photos. I’ve been scanning them, rather than taking them. That way, I have a copy and she has a copy.

Some, like this pic below, I just take a picture of.

Yep, that’s my Dad, in his office, which looks just as cluttered and disorganized as both of mine.

Now, I might have mentioned that most of the family was raised in and around this town, right? (if not, see part 1)

Well, that means they went to the local, and by local, I mean only, high school. It kind of trips me out, that there is only one school. If you ask the locals, they insist there are three schools, an Elementary school, a Junior High school, and a High School.

Austin has 80 Elementary schools alone. Or at least that’s how many I counted, twenty seconds ago, on their website. (That doesn’t mean I bothered to verify that they were all schools. In fact, I’m kind of disappointed I wasn’t able to just dump it into a Excel spreadsheet and have it count for me)

But, basically, you get my point.

Now, over the past few years I’ve heard from the news, and form other friends who work for AISD, about the budget problems.

And, I’ve heard about the Robin Hood laws in Texas. If you haven’t, look them up. I’m not going to even bother giving you a link. Basically, what it says is that school districts with a lot of money, send their surplus to the state who distributes it to school districts that need money.

Now, I’ve seen one half of the scale with Austin schools.

Regan county ISD is the other half.

They have smart boards in every classroom.

They issue each of their students a laptop.

They don’t have books anymore.

If there was an expensive tool they could justify, they bought it, just so they didn’t have to pay.

Yes, the oil boom has been good to this area, sort of.

So, at some point, after they rebuilt part of the school, just because they could, they decided to give alums the opportunity to buy a brick with their names on it for right in front of the entryway.

My Grandmother went out and bought bricks for each of her children, and grandchildren that attended school there. The youngest is about to graduate in June.

So, we went out to go see.

My grandmother I’m sure was proud that she had 9 bricks out there.

I went out there to take a picture of my father’s. (I said it was a weakness, right?)

Of course, when I turn on my professional looking LCD camera that I bought off of a guy on Craigslist for $60.00 (yep, cheap bastard) I realize that I’ve fucked up and left the memory card on my desk. In Austin.

Yep, just smile and go on.

So we took some pics with my grandmother’s cell phone. The light was at just the right angle so we could do shadow puppets on the bricks. I think I have a decent one of a dinosaur (because everyone can do the dinosaur) eating, or at least picking at my Dad’s brick.

Of course that’s on my grandmother’s phone. I’m not going to ask her to send it to me. She wouldn’t know how. She doesn’t know how to text. (let the 14 year olds say… Oh Mah Gawd…. I know, I know.)

But, at least she bought us all dinner.

At Zentner’s Daughter.

Ok, I like you folks, so here’s a link. (sorry Vegetarians) http://www.zentnersdaughter.com/

Now, Zenter’s and Zentner’s Daughter are steakhouses that have been staples of San Angelo’s restaurant scene for decades. I remember back when I was in college, hearing about Zentner’s Daughter burning down, and I almost got a tear in my eye. It was a sad moment. It was sadder than when the Oasis in Austin had a fire that burned up a few of its outside decks, and I’ve been to the Oasis a lot more than Zentner’s.

But, apparently the rebuilt, renovated, and it looks dam good.

I would have loved to have been there under better circumstances. Not that there was anything wrong, really, but by that time we had adapted to the holiday eating schedule, which meant that we were eating full, and more than full meals every three hours. Not to mention the candy jars everywhere.

I consider myself lucky that I only gained 5 pounds. I was pacing myself.

If you talk to anyone from West Texas and mention Zentner’s, they will know exactly what you are talking about.

So, since I was still full from Breakfast, not to mention the other three meals we had since, I made due with a dam good salad.

I wasn’t the only one either.

Two people shared one salad. Only time I’ve seen that.

So, afterwards, when we were done topping off our particular tanks, we headed to THE EVENT.

Yes, I mean the EVENT.

It was called ‘The Promise: How Love Wins’

Ah, hell, here’s a link. http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2012/apr/06/churchs-easter-message-fulfills-on-annual/

The place was packed. If Grandma’s car didn’t have a handicapped sticker on it, I’m not sure we would have found parking. As is, I think we were lucky to get a row together.

Now, how we ended up shuffling in, we were kind of coupled up. My Uncle and his wife were together. My cousin and her husband were together, and I was with my step-cousin, who promptly declared that I was her date for the night.

Of course the first thing that popped in my head was ‘this is country, but not THAT country.’

I’m still her cousin.

God bless her.

So, after a little bit of talk about how we always end up sitting together, she starts talking with her Mom, My Uncles wife.

Ok, I think there’s a special kind of talk that only a Mother and Daughter can have in regards to the daughter’s date. It’s kind of like sizing up a fresh catch. You weigh the fish, measure, check the breed, all while it’s still flopping on land, praying it’s not about to die.

I only caught snippets of the conversation, but from what I could tell, they were going over the do’s and don’ts when it comes to Dating your cousin.

Yes, this was a real conversation.

So, such a thing can be permissible, after much scrutiny, if a few conditions have been met.

1) There is NO blood relation. At no point does any ingredient in the cocktail that made you, might possibly have been used to make me too.

2) You weren’t raised together, at all. That would just be too weird.

So, she’s my cousin by marriage, and I didn’t even meet her until a few years ago, so basically, I shouldn’t get lynched.

Now, keep in mind I’ve not participated, nor have had any say in this conversation. I am the guy, therefore I have no say in the matter. I know better.

And besides, it’s all fun and games, until you start dating your cousin.

Thankfully, about now is when the show starts.

Now, there’s something I just don’t get about a lot of modern churches. I can see why you might want to contemporize some of the scripture, so that it’s easier for the congregation. I can see why people have made comic book versions of the bible.

But this was the first time I saw the audience start singing hip hop at the sermon on the mount.

Ok, I have a few critiques about the pageant. Like, for instance, for a pageant that goes over the life and teachings of Jesus, why does he NOT SAY A WORD through the entire production?

Also, we’re talking about the Son of God, who humbled himself before the laws of man, right before being crucified.

Why do you have him presented with an honor guard of angels, sitting on a bling’d out throne?

I’m not sure we’re worshipping the same guy.

Yours reminds me a lot of a Gold calf for some reason. Just saying…

Also, it did point out something to me though, and I wish I was a bible historian, or had gone through and put together a proper chronology of the life of Jesus, but it seems like, after the resurrection of Lazarus, that the crowd gets tons bigger. That everyone’s crowding him for miracles, and then, almost in response to that does he set off the chain of events that leads to the resurrection.

Just an idea, but it seems like he realized that the message, which is the important thing, was being lost to the dog and pony show.

I don’t know.

It’s been over a decade since I did any serious study. Even when I was still going to church, it seemed like I was always getting the story piecemeal. I was getting snapshots and close-ups, not the full panoramic image.

Either way, it’s late and I’ve GOT to crash.

I’ll pick up tomorrow with the hailstorm.

What, you didn’t expect it to be a quiet night, did you?