Up, Up and Away

Blogging update

2006-09-05T22:23:00.000-05:00

So I've finally done it. I've blogged again!!! Check out my post at Terrance and my cutesy co-blog .

Hopefully the two of us will be adding more posts to that blog every few days.

Peace out.

Damn all that higher education!!

2006-06-25T22:47:00.000-05:00

Couldn't sleep last night as I had an ongoing nightmare centering around me not passing a calculus exam. Well, not passing is an understatement. I got a big fat zero on it. I also had another exam the same day and do not think I did well on that one but Mr. Sandman wanted to focus on the calculus class. It's funny that this scenario kind of happened in real life when I waited until 10 pm the night before my first calculus and accounting exams in college (same night). Since math and accounting are not my strong suites when it comes to exams, lets just say it was a stressful night that led to me dropping calculus (couldn't mess up my 4.0 at the time) and working REALLY hard to get that accounting grade back up to an A.

Have no clue why this popped into my head last night. I've been out of college for three years already (scary) and my last meaningful exam was a year ago (CPA), and I passed that one.

Who knows, maybe it stems from the guilt I'm feeling over my laziness at work right now?

Best Summer Ever!!!

2006-06-10T00:14:00.000-05:00

I completely admit that I have stolen Kimmmm & Emmmmm's current copywritten catch phrase but frankly my dear, I just don't give a damn! This is going to be MY best summer ever, too!!!

*Best Sugar Daddy Ever: The love of my life graduated from Medical School. Everybody, meet Dr. Honey (he's the one in the funny hat).

*Best Recovery Ever: One of my very best friends had a successful back surgery (made it on a national network twice) and is speedily recovering. She should be able to dance at her sister's wedding in December!!!!

*Best 'No Problem Mon!' Vacation Ever: Terrance and I journeyed to Jamaica to celebrate summer and his graduation. We survived the food at the luxury resort, didn't get knifed (as someone in the airport warned against), were offered marijuana at least twice (of which we did Not partake), and survived with only minor sunburns. Overall, it was a very relaxing, sun filled vacation at a great resort. Plus, I got to scuba dive for the first time!!!

*Best 'Making the Best of a Situation' Ever: Granny is recovering at home (with lots of help from Mom) from her recent stoke, and slowly but surely, she is making progress on her way toward getting back to her old self again.

*Best Use of Work Travel for Personal Benefit: Two day update training last week in Chicago. Since I had never been to the windy city, I flew in early Saturday and spent the weekend wandering around the beautiful city enjoying their great weather.

And. ..... . . .. . .

* Best 'New Home to Start Life Together with Dr. Honey in Fort Worth' Ever:
We closed on Thursday and move in on Sunday/Monday. Hopefully we won't kill each other during the move in 100 degree heat nor in deciding how to set up the furniture. If we survive the move, we move straight onto Happily Ever After.

Is blogging dead? (and where have I been?)

2006-05-15T22:01:00.000-05:00

Maybe you all have noticed but it's been a few days since my last post. I've been busy and bored and not motivated to post. But in my defense, it's not just me but the whole bogging network (or at least the blogs that I frequent) that have fallen into this rut of not posting regularly. While I've been away:

1)I worked a ton in March and April (learning to even further hate my job).

2) I also had the privilege to visit all of my DC friends at the beginning of April. Big thanks to Tricia for getting me there, even though sadly she was not feeling well for the visit. It was great to hang with her and Jeff, even just for a few hours each day. Also got to stay with James in his great neighborhood and experience a fish fry sponsored by Pork Producers. At this event, I got to listen to people complaining about the poor and homeless from Louisiana and the immigrants from Mexico (no, no this wasn't entirely sponsored by republicans). Also got to hang with Kimmmmm and Emmmmmmm and finally meet the great and powerful Phillip. Also got to have a lovely multiracial dinner (don't get those much in Dallas) with Kim and friends where I got to meet "The Boy" (a.k.a. Kim's boyfriend). Funny quotes from the evening include "I hate short people" (Oh, did I mention that The Boy just happens to be the tallest person in the WORLD!) and "What, Mr. Bear Porn goes to church??!!!

3) Finally got a week off and my cheap self loaded Terrance up for a road trip around South and Central Texas. Camped and hiked for two nights at Enchanted rock (did I mention Terrance is not a fan of camping or hiking?) then rafted the Guadalupe River in New Braunfuls. Made our way to Yorktown to see the parents and visit Granny in the hospital after her recent stroke. (Did I mention Terrance is not a big fan of Yorktown where he didn't have cell service or high speed internet?). Made a trip down to Port Aransas to camp on the beach but the wind was taking our tent into orbit so we packed up early. (Did I mention Terrance is not a big fan of the beach?). Finally, spent the weekend with Tami and Jim in Austin where we saw United 93 and hung out.

4) Terrance ran a half-marathon this weekend finishing 3rd in his age group.

5) and Tricia will be on Good Morning America and ABC evening news for her back surgery. I'm told I might be in a photograph in the background. Watch ABC around May 22 to catch her, wish her luck with the surgery on May 17 and happy birthday on May 18.

6) Today is the Wonder Twins birthday. Happy birthday!

10K Today

2006-03-04T23:38:00.000-06:00

This morning I ran my first 10K. Actually, I ran my first organized race. I know that a 10K won't be all that impressive to some people who have run marathons (see Phillip's recent blog post), but for someone who hasn't trained at all and hasn't even been to the gym in a couple of weeks, it was a big morning for me. I was more than a little nervous that I might not be able to finish the 6.2 miles with no training. I started out decently strong and even caught up with my friend from work who talked me into signing up for this one around mile 2.5. By mile 3, my knees and ankles were protesting loudly. I was ready to give in by mile 4 and almost fell on some rocks at mile 4.5 (this was considered a cross country run).

I think my finishing time was 1 hour and 1 minute. Not a great time but I did finish. My knees were pretty sore afterwards and are still not wanting to support all of my weight. By the time I had lunch and took a shower I was feeling really sleepy. I slept from around 2 until 5 and then laid in bed watching TV for another couple of hours because my legs didn't want to let me get up. I think the excessive sleeping had more to do with the fact that I get no sleep during the week and just was worn out.

I hope to continue running. Maybe I'll do a little training before my next run and possible work toward a marathon. Adventure racing is also sounding pretty exciting to me.

This all came about when my senior at work mentioned he was running in the Trinity River Levee Run. He knew I was interested in running (or at least talking about it) and asked if I wanted to run. He was registering online and pressured me into it.

The whole runners' atmosphere is pretty interesting.

Coworker Quote of the Day

2006-03-02T21:40:00.000-06:00

There have been several of these lately, enough for a new associate to start a quote book. I was not there for today's but it was IMed to me.

From my boss to a male experienced (2nd year) associate:
"So are you going to go watch Brokeback Mountain this weekend too?" in response to the associate drinking French toast coffee from the gas station.

The Way I See It #65

2006-02-27T00:16:00.000-06:00

If you're worried about getting a job - or keeping one - start a company of your own. By doing so, you'll reap the rewards of your hard work and you'll only get fired if you fail. This is the land of opportunity. Live in it.
--Bruce Campbell

My First Dallas Celebrity Sighting!

2006-02-19T23:24:00.000-06:00

Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki!

I was in line Wednesday for lunch at eatZi's (kinda like Dean and Deluca) when an overwhelmingly tall and scruffy man came in to the store for some grub. While I'm not a huge basketball fan, it's not hard to recognize this guy when he is 7 foot tall.

You know you're getting old when

2006-02-13T00:28:00.000-06:00

no matter how little you drink when you go out, you still end up with a nasty hangover the next morning.

I was invited to an Intern/First Year unofficial happy hour on Friday by a girl on the other audit team in our room who I have barely meet. I took a change on it being fun and urged a married (well common law anyway) coworker to go with me. I was the only one in my group officially invited this coworker speculated it was because I was the only one on the team who was "single."

Anyway I made a fashionably late entrance to Corner Bar where I quickly noticed that the happy hour had already passed (drink #1). I called Aaron to check on his whereabouts and was informed it wasn't Corner Bar but Quarter Bar, I always confuse the two. So drinks 2 and 3 where had at Quarter Bar. The event was then moved to Idle Rich Pub (across the street from my apartment, yey). I lose count of drinks here but they were dark bear, I would guess drink #4-8. After some fun little discussions with several people, including the merits, locations and skill levels of Beer Pong and Flip Cup, the group dwindled down to 5 guys. So what do five accountants do late in the evening, why go to one of Dallas' trendiest rooftop bars in Down Town. There I switched to Jack and Coke finishing the evening with drinks #9 and 10. Event worth noting is I talked coworker into agreeing to jump into a pool of Pink and Red balloons for $50. He didn't quite notice that underneath the balloons was actually a pool of water. I stopped him from following through because I wasn't sure how you handle having a drunk, wet coworker/friend get thrown out of a nice bar when it's freezing outside.

Anyway, hope the whole group made it home okay (got a call the next afternoon from one wondering how he got home when I had to remind him that HE DROVE HOME!!!)

So my headache was killer all day. Don't you love getting old.

Also saw Annapolis this weekend. Don't recomend it (although Kim was entertained). It's more than a bit light on plot and the acting does not begin to make up for that shortcoming.

I could name more

2006-02-06T23:43:00.000-06:00

Tagged by Phillip, I give you 4:

Four Places I've Lived:
1. Yorktown, TX
2. College Station, TX
3. Alexandria, VA
4. Dallas, TX

Four Jobs I've Had
1. Nursery clerk/waterer/planter/all-purpose plant guy
2. Plant Pathology lab worker
3. TA for Accounting for non-business majors
4. Auditor (yippieeee!)

Four Movies I Could Watch Over and Over:
1. Batman Begins
2. Stand By Me
3. Beautiful Thing
4. G.I.Joe the movie (yep, its a cartoon I about had memorized way back when. Nostalgia overwhelms when I see it now)

TV Shows You Love:
1. Growing Pains
2. Star Trek: The Next Generation
3. Dawson's Creek
4. Justice League Unlimited

Four Places You've Been on Vacation
1. Port Aransas, TX (every summer for the first 12+ years of my life)
2. Las Vegas (Like 5+ times already with the fam.)
3. Europe (3xs)
4. Appalachian Mountains

Four Of Your Favorite Foods
1. Omelets
2. Crab Legs
3. Scallops
4. Cafe Excel's Strawberry Tart

Four Places You'd Rather Be:
1. The Beach (it's summer somewhere right?)
2. To steel from Philip, I could name a few choice individuals' beds. . . but I'll refrain.
3. Bacharach, Germany
4. New York City

Four Albums You Adore: (this probably meant music but I'd prefer):
1. Photo Album #1: High School through sophomore Year at A&M
2. Photo Album #2: College Junior & Senior Year
3. Photo Album #3: Europe with Terrance and beyond College
4. Hilariously captioned photo book Tricia made of our trip to Puerto Vallarta.

One State Two State, Red State. . .other red state?

2006-02-05T14:52:00.000-06:00

States I have visited (did not include states that were only driven through).

create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

And to add the other countries I've visited: Bahamas, Canada, England, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Scotland, Spain & Switzerland. (yes I know, no where too exotic) Favorite foreign places: Bacharach, Germany and Vernasa, Italy.

Weekend of What?

2006-01-22T21:39:00.000-06:00

So the plan for the weekend was to go home for a wedding and visit the family. I got about an hour outside of the city on Friday night and decided I was a bit to tired to make the remaining 4 hour trek (and the thought of a 5 hour return trip a day and a half later really bummed me out) so I turned around. Slept late, watched 40 Year Old Virgin, took the CPA online ethics course and pretty much vegged the weekend away. Anyone else have an interesting weekend?

Gay Buffet

2006-01-11T22:33:00.000-06:00

For the past two weeks I have been working with a team of all guys (no, this isn't the buffet). This is something that I don't think I've ever done before. The entire day is completely different in almost every way than it is with even just one female on the team. What that means is that with deciding on lunch and dinner during the day and a two week period where UT won the Rose Bowl and Marcus Vick got kicked out of Virginia Tech, not a single productive piece of work is going to get down. The comment made at the end of today was that we just need one girl here to keep us productive.

There are seven guys in all and two of them get there early every day so that they can leave for a couple of hours in the afternoon and go to the gym. When one of the guys got back yesterday, he mentioned his problem with old guys in the locker room who like to stand around (or sit on the benches) naked and talk to anybody else in the room. For those of you who haven't spent a little bit of time in a guy's locker room, this is true of all old men who go to the gym.

Anyway, when the second guy got back today, we asked him if he had any 'old guy' experiences today. He responded no, but said he had another kind of bad experience today. He prefaced his story by saying that he has nothing against gay people, it's just the staring. He said there was a gay couple (he has seen them work out together several times and it's obvious they are a couple) in the locker room when he was getting dressed. While he changed his boxers, they both just full-on stared at him the whole time. He said that it just didn't seem fair that they got to stare at him in the locker room. That it was like him just wandering into the women's locker room and sitting down to watch. The guy's locker room was like a buffet to them. It was such a good deal for them, that if he was gay he would probably just hang out in the guy's locker room all day.

On another gay note, a third guy in the room randomly commented last week "I wish I could quit you." I laughed under my breath.

Busy Season Day 1: And so it begins...again...

2006-01-10T01:06:00.000-06:00

Yes everyone, Tax season is here again (only my fellow accountants and those whom I have lectured about how audit and tax season differ will get that little bit of accounting humor). What busy season means to me: Lot's of time with my coworkers, Lot's of delivered food eaten at my computer, Lot's of extra body weight as I eat to find some little bit of happiness, Depression, Anger, exhaustion. . .I digress.

Tonight actually wasn't bad. It was a 12 hour day but with the group I'm working with for the next week, I don't expect too much pain. I'll keep you posted.

Explanation/Retraction/Apology

2006-01-05T21:56:00.000-06:00

So I post as a follow up of my overly emotional Rose bowl post last night. I was originally unhappy with UT's win because I was expecting arrogant bragging once I got to work today. Instead I found a guy who was truly appreciative of his alma mater's success and knew so much about the details of the game and the season and each of his comments about the game where so detailed, you couldn't help but respect his passion. Now my only issue is that I feel USC got no props in the media today even though Vince only won by 3.

The State, the school and the disappointment

2006-01-04T22:26:00.000-06:00

Those crazy Canadians don't seem to understand good ol' fashioned college football rivalry. I got a phone call from my Canadian-DC buddy who just happens to be in Austin tonight on business. She called around half time from a bar wearing a burnt orange Rose Bowl t-shirt looking for praise from me for cheering for UT in the Rose Bowl. To clear up any misunderstandings there are a couple of things I feel I need to explain. Just because I am from Texas and therefore am known as "The Texan" doesn't mean I am obligated to cheer for Texas to win the national championship tonight. While I do love the city of Austin and am willing to concede that the University of Texas does provide a quality education, you must understand that I am an Aggie. Beging the Red Ass Aggie that I am and have always been (okay, no comments about the quality of my spirit from my college buds), I just can't bring myself to root for the enemy. . . . .
and an edit after the end of the game: I am still going to hold onto the idea that UT shouldn't have gotten that first touchdown because of the downed knee and therefore UT lost by 3!

The Semester System

2006-01-03T21:48:00.000-06:00

So I'm 26 years old and have been out of college for 2 years and 7 months. I have come to terms with the fact that I no longer spend my days with young, diverse, interesting and mostly attractive people wearing pajamas and baseball caps. I've gotten over not going out every Thursday night, getting drunk and sleeping all day Friday because I had no classes (yes, those of you who left after 4 years, I DID do this my 5th year!). I understand that you can't learn new things everyday for the rest of your life. I've come to grips with no naps, no summer road trips, no. . .
what the HELL am I talking about! I most certainly have not come to grips with any of this! I want to be a young and naive college kid who has the whole world open to him. Instead, now I do taxes.

. . . and it was another Merry Christmas

2005-12-27T23:41:00.000-06:00

Hope all was merry, spiritual and full of family for you guys out there. It was another South Texas Christmas for me this year with the temperatures in the 70s and barbecue served to the extended family. Not nearly as exciting as last year's white Christmas but at least everyone was able to make it this year. On a lower note, I'm sitting in a hotel in Longview, TX tonight so that I can begin my 2 day physical inventory observation bright and early tomorrow on what are well publicized "bonus" firm holidays (have I mentioned how much I hate my job lately?)

My first Christmas sitting this year was also my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary (to which my mother commented a little bitterly under her breath "that's a long time to spend with one person." anniversary GPs to the right.

As there are a few out there who still ask the question in the name of small talk, I will share my Christmas gifts with you:

Napoleon Dynamite DVD
Set of Temperpedic-type pillows
cologne
Star Wars video game (being retuned, I wanted Pac-Man :-(
Table Lamp
Crown Royal (my bro. got 2 cases of Corona)
Batman Begins DVD (returning for BB: Special Edition)
Aggie Golf Club covers (and no, there isn't any joke to these "Aggie" items)
Vibrating back pillow ( ;-)
and some cash. . .

What if the hokey pokey IS what it's all about?

2005-12-08T00:33:00.000-06:00

The Rent World: The Gauntlet

2005-12-08T00:18:00.000-06:00

So I don't mean to harp on the subject of Rent: the mediocre musical movie but I turned on MTV for like 10 minutes today and I thought about it again. They were airing The Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet II. Am I the only one that can see similarities between the Real Worlders and the characters of Rent? Neither seem to feel the need to get a real job, instead settle for groveling for money through sad acts of killing dogs, stripping/fighting/sexing on tv, hotwiring ATMs and such. Both seem to feel they are more important to society as a whole and that their lives actually have positive impacts on others outside there little circles. Both just need to go out and get a Real job and step into the Real World. Plus if you throw in Judd Winick (who does not do the challenges) from the San Fran. season and his ongoing devotion/fascination with Perdro, you have the AIDS and gay themes there too as he constantly incorporates these into his pop culture writings.

Maybe it's jus the 12am caffeine thinking here.

Thanksgiving

2005-12-02T00:54:00.000-06:00

I didn't post anything around Thanksgiving because my holiday was uneventful. I do have to say one thing I am very thankful for is grandparents (things...are...thing...is?). Check out the Grandparent line up at the family Thanksgiving. Make sure to take note of the good China (oh, the one in the pink is mom and the last old lady is my great aunt Mary Lee)

Rent

2005-12-02T00:13:00.000-06:00

As I'm sure you've deduced from the title, tonight I saw the movie musical Rent. I felt the need to comment on the movie because all of the reviews I've received so far from friends have been mediocre to negative. I saw it with Kim who has not seen the musical nor listened to the soundtrack so for most of the movie, I sat thinking that she must be bored out of her mind. While I don't think she was disappointed to see it, I also don't think she loved it. I must say that I very much enjoyed the show. It definitely was, as many people have said, the stage musical on screen. There was only one scene that I can think of that was Chicagoesc and that is okay with me. I have seen the musical twice before, once on Broadway with-I think- the original cast that was in the movie and a second time in Broadway's sister location, Rudder Auditorium on the campus of Texas A&M. I have also often listened to a burned copy of The Best of Rent soundtrack. During the movie, I had the soundtrack playing in my head and the vague visuals of the stage performances running through my head. I don't think that anyone who has not seen the stage performance or isn't at least very familiar with the soundtrack could really enjoy the movie too much. I picked up on a few differences in the songs/scenes during the movie which mostly bothered me but since I only listen to "The Best of Rent" soundtrack, I didn't pick up on any of the missing songs. While I think they would have made a bigger splash at the box office had they replaced the cast with big names like Zellweger, Zeta-Jones and Gere, I am very glad they did not. Whenever I think of Rent, I will always see Anthony Rapp's funny looking pale face with his over worn blue scarf and purple sweater. Ahh, to be young, naive, creative, living in NYC and to not have sold out. . .to not have to pay RENT! We'll forget about that whole AIDS thing and the fallacy of their expectations . . .(side note, I paid my rent today).

window seats

2005-11-20T20:05:00.000-06:00

Soon we will begin our decent and start the landing procedures. I look up from my book and out of my little window and suddenly realize I haven't sat in a window seat in quite a while-I now go for those isle seats for that that extra leg room. When I sit in a window seat and get a little bored or depressed or start to get a little fed up with the goings on inside the cabin, I stare out at the clouds. Sometimes there are clear skys where I can make out greens and browns below-maybe some rivers and lakes, mountains or cities. Other times the clouds are just patchy with puffs of white here and there. And then there are days like today where the sky below the plane is covered in thick, rolling white clouds as far as I can see out my little window in every direction.

I guess I'll get a few laughs and some rolled eyes from my readers, but I always expect to find life up here. Maybe a couple of colorful Care Bears sitting there, a Superman flying by or a whole city built up here on the clouds. A Cloud City like the one in Empire Strikes Back or maybe even a medieval castle with knights riding out across the white . Along with my visual search, when the whole plane experience gets to me, I imagine myself phasing through the side of the plane and walking out onto the wing. It's probably cold out there but it looks pretty comfortable from here. I see myself jumping from the wing and falling steadily through the cottony-white layer below, rushing downward toward the mountains and lakes below. Pulling up, I come roaring back through the cloud floor soaring with the plane itself. . .the flight attendant's voice crackles on over my flying theme music playing on my iPod, yanking me back into the cabin.

I take another look back out my window only to see the plane engulfed in white and then slowly, the city below breaks into view. Already people are scrambling to gather their stuff around them so they can hop out of their seats the moment we touch down and fight their way off of the plane. Me, I wish for a few more moments back up there, outside this unpleasant transport, searching for my kingdom in the sky or those 80's cartoon bears.

That COWBOY CAB has horns!!!!

2005-11-01T21:25:00.000-06:00

This one is a shout out to Mittens! I know the picture is pretty hard see but I was jogging tonight (yes, with my camera) and happened upon a Cowboy Cab with a set of longhorn horns mounted to the hood. Now I know those of us who grew up in this great state of Texas (look for the red states and we're the big one, bottom and center) are used to seeing horns mounted on every vehicle, but for someone from the District of Buffalo, Ohio, this would be quite a sight.

I would have gotton up closer for a better pic but the cabbie was in the cab laughing at me.

Happy Halloween (a lackluster entry)

2005-10-31T11:04:00.000-06:00

So, tonight is the night to take the kids out for candy (or stuff them in a pumpkin if you are in some kind of twisted Anne Geddes mood).

Anybody do anything cool over the weekend to celebrate the holiday? Some people I know ran marathon, some people prepared to start a new job today, some people explored a new city, some people studied for a big test (hopefully!). Me, I stayed home and recuperated from life this weekend.

Anybody see/wear any cool costumes this weekend that they can share with the rest of us? I got a report that the costumes of choice on Northgate this year involved lingerie and even a few pasties. Sounds like a good time to me.

Prunes

2005-10-26T15:35:00.000-05:00

I received this email today from an individual who will not be named. Started laughing out loud in my training class so I just had to share.

email:
"I bought this big can of prunes and raisins apple sauce and other "healthy" food... I didn't realize that prunes are known to help you. . . you know. . .so I ate half the can before lunch. . . At 2 pm I ran to the bathroom and was there forever. . .SO embarrassing! Avoid prunes. . . not cool. . . They taste good but they're just not cool. . ."

2005-10-25T00:35:00.000-05:00

Congratulations Tami & Jim !!!

Wishing the best of luck to the beautiful couple as they enjoy their honeymoon. I was very honored to be a part of their special day by serving as a groomsmen. I had a great time at the hometown wedding this past weekend. (and check out the nuts on that cake!!)

"Mine's a heifer!"

2005-10-23T22:17:00.000-05:00

I finally got my nano set up tonight. The winning name was. . .well none. I was just going to go with Todd (my middle name) but roomie over here got her panties in a wad telling me it's not like it's a kid or anything so I shouldn't give it a person's name. So I settled on My pod Todd. Kind of a compromise between Kim's name rhyming, Phillip's myPod and my generic Todd. Sorry Terrance, while Oxymorons are fun, I just wasn't sold on that particular one.

And after it was all set up, I had to show Kim (an iPod mini owner) how I could do finger lifts with my tiny electronic miracle. Her eyes glowed in wonder as she commented about her mini, "mine's a heifer!"

I'm going to try and take him out for a job tomorrow and see what he's really made of.

The iPod is myPod!!!

2005-10-18T21:49:00.000-05:00

I GOT IT, I GOT IT!!!! I finally found the 4GB iPod Nano, white. Didn't have time to set it up yet but it's finally in my hands.

Now on to the import part. Kim tells me when I set up the program I have to give it a name. Please give me suggestions on what to name my iPod.

What I'm watching.

2005-10-10T23:17:00.000-05:00

So we are well into the new TV season and I'm sure y'all are all curious about what I'm watching:

Sunday:
West Wing- watched the premier but haven't caught the follow ups. May pick it up later in the season, as Terrance keeps me up to date.
Desperate Housewives- (who isn't?) although I'm not as into it as I was last year. Since the big mystery was solved last season and all of the main characters have changed their roles and or personalities, I just don't care about them as much as before. Hopefully it will start to pick up.
Gray's Anatomy- Not a fan of this one. The roomy loves it but I just don't understand why they all keep sleeping with each other. Do they EVER leave the hospital?

Monday:
How I Met Your Mother- May not keep this one all year as I don't care for some of the cast but Neil Patrick Harris is HILARIOUS!!! "Suit Up!" "Have you met Ted?"

Tuesday:
Nip/Tuck- Good show when you are looking for high drama (and not the OC type). Hasn't captivated me as much as the prior seasons though.

Wednesday:
Lost- Haven't been a fan of this one since the third episode of last season. I never felt like the show knew where it was going. They have started to unravel the plot this season (and people discussing this matter at work has got me tuning in again) but I still don't think it has enough direction. Will probably drop this again soon.

Thursday:
Smallville - So I'm a big Superman fan. Haven't always liked the tone or direction of the show but last season was great and this season it's sounding like he might actually become Superman sometime soon.
Everwood - Catch this one off and on. It's on the TiVo season pass but might not stay there long.

Friday - Nada. Hopefully I'm out on the town celebrating life.

Saturday:
See Friday, unless the week's Justice League Unlimited is new on Cartoon Network (and then I TiVo it and watch it later). I know I'm a geek but its a cool show about Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and cohorts written on a mostly adult Sci-Fi level.

Also try to catch some Aggie football but that's been pretty painful lately.

So what are you watching?

Nicknames at work

2005-10-10T22:33:00.000-05:00

Over the past 2 years (plus the 3 month internship) at work I have come to be know by many names. To honor my soon to be departing coworker who created many of the names, I'm going to list them for you:

1. JU4Todd- So this one came about during a happy hour while recruiting for the internship. This was my email address on my resume and the manager and associates thought that Todd was my boyfriend and I was "for" him?? The name is still sometimes used by my senior manager.

2. JTU - This one seems to be a derivative of the JU4Todd. Once the Todd was explained, I guess this one made a little more sense. It is more often used by the same senior manager noted in #1.

3. JC - The initials of a coworker named Jarod. This is of course only used on accident.

4. Poodle - Used by my favorite DC coworker after I dubbed her Mittens for wearing pink mittens. She took this as a sign of affection and felt the dog reference was a way to show affection in return.

5. Spidey - A group of guys in Tampa thought I looked like Toby McGuire around the time Spider Man 2 came out.

6. Sharrett - I was sitting next to the printer and we asked the IT guy to set up a network printer. He said that he could run it through one of our computers and we work on a shared network through that computer. The senior on said to use my computer because I could Share-it. That random IT guy still calls me Sharrett when he sees me in the elevator.

7. Janet - We were talking about mistakes in names or getting the wrong mail or something and I mentioned how I sometimes got mail for Janet because if you write real fast, the 2 'R's in my name blend together into an 'N'

8. Cornbread - Another guy on my team brought cornbread for lunch and someone thought it was a bright idea to then call ME cornbread. WTF???

9. Sweet Tea - The cute Southern girl on our team (the one this post is written in honor of) gave me this one. It didn't last too long because it was a little awkward calling you coworker sweet-y.

10. Pork Chop - See #9 above.

11. Butterbean - This one has received the most mileage. It was started because I ordered lima beans as a side with my barbecue one day and the Southern girl equates butterbeans with lima beans. This one caught one to all of the females on the team and the male partner has used it a few times. I almost named my blog Butterbean.

Additional name worthy of mentioning: At my very first job back in high school, I was called Tourettes (like the syndrome) because it sounds like my name and I made some kind of funny move with my head one day.

Urinetown

2005-09-26T22:19:00.000-05:00

Anyone else ever have to take a drug test? I guess some of us have taken them for school athletics but those usually involve someone coming to the school to take your sample or you going to a nice, sterile doctor's office (and yes, I know, sterile is not really an appropriate word to use when describing a doctor's office but I hope they at least try).

Well, apparently if you have to take them for an employer (or in my case, a client), you have to go to a special little drug test place. And when I say special, I mean nasty little building somewhere in the ghetto. Okay, nasty is a little harsh but when you force a germaphobe to go to a place of business who's primary purpose is to have it's clients piss in a cup (but only up to the white line, and don't flush the toilet when you are done and DON'T wash your hands while you are in the bathroom), it can get ugly!!! So if rule number 3 is don't wash your hands that means NO ONE ELSE washed their hands after filling up to the white line!!! Well I filled up to the white line and then had a lot more fillin' that I needed to do but really just couldn't be comfortable with having the woman standing outside come in and check out my pee before flushing it herself. So I squeezed it off and zipped up so the pain in my bladder the whole way home was enough to take my mind off that fact that NO ONE WASHED THERE HANDS AT THAT FREAKIN' PLACE!!!

So we took the boat out. . .

2005-09-25T22:29:00.000-05:00

So Terrance and I took our boat out on it's maiden voyage a couple of weeks ago in Temple. Temple, TX really doesn't have much to speak of but this summer I learned that it had a great river just west of town with a boat ramp. We started with a picnic by to water and discussed how nice it would be to have a boat to navigate the river in. After a little more discussion, we broke down and bought ourselves a boat. Now it was several weeks before we had a chance to actually take it out on the water and I was so excited to finally get to do it.

Now I had wanted to air up the boat at home but Terrance wanted to wait until we got to the water. Oh, did I mention that our boat was actually a Coleman 2-man inflatable boat? We pulled up to the boat dock on what happened to be a busy day. There were several trailers already in the parking lot and more arriving after us. We hooked up the little air pump up to our deflated boat and tried to ignor the stares of those around us who had brought real boats. Terrance tried to hide behind the car using the premise of assembling the oars as an excuse but I exposed him and guilted him into coming out into the open for all to see. After finally getting the thing all aired up, we trucked it down to the water and stumbled into the thing. This is about the time we learned "2-man" boat really meant that you could fit two men in it but really was only meant for one. The embarrassment that started with the noisy air pump continued with the two guys stuffed in the inflatable boat desperately trying to paddle across the river and have very little success.

We quickly gave up on the paddling and just floated around, trying to avoid those boats with actual motors that were passing us. We regretted not bringing a cooler of beer with us (where we would have put it, who knows). Now on the way back to shore, Terrance got the bright idea to get into the water and swim around. I joined him and we swam toward the shore towing the boat behind us. When we got about three feet from land, we both noticed the little water snake bobbing around in the water nice in front of us. As you can guess, the two of us freaked out and hilariously scrambled to get back into the little raft. I'm sure the snake was laughing at us just like the two families waiting along the shore were.

As we climbed out of the water, we finally accepted our place in the boating community and proudly carried our prized boat back to the car.

"It's my bachelorette party AND my baby shower!"

2005-09-18T22:24:00.000-05:00

That was the toast for each shot taken on Friday.
And before you call child protective services, I think it was only a joke. This weekend brought my lifelong bud Tami to the Big D for her Bachelorette party originally scheduled for New Orleans but I think they were having problems with the hotel there.

So anyway, Tami called to tell me that she was bringing her wild and crazy girl group and heading to my city where she expected me to go out at least one night with them. So I called in Terrance for a little back up and planned to meet them for dinner on Friday.

Not to go into too much detail, but the highlights of Friday night included lots of alcohol, the required toast for every shot (see title to post), Tami ending up with some random guy's boxer briefs that then ended up on Cele's head, lots more alcohol and a hazy cab ride home to remove my dinner and drinks from the evening before making it to bed.

Saturday was spent recovering from Friday (the headache went away eventually), changing out the standard apartment vertical blinds in my living room with some Roman blinds and some football. The bachelorette monster roared it's ugly head again on Saturday night just as my hangover cleared up. They were heading to Cedar Springs, the Dallas gay district, for a drag show and some clubbing. The highlight of this night would have to be Cele's new girlfriend, the 50 year old woman, who hung out with her ALL night and bought her lots of drinks. Also of note, the most straight looking gay guy ever getting WAY too hot and heavy with Tami's gay coworker. Side note: What's the deal with drag shows, I just don't get the appeal?

Fun was had by most (one girl remained in bed for the rest of the weekend following the Friday night festivities. Congrats to Tami and here's to much more fun even after the ball and chain is locked on next month.

New York: A Look Back

2005-09-13T00:42:00.000-05:00

Today marks the week anniversary of the our return from Metropolis so I felt it would also be a fitting time to look back at all of the memories and share a few of the highlights. (side note: yesterday marked the anniversary of the attack on that great city and our country. thoughts, prayers and little moments of reflections go out for those who lost their lives or their family members that day. same goes for those working each day to protect us and other parts of the world from something similar in the future- glad to get your email this morning Brandon.)

So this New York trip came somewhat out of the blue when one member of the tribe ended up with an airline credit that was burning holes in the designer jeans it was resting in. Somehow the idea spread and another three tickets were purchased along with a hotel but the planning stopped there. No theatre tickets were bought, no tourist sights were researched. Everyone fell back into a busy work schedule and had to deal with moving into new apartments.

It was looking really bad the night before the flight when one member of the tour group checked out do to illness and I ended up with only two hours of sleep. But as the two of us departing from Dallas arrived with plenty of time to make our 7:40 am flight and got a decent nap on the plane, things began looking up as we met up with our third buddy and ventured out into the Big Apple, all in coordinating green shirts.

[Note: originally provided detailed outline of trip but realized even my mom wouldn't sit long enough to read it so I will change it to only include my personal highlights]

So this was my fourth trip to New York, and as with DC, I am starting to feel more like a visitor than a tourist. I know the basic lay out of the city and have visited the popular sights, what four times now?

First day included celebrity sighting by MP (this merited walking an extra block out of the way for her even though she had been gracefully commenting on the large amount of walking we were already doing doing). Celebrity sighted was one Annette Benning on the east side of Central Park along 5th Ave., complete with freaky bleached and spiked hair. Not to be out done, I spotted the lead singer to Go Go Dolls walking in SOHO on Sunday (and strangely enough, his hair looked remarkably similar to Annette's). While this sighting was not shared by my tour buddies, I've sticking to it. Friday night involved dancing at Red Lion on Bleeker Street. This was a fun little place with a great cover band and beautiful people (some I tried to persuade my single tour mate to flirt with to no avail).

Saturday gets a little hazy but our evening plans involved donating a kidney and promising to send our first born to get tickets to the sold out Wicked. Now I'm not sure, but I think Wicked was somehow written as a political satire with the wizard representing President Bush and Elphaba, the witch representing either the people of New Orleans (who President Bush doesn't "care about") or the country of Iraq. Anyway, the musical was excellent (seeing them in the theatre of New York makes a good show about 100 times better)! Afterwards, we took a bike taxi (and nearly died about ten times as the peddler hurled his little bike cart in front of moving traffic expecting them to stop) to dinner where we found a wonderful piano singer and a huge painting of a naked woman.

Sunday afternoon finds us in China Town (aka: boring fake purse street). While following my two traveling companions through these stores, they wander into a back room and a door/portion of the wall shuts in front of me. After about ten minutes of me imagining the two of them being sold into the Asian sex trade, they each emerge with designer handbags. They try to explain how great the stitching is on them. . .blah blah blah. . .I end up with a new pair of puma shoes (not supposed to be fake) and we head away. We later meet up with Canadian blog inspiration friend and her friend at a rooftop bar. We had a great time learning about the Kibbleses and about the awesome Brazil festival we all missed right outside our hotel. Big thanks and a howdy ya'll to Kim and Mike for hanging out with "the Texans."

Sometime that night at that club, a certain fashion conscience member of our traveling circus realized that true fashion innovation isn't coping the latest high priced trends carried at "her store," but creating your own individual look and carrying yourself in it no matter how it looks to others (I predict this revaluation has faded).

Final day involved DC team member disappearing into the hazy morning to catch an earlier flight, an early jog for those of us remaining (no Today show, THANK GOD) and lots more walking until collapsing of exhaustion, heading to the airport and flying off into the sunset.

In conclusion, I think that for my future visits to NYC, I will try to say with locals so I can get to know another side of the city. This of course will require me to befriend some locals (I tried to nudge my flight companion to help me with this on our return flight. She had the middle seat and was lucky enough to have an attractive young guy in the window seat. While listening in on his cell phone conversation while boarding, I learned that he is closing on a condo in Manhattan but will be traveling to Dallas every week for the next couple of months. Well, my traveling buddy did not see the same potential in our row mate and refused to flirt. We're going to have to work on that because now I still have no New York hook up.

No no to Nano

2005-09-12T22:39:00.000-05:00

So as a birthday gift to myself, I had decided last week that I would buy myself an iPod mini (at first, I spelled it I-pod. Tells you how far behind I am). Beginning with the tease from kimmmm and her friend Cassie, I started leaning to the new teeny iPod nano.

I was over the top convinced when I asked a little group of Apple employees at the Apple store which I might be better suited to own, mini or nano. After an intense two minutes of the four employees arguing among themselves about flash drives or some other such nonsense, the girl I had originally asked turned to me giggling, "whoa, we just got in a nerd debate there." Once I broke her away from the other members of the geek squad she excitedly covered all the cool features showing pictures and songs on the color screens of the EIGHT nanos they had on display. Not to stop her too quickly amid her giddy ramblings but I was convicted I had to have it so I broke in with "I'll take it!" At this she paused, looked at me a little confused and said, "But we're out."

I WANT IT, I WANT IT, I WANT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She doesn't know when they will get any more in. Same story at another Apple store, Best Buy and CompUSA (where the manager told me he wishes he could get a hundred more cause he could sell them all). Bastards are hyping it up and I'm buying into it!!!! . . . .and why did they need EIGHT on display. . .one of those could have been mine!

(poll: when they are available, white or black? discuss among yourselves)

yuck!

2005-09-09T01:57:00.000-05:00

worked late tonight, yuck. . . and in other news, my roomy was blasting her new "Wicked: the Musical" soundtrack last night so I can't get that damn "Emerald City" song out of my head!

2005-09-07T21:37:00.000-05:00

So, after reading a certain Canadian friend's blog for a few weeks, I've decided to try this whole thing out myself. Maybe its a little naive or a little arrogant but as you guys grow up and move to far away places like DC, Florida and North Dallas, we have lost touch so I thought maybe this would be a small way for you guys to see inside this crazy, screwed up head of mine.

Now remember, this is only a trial period so don't expect anything wonderful out of me (especially out of my writing. . .but you all know that already). To start off my posting, I have gone and shop lifted an idea from my Canadian friend mentioned above. To celebrate (or mourn) my impending 26th birthday (that's right people, its this Saturday so get those e-cards ready) I have made a list of 25 things I've learned in my 25 years:

1. Fate/Karma DOES exist!
2. Sometimes, sitting on the couch alone all weekend watching E! or a Real World marathon can be the best thing in the world.
3. Arrogant people suck!
4. When you start a relationship just to have fun, it never ends that way.
5. When you work 14 hour days regularly, you start to wonder why those who work 40 hour weeks don't go get a FULL time job.
6. Grandparents are priceless
7. The phrase "I'm never drinking again" means never, or until the hang over clears up, which ever comes first.
8. He who insults others actually just has low self-esteem and is trying to make himself feel better. Either that or the guy he's insulting really IS a huge prick and deserves it!!!
9. After seeing the musical "Jesus Christ: Superstar," I finally understand why the Christians hate the gays. If they can take the most important story out of the Bible and turn it into that awful musical, the downfall of all civilization is within their grasp!
10. Rachel Green is the worst mother in the world! (well, except maybe for that woman who drowned her children because Satan told her to do it)
11. People of our generation often define the members of their Urban Tribe by cast members of "Friends" (as I was reminded again this past weekend). So who's your Rachel?
12. Golf really is worthly of being called a sport!
13. Sometimes, sitting on the couch alone all weekend watching E! or a Real World marathon can be the most depressing thing in the world.
14. The suburbs scare me . . .actually, PEOPLE scare me!!!
15. Religion needs to be a personal thing, not what some old guy tells you that an old book is telling you.
16. Money doesn't buy class.
17. Never wear your Aggie ring in a snow ball fight when you are not wearing gloves.
18. Traveling is only one way to see the world.
19. Coudersport, PA is really just Hell with a nice view.
20. Don't talk politics if you haven't done your research.
21. E-mail break ups don't count.
22. Being called Small Town shouldn't be taken as an insult.
23. Just because a city is a great place to visit doesn't mean it's a great place to live.
24. Never put your face up to a door when there is an unstable, over-reactive person on the other side trying to open the door.
25. The best way to make life-long friends involves a little bit of dinner, a lot of Gin, some top less table dancing and that obligatory trip to the emergency room for alcohol poisoning.