Aquarium of the Americas

A happy day in New Orleans.
Who's looking at who? (OK, whom)




I have heard from people who have heard from people that the Aquarium in New Orleans was completely destroyed. I don't know if it is true, but it would make sense considering the location. I can still find no info about the zoo since the flooding began. If you have some, let me know, even if it's bad news.

The aquarium was a happy place, home to many many penguins and sharks and fish and sea turtles and the like. Since most of these animals can swim, perhaps some made it out to sea and can begin a new life. Perhaps the penguins will start a new colony in Jamaica! We went to the IMAX at the aquarium. In the lobby, it smelled like a mixture of popcorn and band-aids. Very strange, I know.

I can hardly watch the news. It is heart-breaking.

Hey Spammers

Stop spamming on my blog. Do not comment on here anymore. I will not visit your great site about insurance or vitamins or whatever the hell you are selling. Neither will anyone who reads this. So please. Just stop it. Good grief.

Happy Distraction

Cliff-Climbing Ralph

Is it too soon for a little comic relief? The past couple of days have been so tragic and sad, and I feel like I have been hit by a bus. We took the monkey hiking...he's lucky - he got carried most of the way. But here he is, braving the steep high cliffs of the Minnewaska Trail. One thing's for sure. he never complains.

Great Sadness

PHOTOS FROM NEW ORLEANS







I never thought I liked New Orleans until Kev and I spent our honeymoon there in April 2003. It is a city of great food, great music, beautiful gardens, friendly people, Meyer the Hatter, Voodoo BBQ, the Sock Monkey Man, and lots of nice animals at the zoo and aquarium, including the penguin in the photo. I have also been to Biloxi and Gulfport. I feel very sad for the people and animals on the gulf coast. This is a bad day.

Fret

I cannot find any information about the animals at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. Have any of you heard anything?

Progress

Geez...leave town for 9 days and come back to THIS. It was only about a foot high when we left. This photo doesn't quite capture the enormity of this monstrosity across the street.

Fine Art

This is an original painting given to me by my not-quite-two-year-old nephew, Ryan, for my birthday. It is only his second painting, and I feel very proud to own it. I think it is beautiful.













The last few mornings of our trip, Ryan started saying "coffee" every time he saw me. I wonder why that is?

The Butterflies of Hyde Park

Vacation Wildlife

Here is my wildlife list from Hudson Valley '05:

BIRDS:
Canada goose (hundreds)
Hawk 1 (could not ID)
Hawk 2 (could not ID)
Turkey Vultures
Wild Turkey
Tufted titmouse
Chickadee
Cardinal
Some kind of Heron (Prob. Great Blue)
Eastern Bluebirds
Pileated Woodpecker
Raven
Some kind of thrush (heard)
Red-bellied woodpecker
Hummingbird (prob. ruby-throated)
(I unfortunately did not have my field guide with me)

OTHER CRITTERS:
Various butterflies
Tons of dragonflies*
Deer
Chipmunk
Squirrel
Tree frog (heard)
Bats

*Have you guys noticed that there seems to be a lot more dragonflies this year? Maybe it is just because of my new pay attention policy, but I have been seeing them everywhere in great numbers.

Home

Left Hyde Park yesterday at around noon, and about nine hours later, walked through the door at Palo Pinto. A long day of travel, but the flight wasn't bad. We ordered some Thai food and went to bed early. I kept waking up not knowing where I was, and managed to sleep in until 8:00, so I must have been tired. Felt sorry for Kev having to get up early and go to work. I don't have to be at my office until 1:00.

I was glad to see that everyone has been blogging A LOT, but I know I will never be able to catch up on reading them all. I will do my best. I also have some photos to post, but no time today. In the meantime, here are a few things I learned on my trip:

• Sandwiches always taste better on the side of a cliff in the middle of a 7 mile hike.
• Bats are really cool until one flies right at your head.
• If you put honey on your finger, the butterflies will sit right there and drink it.
• Frogs never drink.
• The world's largest kaleidoscope in is Mt. Tremper, NY.
• Apparently, fall is "asteroid season." (I am suspicious of that one.)
• Sailing is fun!

If you are someone who is unable to embrace the heat, I recommend a trip to the Hudson Valley in late August, as it is delightfully cool and quite scenic.

Time to get back to the real world...

UPDATE: Not really digging the real world...I want my vacation back.

Bloggiversary

A quick blog from Hyde Park...felt I should write since it is the first anniversary of starting this blog. I have lots of photos and Tales of Mild Adventure to blog blogs about when I get home tomorrow, but for now, here is a blog about a good sandwich I had the other day, dedicated to Kev, who is in favor of revolutionary sandwiches, and who brought me on this nice and much-needed vacation:

Since the Hudson Valley is home to the Culinary Institute of America, there are lots of good chefs in the area. On Wednesday, we ate at a cafe in New Paltz, home of many many people who wear tie-dye and smoke various things and protest whatever they can and so forth. It is kinda like Denton, for those of you who know Denton, but more quaint. Anyway, at this cafe there is a chef from the CIA, and he prepared for me a delicious grilled brie sandwich with blueberries and almonds. Unexpected combo, huh? Very messy, but very tasty. I will try to recreate it at home someday.

Anyway, I look forward to catching up on my blog reading when I get back, and to sitting in my chair, and to September which is coming soon. But I will miss the people and dogs and cats and trees and mountains and birds and stars and lovely cool evenings of the Hudson Valley. And the sandwiches.

Road Blog

A quick hello from Historic Hyde Park, New York. We are having a great time so far. Spent the weekend hanging out with Kev's family, enjoying our nephew and the dogs and cats. I have seen lots of birds and butterflies, and some deer this morning. Headed to the mountain lodge today for some relaxing and hiking. Yesterday, I fell down. It was pretty embarassing, but I think only Kev saw me. Last night, when I stood up after dinner, I hit my head on the kitchen hanging lamp. Pretty much everybody saw that one. So one more accident, and I have the trifecta. I will try not to fall over the cliff. Hope you are all doing well.

Vacation Countdown

After a really bad day at work yesterday, and another demoralizing trip to the mall, vacation can't come soon enough, and luckily for me, it is tomorrow. I will look forward to catching up on all of your blogs when I get back. Until then, I am going to go enjoy people and toddlers and dogs and cats and mountains and highs in the 80s for a few days. See you soon.

On Second Thought...

I am afraid that the synthetic fibers in the Johnny Cash pants would release harmful chemicals into the environment if burned, so I have decided to ceremoniously cut them into tiny pieces.

Step One

Spent the morning going through my closet, getting rid of stuff that I haven't worn in years, or is never gonna fit again. It feels good. I have discovered I have some skirts I like that I forgot about, but pretty much only one pair of pants I can continue to wear this fall. I have a pair of black pants, affectionately known as the Johnny Cash pants, that have seen me through several winters. I am considering a nice bonfire for them this year. I shan't wear them again. They are pleated, too short, and hopelessly out of style. I can't wait to not have to wear them this winter. I loathe the Johnny Cash pants. I desperately need a fresh start.

By the way, all morning during my closet raid, Sirius First Wave has NOT played Turning Japanese. Happy times.

Whitney, I have a big bag of clothes for you. Not the JC pants, though. They're going up in flames.

Call Me Crazy...

...but Tommy Lee Goes to College is my new favorite show. I was cracking up watching it. So stupid, yet so genius. I sure hope Tommy Lee doesn't flunk outta the marching band drum-line.

Shout out to Francine, who is in town from Austin, and is planning to go to lunch at Antone's tomorrow. We WILL save Antone's, one lunch at a time.

My mom says it is worth the money to have good pants. She is going to try to help me find some on Thursday.

Kev says that even though he has no background in film, he could make a better movie than The Cave. I think he is right. I saw the commercial tonight and it looks really stupid.

Yesterday a catering truck came to sell lunch to the guys who are working on the new McMansion across the street. It was like the ice-cream man's truck, but without the scary music. Question: Am I allowed to go over there and buy some lunch from the catering truck? I was thinking they might have good tamales.

The Continuing Saga of Pants

There is nothing like a trip to the mall to precipitate sudden immobilizing depression and plummeting self-esteem. Question: Do they even MAKE jeans for grown-ups anymore? I am finding that the only choices out there are Low-rise or Ultra-Low-rise. Same problem with trousers, and I really need some for work. I might be the most unfashionable speech pathologist in America, and it makes me feel unprofessional. How could anyone take me seriously in the pink capris from 2001 and white tennis shoes? (Deep heavy sigh). I seriously think it is impossible to be fashionable on a budget these days. I know they have a few faux-designer things at Target, but the quality is poor. Kev always says you get what you pay for. He's right. But I can't afford to pay for the good-quality stuff in the mall. And I can't afford a tailor to make me some custom pants. And I can't justify buying expensive clothes, just because I think they will make me feel better about myself. Like the beautiful pink cashmere wrap sweater ($148!) I saw today at J.Crew. Ah...but shouldn't everyone have a cashmere sweater? So delightfully soft...

Here's the thing. I don't really need the beautiful pink cashmere wrap sweater. I have sweaters. Lots of them. And Kev is not going to like me any better if I have that sweater. And my family doesn't care what I wear. It would just be nice, I guess, to leave the house every once in a while feeling good about my clothes instead of feeling like Stacy and Clinton are going to ambush me at any minute and put me on What Not to Wear. Maybe that would be good. Maybe Stacy and Clinton could help me find some pants. I need to go sit in my chair for a few minutes.

Smart Bird Alert

LarryFeathers alerted me to this link for Einstein the bird:
http://www.koreus.com/files/200502/smart-bird.html

There are birds like this and MORE at the Birds of the World show at the State Fair of Texas, which is coming soon! Please go to the bird show. It is free and you will see great birds there.

Thanks Larry.

Chair Time

The weekend is over, but it was a good one. I spent the greater part of it sitting in my new chair, reading this book ------->.

It is a really good book, and I recommend it even if you aren't a bird person. It is sorta about birds, but it is more about paying attention and noticing things around you. It is basically about what I have been trying to say all along on this blog, but Simon Barnes says it so much better. The thing about paying attention is that you never know what you might see. For example, I go to work in a depressing office building on the service road of a depressing highway. But every day, there is a chance I might see the American Kestrels who live in the Ramada Inn overhang. So, when I get out of my car, I take a minute to look around. Every time I do see them, it makes my day just a little better. And even if I don't see them, if I look for them, I might see something else. I have seen mallards, killdeers, kingbirds, etc. If I didn't pay attention, I'd just be like the rest of the people who walk into the building with their heads down, depressed about going to work that day. Anyway, it's a good book, so check it out from your local library or wait for the paperback if you don't want to shell out the dough for the hard-cover. It is uplifting.

Since getting my chair and sitting in it a lot, I have had no nightmares, and very little stress. It is doing me a world of good. TG was asking if Kev has a chair. No, he doesn't. I was pretty sure Kev isn't the kind of person who needs a chair, but just to be sure I asked him last night if he wishes he had a chair. He said,"I don't need a chair." So, there you go. He has a desk, anyway. Also, TG, I liked the windchime idea, but the chair is in the bedroom, so that might get annoying at night.

Yesterday, my birthday concluded with dinner at my parents' house. My mom made delicious spaghetti and brownies, and my dad made home-made vanilla ice cream, and LarryFeathers was there and Albert the dog, and it was good. After all this birthday dessert, blackberry cobbler will have to wait until after vacation. I think I am going to save it for the first nice cool crisp fall day. Lots to look forward to!

An Open Letter to Lazy People

Dear People who Shop,

Would it kill you to walk a few extra yards across the parking lot to return your cart to the cart corral?

Love,
T.

Say It Isn't So...

Doug Christie?!

Oh, for the love of Pete.

WE MUST HELP ANTONE!

This is Antone. He is a nice Greek man, and as you can see, he loves Texas. You may remember him from john_clarke's blog about hummus. Today, I met john_clarke for lunch and we went to the Antone Cafe, which is downtown at Main and Field (I think). If you didn't believe John about Antone saying, "You want SPICY?" and calling him Joe, then you were right, because Antone says, "You want SPICY?" and calls him MISTER Joe. He called me The Lovely Lady. And then he gave me delicious Mediterranean food (thanks to John for buying lunch).

While we were eating, Antone came to our table to lament the construction in the neighborhood which is hurting business at Antone Cafe. Antone said he has been there for thirty years, and business has never been this bad. He blames the new lofts. People that live in lofts eat inside he told us, they don't bring new business. Antone Cafe needs there to be construction of new office space which means hungry lunch customers. Lofts do him no good. He sighed and his head hung low. Then, he brought us a free plate of grapes and pomegranates. Antone is sad. I can tell. And I am sad too, and I think we must all get together and save Antone Cafe because it has a nice hard-working owner and delicious Mediterranean food. So please try to go downtown for lunch and eat at Antone Cafe, and tell people you know to do the same, especially if they work downtown. I will go back, so let me know if you want to go with me.

Hello 37!

I have decided 37 is really not so bad. I sure did have a great birthday, with lots of nice messages from people I like, including a medley of Foreigner songs with the lyrics tricked up birthday-style which was left on our answering machine last night by my friend Shannon. I am listening to some new CDs that Kev gave me (two Band of Bees and a Robert Cray). I have new books to read and new kitchen gadgets to try, including the garlic peeling tube I blogged a blog about last month. Dinner at Nero's was great - Chicken Saltimboca and tiramisu and the usual great service from Tom, possibly the best waiter in Dallas. Met up with Julie and friends after dinner which was fun. I've got vacation coming up, September's nearly here, and I feel a groove coming on.

You may have noticed that there is a picture of a chair on this post. That is my birthday chair - a gift from Kev. The great thing is, not only is it a fabulous and perfectly Tara-style chair, but it also represents something I have wanted for a long time: my own little spot in the house. Now I have a spot where I can sit and read and drink coffee and relax. This morning, I bought my spot some cheerful orange gerbera daisies. In a little while, I am going to sit there and read the Friday newspaper and do the crossword. At the moment, the view isn't great...Good Neighbor Ron's car-port and some weeds. But I am going to fix that by putting a new bird feeder outside the window and maybe some sort of low-maintenace plant. And I think I also may hang some pictures on the wall behind the chair. I love my chair. I am going to go sit there now.

T's Big Day

Well, as you have probably figured out from Kev's really nice guest-blog below, it is my birthday. I have to tell you I have been really dreading this whole 37 thing, but if the first couple hours of it are any indication, it's gonna be a good year. Thanks for all the nice phone calls and emails and blogs and comments. My friends and family are cool, and I appreciate you all very much.
Since it is my birthday, and I managed to not have to go to work today, I am going to do fun stuff all day. First I am going to get some happy feet at the pedicure place, and hope I don't get some kind of infection from the whilrpools that people keep warning me about. Happy Feet are worth the risk I think. I am also going to go have lunch with my brother, who was nice enough to call this morning and invite me. (BTW, new LarryFeathers blog is up). In the afternoon, I might go shopping and get a new purse because mine is falling apart. Kev gave me a gift card to that cool place where you go make stuff, so I might go by there and check it out and sign up for a class. I might just even take a nap. And tonight we are going to dinner at Nero's, which is always a huge treat. Fabulous food, exceptional service. So I am going to stop moping about being old and start having fun now. Thanks again for all the nice thoughts.

Happy Birthday!

We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to wish a

Happy Birthday to Tara!

and to also congratulate her on the one-year blogaversary of The Lazy Russian Horses Show this month.

Now everybody sing along:

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday Miss Tara
Happy birthday to you
And many mo000re!

Love ya, darlin'.

Now back to our show...

-K.

The Dark Mark

If this sign appears in your yard or a yard near you...

...then you can expect this.

Mid-Week LRHS Question of the Day

What is your favorite dessert?

Thwarted

So, as you can see from the photo below, I was weak. I purchased supplies to make John_Clarke's W.T. cobbler. The plan was to put it in the oven during dinner so we could enjoy it nice and warm for dessert. But when Kev got home, he said, "You can't make cobbler now. It is seven o'clock at night." So the cobbler is on hold. I suppose it is for the best. I was so full after dinner, I wouldn't have really enjoyed the cobbler. It only would have made me miserable. Maybe tomorrow, we will have cobbler for dinner instead of the left-over eggplant casserole, which frankly wasn't that great the first time.

Did I ever tell you about the idea we had for a shop called Cobbler Cobbler where you can get your shoes fixed and enjoy a delicious fruit dessert? That one might have been Kev's...I can't remember. Anyway, I'd go there.

Dangit.

Tour of Garland

Today since I had to go to Garland, I thought I would take my camera along and photograph some of the highlights so you could see where I spent my teen-age years. They say you can take the girl out of Garland, but you can't take Garland out of the girl. Well, I'll leave that up to you guys...

In Garland, there is something for everyone, whether you are a farmer, a Buddhist, a Mexican person, a hungry person, a person who needs things cleaned, a republican, a person who needs an education (as long as you've had your shots), or perhaps even a person who sells propane and propane accessories.

I hope you will enjoy this mild photographic adventure through the place we lovingly call The Land of Gar...or The Real Arlen.

Uh..huh huh. It says "Bong." Only in Garland...

This Buddhist Temple is next door to my old Middle School

This is near my parents' house.

These cows live about a block from my old house (below).

We used to live in the house on the left. This street looks eerily like Rainy Street, home of Hank and Peggy Hill. Whitney and Bryce used to hide cigarettes in the shrubs.

Believe me, this was NOT a magnet school when I was there.

Raise the flag for Sopapillas! Mmmm...

I almost got a Taco. I should have gotten a Taco.

Big G's only theater until NorthStar 8 appeared in the mid-80's

MEE OK, YOU OK...

I Am Insane Now, Chuck

Spent 15 minutes this morning having a mental debate with myself in the canned fruit aisle of Central Market all about blackberry cobbler. Long story short...I finally decided to put the whole thing off until I can make it from scratch. If I go crazy, it's nobody's fault but mine.

I can't stop thinking about blackberry cobbler.

Back to School

Many local children are headed back to school today. It is way too dang early if you ask me. School should always start around Labor Day. There should be, at the very least, a HINT of fall in the air. How are you supposed to enjoy wearing your new back-to-school sweaters when it is 100 degrees out? Not to mention it costs a LOT to run the AC in all these schools during the hottest month of the year. Stupid.

I didn't mind going to school when I was a little kid. It was easy, and mostly pretty fun. I went to first and second grade at Slate Run Elementary School in New Albany. My first grade teacher was Mrs. Dersch. She was a mean mean lady with loooong straight hippie hair and a permanent scowl. It was common knowlege that her husband shot and killed their neighbor's dog for coming into their yard. Once when she told the class to be quiet, I had a cold, so I blew my nose and got in trouble. It's a good thing my parents already taught me to read and write and do math, because I doubt I learned much from Mrs. Dersch. Here's an idea: before you decide to become a first grade teacher, make sure you like children. In spite of Mrs. Dersch, first grade was pretty OK. I had friends, and enjoyed recess, and we got to carve stuff out of bars of soap.

For second grade, I had Mrs. Huffman. She was nice and smiled, but she was hard to look at because of a large strange bumpy facial growth. I was in an experimental "split-class," which meant it was half second graders and half third graders. One time, I was looking at a line of styrofoam cups on the window sill in which we had planted some beans. I thought I'd try out a bad word on one of the third graders, so I pointed out to Kelly Zurschmeid that the dirt pellets in the cups looked like t*rds (a word I learned from my cousin Jeremy, no doubt). Kelly Zurschmeid told on me and I got in trouble. Another time, during free play, all the third graders were rubbing their feet on the carpet and then shocking the 2nd graders. So I rubbed my feet on the carpet and shocked Gerry Lewis, and he told on me and I got in trouble. See, I almost never got in trouble because I hated getting in trouble, so when it happened, I remembered it.

My favorite thing about 2nd grade was once a week when the other 2nd and 3rd grade classes came into our room and sat on the floor. Then the music teacher would roll the piano into our room and we'd sing songs for like an hour. Woody Guthrie was a big player back then in mid-70s music classes. The best was when we got to have rhythm sticks and triangles and stuff to beat on. Also in second grade, I learned to whistle and blow bubbles with gum. And I got to join the school orchestra a year early because the teachers decided I was bored. (I guess maybe they thought it would keep me from saying bad words and shocking 3rd graders.)

Calm Blue Ocean, Calm Blue Ocean, Calm Blue Ocean

That is what Kev encourages me to chant mentally during times of extreme anxiety or panic. I think he got it from Miss Crabapple on the Simpsons. But today, I am not here to discuss my panic and anxiety, because it is time for a LRHS MOVIE REVIEW! (Cue the trumpets)

Today we went to the Angelika at Mockingbird Station to see Deep Blue. It is a documentary film about the ocean and ocean creatures. If you like PBS specials about the ocean, then you will really like this movie. The footage is great, spectacular at times, and the soundtrack goes well with the action. Even the smarmy Pierce Brosnan wasn't too annoying as the narrator, although I much preferred the work of the great Morgan Freeman in March of the Penguins. Speaking of penguins, you will see them in this film, as well as dolphins, whales, sea lions, hammerhead sharks, fish of all kinds, and lesser known deep ocean dwellers with blinking lights, and one that even shoots out a blue laser-beam type of thing that explodes into a burst of blue light seconds later to annoy or confuse its predators. Very cool. There are also some really funny crabs. I give the movie 4 out of 5 penguins on my new penguin rating system. I probably would have given it 4 1/2, but parts of the film made me feel a little claustrophobic. So please go enjoy Deep Blue with your friends and family today. WARNING: Some parts are sad.

PS. The popcorn was pretty good, but Kev and I both managed to spill root beer on ourselves, and the theater was FREEZING. For once it was good to walk outside.

Quick Question

What are these things the kids call "blackberries?"

UPDATE: So, Marty provided a link to a website via the comments (thanks, Marty!), and now I can tell you that a blackberry is a device which can offer me wireless solutions to meet my unique needs. Uh...OK. But what does it DO? Sadly, I don't think there are wireless solutions to any of my unique needs.

I prefer the fruit.

Clean Freak

I have started carrying around a small plastic bottle of hand sanitizing gel in my car for when I handle money or shopping carts or when I touch things at gas stations. I can see myself easily becoming a germaphobe. I don't know if the gel actually does any good, but it makes me feel better. That's what counts, right?

Disclosure

So, some of the stuff you have read or seen on here was Kev's idea (or started out that way and morphed into something more Tara-like) like designing something for the sweat-rings, and putting the monkey on the ceiling fan and some other stuff. I keep trying to get him to start his own blog. But he won't. So, there you go.

Thanks

I have noticed a lot of comments over the last few days from people who I don't know. Just wanted to say thanks for stopping by the blog, and taking the time to read and comment. I am always happy to hear from people about Sesame Street and rock shows and whatnot. And those of you who are regulars and comment all the time, thanks to you too. Now, for those of you who read, but NEVER comment.....I know who you are. Um, not really. Well, I know who SOME of you are. I think. Anyway, you should really say something now and then. That would be cool.

House Cleaning Day

When I clean the house, I look like this. Actually, I don't wear the hat. Kev made me put it on for the photo. If I didn't wear the bandana, I would become very headachey and congested from stirring up dust. I just finished cleaning my house for today. It is always such a good feeling to have a clean house. Wait a minute...that sounds like a Mister Rogers song. Every Friday morning at Central Market, I buy a copy of the Dallas Morning News as a treat for after I finish cleaning my house. Friday's paper is good because it has the movie section and the weekend guide, as well as a moderately difficult crossword puzzle in the Texas Living section. Kev hates the newspaper. To him it creates passive chaos, if you will forgive the feng shui-ese. He also isn't very interested in the news. He does like Dilbert though. Most of the time, I don't get Dilbert. But I did think it was kinda funny last week when the boss was going to get cauliflower for a brain transplant. I DON"T like cauliflower.

Tonight for dinner I am going to make the shrimp recipe from SA_Eric's blog, along with a nice mushroom risotto. This will be my first time to go solo on shrimp-cooking. I fear a kitchen disaster, but I am going to try it anyway. I like shrimp, but it freaks me out a little because it still kinda looks like a critter.

I am hoping to go see Hustle and Flow this weekend. It looks really great, and Henry Rollins gave it 4 stars.

Poor Don Music

Eventually got banned from Sesame Street because people were afraid children would mimic him and bang their heads senselessly on pianos. I guess no one worried about children choking while shoving cookies down their throats trying to be like Cookie Monster. Don Music sketches were funny. Did Sesame Street jump the shark when Elmo arrived?


PS Don Music is basically Guy Smiley with glasses and crazy composer hair.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Music click for more Don Music info!

Question for Friday

Who would you most like to see perform that you have never seen?

Living: Van Morrison, Paul Weller

Dead: John Lee Hooker, George Harrison, Miles Davis, the whole Buena Vista Social Club, Hank Williams...I could go on and on...

I will try to think of a new theme for future questions of the day.

The Guys

These are the guys. They live in New York. Look how smiley they are! They are as happy in real life as they look in this picture. And I will be happy to see them in 15 days.

Getting a Jumpstart on Thursday...

Question of the day:

In keeping with the theme, what was your first concert?

Mine was the Police, Reunion Arena, Ghost in the Machine tour. I was in 7th grade. My dad took me and 4 of my friends. We all bought the baseball-jersey concert t-shirt to wear to school the next day so people would think we were cool. It was great, and I think even my dad liked it. He was fascinated and probably puzzled by some of the fashion statements being made at the show. Later, my mom took some of us to see Journey. There was a lot of cursing by Bryan Adams, who opened the show, and it was kind of awkward, but fun. I think it was probably too loud for my mom, but she was a good sport about it.

Wednesday's Poll

What would you male readers think about some sort of under-arm insert with dry-weave technology for those unsightly sweat rings?

UPDATE: Based on comments, it appears t-shirts are common among readers of the LRHS. However, none of you are middle-aged or portly or dare I say it, engineers or high school French teachers, and I believe it is this population that seems to suffer from the rings the most. (Not Kev...he wears t-shirts too, and he is neither middle-aged nor portly).

The above assumption is based on very little real evidence other than the frequent rings of Monsieur Tanton, NGHS, 11th grade.

Hmmm...I bet Tall Guy would think "The Frequent Rings of Monsieur Tanton" would be a good album/song/book/or something name.

Another Cheap and Transparant Attempt to Get More Comments

UPDATED BELOW

Question of the day for Wednesday:

Name your top 5 best rock/live music shows, and worst 5 too!

Best:

Um...wait a minute, this is hard. Gotta think about this for a while...

UPDATE:

Worst:

1. Saxon/Armoured Saint at the Arcadia
2. Nine Inch Nails at the Arcadia (opened for Peter Murphy...I stayed in the lobby).
3. Debbie Harry at some bar...no band, basically a karaoke show, very wheels-off
4. The Who at Reunion a few years ago...shockingly bad, after seeing them live before at the Cotton Bowl and thinking it was amazing. A big disappointment.
5. The Texxas Jam the year it had the weird line-up of Ziggy Marley, INXS, and Guns -n- Roses...was that a Texxas Jam, or just a Fest of some kind? It was awful.

UPDATE 2:

Best:

1. Charlie Haden at the Blue Note, New York City, the night we got engaged.
2. Doc Watson at Bass Hall, Fort Worth
3. Echo and the Bunnymen, Bronco Bowl
4. KISS with make-up at Reunion...HUGE fun-factor
5. Prince at AAC last year
6. And all the good people I have seen at the old Poor David's Pub, including Lloyd Cole, John Wesley Harding, and Tab Benoit.

And an addition to the WORST list: Ringo Starr's All Stars in some field over off LBJ somewhere. I felt I had to go. He was a Beatle after all.

I reckon if I was asked the same question tomorrow, you'd get a completely different list.

Now YOU Sing!

What is it about the psychology of people that makes them love the audience participation part of rock shows? Especially when it becomes a competition between the right and left sides of the arena, or the floor people versus the balcony people. "I KNOW you people in section 121 can ROCK HARDER than the people in section 122!" I guess it is the same thing that makes people want to do the wave or the YMCA hand gestures at baseball games. Maybe I'm just no fun, but I hate that stuff. At live music events, I'd so much rather just sit down and listen, rather than rush the stage or stand up on my chair like I did in my suddenly very distant-seeming youth. At ball games, I just want to watch the game. I don't mind the between-innings stuff...the kids like it, and it keeps them from getting totally bored. But if I miss an exciting play because it coincides with my section's turn in the wave, I'm not gonna be happy. The old is creeping in...

PS I am also whipped by the drum/guitar/bass solo.

Dream ESP

Last night I had two different dreams about two different airplane crashes, so this morning when I checked CNN.com, I fully expected to see news of a plane crash. I was relieved there was no such news. But I just checked CNN.com again, and guess what? Damn. I hate it when this happens. I've had a few earthquake premonitions in the past too. Why can't I use my powers for good? Why?

Informal Recess Poll

When it cools off, I am thinking about trying to string together a day of recess in the park featuring kick-ball, whiffle-ball and other fun. Who's on board? (Families welcome)

Dream Job Revisited

After more thought, I have some additional dream job candidates:

• Penguin photographer
• Safety Dictator
• Coffee taster
• Owner of a nice shop that smells good, plays quiet good music, and sells nice affordable things that people will like. There will be coffee samples and cookies for customers, and I will have a comfortable register chair and a dog that sits next to me.
• Travel blogger

Biggest whip job for me would probably be working at guitar center.

What is YOUR dream job / whip job? Let me hear from you!

Take the Tuesday LRHS Music Challenge!

See if you can name some bands that have song titles which include the band name (Example: Big Country and Wang Chung).

I Really Think So

I'd be willing to put money on Turning Japanese as the song in heaviest rotation on Sirius First Wave. It was played in the first 15 minutes after turning it on today. That's not unusual. Whip.

They play Suedehead a lot too, but I like that one.

I Feel a Rant Coming On...

So, Sunday night at about 10:30, my dad hears a horrible screech and a loud crash and he knows that can't be good. He lives in a nice neighborhood on a nice cul-du-sac, and the main drag is a lovely curvey tree-lined street. And people drive up and down it like idiots. Pulling out of my parents' street onto said main drag is pretty scary because the road curves right there and you can't see if cars are coming until they're right on top of you. And sometimes they are going way too fast. There have been attempts to get a stop sign, but they have failed. So far, there have been three accidents in the vicinity this year, and the one Sunday night was fatal. A 16 year old boy, who had his license for about a week, was going about 75 mph down the main drag. The story goes that one of his friends dared him to see if he could drive that fast without losing control. Hmm... he couldn't very well turn down a dare, could he? So he and his two friends crashed into a tree, leaving the car shaped like an "L." A fifteen year old boy died and the driver now has to live with it the rest of his life, which he is lucky to have. None of the boys was wearing a seatbelt. Now they are talking about a stop sign again, or maybe some speed bumps. Not that a stop sign would have done much good in this case.

You know what makes me really mad, is that people have so little ability to handle themselves in a safe manner that we NEED things like speed bumps. Humans should not have to be forced to drive carefully on narrow streets where kids and pets and squirrels and other cars frequently create obstacles. They should just know better, and stop acting like complete jack-asses. But that's never going to happen.

And I have no idea what to do about teen-agers doing stupid stupid things. It's very sad. I seriously question whether most 16-yr-olds are really ready for the responsibility of driving a real car. Do they really know how different it is from their video games? I read in another blog recently that they no longer require kids to even take an actual DRIVING test anymore, just the written one. Can this be true?

Well, I'm just getting myself worked up...sorry for the negativity. I want this blog to be a happy place.

More Fear Fun Facts from Pop Sci.

If you fear the world, it's not necessarily better to just stay home:

• An estimated 280,190 toilet, shower, and bathtub accidents sent people to the ER in 2002.
• razors were linked to 33, 532 injuries.
• hot water - 42, 077 injuries.
• 23,283 sink injuries
• each year, about 400 people unintentionally suffocate or strangle themselves in bed.
• air pollution is 10 to 50 times higher indoors than outdoors.

And if you do decide to go out:

• half of all bills and coins carry infectious germs
• 5 people a year are killed by falling vending machines

The Lazy Russian Horses Show: Entertaining and Educational!

B and B Blues

It is August and my vacation countdown has begun. We are going to New York (upstate), where hopefully it will be at least a little cooler than Texas. We'll be spending part of the time with Kev's parents in historic Hyde Park, and the rest of the time in a bed and breakfast somewhere in the Catskill Mountains. My job is to research the b & b's, and it is pretty overwhelming. There must be a million b & b's in the hudson valley / catskill area. At least with the internet, one can easily rule out many of them based on looks alone. Why is it that the bed and breakfast people think the best thing going is the doily-filled and overly floral room? Some are so shockingly ugly that I had to turn away from the computer screen. I have no idea how people could sleep in those hideous rooms. Kev's sister recommended a great place, very rustic and simple, but unfortunately it is a little out of our price range for a 3-4 night stay. So I have found a few possibilities and made some calls, and hope to have this squared away this evening. Then I can start planning the fun stuff, like the Catskill Game Farm and the Dutchess County Fair (mmm...fried mushrooms and the best milkshakes you've ever had).

Flung!

Here is what happens to monkeys who swing from ceiling fans. Not so much fun now, is it chief?

Too Much Monkey Business

So, I go to the grocery store this morning, and come back to find this! Ralph just thought he'd take a little ride on the ol' ceiling fan carousel while I was out. Bad Monkey.

I Have a Dream

A couple of weeks ago, I sent off for a free DVD brochure from Linblad Expeditions regarding their trips to Antarctica. It arrived over the weekend, and I watched it. I have decided that it is imperative that I go to Antarctica on a Linblad Expedition. Here is why it is the vacation adventure for me:

• It lasts 25 days, most of which are spent at sea.
• It is not hot in Antarctica.
• You do not have to drive, cook, or make any major decisions for 25 days.
• You get to hang out with penguins, raft and kayak alongside whales and icebergs, see many cool birds, and there are seals of all kinds.
• You get a complimentary parka.
• Did I mention the penguins?

Now this is unfortunately a very very expensive trip. I reckon that to really do it right, we're going to need close to 40 grand. This presents a problem, because we just don't have an extra $40,000 lying around the house for fabulous adventures. And even if we did, we would probably have to use it for something like the mortgage.

And so, the scheming began. My first idea was to start entering every sweepstakes or contest I could find...surely I would win something, right? In fact, if any of you alert me to a contest that I enter and win, I will give you 10% as a finder's fee! My second idea was to sell raffle tickets for one dollar each. Once I sell 50,000 tickets, I will have a drawing, and that lucky winner will receive $10,000, and I can use the rest for Antarctica. Question: Is that legal? Would you guys buy one of my raffle tickets? OK, third idea: I could approach the executives from Sony, and have them sponsor my trip. I would take lots of pictures with my Sony digital camera, and they could turn the whole thing into a campaign for "see how great this Sony digital camera is for the common man who has no training in photography." Do you think they will go for it? Please let me know if you have any more ideas.

I think I have decided that I am going to Antarctica for my 50th birthday. That will give me time to get the money, and will also make my next several birthdays more bearable, since instead of being one year closer to OLD, I will be one year closer to penguins. Let me know if any of you would like to borrow my free DVD brochure.