Too True

The sad thing: this isn't even a hyperbole. Perhaps more sad: I miss it.

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Now playing: Bob Marley - No Woman No Cry (Live at The Lyceum)

The Loss of a Friend

I was about 13 when we brought Ruby home. My sister and I had wheedled and pled, promised and pledged; We said things like, ‘Nothing for either of us for the next three Christmases!’ ‘Walks every day, we swear!’ and ‘Food every night, we promise! We’ll never ask for anything ever again!’

Today at about 9am I drove with my parents to a small veterinary clinic off of Palm and Herdon to have Ruby’s vet of 13 years give her one last injection and say things like ‘Today’s the day, huh?,’ and, ‘Let us know when you’re ready to take her body home.’

My dad and I dug her grave together through the unyielding valley hardpan, mixing our sweat with tears to soften the ground as we chipped away and said things like, ‘She was a good dog,’ ‘Remember the way she used to eat horse crap?’ and ‘Is digging a grave supposed to be this hard?!’

I carried my dog of 13 years from the back of the car to her grave, held her frail body covered in matted fur to my chest one last time, and placed her on her favorite blanket facing Northwest. Towards Alaska. My father and mother and I stood next to the mound of dirt with a circlet of Star Jasmine on it and said things like ‘That is that.’ and ‘I’m glad that you are here for this.’

Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday. We’re surely gonna miss you.

Times, They Are a' Changing

My mother gave me one of my childhood journals this Easter she had found while cleaning out a storage closet. I am currently in the process of writing my Senior paper, and it was a refreshing and entertaining break to see the progression in such a short time from near-unintelligible scribbles to fairly coherent thoughts in three short years. Behold!


Transcript: This is space. Space has no air so astronauts have to keep air packs on their backs so they can breath and so they won't die. - Summer '87


Transcript: Today is October 15, 1987. I like the bike ride because I like going across country on the road and I like the park, too and riding home was just as much fun as riding there and school was fun because we listened to the legend of the headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow and a black cat and tomorrow I will make a pumpkin patch picture and a paper bag and I ran five times. I played monster with Michael today. - Fall of '87


Transcript: August 9th, 1989. When it is hot I like to go swimming. Katie taught me how to do somersaults, backward rows, hand stands and straddles. One time Katie and I swam 100 laps. I can do three somersaults in a row. The end. - Summer '89


This one is pretty legible and readable. - Fall of '90


Today's entry.

Sometimes it's encouraging to know where you come from.

*Muffled Sob*

I just finished a 34-page draft this afternoon . . . now I'm listening to Metallica. I'm planning on writing out the rest of the Liam adventure after I graduate, for those of you who may still be interested; stay tuned!

Freakin' Weekend, Baby!

and for a change of pace . . .

About Time . . .

I was really hoping that we'd come up with a new and better way to kill each other. Enter: Blackwater! Nothing like a shotgun that can deliver nearly 300 rounds a minute to slake your blood lust. The host of the show gets even more creepy at about 4:30 when he starts describing specialty rounds.

Touché, M!

Daniel Gross on Slate had a fine point about the economic stimulus package passed through Congress today and, baring any major setbacks, in our mailboxes in May sometime. I thought it was worth sharing.

Of course, there's no guarantee that American will turn their 2008 rebates into consumer activity instantaneously, or in six months. The only way to do that would be to make the rebate something more like a reimbursement. Require taxpayers to collect $300 worth of receipts from the Cheesecake Factory, Target, and Dick's Sporting Goods, and then mail them to the IRS order to receive a rebate. That would certainly be a backward way of boosting the economy. But it would be perfectly in keeping with Washington's general approach to managing the nation's fiscal affairs.

Confused, I'll Admit

If you can adequately explain to me how this is any funnier than the class clown in Jr. High riffing before gym class, I'll give you a nice crisp $2 bill.

The Other Foot

Today at the gym, a girl told me I had 'nice boobs.' That was a first for me. On a related topic, I heard that if you don't vote 'yes' on the Indian gaming props, Arnold will personally crush your head between his massive pecs. Food for thought.

How Many Days Later?

This cracked.com feature is worth a peruse. If you like zombies. I promise I'll get around to writing something of my own sometime soon, too, instead of just regurgitating the tripe I excavate in my study breaks.

Satisfaction

This is worth 17 minutes of your day. Read along here if you'd like, or simply listen. In a little more than a week, we'll find out if a black man will be the Democratic nominee for the President of the United States of America. His stiffest opponent is a woman. Our country has come a long way in it's short 230-some-odd years, farther than Dr. King would likely have dared to dream. The dream, however, is not yet realized. May we refuse contentment with great gains and each in whatever big or small way we are able work at extending our hands graciously in fellowship and service.

American Haiku Friday

The bottoms of my shoes
are clean
from walking in the rain.
-Jack Kerouac

Doing My Part

I hope to pick back up with regular posts, which seemed to have been somewhat sidetracked with finals and transcontinental travel. In the mean time, enjoy the theremin.

Artiste!

This weekend, after finishing my last paper of the semester, my wife and I drank a bottle of wine and painted a few canvases. Below is my sophomore effort, and the first painting I've done since my senior year in college.



This is the canvas my wife painted. She's done a few more than I.

To Over or to Under?

A question while I take a break for writing myriad final papers: Would you rather have people consistently underestimate you or overestimate you?

Preemptive Strike

I'm going out and getting a mongoose right now. It's a miracle I've survived the Africanized honey bees this long, and I'll be damned if I'm not prepared for the latest threat.

Self Swap

Today's question: Would you rather swap bodies with someone of another gender or another ethnicity?

Cheese!

Have you ever found it curious that humans are the only species for which a display of teeth isn't typically a direct antecedent to mortal combat? I'm not sure what this means, but it seems important to me.

Quality

If you were into So You Think You Can Dance Season 2, you already know these cats. Otherwise, just enjoy the show.



Fire up a bowl and grab yourself a phial of absinthe for this little ditty.



British humour . . . it does exist!

Success!

There are a couple components that go into making Thanksgiving my favourite holiday. The season starts early for me with Fallstravaganza. Then comes family time on Thanksgiving day, followed closely by Lone Star Showdown Friday and Kill a Tree for Christmas¹ in North Fork, CA. It's a rare occurrence when all these cogs fall into place; either the Ags loose their game or weather in North Fork is crummy or family is grumpy . . . there are just too many variables for things to come out perfectly. This year, however, has gone off about as well as could be hoped for. Fallstravaganza '07 went swimmingly, I had a very enjoyable Thanksgiving day with my in-laws in town from Dallas, the Ags beat the HELL outta t.u. and we got a sweet tree on an idyllic afternoon in North Fork. Check, check, check and . . . check. I hope yall had awesome Thanksgivings.


¹Kill a Tree for Christmas is a Jensen/Qualle family annual event which just celebrated its 32^nd year. Our good friends the Jensens own several acres above North Fork and from its bounty a fresh incense cedar is cut for each family. Below is a photo of this year's Qualle II Family Christmas tree.