Seek The Substantial

Curly is muddy.

It’s pretty quiet on the homefront. Work is going well, slowly, but surely I am crossing things off of my wife’s “to-do” list with the house. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not crossing them off quickly enough, but things are slowly but surely being completed.

I am obsessed with making the internet easier for everyone to use, these are all things that have been said before, but if you don’t have a start page then check out Pageflakes. It’s kind of like Google Reader, but instead of just checking feeds, you can check your email, what’s being submitted on Flickr, YouTube, the weather, news, sports, etc. If you’re really interested, here’s a better description here.

Consumerist is a website dedicated to saving you money.

At the Dallas Museum of Art there is a Van Gogh exhibit, Sheaves of Wheat, beginning October 22, 2006. I have been fortunate enough to go to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Without a doubt it was one of the highlights of my trip to Europe. I cannot recall a time when there was a Van Gogh exhibit in Dallas (this is not to say that this hasn’t happened) and I will do everything within my power to make my wife go see this exhibit. I am not an expert in art and stuff, in fact I couldn’t tell you the first thing about Van Gogh other than he chopped off his ear, but there’s something to his work that’ absolutely incredible and everyone should have the opportunity to see it. Even if my wife doesn’t want to go, I’ll go if someone else is up for it.

A pretty amazing set of photographs at the Morning News – American Cities.

There’s this building in Terrell, where I live, that is currently being remodeled. The building used to have plain stucco on the front and it appeared that someone was really covering up the architectural detail of the building itself.

The first thing that was done was the stucco was removed and a beautiful building was revealed.

Here’s the window arch.

The building to the left essentially looked like this building before.

Small flowers in between the first and second floors.

Honestly, I wonder how a city could allow someone to cover up a building like this. It simply doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. Here are a two more.

This is what I do with my Saturday mornings.

I also caught an amazing sunrise while taking pictures of the building. The south side of Terrell is supposed to be the “bad” side of the tracks (yes, literally, there are railroad tracks that divide the town). Anyway, here’s a couple pictures of the sunrise yesterday morning.

John Mayer, singer and songwriter, has a blog.

Last week I told everyone how great Google Reader was, but then I failed to tell everyone that you need a gmail account. If you need one, let me know.

Lifehacker had a small article about Google Educator, which are Google tools that can be used in the classroom. I wonder if administrators would actually allow students to use Google products for the classroom. It’s really not a bad idea, kids don’t need a computer, they can go to any computer to write their paper. They don’t need a disk to save their work. Google has kids addicted to Google products at an early age and has customers for life. Everybody wins.

Zoho has the same type of products and may be even better than Google. Products for both include word processor, spreadsheet, presentation tools, calendars, etc.

Want to play any Nintendo NES game? Okay. By the way, this includes Tecmo Bowl (via Lifehacker).

This is really for the ladies, but I couldn’t believe that someone actually started a website solely about seating. Simple Seating is currently closed, but should open sometime this month, thus, if you’re planning a wedding or other party then this might be a good place to start.

Randy and Ann are off on vacation again, thus we dog-sit Curly, Randy’s Jack-Russell terrier. Yes, he’s a handful, but luckily my wife has been home for the first three days of this week (school holiday, and yes, she has quite a few of them). Remember last time he stayed he was knocked silly with a concussion.

Here’s Curly.

Zoey.

Blue.

Olive.

I rarely get a really good picture of Olive because if I bend down to take a picture, she immediately puts her head down and trots, strike that, waddles towards me. I finally got a really good picture of her.

Razor update: for those of who were concerned, the first disposable razor that I used lasted 6 weeks. For those of you who care, that’s freaking awesome. I am currently on my 2nd razor. By my math, those 6 razors should last me at least 70% of the year. At $1.00 per razor, I’m well on my way to fiscal responsibility.

For those of you who are in the Dallas area I really recommend Unfair Park – The Dallas Observer Blog. It’s extremely topical, at least in terms of the DFW area, and really well written. If none of you have read the Dallas Observer, you should, there’s lots of talented writers there and the way the DMN is going, this may be the best place to get your local news.

I’ve found something that’s really hard to explain, but is really useful if you know how to use it. It’s called the Google Reader. Do you ever get tired of checking websites for new content, or checking my blog for a new post? Well, Google Reader will aggregate the websites you read. The orange box at the end of the left column of this blog is my feed. You’ll also notice orange boxes that say “XML”, that’s the same thing. If you copied and pasted that address into the Google Reader new subscription then everytime I post, Google Reader will let you know. Don’t get me wrong, I still really enjoy going to websites because some of them are visually appealing (like I hope mine is) so I understand that. But if the internet is merely a method of you checking on certain sites then this is a great tool for you.

If you like awesome things then you’re probably going to want to purchase MacGyver, seasons 1 through 7.

Finally, my best man, Ben, had some really nice things to say in the Tulsa Fellowship comments. I felt like they deserved front page status, so here you go. Thanks Duk.

Well, there was certainly an editorial spin to your commentary. Very good job with the photos. I appreciate your effort to make the fellowship weekend and to take time to post it on your blog. I know that it was difficult, given the passing of your grandfather.

You said to me not so long after graduation, that these friendships and bonds that we built through our time in Tulsa were important, and to maintain them after we all went our separate ways would require sacrifice and effort. Thankfully, most of us have been able to continue with that commitment. Each time we come together, I am reminded of the those times together in Tulsa, but I am also reminded of those reasons why I value the friendships of that time. I value these friendships today, probably more than I did then.

While it is true that time and distance separates our daily lives, the common thread of kinship I share with this group will continue to inspire me and compel me to try and organize these weekends for fellowship. We are not the same people we were in school, but the character, values, intangible elements of personality continue.

Wolverines suck.

Duk

We knew that my grandfather was not doing well. Over the last year or two his physical condition had detiorated to the point that he was probably not a happy person. My grandfather loved to ranch and if he was unable to, at the very least, get out and look at his ranch, then there may not have been much reason to continue forward.

My grandfather was a good man, I remember at least two summers where my older brother and myself stayed with our grandparents for a week. Some of my fondest memories of both of my grandparents were of during those two weeks. In one instance I recall staying with my mother’s parents for a week and my mother’s mother bought Ryan and I a baseball hat at Bealle’s the week that we stayed with them. We were transported to my father’s parents and while “working” outside for a period of time my grandfather asked me why I wore my baseball cap backwards (as an aside, I think it’s funny that I did this at such a young age and I’ve never broken this habit of wearing my baseball cap backwards). My response was that it kept the sun off of my neck, and of course I didn’t even consider that my face was beet-red. In all honesty, I always felt like I could never connect with my grandfather, but he was a quiet person and did not talk much and this was hard to accept as a child. Those weeks spent in South Texas did more for our relationship than any other time spent with my grandfather.

My last memory of my grandfather was when my wife and I went to visit both him and my grandmother last month at Hannah’s wedding reception. We had lunch with him and he paid the bills with my Uncle David. Despite is physical body failing him, his mind was as sharp as ever. That’s a good memory to have.

This is St. Louis Catholic Church on the evening of his service.

Across the street is the school where my father went to high school.

These were views from our motel.

This is the spire of St. Louis Church from our motel. It was a hazy morning, the day of the funeral.

The weekend could not have started any better. Hat Day came a day early as I had taken the day off on Friday to visit Ben, Beano and Big Time for a little bit of fellowship. As all things with my law school group it is always a good time.

The trip to Tulsa was uneventful.

I kept thinking that this trip would have been a lot more fun with Blue, but I doubt that Big Time would have appreciated an unexpected, but lovable, puppy dog.

Duk, who’s just an attorney from a small Missouri town.

Beano looks pretty damned happy to see me.

Big Time’s house.

I don’t know exactly how this started, but in order to play washers we have to choose teams. Through the process of “Choose the Rock” Beano and I became partners.

Duk doing his best.

Beano is taking control.

Big Time on home turf.

Now, I may embellish the final score, but I know that Beano and I put a whoppin’ on Duk and Big Time the first two games. Duk and Big Time won the next game and then Beano and I won the last game. At some point during the match, as Beano probably sunk another washer, I yelled Wolverines and little did I know the name would stick the rest of the weekend.

This is a License for Prostitution for Midnight Rose. Beano and Duk made Big Time purchase this at the last gun show they attended. Please click on the largest version as it appears that Marshall Wyatt Earp executed this document. I have no way of knowing if this is an accurate document, but it’s neat nonetheless.

The next game on tap was Pitch. Now, I’ve only played Pitch one other time and it’s a lot like Spades. Once again, it was team Wolverine versus two guys who have not been able to think of a cool team name.

Bigs and Beano.

Beano and Duk.

Me and my hot double chin.

After three games, Beano and I, I mean Team Wolverine, handed it to the Thundersticks. It’s not a bad name, but it’s not Team Wolverine.

The final and third match was golf. It had been approximately 10 years since Beano last played and it was approximately 1 year since I last played. We knew that the Wolverines were in for a fight. For those of you who don’t know, those sunglasses that Beano is wearing are original Oakleys and they are 15 years old. That is awesome.

Team Thunderstick.

Beano.

Big Time.

Duk.

Unfortunately for Team Wolverine, we could not overcome a 20 stroke differential, however, Team Wolverine was still up two events to one. We headed home and watched the second half of the Texas Tech v. A & M. Lucky for me, the game ended well, as did my weekend with my partners.

Friday is hat day for me. It’s the first day of the week that I allow myself to wear a hat. It signifies that it’s the end of the week and the weekend is here. This past week has been incredibly trying and difficult and it will take at least two posts, probably done tomorrow night or Saturday morning to figure it all out. The nuts and bolts of the story are as follows:

1. Friday I drove to Tulsa for fellowship with Ben, Beano and Big Time.
2. I got a call Saturday morning from my Mom who told me that my Grandfather died.
3. I drove back home Saturday evening.
4. On Sunday morning I drove with my parents and my older brother to Castroville for my Grandfather’s funeral.
5. I attend my Grandfather’s service Sunday night.
6. I attend my Grandfather’s burial service Monday morning.
7. On Monday morning Miranda calls me and tells me that her Grandfather died that morning.
8. Monday afternoon I drove home with my parents and my older brother.
9. I attend Miranda’s Grandfather’s viewing Wednesday night.
10. I attend Miranda’s Grandfather’s burial service Thursday afternoon.

I don’t think that anyone’s noticed, but I’m trying to stay on schedule to blog twice a week. This of course does not take into consideration the exception weekend happening which usually deserves a post or two of its own. As I said before, I’d like to get paid for blogging and Raider Red Nation is taking up quite a bit of my time right now as it requires nearly daily updates. Wednesday has been my usual day to post an entry, other than on the weekends because there’s been absolutely nothing on television.

Sunday morning I read an exceptional article from Michael Lewis, the guy who brought us Moneyball, on a football player named Michael Oher (via Kottke). The blog where I found this article had an even more interesting follow up thought to the article itself and although I was certainly thinking his sentiments, I don’t think I would have expressed them. Not because I think that they’re wrong, quite frankly I believe Kottke to raise some really good points, but because I don’t know how others would feel about me making those same allegations. Homework is to read both articles and tell me what you think, but make sure and read the NY Times article first. Are we reading too much into the article or is there a point to all of this?

As an aside, these are things that are making me happy that are on television:
1. Scrubs (two every night on Comedy Central). I think they were better those first years and not so slapstick.
2. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. this is a really well written, and I would call it smart television.
3. The regulars (The Office, My Name is Earl, How I Met Your Mother, Two and A Half Men, etc.)
4. The Unit. I’ve just started watching this and it’s really good.

When I was single, I could save my duckets with the best of them. In fact prior to marriage and prior to renovating a house I had a really nice chunk of change put away. I’ve always been a saver and my wife will tell you that I’m obsessed with saving. Obsessed is a strong word and she’s probably right because last night, Friday night, my party night, I spent the evening researching online savings accounts that get a better interest rate than my current rate 0.5%. I found this article on Lifehacker which detailed a recent CNN article about online savings accounts with APY as high as 5.15% with no minimum balance (currently I have to have at least $1,000 with my current bank in my savings account). I still haven’t decided whether I’ll go with ING or with Emigrant Direct. From what I can tell the basic differences are that ING is a little more user friendly and Emigrant Direct has the higher interest rate.

The first thing Miranda asked was if it was safe. From what I could tell, both banks are FDIC insured which is all the assurance that I currently have with my local bank. With a deposit of $3,000 I can earn $150 a month or I could earn $15 a month with my current local bank. These savings accounts are linked to your checking account and you can set it for an automatic deposit into your new savings account. If you need to put some money back into your checking account you simply do an automatic transfer approximately 2 to 4 days before you need the money. This is the biggest inconvenience, not having the money immediately, but that seems to be a really small inconvenience and I’m thinking that I can still keep a minimal amount at my local bank for that very reason.

If anyone can think of a reason why we all shouldn’t be doing this then let me know. I’ve looked around the internet for user opinions and aside from the inconvenience discussed above and a couple of customer service questions, which I really don’t care about, so long as I, I mean we, get a higher return on our money and the transfers are through the internet, then bring it on, on. Seriously, the more feedback the better.

Also, Ashley F. asked about printing photos from Flickr and I told her that all you needed was a Yahoo ID. This is not true, you need to sign up for a Flickr account, which is free and I have my settings so that any Flickr user can print photos.

Last week, Thursday I think, Ashley F. notified me that there was something in one of our trees that was causing the dogs to go beserk. In the back, inside a cavity of one of the trees along our fence was a possum. Notice how menacing this sucker is, you can thank me later for taking these daring pictures and bringing you these exclusive pictures.

There’s a couple of things to mention here. The first is DailyLit. The concept is that they will email you a portion of a book as often as you like. The thought being that so few of us take the time to actually read, but if what we had to read was condensed into smaller, bite-size portions, then we can probably handle that. Right now I’m reading “Famous Stories that Every Child Should Know.” Don’t get any bright ideas, I haven’t been reading very much and I wanted something that might keep me interested. Also, it’s only 116 parts and I didn’t want to delve into Les Miserable which is 679 parts and if read everyday would take a good part of two years.

Lifehacker had a nice article about printing poster size images of your pictures and they recommended Pictopia. At some point in my life, I hope to have taken a picture that would be worthy enough of being made into a poster. Some day.

We spent the day, literally, in Fort Worth yesterday at the Texas Tech and TCU football game. It was hot, and a bit windy but otherwise a really good time, despite the fact that Tech didn’t play very well at all.

We have some house-cleaning issues to consider before getting to yesterday’s activities. First, the question came up as to the size of Central Park, NY. Well, it’s 843 acres and you can learn more here and find lots of pictures here. Thus, we can definitively say that it’s not 100 acres and it’s not 30.

Some girls pawning Coors Light hats and coozies approached our group, and I had watched before as they quizzed individuals on college mascots. I mentioned to my wife that I know almost every mascot, it’s one of my strange talents. Most of the mascots were easy except for the Tennessee, which is the blood hound. Most know of my freaky sports knowledge, which has no practical purpose, except to impress at parties. I am reminded of the challenge in law school my first year and someone didn’t think that I really knew where every NBA player played in college. Once again, my sports prowess was unmatched as I no one could match my wits. Nowadays, I do not think that I could do this as I have lost touch with a number of basketball players and my passion has waned a bit, but I think I still know most of them.

Here’s me after winning the Coors Light challenge.

Stephen and Ashley

Ashley T. and Miranda

Miranda, Stephen and Justin

Ashley F. and Miranda

Ashley F. and Ashley T., Ashley F. was obsessed with taking pictures of random people, and yet, it’s art.

Me.

The stadium.