My DVD Library......

Like a lot of people, when DVDs became the norm, I started buying them. I bought my favorite movies, like The Matrix, Gladiator, The Abyss, Harry Potter, Spiderman, The Shawshank Redemption, National Treasure, Lord of the Rings, etc. but you know, I never watch them. I mean, half of the ones I have in my collection are movies that I can see almost any Saturday on a regular channel. So, I think I am going to get rid of my collection.

I can rent anything I want to see and once you've watched the deleted scenes or the blooper reel or whatever might be on the bonus features of a DVD, you've watched them.

I do think however, that I may start a collection of TV shows. There are some TV shows that I like that aren't shown on TV anymore or are rarely shown. Also, I think I am more likely to re-watch a TV show than a movie most of the time.

So, if anyone is still reading this thing.....do you collect DVDs ?? And, if so, what kind ??

Where oh where has my little blog gone......

So, it's been a little over a year since I started this thing and lately I have not been updating as I was so passionately reminded of by my mother last night. I don't know why. And, the thing is that once you stop for a little bit, the amount of information that you have not been relaying becomes overwhelming.

A BRIEF recap since my last post :

• My mom came for a 16 day visit to Texas where she spent half of her time with my sister's family and half with me. It was really nice having another human around the apartment while I was working and I think she got a lot of reading done. I tried to hook her on UGLY BETTY but not sure it worked.
• I colored my hair. [dark chocolate brown]
• I went and saw my niece in her ballet recital - she was in 3 dances; tap, jazz and ballet and she did a great job and was super cute.
• I registered for FALL classes.
• I passed ONE MILLION Players Plus points on NTN trivia at The No Frills Grill.
• A 'cujo-like' squirrel ripped my bird feeder to shreds.

Other than that, I went to a few movies, read a few books, wrote a little bit and basically just hung out with friends or my laptop.

So, on the calendar for the next few days......tonight, I am going to see the movie TRANSFORMERS with friends and tomorrow I am going to a STAR WARS exhibit with my friend Charles at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.

I will try to use these two activities to jump-start my re-entry into blogging. Stay tuned.

I miss cookouts.....

I've been on the phone this week with co-workers and customers and everyone is asking what I did over the Memorial weekend. And, I, of course, worked. People keep telling me they had cookouts or went to friends houses or whatever. I never go to cookouts anymore. I need to get some friends together on the next holiday and have a cookout. I mean, cookouts are fun. You stand around in the backyard and you grill and mosquitos bite you millions of times and everyone just laughs and has a good time.

I miss cookouts. Who wants to have one next holiday ??

If the milk's chewy throw out the hamburger.....

...seems like sound advice coming from a former student of the Johnson and Wales College of Culinary Arts. Last Thursday, my power went out at around 3:30p when it had been raining or was about to rain but wasn't actually raining at the time. It didn't come back on until 1:00a - Grrrrr. I missed taping the Ugly Betty pilot -my current and for the foreseeable future TV obsession. I missed the 1st night of 'So You Think You Can Dance' - the one reality show I watch...and I missed the reappearance of 'Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip' .. needless to say I was quite irritated. Apparently, though, since my milk has not gone chewy - my fridge items are safe.

So, the question, what exactly am I doing when I am not in school and I am not blogging. Well, here is a little about me these days :

1. I am reading the James Patterson Women's Murder Club Books.....I am about halfway thru # 3 I think. They are good. I'm not really a mystery reader but I haven't had anything to read lately and my sister bought me the first one for my birthday so I decided, what the heck. I read #2 while the power was out .... a flashlight and some duck tape were involved.

2. I am writing. Some of you, well, many of you, may not know this is actually a hobby of mine. It started, I don't know, about 3 years ago I guess. There is this, I don't know, pod of people out there that write something called fan fiction. Basically, they take characters from their favorite movies, TV shows, etc. and they write stories for them. For example, a fan fiction for one of the CSI shows might be like an actual episode with a murder and them solving the case, or it might be about the hook up of two characters on the show that aren't hooked up. It might be a cross-over between the CSI show and oh, I don't know....Grey's Anatomy. It's mainly about story because those reading them already know the characters. Anyway, I do that.

3. I'm hanging out with friends. I still go to No Frills Grill pretty much every Friday night with my friend Courtney and whoever else shows up. I also try to see movies and grab a bite to eat with my friend Charles as often as our schedules allow but not nearly enough. I'm always pestering my friend Jeffrey and my cousin Tom to get together but alas, they are a more fruitless endeavor....I'm not sure if it is me or them. Who am I kidding, it's them.

That's a good chunk of my time these days along with work. No classes this summer but I will pick up again in the fall. I'm trying to get to Abilene at least once a month - but right now I think that bunch owes me a visit.

So, my mom is coming on Tuesday and I will transport her halfway to Abilene Wednesday night....for a small ransom. She'll be back with me the following Wednesday for a week. We are all looking forward to her visit.

Until later.....adios.

Holla !

OK - so HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me....as of Friday, I am now 40 + 1. No biggie - I still feel 25, well, maybe 28. Anyway - I headed to Abilene Friday morning for the day and met my nephew for lunch after my niece totally forgot I was coming and ate in her classroom. What-Ever-Loser.

We picked the kids up from school and headed off to see Shrek The Third - it was super cute and funny. The kids laughed thru the whole thing. Afterwards, we went to Red Lobster for my birthday dinner which was VERY nice and no one sang to me - YAY !! We went home and played on NATIONAL BINGO NIGHT on TV and then some Shrek Bingo and I actually won a few games.

Saturday we ran errands and then in the afternoon, Mason and JoLynn had to bowl...I went and watched and we ate bowling alley food for lunch, YUMMY, really. I headed home Saturday afternoon. I met my friend Chrissy for dinner Saturday night at the No Frills Grill and we chit chatted and caught up, promising to get together more often going forward. Yay, another human to interact with..... :)

Checked on-line today and got my grades - Statistics/A and Environmental Science/B - perfect.

That's all the news for me.

See what happens.....

....when school is out and my life becomes even more boring. No new blogs.

Well, let's see. This Friday is my birthday. I will be turning 40+1 - that is how I am going to refer to all future birthdays, in relation to 40. So, next year I will be 40+2. I was going to try and plan a birthday dinner out with some of my friends....but people are busy, as you can tell since they never comment on my blog anymore, so I decided to go with Plan B. I am going down to my sister's where I have at least two people that love me to no end and will shower me with hugs, kisses and I love yous for 2 days....who could pass that up. They will take me to see Shrek 3 and it will be a lot of fun.

I am thrilled to report that my mother has quit her job and will also be coming for a visit to Texas on May 29th.....two weeks from today. Everyone is very excited that she finally got away from an extremely unhappy situation and that she is coming to see the people that will shower her with hugs, kisses and I love yous for 14 days.

I do have some blog topics I am working on and I will get those up tomorrow and Thursday so you have something to read while I am out of town. In the meantime, thanks for always being patient with my lack of blogging. I'm always here.

P.S. Congrats Dirk !! NBA MVP 2006-2007

Movie Reviews, school.....

Well, I was one of the many that went to see Spiderman 3 on opening day and I must say I am glad I did. It was well worth the price of admission. I'm not going to spoil it for those of you that have not seen it yet, I will say however, this one is much more about Peter Parker/Spiderman than it is about the villains, in my opinion. The special effects, etc. were great. Definitely a must see.....I will probably see it one more time in the theatre.

I also went and saw Lucky You this weekend with Drew Barrymore and Eric Banan. It was okay. The movie is about poker and the relationship between Eric Banan's character 'Huck' and his father 'LC', played by Robert Duvall. It's not a comedy, it's not a romance. Although there is a romantic relationship with 'Huck' and Barrymore's character 'Billie', that is certainly not what the movie is about. I would say, this one should be a rental

No more school.....woo hoo !! I took my last final yesterday in Statistics, it was a little harder than I expected but I did okay. We just, in my opinion, had a real poor teacher and I felt bad for the people in our class that aren't math inclined. He teaches high-school by day, and he may be great at that....but his nighttime college gig, left much to be desired. Anyway, I'm sure I came out okay, but it was a tough one.

Not sure what the plans are for the summer yet, I am looking at several things right now. Some changes on degree plans, etc. are probably in the works. Stay turned for more on that as time goes by.

Hurricane Texas-Style

Well, I was out of pocket for most of the afternoon and evening yesterday because we had an horrendous storm here last night....my power was out from 6:00p - midninght. At one point the entrance to my apatment complex was so flooded that to come in, the water was up to some people's car windows. I was on my way home from school when it started and had to pull over into a bank parking lot because of the 70-80 MPH winds and high water.

Like they say, in Texas we never do anything small. Yikes....anyway, of course it is sunny and 75 degrees here now.

Mavericks, Laundry and May....

...and not necessarily in that order. First, I cannot believe it is May already. This is my last week of school with my final final on Saturday the 5th. It looks like I will not be taking any classes this summer. Nothing can fit around my work schedule which is very disappointing. But, I will try to make the most of the summer anyway, maybe I will get a 2nd job.

Well, the Dallas Mavericks pulled off a win last night - the last 40 seconds of the game were quite dramatic. Maybe it took the hometown crowd to get them back in the zone. They still have to win 2 more games to get out of this series alive and their opponents only have to win 1 more....so I am crossing everything and praying for them.

GO MAVS !!

The other night, my brother and I were having one of our many late night phone conversations...and we were both commenting on how we needed to clean our rooms. He started to tell me what his biggest problem is when cleaning his room and I stopped him.....I said I know what you are going to say because it is the same with me...and basically at the same time, we said laundry. Now, please, don't get this mental image in your head about piles of dirty laundry in our rooms. Our problem is CLEAN laundry. Neither one of us likes to fold or hang things up. I pretty much get dressed off of drying racks every day.

About once a week, I have this grand plan to put clothes away. It goes like this, I strip my bed to wash my sheets, etc. Then I take all the clean clothes and put them on my bed. I make a pile for pants that need to hang, shirts that need to hang, t-shirts, PJ's, shorts that need to be folded, towels/washcloths that need to be folded and then one big pile for socks, underwear and bras. Then later that night, I go into my room and start swearing because I realize I have to make my bed before I can go to sleep. So I transfer all piles back to clothes baskets and my rocking chair and then make my bed and go to sleep and the cycle starts all over again.

An update on my plants/seeds tomorrow.

Mavericks Fever

Okay - so I like a lot of sports, baseball, football, hockey, basketball, golf....etc. I know pretty much how all of them are played and while I am not obsessed, when a good game is on, I can get into it and watch. When my home town team is in the playoffs, I definitely get invested.

But, last year, I really got into basketball....specifically, the Dallas Mavericks. They have a good team and they are local....and I wish I could say that was the draw....but alas, it was this picture that drew me in.....

DIRK NOWITZKI - I mean, come on.....7 feet of sizzle.

Anyway......right now they are also in the playoffs, I think they have a good shot at going all the way, and DIRK is on track for NBA MVP this year. Their current series is against the Golden State Warriors and heading into game 3 tomorrow night, they are 1-1.

So, you'll find me at the local sports bar on the nights they play wearing my Mrs. Nowitzki t-shirt......[just kidding I'm not that obsessed].

GO MAVS !!

We interrupt this TV Show review for a moment from our sponsor....

....just an update on life since I have been MIA for a little bit. I'll go back to my TV show favorites after this.

So I worked last Saturday to cover a shift for my friend Curtis. In exchange he worked for me on Monday. So, I was sleeping in - a little bit - on Monday when I hear my cell phone in the other room ringing around 8:30a.....I ignore it, thinking that it is someone in my family trying to get me up. Ten minutes later, it rings again....I moan from bed, but ignore it again. Then 10 minutes later it rings again. This time I get up, wander to the living room looking for my phone and answer it. It is someone from my job wanting to know why I am not logged in. I say, because I am off today. I worked for Curtis Saturday and he is working for me today. They say, oh I am so sorry, I didn't know or remember. I say, no problem. And they apologize again for waking me and tell me to go back to bed. Doubtful. Now I am up and start my day. I listen to the two voice mails left from the first two calls....the first one is from Human Resources wanting to know where I am and the second one is from the phone console coordinator who monitors the phones, etc. I laugh....I mean, the phone console person and the person I actually talked to where copied in on the email that approved the change and why is someone telling Human Resources to call me......sheesh, I am never late, I never call in sick.....surely someone could have figured out what was going on before calling Human Resources. Oh well.....

Next week, is the last week of school for this semester....I have a final on Monday and one on Saturday....and then that's it for the semester. Yay ! That is why I have been absent here - too much stuff to be finalized before it ends. It looks like due to scheduling, I won't be taking any classes this summer....which stinks. I may have to push my graduation date back by a year.....oh well, I keep plugging along. I'll get there.

Anyway - there is an update. I will post more TV stuff in the next couple of days and then more on me later.....including an update on the seeds I planted.

See ya !

I HEART Horatio Caine !

Moving right along, with my favorite cop shows. I think these are sometimes the most enthralling to watch. I have favorite characters and favorite love matches even though that is not really what these shows are about. I know many think these ‘procedural’ shows are not very realistic and probably they aren't but I still love them.

24 / Monday / FOX / 8:00p CST

Seriously, I don’t care how unrealistic you think this show is [Charles] – JACK BAUER is one serious bad ass. If there were someone like him making sure this country was safe, I would go to bed every night under the blanket of protection he was providing. If you have not watched this show, go to Blockbuster now, rent all previous seasons and get caught up.

If you do watch it, check out this website : http://www.bauercount.com/

CSI : Miami / Monday / CBS / 9:00p CST

Well, here you go….my favorite redhead. Horatio Caine, expertly played by media bad boy, David Caruso. Most people either love this show or hate based solely on their feelings about how Mr. Caruso plays this character. He never gets hurt, has cheesy one-liners in every episode and suffers from an unhealthy obsession with his sunglasses. But, he is one smooth operator who has endless sympathy and support for the victim. I’ve always had a soft-spot for redheads and this one is at the top of my list these days.

I mean seriously, how could he not be :


Law & Order : SVU / Tuesday / NBC / 9:00p CST

For me this is the best of the Law and Order franchise, I think the cases are hardcore and the actors that have consistently been on this show from the beginning make it that much more addicting. I must say, I have a soft spot for Detective Elliot Stabler.

CSI / Thursday / CBS / 8:00p CST

Some say the original is still the best. I think CSI : Miami edges out the top spot for me but there is nothing wrong with the original. You can’t go wrong with a show based in Vegas as far as I am concerned and this years ongoing story with the miniature killer has keep my interest peaked.

What are your favorite cop shows ??

Joe Kuban : If you want to look like shit when you are 40, go to a tanning salon....

...in fact, he says, if you REALLY want to look like shit when you are 40, then SMOKE and go to a tanning salon."

Sounds like sound advice to me.

Nerd Love

Well, once again, I am a little lax in getting my blog updated. I think I am going to add another aspect of me to the blog and see if that helps me post more often. I don’t really like to be thought of as a person that watches a lot of TV. I do have favorite shows I watch and if I am not around, I usually record them to watch later. So, now I am going to invite you into my world of TV watching. If you watch the shows I mention, please feel free to chime in. I will probably start giving a TV show recap each week now that I am bringing this into my blog.

Today, we are going to start with my Nerd Love shows. These are shows I watch that have a particularly lovable nerd on them.

Ugly Betty / Thursday / ABC / 8:00p CST

Lovable Nerd : HENRY – Accountant at MODE magazine and unrequited love of title character, Betty Suarez. I love them, and if you haven’t watched this show, I recommend catching up during the summer and getting on the bandwagon before fall.

Heroes / Monday / NBC / 8:00p CST

Lovable Nerd : Take your pick, pretty much all the good characters on this show are nerds. This is another one that if you haven’t watched, you must catch up on over the summer. If you are gun-shy because you think it is another LOST with no resolutions in each episode, you are wrong, every one is action packed with answers.

Criminal Minds / Wednesday / CBS / 8:00p CST

Lovable Nerd : REID – He graduated from high school at age 12 and has 3 PhDs. He often serves as the team's statistics expert, he has an uncanny ability for spotting complex patterns. He does not believe that genius can be measured but admits that he has an eidetic memory, an I.Q. of 187 and can read 20,000 words per minute. He also serves as the teams handwriting analyst. WOW ! How much nerdier can you get….love him and love this show.

Crossing Jordan / Wednesday / NBC / 8:00p CST

Lovable Nerd : WOODY – You might think a cop would not be a nerd but this one is. However, as nerdy and awkward as he is, he is one bad-ass cop too. He and the title character have an ongoing unrequited love that makes this show “chick” worthy and the rest of the show makes it an overall must watch for me every week.

Numb3rs / Friday / CBS / 9:00p CST

Lovable Nerd : CHARLIE – This one is about a genius mathematician [be still my heart] that helps his brother, an FBI agent, with complex crimes by using statistics and highly complex mathematical equations. This show is lost on Friday nights because everyone is out and about. But, given the chance, you would love this one too.

Okay, that’s it for nerd love shows….next TV blog will cover my favorite cop shows and my favorite red-head….

What are your nerd love shows ??

Bowling, pizza and snow

Well, as odd as it may seem.....it does sometimes snow in Texas in April. Since my last blog, I had a nice 3 day weekend which I spent in Abilene with my sister and family. On Thursday, I, of course, had lunch with my niece and nephew at school when I arrived then ran around with my sister getting ready for my nephew's 10th birthday party.

On Friday, we got up and did a quick WalMart run for the cake before heading to the bowling alley for the party. And here is my gripe about that.....my nephew invited 23 kids to his party and 1 of them RSVP'd....only 3 showed up to the party. Now, of course, having it on Good Friday, a long weekend, was a risk since people probably had out of town plans or family coming in town, but at least RSVP !!

My nephew could care less, if it had been only family and him, he would have been happy, but please people, just RSVP. Anyway, the party was fun and the kids had fun bowling. Here are some pics :

[Mason and Trek watching Morgan bowl]

[Caine bowling - he was the champ !]

[Trek bowling]

[Morgan getting her 6 lb. ball up in her arms]

[Morgan - bowling]

[Blowing out the candles]

Then that night we played some Shrek Bingo on DVD which was fun and colored Easter eggs. Of course, we had to overrule my sister and leave 3 eggs in the colored water overnight in the fridge, something I don't think I was ever allowed to do when I was a kid.....here is a pic of how those turned out the next morning - really dark - and probably inedible - but super cool :

Saturday we just hung out and were lazy - Mason requested homemade 'super-mushroom' pizza for his birthday lunch since I was leaving after that so we made pizza and just relaxed....after all, it was freezing outside.....yep, a mini-winter storm hit Abilene, Texas in April. I left around 1:30p that afternoon when Mason and JoLynn were off to bowl in a Shrek Bowling league.....I stopped for gas on the way out and took this picture of my snow-covered car :

And something else you don't see to often, snow covered bluebonnets....

Well, you know what they say about Texas weather, if you don't like it, wait a minute, which I guess is true since it is supposed to be 80 here tomorrow.

Ciao.

Joe Kuban : Go home, grab a cerveza and find your ecological footprint

So, last night in Environment Science we really hit on the topic that Dr. Kuban is most passionate about - this planet and basically in his words - our "rape" of it. His voice rose on more than one occasion as he tried to instill in us that while our parents had screwed up the planet, there was still a chance we could make a change.

When the lecture was over he said - "Go home, grab a cerveza and find your ecological footprint." There is a website out there where you can find your ecological footprint, basically it tells you based on your current consumption of resources where you stand.

The website is : http://www.myfootprint.org/ Go check it out and find yours. Here are my results :


Looks like I need to make some changes.

Sample conspiracy......

I belong to a website called http://www.startsampling.com/ - it used to be a cool website with lots of fun samples you could get for free....now it is a sellout with mainly offers for magazine subscriptions, or trial offers that make you order stuff etc. But, occasionally I do go in the there and get a sample of something. Recently I got some haircare samples as seen below :


This is actually a photo of MY samples [used] taken by me.....I couldn't find any stock photos on the internet. So, here is my issue, and hopefully you can get this by looking at the pics or by having a similar experience yourself. These samples come in packets, plasticy, shiny packets....similar to ketchup or mayonnaise packets only bigger.....each with a tiny slit near the top for you to tear the packet open.

Herein lies the problem.....when you use these sample packets, you are in the shower, wet from head to toe....it is virtually impossible to grasp one of these packets and open it. Don't believe me ? Try it. Now the key is to get a packet of something that has the slit on the side of the packet not jagged edges along the top. It is one slippery sucker

Needless to say, now I keep a pair of scissors near the shower....conspiracy I tell ya, conspiracy.

Bloom where you are planted.....

....don't freak, two days in a row. ::wink::

Okay, so now I have a real patio with chairs and a table and still room to walk around. I love to have plants on the patio, but I like to grow them from seeds. I planted some this past weekend and some yesterday. Here are picture of what I have planted. I will give you updates when they sprout and as they grow - how FUN !!

[These are pink Impatients]

[these are come multi-colored flowers - can't remember the name - LOL]

[This is a little herb garden that Joey's
girlfriend, Dina gave me for Christmas]

[this little guy was watching while I planted]

I will probably get a few flowers that are already blooming from the garden center this weekend too so I can enjoy them now. I think "winter", if you can call it that in Texas, is over so it is just sunshine and heat to look forward to for the next 6 months at least.

Happy Spring !!

Happy Birthday, Mom !!

Joe Kuban : We all crap

LOL ! I am laughing just typing that title. It's been awhile since I shared some of Dr. Kuban's wisdom with you guys and last night he was in rare form. In case you forgot, he is my environmental science teacher and he is a riot -telling it like it is. So, not to gross anyone out and if you start to be grossed out, please skip to the next paragraph. Last night we were talking about energy - and he told us the story of how he defecated in the rain forest [on more than one occasion] - after all, he said, "We all crap." Well, yes we do. Anyway, he continued by telling us he then stood there and watched as 14 species of flies and then beetles, and then so on and so on came and made use of his "deposit" - it took 38 minutes for it to be gone. He seemed to be in shock that none of us had ever done anything similar....and even more disappointed that we have never lit a cow-patty on fire on someones front porch. Anyway, he is fun. He told us another story along the same line that I really don't think is tame enough for the blog, so if you talk to me, you can ask me about it.

I just realized that I have never blogged about my laptop. Hmmmm.....yep, I got a laptop. I have been wanting one forever and the fools at DELL actually gave me a line of credit so after much thought, I bought one. It is really nice. I am not using it for work......yet. But, it does give me some much appreciated mobility which I am really enjoying. I have done the "wireless" thing at the No Frills Grill and it has been a nice way to get out of the house and still be connected. I'm hoping to to get it set up for work in the next 30-60 days so I can play with that and then maybe it will give me some options on work location too, maybe longer stays in Florida with work and vacation combined.

So, now I have an iPod and a laptop....all I need is a convertible VW beetle and my life will be complete.

Ciao