Seek The Substantial

I want to thank Duk for participating in the 9.11 assignment, he’s a really good writer, which I am sure is a product of years of law school. He has some really nice points and I encougage all of you to write about that day. I promise it will be good therapy.

So, we actually had a pretty nice shower Monday afternoon and I didn’t take any pictures of rain so I know that you’ll all be disappointed about that. Lucky for you, I do have more pictures of dogs so don’t worry.

Blue

Zoey

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. First, it’s the start of football season and this makes me happy. Secondly, we get new TV shows. Entertainment Weekly has a breakdown on the new shows for the fall. My money is on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and 30 Rock.

I also stumbled upon a website that was one of my staple websites during my time in Austin when I was really bored. It’s just a guy’s photos of and around NYC and other places. Check out Lightning Field. Also linked on this website is a compilation of photos taken 9.11.01 and photos taken at the very same places on 9.11.06.

Miranda and I are going to the Tech v. TCU game in Ft. Worth this weekend. Of course, you can expect lots of pictures, hopefully of a Tech victory. Go Raiders.

Is there a more appropriate writing assignment than this, where were you this day? I don’t want to make this more dramatic that what today is really about, but where were you. Here was my inspiration, Rocketboom. I also recommend taking a look at these pictures, they were taken September 13, 2001 and they are incredibly detailed, something I haven’t seen before.

I have been mentally avoiding this day for quite some time, but I do feel that it’s important to try and remember those feelings that you had that day. Write them down, anywhere, on a napkin and tuck them away somewhere.

I distinctly remember that it was a relatively cool day, in other words the 100 degree days of August had seemed to pass that day and I remember that today was going to be a good day. I had not yet found a job after graduating from law school and I was still working for my dad on our farm. This morning I began mowing at 6:45 a.m., just me, myself, and my radio. I remember the sky being an incredibly beautiful color of blue that day. There was so much calm that day, like any other day for me when I worked at the farm.

As always, I was tuned into The Ticket, a local sports talk radio station. For some reason I remember Gordon Keith doing the news and he was getting word that something was wrong with the World Trade Center towers, but really couldn’t tell what it was. It wasn’t until some time later where Gordon, Miller and Dunham were essentially listening to Good Morning America and as the network was providing news so were they. I remember sitting there and I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

I wasn’t able to get to a television until noon that day and I couldn’t believe the footage, it was so much different than what I expected. I remember thinking that this seemed to really be taking its toll on Peter Jennings as this really seemed personal with him (not that it wasn’t with anyone else). I stuck out the rest of the day and was glued to the television the rest of the day.

I know that my wife really doesn’t understand my unusual connection with The Ticket, but strangely enough, I really connect with all of those guys and even though it’s been five years later, I still have that connection. Don’t get me wrong, it’s the sports and humor, but it’s a little more than that. They are your everyman and that has appeal.

I have started another blog, Raider Red Nation, which is intended to cover Texas Tech football. Eventually, I’d like to blog under the SB Network, but until then I’ll blog here. I know that not everyone cares about this, but for those of you who do care here it is.

It’s bee a really long time since we’ve received any significant rainfall here in North Texas (I actually think it’s been since July 4th) so to celebrate, I decided to take a couple of pictures to memorialize the day.

Our chimney.

Blue and Zoey wishing they were outside.

I’ve really got nothing today and I’ve made it a fairly regular practice to post on Wednesday so I’m just posting some links I’ve stumbled upon recently:

How to take fantastic digital photographs.

Create your own seal like I did on the upper left portion of the old blog.

Click on this link to find out everything you wanted to know about your birthday.

If you have a Dell make sure that your battery won’t explode.

I’m thinking that we are all due for a writing assignment in the near future. I haven’t quite figured out what it will be, but be keeping this in mind. As as aside, I believe I like writing more in the winter than in the summer and the winter is slowly creeping up on all of us.

Very busy weekend with lots of family things going on.

Friday night we celebrated Miranda’s, Saralyn’s, Marilea’s and Mom’s birthdays at Saralyn’s home. The gumbo was great and Miranda and I left early enough to check out the new addition to the Northpark mall.

Mom, Grace and Miranda.

I’m sure that Darius is proud, Grace and Jensen fighting over a doll.

Blake, Thea and Marilea. I apologize in advance for the lack of quality, but lack of a flash, my poor photograph skills and not enough light = poor photo quality.

Saralyn, Ryan and Jensen.

Jackie.

Saturday morning, Miranda and I went to First Monday. The weather was perfect and we had a really nice time. Now, the biggest problem I have with First Monday is the number of perfectly healthy and capable people who insist on driving a Rascal or buggy. I know that we see these people at Wal-Mart who are so large they can’t even walk through the grocery store, yet they are purchasing 24 glazed donuts, driving in these machines. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that some people are hadicapped, that’s not who I’m talking about here. They infuriate me and it’s easy to see why America is fat, we’re too lazy to walk. In fact there was a woman driving one of these devices, smoking a cigarette, and nearly running over a child. Priceless.

Finally, we had Thea Rose’s baptism on Saturday night. The problem here was that I was trying to man two cameras at one time, thus causing to miss some of the action. I’ll post some of the better ones and leave the rest up to you to view on Flickr.

Thea is not only almost complete in the water, but she is getting drenched. The priest made the comment that none of the 3 (?) girls who were baptized that night made any noise, that this would likely change over the years.

These next 3 shots are me trying to get a little fancy and take some artsy photos. I like the ones with the close-up of Thea’s hand and the picture of Marilea, Blake and Thea standing at the front at the end of church. I also realize that black and white photography may be a little much in this case, but it just looked better for the situation. No rhyme or reason.

Miranda and I have been blessed because we have some really large trees in our yard. When we first moved into our house we had six huge oak tress. Whether it be because of the extreme drought from this summer or just old age, two of my six trees have died. Because of their size I don’t think that either myself or my friends will be able to take these down without causing some serious damage. This first tree has a weird growth coming out of one of the branches (pictures to come later) and this tree was destined to die sooner rather than later.

This tree has been damaged in other ways. If you look to the left of the tree there’s a large portion of the tree that fell off at some point and then and compare it with the center of the tree. This tree was supposed to be my treehouse tree, but for whatever reason (mainly laziness or lack of follow-through) this never happened. There’s a greater than zero chance that if not properly cut down, this tree could fall directly into my neighbor’s home, which would be really bad.

Since I’ve got nothing else tonight, I give you dogs. As an aside, many times I have attempted to capture Olive as she comes back towards the house after using the “bathroom” and she has the most empty look I have ever seen in a dog in my entire life. Her eyes get real big and it’s like she’s in a complete daze. In this picture, Blue’s about the bite the crap out of her neck.

Zoey looking for love.

In response to Ben’s comment about Mo getting a husky or something of this ilk. I am only speaking for myself, but I will never get another particular breed of a dog. Now, I think that Miranda will want another Pug and she has mentioned before that she wants a Great Dane (although this is doubtful on my watch), but personally, I would much rather just save a dog from the pound. Our best dogs (in other words, dogs with the least amount of health problems) are muts and although we weren’t sure what we were going to get, they’ve both been really good sweet puppy dogs. I would be willing to bet that you’d eventually find a husky type of dog at the pound given some time. You should also be aware that you will clean up an incredible amount of dog hair. We have to vacuum or sweep at least once every two days, and we could really do it once a day if we had the time.

I first purchased the Gillette Mach 3 when it first came out, sometime in 1991 or 1992. Even in high school I was cursed with a somewhat heavy beard and whatever disposable razor I purchased at the time always cut up my face and did more harm than good. Essentially I needed a razor that could handle the everyday use without having bloody-face. Once I purchased the Mach 3 I knew I was in love. I had no cuts and a smooth shave, which was all I ever wanted from a razor. The Mach 3 and I remained closer than ever all through my undergrad, and law school, and I don’t just mean I used a Mach 3, I have used the same one I bought in 1991. Approximately 15 years later, I felt it was time to put to bed my original Mach 3 and as you can see below, it has been through some battles. I had never noticed how much the handle was about to remove itself from the razor, not to mention, the actual razor wouldn’t stay on the handle which cause numerous shaving problems. For those of you who want a real close up of these pictures make sure and click on the picture and then click on it again for an even close look.

Yes, this is some sort of growth or funk. This has grown on my razor despite the fact that I shave in the shower.

Now, I knew it was time to purchase a new razor and I dreaded the thought of standing in Wal-Mart and trying to choose between the Gillette Fusion and the more plain Gillette M3 Power. Nevertheless, the trip to Wal-Mart was made and I was astounded by the price for refills for either of these brands. It would cost me $20 to purchase the razor and $23 dollars to purchase 4 refill razors. Doesn’t anyone else think that this is a tad bit ridiculous? The thought of spending $50 on a razor was not something I was about to do. So I purchased some Gillette disposable razors that look like the old Mach 3 for about $6 for 6 razors. To my surprise they were absolutely awesome. I was expecting the worst and was pleasantly surprised that this is the essentially the same razor that I first purchased in 1991. For those of you who may be facing a new razor purchase sometime soon, I highly recommend this purchase, especially if you a cheap son-of-a-gun like myself.

This past weekend Miranda and I dog-sat Randy and Ann’s new Jack Russell, Curly. Needless to say we had our hands full with three other dogs and a puppy. Not to mention, we had to celebrate Miranda’s birthday.

As you can see below, this is what we’ve been fight for the last 4 weeks or so. Blucipher has been shedding like no one’s business. What you see below is what happens when I brush her for 1 minute. It almost looks like we’ve sheared a sheep or like one of our dogs killed a small animal, but no, this is simply brushing my dog. I’ve been told that I need the ShedEnder, but I’m not sure that this is the way to go.

Blue.

Curly.

Curly hiding.

Zo-Zo.

A somewhat funny story. Sunday morning, I’m outside with the Blue and Curly and they’re playing, which is great because this means that they’ll sleep the rest of the day. Curly’s running around and runs right into one of the iron patio chairs. I was expecting a yelp or something, but Curly simply turned on her side and groaned. I started to freak out just a little bit because this was not the reaction I was expecting. Curly laid quite still for some time and she started moving, barely. You could tell she was shaken and she walked over to the grass and proceeded to throw-up, twice. I’m not a medical doctor nor am I a vet, but if I had to guess, old Curly had a pretty serious concussion. I kept a close eye on him the rest of the day and he seemed to be fine by the time that Randy and Ann picked him up.

I’ve been reading a new website, Big Screen Little Screen, for non-traditional movie and television news. If you like movies and television that make you think, then this may be the place for you to go.

I also cannot remember where I found this, but I found an online exhibition called Bound for Glory: America in Color and it’s a pretty amazing set of photographs from 1939 to 1943. I get really caught up in these people’s faces. I don’t know if there was more expression in people’s faces 50 years ago, or the fact that in comparison, there’s hardly any suffering in America to that time. I don’t know, but it’s amazing nonetheless. (Edit, this is from Kottke.)

Also, I’ve added another Mavs website to the right, Mav Central. It’s got fresh content at least twice a week and it’s well written.

We celebrated Miranda’s birthday with a slew of friends at Southern Junction last night. Southern Junction is best described as a honky-tonk with a live band and country music dancing. Not excactly my cup of tea, but Miranda loves this sort of stuff. Some of the highlights below:

Miranda and Jessica

Miranda and Leslie

Stephen and Lelie were without their signifacant others last night and so they decided to take a cute picture together.

It was at this point that I realized that having Stephen here by himself provided an excellent opportunity to get two seconds of “Single Stephen” which meant that I made the request to give Leslie the “look”. Ashley T., rest easy, as you can tell by Leslie’s reaction, that Stephen’s still all yours.

Southern Junction is also a steakhouse, but unlike other steakhouses, you can cook your own steak.

Miranda and Jessica, dancing together

Justin and Ashley F.

I told Landy that this was a winner and I think I’m right.

Southern Junction also has a disco ball with a cowboy hat on it. Yes, that’s right a disco ball with a cowboy hat.

Jessica and Chris.

Elizabeth and Miranda.

Oh, sweet.

My camera ran out of batteries right after this picture, which means that Miranda and I did not take a picture together, but I did get one with my other sweet heart, Chris.